Black-tailed Deer Hunting on Vancouver Island

Anything you need to know about the best time, places, outfitters, and regulations of Vancouver Island black-tailed deer hunting, you can find them here. We are ready to help you make a rewarding BC hunting opportunity.

Are you looking for a challenge to take over this weekend? Or do you want to fill out your refrigerator with freshly hunted deer meat? Well, Vancouver Island is home to Columbia black-tailed deer, one of three subspecies of mule deer. British Columbia is home to three subspecies of deer, and among them, white-tailed deer don't inhabit Vancouver Island, so for now, you don't have any chance of spotting and hunting this game. We also have another type of mule deer here on the island, that is Sitka black-tailed deer. Columbia black-tailed is medium-sized, and Sitka black-tailed is the small-sized among the three. Deer hunting on Vancouver Island has become very popular for years, and fortunately, there is plenty of deer, including fallow deer. Bucks (stags or male deer) and does (female deer) will mate and have two or three fawns (baby deer).
Besides being challenging, black-tailed deer hunting on Vancouver Island is highly prized because it is the kind of deer that mostly seeks cover. A very funny fact about deer is that they can move their ears independently from each other, and interestingly enough, that is a warning sign for other deer that may be an enemy approaching. You already know that only bucks have antlers, right? However, they are not something they carry with themselves right after birth. Deer antlers would fall during the cold season and grow back again throughout spring and summer. Even the colour of their coat would change in the change of season; the coat colour is reddish-brown during summer, and it transforms into greyish-brown when it is winter. How phenomenal is that?
Deer harvesting on Vancouver Island is one of the hobbies which attracts many hunters, professional or not, to the island. In the following, we will discuss everything you must know to choose the best black-tailed deer hunting strategies on Vancouver Island.

There have been DNA research that identified the migration route of the deer. After the glacial retreat, deer migrated from a refuge near the Pacific Northwest coast and colonized Vancouver Island. This colonization went on to the Alexander Archipelago, where the Sitka black-tailed subsist.
For years, deer meat was one of the primary meat resources for First Nations people, and nowadays, some still enjoy hunting down these cute ungulates and eating the delicate and juicy meat throughout the year. Back then, people would harvest deer on Vancouver Island for the deer's meat, coat, and antlers. Meat naturally was for food. Also, they used to utilize the deer's antlers and bones for their tools and weapons.

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1. Black-tailed deer have an alpha doe, the oldest among the does and have given the first birth.
2. Bucks should fight over their status.
3. During the rut (late November), bucks reach their biggest size, and in the cold season, they would lose weight (about 25%).
4. In the rut, a buck will follow a doe two or three days before mating and three or four days after that.
5. Life expectancy in black-tailed deer depends on whether they live in the wild or are being kept captive. In the wild, they would live 9-10 years (of course, the buck would live shorter because hunters are mostly interested in hunting bucks.), and in captivity, black-tail deer would live 17-20 years.

While in the province of British Columbia, you can find mule deer in abundance. According to Wild Safe BC, about 20,000 to 25,000 mule deer inhabit the northern parts, and the rest (about 165,000) live in the interior parts of BC. Plenty of mule deer (i.e., Columbia and Sitka black-tailed) live on Vancouver Island.
In general, Columbia black-tailed deer can be found all over Vancouver Island, especially in forested areas. However, deer naturally would inhabit green lands; they are highly adaptable. For now, the management units (MU) or the hunting areas designated by BC regulation for hunting mule deer (Black-tailed deer) are 1-1 to 1-15 on the region 1 (Vancouver Island) map with some restrictions in different classes and hunting seasons. Hunters should be aware of no hunting and shooting areas on Vancouver Island.
You can see how amazing they can adapt to urban life. A great example to support this claim is Nanaimo city, with a considerable number of black-tailed deer feeding on green areas. Although deer prefer to live in places with cool temperatures, they cannot live in the snow. You can find Sitka deer living in the northern parts of Vancouver Island, where we observe a great deal of snowfall annually. So, what is the key to the deer's survival? Old-growth forests! Mass trees in the forests prevent snow from accumulating. Thus, deer can easily walk through the jungle.

Costs are never stable. Many factors can affect the price of black-tailed deer hunting on Vancouver Island. Factors include transport on territory, guidance by professional hunters, field trophy preparation, trophies, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and beverages/soft drinks. People's tastes in choosing these factors are also different. So, the cost we offer for person A would differ entirely from person B. However, the price for our incredible black-tailed deer hunting packages on Vancouver Island starts at $6,500.

To experience a successful hunting tour:
1- Plan for your black-tailed deer hunting in advance.
2- Choose the areas where you intend to hunt for your black-tailed hunting on Vancouver Island.
3- Apply for and obtain the necessary licence.
4- Select the right outfitter to be by your side in a black-tailed deer hunting adventure.
But why does choosing the right outfitter matter before starting a black-tailed deer hunting adventure? They provide their guests with appropriate gear and adequate scouting knowledge to ensure that every hunter involved in that hunting trip would have the best chance of a successful hunt. If you want to make sure that your black-tailed deer hunting adventure on Vancouver Island is going to be the best experience ever, choosing the right outfitter is a MUST! If you need help or have any questions regarding the choice of the best outfitter for hunting on Vancouver Island, please feel free to contact us.

• Blacktail deer are masters at hiding; they may be observing you omit via from a distance of 20 yards and you don't even.
• Deer have an unbelievable sense of smell, and the older the buck, the more it's learned to trust its nose. So wind can attract them to your hunting area.
• Use binoculars; they can help you pick deer out of the tangle.
• A final way to locate black-tailed deer is to look for scrapes and rubs.