San Juan Islands Blacktail -- New hunter looking for advice

[lokidog]

Cypress is not technically part of the San Juans, FYI. 

What method are you planning on using? Archery is probably your best bet for getting access. Also the best bet for patterning the deer. Come October they start to get off of the apple trees. Baiting is your friend if you get access to private land.

I'm not sure of my schedule this Fall as I will be hunting here and Wisconsin, but drop me a note later in the year. Archery I could get you on land on Decatur.

Ed

[steeleywhopper]

This is not looking good!
https://sanjuanislander.com/news-articles/government-news/state/32699/wdfw-confirms-ahd-in-san-juan-islands-deer

[cem3434]

Interesting read, didnt know we had that here.

[RB]

Just got home from a camping trip to Orcas island and Moran State Park, sweet Jesus there are a TON of Deer on that island! All locked in on private and park land. The EHD is awful, wish there was a way to match hunters with landowners to help with the thinning of the herds. 

[lokidog]

I heard the rumor they were considering allowing  a 3rd deer option on the islands to try and increase harvest. Add to that some orgs that arn't so friendly to hunters are willing to let deer hunting happen on their property because the overgrazing has effected the butterfly population.

Not likely since they only recently reduced the second deer tags substantially. They really should have landowner tags out there.

[predatorG]

Might as well try hunting Vashon. You'll have just as much trouble finding a spot to hunt but at least the deer are bigger if you ever get permission. Couple people on the site have pulled some bruisers out of there.

Vashon and San Juans are pretty similar: If you manage somehow to get permission you'll probably get a deer...and then get your tires slashed in the ferry line trying to get off the island.

[luvmystang67]

Was just up there.  No deer anywhere and all the woods smell like death.  They have a brain hemorrhaging disease right now, which has a 95% mortality rate for infected deer.  There are dead deer everywhere in the woods.  Most that I've spoken to haven't seen a deer in weeks and I've heard rough assumptions of a 50% population decline, at least on San Juan.

[ducks4days]

Was just up there.  No deer anywhere and all the woods smell like death.  They have a brain hemorrhaging disease right now, which has a 95% mortality rate for infected deer.  There are dead deer everywhere in the woods.  Most that I've spoken to haven't seen a deer in weeks and I've heard rough assumptions of a 50% population decline, at least on San Juan.

As much as I dont like to say it because I have pulled a 2nd deer from Orcas 4x in the last 7 years and am currently holding another 2nd deer tag for the island, this might be good.

The herd has been in a bad way on Orcas for a long time. There isnt enough food and space there for the sheer volume of deer, there are a few large property sections on the west side where they congregate to feed on grass, but mostly they are on front lawns and in garden beds, or else they are moving around trying to find browse under tall canopies that havent been forested in 8- years. there are no predators to remove weak genes from the population, the deer that survive do so because they are small enough to be narrowly avoided by cars.

I have been saying for years that it is only a matter of time before disease breaks out and wipes them all out. The absolute best thing that could have happened was that bear that swam over a few years back but of course they traq-ed it and moved it off island.  It is a long shot, but I seriously hope that WDFW does outreach to educate the residents on what lead to it and encourage more access agreements to give opportunity to hunters, assuming there are any deer left in the end.

[luvmystang67]

Was just up there.  No deer anywhere and all the woods smell like death.  They have a brain hemorrhaging disease right now, which has a 95% mortality rate for infected deer.  There are dead deer everywhere in the woods.  Most that I've spoken to haven't seen a deer in weeks and I've heard rough assumptions of a 50% population decline, at least on San Juan.

As much as I dont like to say it because I have pulled a 2nd deer from Orcas 4x in the last 7 years and am currently holding another 2nd deer tag for the island, this might be good.

The herd has been in a bad way on Orcas for a long time. There isnt enough food and space there for the sheer volume of deer, there are a few large property sections on the west side where they congregate to feed on grass, but mostly they are on front lawns and in garden beds, or else they are moving around trying to find browse under tall canopies that havent been forested in 8- years. there are no predators to remove weak genes from the population, the deer that survive do so because they are small enough to be narrowly avoided by cars.

I have been saying for years that it is only a matter of time before disease breaks out and wipes them all out. The absolute best thing that could have happened was that bear that swam over a few years back but of course they traq-ed it and moved it off island.  It is a long shot, but I seriously hope that WDFW does outreach to educate the residents on what lead to it and encourage more access agreements to give opportunity to hunters, assuming there are any deer left in the end.

Agreed.  Here's the article.  https://wdfw.wa.gov/news/wdfw-confirms-ahd-san-juan-islands-deer

[Limhangerslayer]

Was just up there.  No deer anywhere and all the woods smell like death.  They have a brain hemorrhaging disease right now, which has a 95% mortality rate for infected deer.  There are dead deer everywhere in the woods.  Most that I've spoken to haven't seen a deer in weeks and I've heard rough assumptions of a 50% population decline, at least on San Juan.

I was there for the fourth at Roche Harbor.  We drove from there to Friday Harbor one morning and only saw 2 deer.  Normally we would see 20-30 easily in years past.

[lokidog]

Was just up there.  No deer anywhere and all the woods smell like death.  They have a brain hemorrhaging disease right now, which has a 95% mortality rate for infected deer.  There are dead deer everywhere in the woods.  Most that I've spoken to haven't seen a deer in weeks and I've heard rough assumptions of a 50% population decline, at least on San Juan.

As much as I dont like to say it because I have pulled a 2nd deer from Orcas 4x in the last 7 years and am currently holding another 2nd deer tag for the island, this might be good.

The herd has been in a bad way on Orcas for a long time. There isnt enough food and space there for the sheer volume of deer, there are a few large property sections on the west side where they congregate to feed on grass, but mostly they are on front lawns and in garden beds, or else they are moving around trying to find browse under tall canopies that havent been forested in 8- years. there are no predators to remove weak genes from the population, the deer that survive do so because they are small enough to be narrowly avoided by cars.

I have been saying for years that it is only a matter of time before disease breaks out and wipes them all out. The absolute best thing that could have happened was that bear that swam over a few years back but of course they traq-ed it and moved it off island.  It is a long shot, but I seriously hope that WDFW does outreach to educate the residents on what lead to it and encourage more access agreements to give opportunity to hunters, assuming there are any deer left in the end.

The bear actually swam back to the mainland after visiting several islands, including Decatur. Then it was tranqed and moved.

[jamesfromseattle]

I was hoping the effects of AHD were being exaugurated, but just got back from Orcas and it was pretty grim.  Only saw two living deer in a long weekend, which is way fewer than I've ever seen.  Typically see dozens every day.  Also saw four carcasses in the bedding area near where I hunt.  Not super recent, but appear to have died within the last couple months.


I've also got a second deer tag for up there.  Usually can fill the tag in any given evening, but I'm not sure if it would even be possible on the land I have access to this year.

For somebody who knows more about wildlife management than me, what is the ethical thing to do with the deer up there at the moment?  Leave them alone and let them recover or take one more off the landscape?  Not sure how long AHD takes to run its course in the herd.

[Stein]

I would say politically, thinning the herd is a non-starter so I would guess it will run it's course.

[predatorG]

I would say politically, thinning the herd is a non-starter so I would guess it will run it's course.

I believe James was asking the question for his own tags, "Has AHD already effed the population so bad that I should consider not hunting to help recovery, or will it not matter if I fill my two tags"

Obviously with our wonderfully incompetent DFW thinning the herds will never be an option, even in situations that require it.

[Rodney107]

My daughter has a 2nd tag for Lopez.  Has it been noticed on there to