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Author Topic: San Juans  (Read 8143 times)

Offline shanevg

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San Juans
« on: August 15, 2008, 08:22:48 PM »
Anyone have any information on hunting deerin the San Juans.  I've been looking at the harvest statistics which are relatively good, especially the harvest statistics on the second deer permits over there which are exceptional.  What islands have public land to hunt on?  Do you have to get there by ferry, or can you take your own boat?  Are there any rules about using firearms?  Thanks for the info!

Offline TeacherMan

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Re: San Juans
« Reply #1 on: August 15, 2008, 08:53:23 PM »
I went out to Orcas a few years back, expensive because of the ferry ride and a waist of time. I would love someone to come on here and tell me I'm wrong. I could find ZERO public land that I could hunt on. Deer everywhere and some nice little bucks, but no where to shoot them. I was bow hunting.
If you shoot the first one you will never get that true trophy.

Offline bullchaser

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Re: San Juans
« Reply #2 on: August 15, 2008, 09:01:12 PM »
Thats how I feel about curlew big deer private land. if i am wrong dont say it here :bdid:

Offline popeshawnpaul

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Re: San Juans
« Reply #3 on: August 15, 2008, 09:14:11 PM »
They are all over on south Lopez and a few of the tiny islands.  Not sure, but if you could shoot them with a gun it would be cake from a boat.

Offline Bean Counter

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Re: San Juans
« Reply #4 on: August 15, 2008, 09:45:21 PM »
Lopez Island has some DNR land. You must use a shotgun--better yet use archery equipment if you have it. Just no modern firearms.  There's a very, very tiny amount of DNR on San Juan--but really small. 

Guemes has a small DNR patch on the northern tip,and the ferry to get there is a bit cheaper.  Different from the main SJ ferry system.

I went whale watching with my church group on SJ a few months ago.  One of the best/happiest days of my life.  Seriously.  Nothing spectacular, just an all around pleasant day with good company.  I fished and pulled up some rock cod--they were biting like freaking crazy.  We saw some whales--several decent bucks in velvet, I think I saw a fox, too.  Oh yeah, the bald eagles.  And we ate raw oysters. 

Fair warning: SJIs have a lot of artsy, pinko libs so I would do the best you can to not advertise your hunting business.  I would wear plain clothes.  Go in, get your deer as discretely as possible, and get the heck out. 

I don't know if you know this but the deer there are all blacktails and they're even small for what you'd expect from a blacktail. Best luck.


Offline shanevg

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Re: San Juans
« Reply #5 on: August 15, 2008, 10:26:36 PM »
Lopez Island has some DNR land. You must use a shotgun--better yet use archery equipment if you have it. Just no modern firearms.  There's a very, very tiny amount of DNR on San Juan--but really small. 

Guemes has a small DNR patch on the northern tip,and the ferry to get there is a bit cheaper.  Different from the main SJ ferry system.

I went whale watching with my church group on SJ a few months ago.  One of the best/happiest days of my life.  Seriously.  Nothing spectacular, just an all around pleasant day with good company.  I fished and pulled up some rock cod--they were biting like freaking crazy.  We saw some whales--several decent bucks in velvet, I think I saw a fox, too.  Oh yeah, the bald eagles.  And we ate raw oysters. 

Fair warning: SJIs have a lot of artsy, pinko libs so I would do the best you can to not advertise your hunting business.  I would wear plain clothes.  Go in, get your deer as discretely as possible, and get the heck out. 

I don't know if you know this but the deer there are all blacktails and they're even small for what you'd expect from a blacktail. Best luck.



Thanks!

Offline TeacherMan

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Re: San Juans
« Reply #6 on: August 15, 2008, 11:36:23 PM »
Thanks for the info about the islands. Makes me almost feel like trying it again. We saw lots of deer when we where there. As for Curlew and private land, you are correct, there is lots of it if you hunt the valley, infact the entire valley floor.  :chuckle:
If you shoot the first one you will never get that true trophy.

Offline Bean Counter

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Re: San Juans
« Reply #7 on: August 16, 2008, 12:33:06 AM »
You're welcome. Some peeps will go there for late season if they don't fill a tag in an early area.

Offline hunterbuilder

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Re: San Juans
« Reply #8 on: August 16, 2008, 06:51:35 AM »
I've hunted Orcas, Lopez, Guemes, and Cypress. On Orcas we hunted a 20 acre piece of private land and shot a lot of deer on that.  There is also a decent sized chunk of DNR land on Orcas that is good to hunt. But a few years ago the access was blocked by another property owner so you couldn't get there. As for the other islands, I have limited experience with some success (in our group) of each island. Each of these islands has some public land that is huntable but it took some research to figure out where and how best to access. There can be some competition with other hunters due to the limited public property. There is a lot of deer out there but by far and away the best hunting for them is on private land.

Offline GOcougsHunter

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Re: San Juans
« Reply #9 on: August 16, 2008, 08:18:43 AM »
Try Speiden Island...  Here's a picture of some animals we saw when sailing a couple of weeks ago.  Should be pretty easy to hunt them from a boat...   (just kidding, the african animals on the island are VERY off limits) but really cool to watch... there are hundreds










Introduce someone new to hunting this year.

Offline girlwithbow

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Re: San Juans
« Reply #10 on: August 16, 2008, 10:01:53 AM »
I have lived on Orcas Island for over three years and have never seen deer so small and I think the inbreeding is getting bad because the white blotches on them get bigger every year.   The bucks may be little but the antlers can get big for there size. Again thats this island
Might not be a sraight arrow But I can shoot one.

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Offline hunterbuilder

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Re: San Juans
« Reply #11 on: August 16, 2008, 01:15:54 PM »
I've noticed that there seems to be 2 different types of deer on Orcas. Some are really small and scruffy looking that we would call the dog deer. Others are just a bit smaller than mainland blacktails with shorter legs and slighty smaller bodies. We never shot any of the "dog" deer. The bucks had decent racks that were usually thick and dark.

Offline robb92

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Re: San Juans
« Reply #12 on: August 16, 2008, 07:27:42 PM »
The last pic is of the fallow deer, they have those over here in Maryland.
"ITS NOT WHAT THE WISE MAN SAYS BUT WHAT THE WISE MAN DOES IN HIS LIFE THAT MATTERS"


Offline oneshotkill

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Re: San Juans
« Reply #13 on: August 17, 2008, 02:29:34 PM »
pm sent.

Offline Bscman

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Re: San Juans
« Reply #14 on: August 22, 2008, 02:37:45 PM »
Man oh man, I've always wanted to archery hunt Orcas Island.
The chances of getting into some private land is near ZERO, though, unless you're family or good friends.

I went on a boy-scout trip on Orcas several years back and almost HIT one of the biggest BT Racks i've ever seen--on me BICYCLE! Small bodies, but they can grow some pretty decent head gear.
I left it better than I found it...did you?
I hunt animals because veggies are too easy to stalk.

 


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