Pics from Catalina

[Wiszard]

LAST EDITED ON Dec-19-07 AT 09:53PM (MST)[p]http://www.monstermuleys.info/dcforum/User_files/4769f0f7213ae705.jpg

Here are the pics of mine and my Dads hunt on Catalina Isalnd. This was to be a doe hunt only but starting with this hunt we were able to take small bucks as well. We were able to harvest 2 animals per hunter. There were 8 hunters total and we took a total of 9 animals. The herd has been depleted quite a bit, but that is the goal of the Conservancy. As you can see in these pictures, the deer are in poor shape. Over a day and a half of hunting, as a group we saw only about 25 deer. It rained on us during our one full day of hunting that we had which really put a damper on things. Everyone had a good time. It is always nice to hunt with my Dad. I was the first to shoot an animal at 3:05 the first day. My Dad ended up shooting his on the last day at 3:00. The hunting was hard. Everyone filled at least one of their tags except on hunter who didn't even get a shot. His son, however, shot his first ever buck on this trip...a 9 inch forked horn. I hope you enjoy the pics. It is a beautiful island and if they offer this hunt again, I'd go again.

Steve

 

[buckspotter7]

Congrats! Must have been great to share that unique hunt with your Dad.

 

[turtle]

well them deer are in a bad way ,is it because of the lack of food ? well at least you some meat for the winter thank's the turtle

 

[Wiszard]

I think the deer are in bad shape due to the lack of nutrients in the food. There is plenty for them to eat, it is just crappy food! We hunted over there in 2000 and the deer were in the same shape as they were for this hunt. And they were covered in ticks so I'm sure the deer were stressed as hell.

Steve

 

[eelgrass]

Thanks for sharing. That's a pretty unique hunt.

Eel

 

[turtle]

hey wiszard what due you have to do to hunt on the island and price i also heard they were going to kill all the buffulo sorr for the spelling but what does a turtle know bye turtle

 

[Wiszard]

Turtle- The cost of this hunt was $100 per person. You hunt 1/2 day then one full day and leave the following day. So, there is only a day and a half of hunting to fill 2 tags. It is strictly to reduce deer numbers on the island. This years hunt booked up pretty quick and I don't know if they're doing it next year. The hunt was put on by the Nature Conservancy out there.
As far as the buffalo out there....they are a huge draw so they will not be going anywhere. All of the non-native animals are to be removed from the island except the buffalo...go figure. When the buffalo herd gets too big, they herd some of them up and take them off the island to transplant elsewhere.

Steve

 

[turtle]

Thank you for the info

 

[Hardway]

Hey Wizard....You did'nt have to burn any tags did ya? Depradation Hunt????? That sounds like a good fix for my december blues...Lol!


If huntin is a sport.....Well your lookin at an athlete!

 

[Wiszard]

Believe it or not, I only filled one of my two tags! Out of the 8 hunters we only took 9 deer. Only 2 of the hunters filled both of their tags. One guy didn't fill any of his tags. My Dad and I each took one deer a piece. I know that a lot of deer had been taken off the island since the hunts started in September. I never would have guessed that I'd be bringing a tag home though. Oh well! I still have some meat from 2006's muley to go along with the 30 pounds of meat I got off the island.

Steve

 

[Hardway]

Were they the two tags your allowed through DFG or special tags just for the hunt/island? I know like over at the Tejon ranch they make you trade one of your regular DFG deer tags for one of theirs, so you can still only harvest 2 deer total in Ca.



If huntin is a sport.....Well your lookin at an athlete!

 

[Wiszard]

I had to NOT hunt during the regular season and use my two Ca. DFG tags for this hunt. The conservancy wanted any participant in the Catalina hunt to bring over two tags. They would then swap those tags with PLM tags. So, I ate one tag. It was a good hunt though. Not typical hunting where you glass a lot. It was a lot of road hunting, which I don't do a lot of. This country is very steep so you pretty much have to road hunt if you want to cover a lot of ground.

Steve

 

[Hardway]

Oh well.....wishfull thinking. I guess I should already be happy with two deer tags here in Ca.




If huntin is a sport.....Well your lookin at an athlete!

 

[Wiszard]

I wasn't too thrilled not being able to hunt archery or rifle in A zone this year but what can you do? I'm happy with just taking the one deer I guess.

Steve