15 replies to this topic

[Switch]

We had a group head out to Catalina Island to participate in an island doe hunt. The terrain was pretty tough, but hiking the deep canyons resulted in success. Me and my friend Eric doubled up on a pair of big does that bounded out of a deep canyon and stopped broadside at 200 yards on the other side. Both were down on first shots and we were both pretty happy to have meat for the freezer.

[Bennie]

Congrats on the hunt. Those will be good eating. Is that the island they are trying too get all the deer off of? If it is? Double Congrats and my respect. You guys going over there and meat hunting for those animals is a lot better than what the Gov. has planned for them.

[Thumper Dunker]

Way to go.

[CA Desert Dog]

Nice going. At least all of that hiking paid off with some tasty meat in the freezer. My question is....how did you get the deer from the wilderness area back to camp? Did you have to pack them all the way out?

[Air Rifle Hunter]

Very nice and glad you both had a successful trip.

[Bisley]

My question is....how did you get the deer from the wilderness area back to camp? Did you have to pack them all the way out?

I bet the pack out while hiking was nothing compared to trying to pack them out across the ocean Were you guys able to do any fishing while you were there also? That would be the perfect surf and terf combo to bring back home if you had the chance.

[BullsEye]

Very cool guys! Congrats on a great hunt.

[whatjeffhunts]

Nice! My wife wants me to do the Catalina Doe hunt next year. We went there for our honey moon and are planning on going back for 10 days, then finishing up with the hunt next year. How easy is it taking your firearms across the ferry?? How did you get the meat home?

[whatjeffhunts]

Congrats on the hunt. Those will be good eating. Is that the island they are trying too get all the deer off of? If it is? Double Congrats and my respect. You guys going over there and meat hunting for those animals is a lot better than what the Gov. has planned for them.

Thats the elk on Santa Rosa Island your thinking of. Catalina they just need to reduce the population because the deer are starving

[Bennie]

Cool I heard they were going to wipe out all non native species on one of those Islands over there. I am not familiar with the Islands. I just heard from a friend that they are going to send in a bunch of sharp shooters to kill what ever the hunters do not get on one of those islands over there. I was just thinking it would be best for hunters to take care of it.

[Rob]

Hey what's the difference between "Sharp Shooters" and "Hunters" I wonder. Is this some sort of slam from the DFG wizards?

[Switch]

They aren't trying to eliminate the deer from Catalina Island. Just controlling the population to establish a huntable herd.We quartered the more remote deer and gutted and dragged the others down to one of the many dirt roads on the island.We showed up to the island with empty coolers and then boned out the meat for the ferry ride to the mainland.You need to have a lock on your gun case and they store them separately on the ferry ride out.

[Bennie]

Did you see any big bucks while you were there?

[B-ZONE]

what do you need/do...to get to hunt on the island?....is there a fee that you have to pay?...how much?

[ShooterJohn]

Go here they handle the hunting for the Catalina Island Conservancy. http://www.wildlifew...c.com/home.htmlNice job on getting the does Tim.

[mackeralboy]

Having lived on Catalina for 4 years heres what I know about the island.The majority of the island is set up as a private conservancy. The conservancy was set up by the Wrigley family back in the 1970's as a way to get a tax break on owning the island. The Wrigley family still has control of the conservancy and sets the policies as far as Game and Hunting on the island. When I lived there 1991-95 there was an serious effort to eradicate all of the feral goats on the island. The military had intended to open up San Clemente Island (to the south) during that time and got an injuction thrown against them by some animal rights group to allow them to come in and save as many goats as possible. Long story short it turned into a cluster as expected and the military eventualy had to let the fuzzy lovers to come in and tackle as many goats as they could from helicopters for 6 months. The Catalina conservancy learned from the military's cluster and descretely hired a couple of guys to go up and shoot goats with AR's from a helicopter. The main problem as I understand it is that the conservancy has sort of a hypicritical stance on protecting the native species on the island and getting rid of the non native species. The non native species include; Wild Pigs, Racoons, Goats, Mule Deer, Black Buck, Feral Cats, and American Bison. It is my understanding that the conservancy would like to get rid of all of the non native species except for the buffalo. Tourist pay big money to ride on a tour bus that takes people into the interior of the Island and one of the big draws is that you can see buffalo. It is also my understanding that the conservancy's on again off again policies with regards to hunting and game management has led directly to the population explosion of deer on the island. There are no natural predators to control the deer population. A few years ago it was real bad as a fire burned over about 1/4 of the island and wiped out the already sparse food supply. I went over and participated in a hunt right after this fire and the deer looked so emaciated and sickly that we felt as if we were doing more of a mercy killing than harvesting game. Since that time I have heard that the conservancy has kind of got its act togeather again and has really been pushing the deer hunts through a professional guide service. Hopefully the conservancy will continue this practice but depending on which Wrigley family member is presently in charge of the conservancy it will set the tone for hunting on the island. Mc