Anticost

[rustyg]

I am planning on booking a hunt to Anticosti for this fall.
I had heard from a friend of a friend that the heard had a couple rough winters and the deer population was down.
Anyone have any reliable information?

 

[steve b]

My father hunted anticosti 2 years in a row over 6 or 7 years ago. He loved it. Then they had a bad deer kill so he didnt go back. Word is the hunting is on the upswing.

 

[NH Hunter]

An older guy that I fish with goes every year. He killed an 8 and a 10 out of the same stand , same morning last fall. I don't think it's that bad if he has kept going through the years.

 

[vtbbhunter]

john moulton I know went last fall and got 2 nice deer he sent me photos ill try and dig em up

 

[vtbbhunter]

 

[Wandling]

What's the average weight/rack size? Is it tracking or standing?

 

[NH Mountains]

What's the average weight/rack size? Is it tracking or standing?

Walking, stand hunting, driving roads in trucks and shooting from roads (legal on the island).

 

[longbow]

...

 

[JDK]

I know two different crews that went this year and they had zero issues shooting bucks. Not all of the bucks were "big" but they all shot bucks. One group went in October and the other in November.

 

[steve b]

my experience with my father going is the average bucks are in the 125 class range .

 

[NH Mountains]

my experience with my father going is the average bucks are in the 125 class range .

I saw one dead 125" buck there in 7 years of hunting. No way is the average buck there 125". You have a better chance of seeing larger bucks in the December migration but, 125" are not common. Look at Willy's, Lab44s, and Jeff's photos of hunts in the past. Those are good bucks for Anticosti but, very few hit 100".

 

[vtbbhunter]

I have seen a lot of deer from anticosti, ave 140-160 lbs 90" racks. 2 tags I'd do it once

 

[UltraTec]

I have seen a lot of deer from anticosti, ave 140-160 lbs 90" racks. 2 tags I'd do it once

+1

 

[NH Mountains]

I have seen a lot of deer from anticosti, ave 140-160 lbs 90" racks. 2 tags I'd do it once

150 pounds there on most years is a large buck. On the occasional year where they have a mild winter they may be a little heavier. A guide I knew there had only seen 2 200 pound bucks killed in over 35 years of guiding. If you want the best odds of shooting a large buck go late November or early December when they are migrating. If you go early season September thru early November you will most likelynot see that many bucks. The issue with going late is the hunting days are a couple hours shorter. Keep in mind the guided hunts leave at a specific time in the morning so you won't be out there at the crack of dawn like you'd like. A lot of the deer will have left the feeding areas by the time you leave to hunt. They feed all the time there though due to poor feed so you will see them feeding at any time. Bring a can call if you go.

 

[802-603hunter]

My uncle and cousin hunted there for a number of years back in the late 90's and early 2000's. The heaviest buck they saw shot there over that time was my uncles 178lb, most nice bucks were in the 150's. Here's the best rack, one my cousin shot. He also shot a very similar 10pt a couple years later. Think they were in the high 120" range. They hadn't shot any that nice out of the particular camp they go to in years according to the guides.

 

[lab44]

I've been going up there for about 20 years now. They had a bad winter kill in the winter of 2013-2014. Population is bouncing back quick. We're there second week in December. They had a lot of snow by then, deer had migrated. We saw over 800 deer on the ocean in our 4-day hunt. It's not always like that though, that's a lot of deer.

 

[longbow]

View attachment 18064 View attachment 18065 View attachment 18066

I've been going up there for about 20 years now. They had a bad winter kill in the winter of 2013-2014. Population is bouncing back quick. We're there second week in December. They had a lot of snow by then, deer had migrated. We saw over 800 deer on the ocean in our 4-day hunt. It's not always like that though, that's a lot of deer.

Wow, you shot some great bucks there. Congrats!

 

[kevin in nh]

Wow, you shot some great bucks there. Congrats!

I have seen a bunch of pictures of Deer from there and these are the biggest and best I have seen.

 

[lab44]

I have seen a bunch of pictures of Deer from there and these are the biggest and best I have seen.

There are good deer up there, you just have to be in the right place, right time of year, with the right conditions. It's easy to get deer, it's easy to get bucks up there. The hardest part is to have the patience to lay off the trigger the first couple days of a 4-day hunt. The hunting on the quality of a hunt on that Island is so dependent on the weather conditions.