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Contact Information
| State/Province: | British Columbia |
| Contact Person: | Ian Hatter - Ungulate Specialist |
| Address: | Wildlife
Branch Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection PO Box 9374 Stn Prov Govt Victoria, BC V8W 9M4 |
| Hunter Harvest Data | 1970 | 1985 | 1995 | 2000 |
| Total Deer Harvest | NR | 60,000 | 39,850 | NR |
| Antlered Mule Deer Harvest (Rifle) | NR | NR | 22,850 | NR |
| Antlerless Mule Deer Harvest (Rifle) | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Antlered Black-tailed Deer Harvest (Rifle) | NR | NR | 17,000 | NR |
| Antlerless Black-tailed Deer Harvest (Rifle) | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Antlered Deer Harvest (Archery) | The agency does not have estimates of the archery harvest | |||
| Antlerless Deer Harvest (Archery) | ||||
| Total Deer Hunters (Rifle) | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Total Deer-Hunter Days (Rifle) | NR | 900,000 | 886,000 | NR |
| Total Deer Hunters (Archery) | The agency does not have archery estimates | |||
| Total Deer-Hunter Days (Archery) | ||||
Fees and Limits
| Resident License Fee: | $15 |
| Non-resident License Fee: | $75 |
| %
of province in public lands: |
~ 93% |
| Season Bag Limit: | Provincial bag limit is 3 deer. The provincial bag limit may be achieved by hunting in one or more regions provided the regional bag limits are not exceeded (regional bag limits vary from 1 to 2, except in the Queen Charlotte Islands where the season bag limit is 10). |
| Definition of a Legal Animal: | Varies by Wildlife Management Unit. May included antlerless, any buck or 4 point buck. |
| Common Opening Day: | Archery:
September 1 Rifle: September 10 |
| Common Season Length: |
Archery - 9 days. Some WMU's also provide a late season (after
the rifle hunt) of approximately 14 days. |
| Mule
deer / Black-tailed deer Population Statistics |
1970
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1985
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1995
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2000
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| Total population | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Mean buck ratio/100 does | The agency only has fawn:doe and buck:doe ratios from very localized areas. A province wide estimate cannot be extrapolated from these data. The management objective is >20 bucks/100 does. | |||
| Range buck ratio/100 does | ||||
| Mean fawn ratio/100 does | ||||
| Range fawn ratio/100 does | ||||
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Interior mule deer populations are generally stable, while coastal black-tailed deer populations are stable-declining. Mule deer population trends are primarily affected by predation, forest succession that is reducing quantity and quality of seral shrub winter range - largely due to efficient forest fire suppression - and periodic severe winters. Currently, southere Interior herds are recovering from severe winters of 1995/96 and 1996/97 as well as suspected high levels of predation. For black-tailed deer, predation is the greatest factor in declines. Other factors include loss of winter ranges and reduced availability of spring range. The standard open season is for "any buck" deer. Where general open seasons cannot safely regulate harvests, then antler restrictions and/or limited entry hunt seasons can also be permitted. Normally, "4-point or greater" open seasons are only used to provide additional hunting opportunities, either before or after the regular "any buck" season, and providing the number of prime (or mature) bucks is not reduced to below optimal levels. Limited entry hunting seasons are normally used to regulate antlerless harvests.
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