I can now call myself a hunter!

[ladiver]

Got back from a 3 day hunt on Catalina. Gorgeous weather for the island. I was successful on my very first hunt!

My first deer was a buck. I spotted him at 280 yards and stalked to with 75 yards. Got a good clean shot and dropped him...right down the hill. First lesson learned in hunting. Don't stalk to above the animal and shoot him down a hill! I should have shot across the valley from 280 and pinned him against the hill instead of down it. Oh well.

Second deer was a smaller doe. This time I made sure she was in an open field with nice and easy access. She was about 180 yards out. I got another nice clean shot on her. She dropped right where she was standing.

All in all, I am very happy to say I had a great time and a very successful hunt. Came home with 100+lbs of meat! Tonight's dinner is venison tenderloin. I can't wait to get home.

Jeff

 

[HATCHET1]

Hey bro..how much does that hunt cost a guy? is that a management hunt? and way to lay the wood to some fine eating venado right there son!! damn!!! YOUR HOOKED FOR SURE NOW!!

 

[Lungpopper]

Congrats Jeff Nice job for a first hunt. That Catalina hunt has been on my bucket list for years.

 

[ratz]

Great job!
i love the arcing shape of his antlers.

 

[invisible man]

Good job Jeff. Congrats on your first. Maybe you can give us all a ball park figure on what a Catalina hunt might cost. Say from and back to your door step. Just a ball park number please. Thanks in advance.

 

[NBK]

Very nice ladiver! Thanks for sharing the pictures and story.

 

[Captaintb]

http://catalinahunting.com/the-hunt/hunting-packages

Is this the only outfitter on the island?

 

[NF7]

Congrats on your first buck.

 

[SurfNHuntSD]

Congrats on the pair. Did u go with the dry ice for the trip?

 

[Snake Charmer]

Congrat's !, The journey begins...!

 

[ladiver]

Thanks guys. Yes, I did pack about 15lbs of dry ice. I picked it up Monday on my way to the docks. When I got home Wednesday afternoon there was still some left. I ended up not shipping anything back via freight. I packed both coolers full, 70-80lbs each.

There is only one guide service, Wildlife West Outfitters. They are the one linked above. There are two hunt options. The first is a management hunt, which is what I did, then there is the trophy hunt. This year, the "trophies" are not going to be that great. The drought is not helping them any.

The cost breakdown is as follows;
Catalina Express - $76
Guided Hunt - $2000 (2 day management hunt) or $3000 (3 day trophy hunt)
Tip - $200
Hunting license - $46
Deer tag - $31
2nd deer tag - $38
Catalina Conservancy tags - $150 ($75 each animal)
Meat processing $200 ($100 each animal)

Total was approximately $2665. WOW, Invisible Man, why did you have to ask? I would rather have not seen the total cost. . Well worth it though.


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[ladiver]

The outfitter was absolutely top notch! The guides were awesome, the house was nice and the food was excellent. There was a pretty good chance that we all tagged out. There were three guides and five hunters. I got extremely lucky and was given my own guide. What a great way to learn. Plus, we spotted dozens of deer that I could have taken.
If anyone is considering this hunt, I do recommend it. Quick trip and easy way to fill the freezer.


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[baboltin]

congrats thats awesome! how is the terrain hunting there is it any differnet from hunting california main land? thats really the only reason I would pay to hunt it becuase of the experience and to say I have hunted the island other than that I would probably take the money and go to a guide service and try and kill a 190+ inch buck. sounds like it was pretty awesome and worth the money congrats thats crazy they allow doe hunts there but not on the main land they should open up some doe hunts so that it isnt 25-30 does to one buck ratio

 

[ladiver]

Baboltin, the terrain was varied. Everything from flat to steep slopes. I have a whole story of getting that buck, but that is for another day. The guides have 4WD and access to the whole island. They tailor the experience to you. If mountain climbing is your thing, then that's what you may get. If you want to drive around in the truck and spot a deer in a flat field, that is fine too. I bet the management hunt is easier than the trophy hunts. The guides also said the deer are not as skittish early in the season.


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[Bonejour]

Great hunt and great write up. Thanks for all the info Jeff

 

[MJB]

Hatchet, please your moving to TX me and Zeke are taking over your guide business anyways.......haha

Nice buck and a great place to hunt see any pigs that Feinstein missed?

 

[Bill S.]

Super cool. I went to Avalon this year, took a lame bus through the island with the wife, total tourist trip. Couldn't help but spend every single second looking at every single canyon and hillside fantasizing about some buck standing broadside looking at me. The island was fascinating to me. Did you see the buffalo? Theres an interseting story behind them.

 

[Aeon]

nice job LaDiver, its expensive but add up what it cost to kill a local deer with tons of trips scouting and then tons of days in the field. The cost ends up about the same or maybe less!

enjoy the hunting there while you can. The granola chewers are going to eradicate the pesky deer someday off the island. They are hell bent on returning the island to its pre-man condition. The already have the buffalo on birth control so they will die in out 15 years or less.

 

[ladiver]

its expensive but add up what it cost to kill a local deer with tons of trips scouting and then tons of days in the field. The cost ends up about the same or maybe less!

This is very true. One afternoon, during the hunt, we were all sitting having lunch and talking about the "real" cost of hunting. While $2K-$3K seeems like quite a bit, we got 2 deer in 3 days. This makes each dear $1000-1500. Much more reasonable price. If you had to drive any distance to scout, it would probably be a hundred dollars a day + time. Then your hunt would be a a few hundred dollars. If you had to get a hotel, that adds even more. So...$1000 per dear is not bad at all.

Plus, as a complete noob (or even experienced and lazy), it was really nice to let the guide to all of the hard work. I learned so much about hunting during these three days, the education alone was worth the cost.

 

[msailor]

Thanks for sharing your hunt! That hunt is on my bucket list too and the cost sounds expensive but I know how things add up on just a regular hunt and atleast with a guide you have some expectation of success.