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Digital Edition
Anticosti: The Isle of Whitetails
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photo: Joe Cermele

One of thousands of buck tracks on the beach at Anticosti Island.


By Joe Cermele

When I think back to past island experiences, things like pina coladas, tarpon, and steel-drum music come to mind. Surrounded by water always went hand in hand with surrounded by fish for me. But walking down a beach in Canada, I found something foreign. Running in every direction between piles of seaweed and the faded shells of washed up stone crabs were thousands of deer tracks--dewclaws perfectly imprinted in the sand.

Oh sure, I was surrounded by water, but I came to Anticosti Island off the coast of Quebec to be surrounded by whitetails. Across this 140-mile-long island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, it is impossible to move five feet without seeing a track, rub, or scat pile. The biggest draw here is that the 120,000 estimated deer on the island have only one predator...the hunter.
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Comment on This Article

At 1:09 AM, 2008-12-29, gREGERS said:
well michiganjoe is an idiot, sorry, " nothing but twig heads up here, South MI is the place to go" i shot an awsome 130 and my brother shot a real nice 125 in the U.P this year those sure dont sound like twig heads to me, people that hunt in southern michigan discuss me "sorry" but hunting over a 3 acre cornfield or in a 20 acre parcel of oaks just doesnt cut it, those deer dont stand a chance to hunters let alone Shotguns. might as well hunt a high fence area Mark comment offensive

At 2:12 PM, 2008-12-10, Anthony said:
Dan W. seems like a complete moron... and needs to come to the midwest Mark comment offensive

At 11:58 AM, 2008-12-04, ADK hunter said:
I hunted Anticosti this year for the first time-it was great.Already booked for next year. Being an avid hunter of the Adirondacks,it was similar.Not the same,but similar.Keep one thing in mind-if you are "hunting" from a tree stand you ARE a shooter not a hunter.There is a difference.To stalk & track your prey with little hunting pressure on thousands of acres is hunting. Mark comment offensive

At 4:26 PM, 2008-12-03, digitalwoodsforager said:
four buddies and I went to Anticosti a couple of years ago and it is truly a deer hunters heaven. For the bigger racks you have to really hunt. I shot a nice 9 pointer and a sweet 8 pointer. The deer are nice sized just shorter in length than the deer here in Maine. Our biggest deer (10 pt) weighed 160. We all tagged out (not everyone did). A couple of fork horns, two nice 6 pointers and one doe the final day/final hour! Sepac is run by the Quebec government-we went to the other end to a place called Cerf Sau. No tree stands, but an awesome hunt. I'd recommend to anyone who has the same addiction I do-go to Anticosti at least once before you die. Mark comment offensive

At 12:14 PM, 2008-12-03, deerhunter said:
those anticosti bucks are better trophies than the giants that result from being fed of food plots or feeders and corn. Mark comment offensive

At 12:11 PM, 2008-12-03, elkslayer said:
As much as I like the magazine, it needs more articles on hunting in heavy timber where there isn't a food plot for a hundred miles. Out heere in the west it's like that. no farm fields no food plots only thick forest and few clearings. That being said I don't have any problem with eastern hunters enjoying the sport their way. Anticosti sounds like a great time. Mark comment offensive

At 10:37 AM, 2008-11-28, tim said:
hunting is not just about the racks. the rack is a bonus. the real trophy is a full belly! im from pa and some of these rack hunters make me sick!! for this reason, you would not believe the number of deer i have found with there heads cut off and the body left to rot. respect the animal cause without the animal, there would be no rack at all Mark comment offensive

At 3:40 PM, 2008-11-26, josh said:
well said rob. Mark comment offensive

At 1:20 PM, 2008-11-26, michiganjoe said:
escanaba mi, please, nothing but twig heads up there. southern mi is the place to go. Mark comment offensive

At 8:27 PM, 2008-11-23, Travis said:
oh yeah one more thing, you could just go escanaba michigan for half the price and clean up and bigger, better deer and have a better time. Mark comment offensive

At 5:50 PM, 2008-11-23, Dan W. said:
let's get one thing straight. first a deer can only be classified by how many points it has on one side. if it has more points on one side than the other than it should be called a 4x5 or a 6x4. second hunting from a raised platform at any animal is not fair for the animal. third if any of you want to actually shoot an animal that is worthy of being called a trophy save your money and come out west. the airfare and tag would be comparable to the same hunt in canada. however i would understand that you all from the east coast have never seen anything as rugged and beautiful as the western rockies, so it has got to seem like a 140 mile fairly inhabited island is the wilderness. Mark comment offensive

At 6:21 PM, 2008-11-21, JimR said:
anonymous...i'm sure you're a moron. Mark comment offensive

At 6:16 PM, 2008-11-21, anonymous said:
f&s: the isle of exposed honey-holes. i'm sure the guys that hunted that place appreciate you getting the word out! Mark comment offensive

At 12:10 PM, 2008-11-21, THE HAF said:
i hunt the texas hill county every year. this hunt sound great. to have a chance to hunt "the big woods" is a dream of mine. the deer maybe be bigger other places but the hunt sounds wonderful to me! if in the future i have the money i would jump at the chance to go here. Mark comment offensive

At 11:03 AM, 2008-11-21, Hunter said:
is that heaven? Mark comment offensive

At 10:15 PM, 2008-11-20, The Filthy Animal said:
great article joe,.... sounds like a great time! i was discussing a trip to anticosti with my wife and she asked if it was possible to take one of these whitetails tred barta hog hunt style with a knife. do you think they offer this type of hunt? Mark comment offensive

At 5:17 PM, 2008-11-20, A M Quindazzzi said:
very nice job joe hope to see you next year tonyq Mark comment offensive

At 4:34 PM, 2008-11-20, corbin said:
at least if you do get a trophy on this island, it seems for legit to me then hunting a fenced ranch where if you have the money its prety much a guarantee you'll kill a giant. i don't see the fun in that Mark comment offensive

At 4:30 PM, 2008-11-20, jethroG said:
rob, i agree. i have never shot a huge buck, but i have enjoyed taking all the ones i have killed just the same because they were all great days spent with friends and family. they;er all trophies to me. i would hunt this place. i'd rather see a ton of bucks than maybe get lucky and see one big one. Mark comment offensive

At 4:26 PM, 2008-11-20, rob said:
i believe that judging the size of the deer to be the sole basis of the hunt is missing the point. the point of a place like anticosti is the wildness, not shooting a deer in a food plot or over a feeder. sometimes, the adventure of the travel and the quality of the hunt far outweigh the gross score of a buck. too bad so many of us have lost sight of that. Mark comment offensive

At 3:56 PM, 2008-11-20, Travis said:
it sounds fun but if i was going to pay money to get a deer i would make sure that they would be big no little eight pointers or five pointers. Mark comment offensive


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Anticosti Island off the coast of Quebec may be surrounded by water, but the draw for sportsmen is not its fisheries. Here, whitetail deer number in the hundreds of thousands, and they have no natural predators other than hunters. We sent one of our editors to this paradise of the north to see if he could shoot straight and avoid cabin fever. Story and photos by Joe Cermele

To book a hunt with Sepaq Anticosti, call (800) 463-0863 or visit their website. Hunts take place from August through December and range in price from $1,100 to $4,700 depending on whether you want all-inclusive lodge treatment or you'd rather rough it. Both rifle and bow hunters can be accommodated.

For more information about Smith & Wesson's i-Bolt rifles, visit smith-wesson.com.

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