• Magazine
• |
• Auction
• |
• Record Book
• |
• Convention & Special Events
• |
• Photo Gallery
• |
• GOABC.tv

Deer

Deer are the most abundant big game animal in North America.   Mule deer have the widest distribution throughout British Columbia, ranging from as high north as the Liard River Valley, through the interior of the province and as far west as the Coast Mountains.

Mule deer have a reddish-brown coat that changes from tawny brown in summer to dark, grizzled brown in winter. They have dark brown foreheads, whitish faces, black muzzles and white throat patches. Mule deer have large ears with distinct black borders and white hair inside. A buck’s antlers have two main beams, each of which forks into two beams. Older bucks will have four or more points and a small tine or eye guard near the base of the antler.  

Black-tailed deer are smaller than mule deer and slightly darker in color. They have a small rump patch and a tail that is mostly brown or black. Black-tailed deer occur along the entire coast of British Columbia, west of the summit of the Coast and Cascade Mountain ranges and on most coastal islands. Visible difference between the columbia black-tailed and sitka black-tailed deer are slight. Sitka black-tailed deer are slightly smaller and darker and are only found on the Queen Charlotte Islands, other islands in the Hecate Strait and along the coast of northern Vancouver Island. Columbia black-tailed deer are found on Vancouver Island and along the coastal territory from the International Boundary to Rivers Inlet.  

Grass and forb form most of a deer's diet in summer, while key winter foods include shrubs and foliage from Douglas fir trees. A mule deer’s weight will vary from 110 to 470 lbs (50 to 210 kg).  A black-tailed deer’s weight will vary from 88 to 150 lbs (40 – 68 kg).