Virgin Islands Deer

[KentuckyTJ]

Well, the other four business owners and I took our annual meeting/bonding/unwinding/suds drinking trip to St. Johns last month. On a day hike in the mountains we jumped a deer. It was bedded in the fauna maybe 10 paces from us when it spooked. We had no idea it was there. When it stopped it was maybe 15 yards away. It stood and looked at us for at least two minutes with no fear at all. As hard as I tried I couldn't make out whether it was male or female due to the thick, thick and thicker cover. It was a whitetail which really surprised me. Talking to a man in the bar that evening he said they have two deer species there. The whitetail and another type I could never understand what he called it.

I was just wondering if anyone has ever hunted the U.S. Virgin Islands and if so please share your experiences with us.

 

 

 

 

 

[Apex Predator]

Cool!  I never knew that, and have visited several times while in the US Navy.

[Lefty1972]

That's awesome.  I had no idea deer were there.

[pcappy08]

thats awesome i never would have guessed whitetails were there, they are an amazing animal to say the least

[razorsharptokill]

When I went to jungle warfare training in Panama, they had a small zoo on base. They had a small whitetail doe there. I was amazed. She seemed mature but stunted.

[Mike Spaulding]

Hi Tom!

A buddy of mine who was a wildlife biologist for the university of Georgia was sent several times to the carribean (can't remember which island) to help eliminate some deer and cows if you can believe it.  I can't remember the reason either (this was a few years ago) but the whitetail is more than likely non-native and probably considered an invasive species.  I had no idea they were there either until he told me.. showed me some pics of the ones he shot.  very small and full of ticks, fealt bad for the deer, must of been a heck of a life with all those nasty bloodsuckers all over it.

[KentuckyTJ]

Mike this deer was good sized and appeared very healthy.

[Danny Rowan]

Yep, there are whitetail deer there. Brought over in the 1700s. Does go 80lb and bucks 100lb. Got that by doing a web search. Did not mention any other deer species.

Danny

[KentuckyTJ]

I searched for hunting info Danny and couldn't find anything.

[Danny Rowan]

Yeah, I could not find anything about hunting but did a search for deer in the VI and found the above. So I do not know if they allow hunting there. It also said there were tons of goats on the islands, but again no mention of hunting.

Danny

[KentuckyTJ]

Yep lots of goats and donkey's walking around. Most the driveways had goat gates to keep them out.

[A.S.]

Sure looks like some nice scenery for a hunting trip, Tom!

Maybe you could be the pioneer bowhunter there, and start a new outfitting business......

[KentuckyTJ]

My thoughts exactly Allen. It's 75 degrees down there right now. I'll buy five camo hunting vessels, and I'll need a few good guides do you have any interest?

[A.S.]

Sign me up! We're supposed to get more snow tonight, and I'm almost out of firewood already. I'm ready for a change of pace.

[NorthernCaliforniaHunter]

That is stunning scenery!
I went to Bali for my honeymoon in 2000 and while hiking their forest ran into a deer. It had an impressive rack but a tiny body, about the size of a medium dog. Anyhoo, thanks for sharing and let us know what you find out about chasing them with a bow.

[dan ferguson]

Settin out here in the frozen plains of Nebraska, these pics make me wish I was rich with alot of time on my hands.

[c'ville]

Thats pretty cool, I spooked two small ones when I visited the park on St. John in 2007.

[Steve H.]

Possibly fallow deer for deer#2?

Probably not the right area for brockets.

[myshootinstinks]

We went to St Thomas last May and while I didn't see many deer on St Thomas, we took a ferry to St Johns and they were fairly plentiful.  I asked around and was told they were imported years ago. I expected to see a lot of things on those islands but not deer. All that I saw looked like whitetail.

[KentuckyTJ]

Hey Doug we flew into St. Thomas but stayed on St. Johns all week. Didn't spend any time on St Thomas. It is much more developed from the little I saw.