MORE ON HUNTING AT ANTICOSTI CERF-SAU INC.

The Quebec Fish and Game Department issues an annual quota of 855 deer hunting licences for the exclusive 425 square miles (1150 sq. km.) Cerf-Sau territory. By March or April the licences are usually sold out considering that 50 to 60% of our satisfied clients come back every year. One should remember that a vast majority of deer have yet to see a man and most die of old age since a small part of the territory is, at this time, easily accessible for hunting.

A buck-only season from August 1st to August 31st allows a combined salmon fishing and deer hunting trip. The either-sex season lasts three months, from September 1st to December 1st.

In the American Plan, (everything included), two to four hunters are accompanied by a highly skilled English speaking guide (with a colorful French Canadian accent...) and are taken to their exclusive territory (about 10 square miles) in a four wheel drive truck. Hunters can hunt along the well marked trails or can go directly in the bush with their compass, the more effective way for bagging a buck.

In 2002, hunting success was 1.92 deer/person, some hunters having refused to kill a doe, 90% were bucks. The mean width of the racks were 18-20 inches and many exceeded 125 Boone and Crokett points. Of course, the hunt is easiest in September, followed by October, even though the rut occurs in the beginning of November when the bucks are theoretically more vulnerable, but by that time, 65% of the harvest allowed by the Fish and Game Department is already taken.

The weather on Anticosti Island is warm in August, warm and coolish in September, cool in October and cool to cold with snow in November. Our cold room is our safeguard for great venison in August and early September.

The terrain is often muddy or wet. So a rubber boot or a Maine shoe pack type boot (rubber for the foot and leather for the leg) are ideal. Accomodation is in a first class log lodge built for 10 guests only, or in the luxurious log cabins exclusive to small groups of friends.

The vegetation consists primarily of evergreen forests and open marshes so the shot can be made close or at a distance. Hunters use a wide variety of calibers with low power scopes (1X to 4X, for instance). There is no bear, wolf or coyote in Anticosti and upland game is not very abundant.

Coming in we recommend that you register your firearms or bow at the Customs in order to prove upon your return that they were bought in U.S.A. ( Hunting with a handgun is not permitted in Québec).

Ground transportation to the main lodge and cabins takes about 45 minutes if we can land at Bell River airport, if not the ground transportation takes about 4 hours but the many deer along the road offer a good practice for detecting "your two deer"...

Bringing back your deer through the Customs requires only that they are tagged.

We look forward to seeing you at CERF-SAU next season.