Deer hunting on Vashon with James Cottrell

Many October nights and early mornings, James Cottrell hears the commotion before he sees it — bucks crashing through the brush, antlers clashing, grunts echoing through the dark.

As a bow hunter and deer enthusiast, Cottrell feels connected to the land when he’s hunting — or as he prefers to say, “harvesting” — local venison. “There’s a lot of movement for folks to feel more connected to the food that they are eating,” he said.

October marks “peak rut,” when bucks are focused on mating and more likely to cross roads unpredictably, he said. During this period, deer activity increases across the island, contributing to more vehicle collisions and heavier browsing on native vegetation.

Vashon has long struggled with overpopulation. Without natural predators, deer herds have expanded unchecked, leading to invasive plants overtaking native vegetation and a growing number of traffic accidents. Cottrell calls the island “severely overpopulated” and believes responsible hunting can help restore balance.

“There’s not enough people taking the deer during the season,” he said.

Cottrell grew up in Napa Valley, where he learned early about the balance between people and deer. As a kid, he was hired to stay in the vineyards at night to watch where deer were coming in and eating the young vines. His job was to scare them off with firecrackers. “They could mow down a brand-new vineyard overnight,” he said.

He learned to hunt young but set it aside for years. For 16 of them, he was vegetarian — “because my girlfriend was,” he said. When they married, they decided to start eating meat again, but more consciously. “That was when I really came back to it,” he said. After moving to Vashon three decades ago, hunting became a way of life — and a form of stewardship.

A massage therapist and longtime island resident, Cottrell has become a go-to source for those curious about hunting. He teaches others how to follow regulations, handle weapons safely and make a clean, humane shot. He’s also part of a small network of islanders who collect and process roadkill so the meat doesn’t go to waste.

Hunting on Vashon isn’t simple, he said. The island is a firearm-restricted area, meaning rifles are prohibited. Hunters are limited to muzzleloaders, shotguns with slugs, handguns or bows.

“You can’t even shoot a deer on your property without a license and tags,” he said. “But the regulations are important — we don’t want deer piling up just for the antlers.”

He estimates he knows more than 20 islanders who’ve hit deer with their cars. “There were five rollovers last year from people swerving to avoid deer,” he said. “Just last week, someone rolled over.”

To Cottrell, hunting is a way to live sustainably and take responsibility for the island’s abundance. He prefers the word “harvesting” over “hunting,” a distinction that reflects both his respect for the animal and the quieter, more deliberate nature of bow hunting compared with the loud report of a gun.

“I’m teaching students to shoot the deer through the heart and both lungs, because they die very quickly,” he said. He uses every part of the animal — “down to the bone,” he said.

He teaches about 10 students a year, starting them on crossbows before progressing to traditional bows. He says the meat from Vashon deer is especially good — sweet and mild from their varied diet of local vegetation and plenty of apples. “Vashon venison isn’t gamey,” he said. “They live low-stress lives.”

He stores his harvests in a solar-powered freezer. “It’s the best feeling to have a low carbon footprint,” he said. “To kill a deer on my property, store it in my solar freezer and not drive anywhere.”

Washington’s deer seasons

Deer hunting in Washington is divided into several distinct seasons, each with its own timing and equipment rules. Hunters must have a valid big game hunting license that includes deer as a species option.

Archery season opens first, usually running through most of September, then returning briefly after Thanksgiving and continuing until about Dec. 31 for late-season bow hunters. Muzzleloader season follows in late September or early October, with another short period in November that extends into about the first week of December. The modern firearm season — the most popular among hunters — takes place in October, followed by a short late hunt in mid-November.

Each hunter is limited to one deer per tag — generally one deer per season — though it’s possible to apply for a second tag for a doe through a drawing process. All regulations are set annually by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. On Vashon, additional restrictions apply during their respective seasons: rifles are prohibited, and hunters are limited to using muzzleloaders, shotguns, handguns, bows, or crossbows. Each season has different weapon rules and regulations.

Cottrell recommends students and beginners use compound bows because they increase the likelihood of accurate shots and deliver more force with greater control for the archer.

For Cottrell, the deer population problem isn’t new — it’s cyclical. Through ancedotal evidence, island historian Bruce Haulman traces the pattern back more than a century. Early Indigenous residents, the Swift Water People, hunted deer and elk regularly. But after their removal in 1854 and the arrival of settlers, hunting and land clearing decimated deer populations, he said.

By the 1920s, deer were scarce, Haulman said. Numbers rebounded in the 1970s as forests regrew and hunting waned. Since the 1990s, Haulman said, the pendulum has swung the other way — with waves of overpopulation followed by sudden declines. “It’s difficult to find specific numbers,” he said in an email, “but that’s what I know from oral histories and my own 50 years on the island.”

Bianca Perla, science director at the Vashon Nature Center, has seen the same story unfold in real time. In a 2022 wildlife camera study, 69 percent of all animal photos taken on the island were of deer.

“Deer were photographed at the highest frequency of any other animal in every habitat including beaches,” Perla said in an email.

Predator poor and without disease outbreaks like the adenovirus that thinned herds in the San Juans in 2021, Vashon’s deer population continues to rise, she said. Perla said she hopes the data gathered from the wildlife camera study can eventually be used to produce an accurate population estimate for the island.

“Our deer population seems very strong,” Perla said. “ … The high frequency of camera capture points to the fact that deer are ubiquitous … and very abundant compared to other land dwelling animals on the island.”

To Cottrell, that abundance is both a challenge and a gift. “There’s just so many of them,” he said. “It’s such a great resource.”

For more information on specific hunting seasons, rules and regulations, visit tinyurl.com/499drs4h.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this article stated that “shotguns with slugs” are allowed on Vashon. While that is correct, the article now refers simply to “shotguns,” as they are also permitted without a slug. Crossbows were also added to this list.

James Cottrell stands beside a deer target he practices on, the arrows clustered near the heart and lungs — the vital area hunters aim for to ensure a quick, humane kill. (Aspen Anderson Photo)