2020 Blacktail Success Thread

[Jusgunn3]

Congrats! Can’t wait for my kids to grow up!

 

[plentycoupe]

My brothers first buck in over 30 years. I’m now thinking this deer and mine may be a California Mule deer instead of Blacktail?

 

[Rangerpants]

Plentycoupe, depends where you are. I linked below to a pretty good reference on another forum. It has both a range map, and a diagram with tail colorations of various subspecies. I also suspect there are some intergrade zones the maps don't account for, and a lot more mixing than anyone can track.

Regardless, that's a nice pair of bucks in a tough zone-congratulations to you both!

CA Deer Species....

Bowhunting and Archery Information Article

forums.bowsite.com

 

[tallbuchholz]

Kodiak Island. Hardest hunt I've ever done by far. Our cabin was way below the brushline. Took us about 3 hours per mile on average to walk through the berries/fireweed/alders. Dandy buck, crazy good fishing, awesome time, pure misery. Love it.

 

[Long range shooter]

View attachment 200270
Heres one from Sonoma County Coastal area.

Nice buck way to make it happen.

 

[Long range shooter]

ok

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My A-zone buck from the last week of archery season. Not my biggest but spot and stalk with a bow in A-zone isn’t an easy task.

//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200811/175f5e3b61b8f5d35cca0d623b0355b7.jpg
My bro in law with his first buck we killed opener...


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Vary nice buck congrats.

 

[KClark]

Over the counter and the earliest deer season in the lower 48.

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You say that like it's a good thing.

 

[Tobias]

Took a walk with the bow this morning in an area that seems to hold quite a few bucks, but for whatever reason is completely overlooked. After spotting a doe below me I decided to take a break from obsessively looking for sheds, and slowed way down.

Steady wind in my face and a nice elk trail to walk on made for pretty ideal still hunting. At some point I looked uphill to my right and noticed a nice buck standing perfectly broadside and looking in my general direction. I ranged him at 45, drew back, and slowly turned to face him. I don’t know if he couldn’t quite make me out, or if he was just doing what blacktail sometimes do, but he didn’t move until my arrow had already passed through him. I've had similar experiences in Oregon where bucks seem to think they’re invisible, so long as you appear disinterested or non-threatening

My shot was a bit high and didn’t leave much of a blood trail. Arrow passed through both lungs so he didn’t make it far, but I was on hands and knees trailing for 30 minutes. My first CA blacktail:

 

[OutHeavy]

Congrats on a dandy pacific fork. Welcome to CA. Now do all you can to keep that spot "overlooked".

 

[Long range shooter]

Nice buck congrats!!

 

[Bowhunter08]

Awesome thread! Haven't killed a Blacktail yet.

 

[hunterted67]

Nice buck! Congrats!

 

[CaliforniaMuley]

Had some luck on the last day of A zone archery. Some nice bucks on here congrats to everyone!

 

[Rangerpants]

B4 to the rescue! I always shoot the first legal buck I see with my first tag. He ain't big, but the freezer looks a lot better! With all the forest closures in the other B zones, who knows what the rest of the year will look like...

 

[calvb1]

I was just pointed to this thread. Its great to see so many hunter willing to fight the early season heat!

This was a few weeks ago before the fires started to rip through north A zone.
Not monster horns but had a big body on him.
It's always special to get a buck on a backcountry solo-hunt and pack it out yourself. My shoulders hurt for a good few days after!

 

[JNDEER]

 

[Mattyq17]

Father in law shot this buck yesterday on his dads ranch, biggest body blacktail he has ever shot and he has shot a lot of blacktail in SLO county.

 

[Loco4dux]

Nice burn fork

 

[Tobias]

I had originally planned to hold out for a bigger buck, but with the risk of more fires and closures + increased pressure I couldn’t pass this guy up at 30 yards. 30.06 ruined the photo, but fortunately not too much else. Lost part of a quarter, the heart, and half of each side of the rib cage

Game wardens told me it was a ghost town compared to the average opener. Happy hunting

 

[roosiebull]

well done guys! especially love those big monster forkies! one of these days i'm gonna do a backcountry cali BT hunt. i want to kill a blacktail in every region they live in from SE AK to high country california bucks.... one of those big forks would be best case scenario... or a big tall 3 without eyeguards, both of those are what i picture when thinking of the cali blacktail.

season starts here in a couple weeks, due to the dates i'm hunting a rifle tag this year, but plan on packing my bow often too. i'm always torn on weapon for blacktail, i love glassing up bucks from a vantage point with my rifle, and i also love the close encounters targeting them with my bow.... doesn't matter to me.

between my friends and family, there will be a lot of deer to get killed, and i'm excited about the challenge. i will keep my standards at something bigger than your standard 3.5yr old 3pt.... more or less just looking forward to spend some time in trophy country, i love hanging out where blacktail do, their classic habitat is beautiful to hunt.

the cali hunt may be sooner than later, my wife and i are looking for a home in the border town of my state and cali, so i'll have no excuse not to..... and i'll be close to the best blacktail population in my state.