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Black Tail Down...

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Black Tail Down...

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 10 21, 2017 •  [Post 1]

For really, the first time in my life... I actually went out and targeted a Black Tail deer (I've shot a handful of them while archery elk hunting when they wouldn't take no for an answer, but this year... I actually bought a rifle deer tag so I could have an excuse to hunt these creatures during the boom stick season). Well, my WA deer season is over after one day and an enormous amount of deer meat is hanging in my shop :roll: . The .308 spoke, and, the meat hit the ground (well, sort of). Good hike, hunt, and story ;) .
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Re: Black Tail Down!

Postby Swede » 10 21, 2017 •  [Post 2]

That was quick. We will look forward to seeing the pictures and reading the story. Oly and I were talking about how this has been the kind of weather where the black-tails will come out and show themselves. Still I expected it to take a day or three.
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Re: Black Tail Down!

Postby Roosiebull » 10 21, 2017 •  [Post 3]

Well, that was easy!

Well done!
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Re: Black Tail Down!

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 10 21, 2017 •  [Post 4]

OK, I haven’t targeted deer really since I left the Big Sky State in 87 to finish my Army career (did 3 years from 79-82, came back in 87 after I realized I really wasn’t building much of a nest egg in MT). I’ve shot a handful of deer in the Evergreen State but always while archery hunting elk (you know those deer that won’t leave you alone, and, are close to a road, lol). Got a twinge last year and bought the first rifle I’ve owned in more than 30 years (have hunted strictly with stick and string all this time) to just perhaps, give the deer a go in WA state at some point with a rifle and mix my seasons up a bit. Fast forward to present. Called a buddy of mine a few weeks ago and asked him to help a brother out with an area/spot that holds a decent amount of black tail. He obliged and sent to a place with a series of gated road that he said held a decent deer population. Went there this morning, a bit after daylight, and off I went into the Washington sunshine, aka, rain. James’ directions were solid and I found myself at the gated road, gearing up. Off I went and soon found the intersection that offered a left or right choice. Armed with only my old school Lorwrance GPS (no map) I settled on left with an idea that I could circumnavigate this area by still hunting the old roads. Yep, it worked but by early afternoon, I’d humped 4+ miles and had seen no fresh sign and more importantly, no deer. I kept the faith however and continued to still hunt cautiously for the last 1 ½ miles (best guess to my truck’s location) in anticipation of seeing a grey ghost materialize… Ah ha! There is one now but what is it (probably around 1230 PM)? Scope covers off, take a bead and yep… it was a buck, with his nose down on the trail above the road. Would not certainly be my best buck by any stretch of the imagination but I had decided before I stared that on this day, I would take any legal branched buck (geez, a guy has to eat, right?). Barney Blacktail was around 150 yards away…. Sniffing, sniffing, stopping…”safety off” broadside quartering slightly towards me… BOOM! Slam dunk, yep… pretty glad with myself, yep…. The buck dropped out of site immediately and I chambered another round and slowly moved to where he had stood. Umm, no buck. I spent the next 30 minutes, in afore mentioned Washington sunshine, looking for the buck I knew I had hit…………. No buck, no blood, nothing, nadda. I was pretty disappointed as I knew the Vanguard .308 was dialed in solid at 200 yards and there was no way I could have missed…. But, perhaps I hit something that deflected the round… it’s happened before. The buck was coming down from a flat ridge so I started doing half circles up in that direction to see what I could see thinking he may have retreated to whence he cam. No blood, no significant tracks, nothing….. I guess I may have missed for some reason… Huge bummer…
OK, one last thought (I'm so glad that I decided to go on this last thought) is that the buck bolted straight down, across the old road (somewhat unlikely considering the shot I had and confidence in my weapon’s proficiency) maybe when I jacked another shell into the Weatherby and diverted my eyes. I started doing some sweeps below the walk-in road and after 10 minutes or so saw what looked like very minimal “goop” mixed with blood on some ferns. A quick touch with my fingers seemed to signify blood. Off came the pack and the flagging ribbon and peroxide came out. A quick “psst” with the peroxide answered my question, it was blood. I started there…… tracking down over the bank and within 30 yards, there lies the buck. I almost (almost) walked away thinking I had missed or my round had been deflected. Now the rain really started in earnest. I’m still drying out my gear at this stage in the evening. I worked on the buck for about an hour, considering whether I should bone him out or just throw the four quarters, straps, and loins in my pack…. (I should have opted for boning him out). The bone in quarters, loins, and straps were a “bit” heavier than I anticipated and it was a challenging pack out with a whole deer (bone in) for this “seasoned” hunter. No worries, the meat is hanging in my shop and will get cut up at some point tomorrow, after a good night’s rest. Is he the biggest buck I’ve ever shot? Not by a long shot but I feel I had to really work for this guy. I stayed the course and “found” him, and, had a good workout packing him out. BT Down!

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Re: Black Tail Down!

Postby Roosiebull » 10 21, 2017 •  [Post 5]

Great job buddy!!

Classic hunt too, and those bone in quarters even on a young buck are brutally heavy, I can attest to that, even for this whippersnapper :lol:

I will tell you, other than pronghorn, young blacktail meat is my favorite by a good margin, such a treat.

Again, great job, and you will be looking forward to this hunt next year.
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Re: Black Tail Down!

Postby Swede » 10 21, 2017 •  [Post 6]

Good story RJ and a nice buck too. Congrats.
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Re: Black Tail Down!

Postby Roosiebull » 10 21, 2017 •  [Post 7]

That picture is an awesome depiction of blacktail hunting too! What a cool, classic scene you captured with the camera...rest up, sounds like a long day.
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Re: Black Tail Down!

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 10 22, 2017 •  [Post 8]

Thanks guys. Threw a couple of back strap chunklettes on the grill tonight. Pretty darn good! Haven't notched an elk tag "yet" so Mr. BT has to fill in the in-betweens ;).

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Re: Black Tail Down...

Postby Washington Wapiti » 10 24, 2017 •  [Post 9]

How'd I miss this?? Good job RJ! Great story and buck. Great job on following that "last thought." ;) I love hunting deer and eating deer. I'm always surprised when I hear some of you guys say you haven't hunted deer in X years or don't at all.
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Re: Black Tail Down...

Postby lamrith » 10 24, 2017 •  [Post 10]

Congrats RJ! Glad you were out there slogging thru the wet WA weather and not hiding in the house.

When you taking big red in to the body shop to have that rack mounted on the hood?
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Re: Black Tail Down...

Postby Roosiebull » 10 25, 2017 •  [Post 11]

the pics don't show, was he big bodied? those antler bases seem pretty knobby for a 2.5yr old buck like one would think he was. I killed one a few years ago in the last couple hours of the season very similar that ended up being 4.5, also killed a 5.5 yr old forky, but he was obviously an older buck when I shot him.
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Re: Black Tail Down...

Postby Swede » 10 25, 2017 •  [Post 12]

Roosie, RJ was going to make hamburger out of the deer, but the meat was so tough that it broke the handle on the grinder. How old does that make the buck? :lol:
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Re: Black Tail Down...

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 10 25, 2017 •  [Post 13]

No, not very big bodied at all. Thinking you're on the mark Roosie with him being a 2-3 year old. Forks weren't that tall, perhaps 7-8" (guessing from my desk at work). I ended up cutting 6-8 packs of small steaks out of the hinds (saved the straps and loins of course), and packaging all the rest for future jerky smoking. That reminds me, I think Mrs. Wapiti and I are heading up to Bass Pro on Saturday to grab a new smoker (hey, new thread coming on smoker selection) :).
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Re: Black Tail Down...

Postby Roosiebull » 10 25, 2017 •  [Post 14]

this was the 4yr old buck I mentioned, as you can see, he doesn't have much for antlers. I didn't know what he was, it was dumping rain, and about 2 hrs until the end of the season, all I knew is he was legal, and that was all that mattered at that point. my only "last day" animal regarding the last day of the actual season. I was quite surprised when I walked up to him, first that it was a fork buck, and second because he had body size, it made sense when I got the age card back. my version of a "management buck :lol: "
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Re: Black Tail Down...

Postby Roosiebull » 10 25, 2017 •  [Post 15]

he was all busted up, so he didn't score well ;)
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Re: Black Tail Down...

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 10 25, 2017 •  [Post 16]

Roosiebull wrote:he was all busted up, so he didn't score well ;)


;). Way to get it done on the last day of the season.
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Re: Black Tail Down...

Postby Roosiebull » 10 25, 2017 •  [Post 17]

WapitiTalk1 wrote:
Roosiebull wrote:he was all busted up, so he didn't score well ;)


;). Way to get it done on the last day of the season.

that season I was chasing one buck in particular, it was the slowest action season I have ever had, he was an OLD super heavy 3pt, not a great scoring buck, but awesome character, I really wanted that buck. he had 2 big bladed eye guards on each side, plus 2 smaller ones on each side, huge gnarly bases.

I had 2 run ins with that buck, once he came out of his bed running, the second time he was on the side of a spur road at the top of his home cut, hanging out with a doe on the second to last day. I was about 75yds, and it was raining sideways, and pouring rain. he had his head down in the bushes, and I just couldn't be sure it was him, there were 2 nice young bucks in there as well, and I really didn't want to shoot a young one there (crazy big genetics) and the doe had me pegged. she finally trotted off, he put his head up and turned, it was him!

only shot I had was directly away while he was walking, I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't even look at me, then started trotting away. I really wanted to shoot, and i'm pretty certain I would have killed him, but I feel it would have cost too much meat, so I just didn't...had mixed feelings of regret walking out of there that night, but i'm glad I didn't shoot. some bucks/bulls are just supposed to beat the hunter, that is how they get big, and deep inside I may have even been rooting for that buck to win....really fun season, I went back the next morning, not a fresh track anywhere, the time before when I bumped him, he didn't show back up for 5 days, so at 2pm, I decided to try a hail mary hunt, and go for a totally different style. I had been glassing cuts all season, so I decided to end the season by still hunting the timber, and as luck would have it, I found that forky trying to kill a young cedar tree.

I was proud of that buck, he represented a hard hunted season, it doesn't take a big rack to bring back great memories, I look at that one all the time and daydream about that season of cat and mouse.

the year prior I hunted a big buck in the same area, planned on dedicating my season to a buck, had him figured out, and found a trail I think I could have killed him on, but I wanted to catch him making a mistake in the over grown cut. I had never seen the buck, just his sign, and knew he was a pig, but didn't know how big....first year rifle hunting.

I gave in to impatience, and a big storm came through and blew the deer out of there for a few days, I knew of this protected canyon in another area, went there and killed a nice buck. when the weather got better I was determined to keep hunting that buck with my eyes, just see him, because I felt invested in him.

one afternoon I was heading out, I called a buddy, told him my plan, and invited him along since he had a tag.....of course I watched him shoot that buck that night :mrgreen: he ended up being the biggest buck I will likely ever encounter, he netted 167 3/8". I will tell you, I had no regrets, and was happy to see my buddy kill that monster, and share the hunt with him. it was a very indescribable feeling seeing him though, realizing what my impatience cost me.....lesson learned for the future.

anymore, I don't really care as much about antlers, I have my dream buck, I don't "need" another huge blacktail, so I hunt on my terms, and shoot whatever deer makes me happy. I may chase a big one again at some point, I had plans of it this year, but plans changed. when I have time, I am going to go check on that buck, maybe make him a plan for next year....or maybe not.

as much as targeting one buck, I like finding a really beautiful habitat where I want to spend time, and make it my goal to fill my tag there. to me it's just as fun as targeting a big one and killing it.

blacktail hunting is such a mellow, relaxing, strategical hunt coming off of the non stop chaos of archery elk season. I honestly don't know which I enjoy more, but one would be less fun without the other....it's the contrast that creates the beauty :D
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Re: Black Tail Down...

Postby Swede » 10 25, 2017 •  [Post 18]

I really prefer elk hunting, but Roosie's description of Blacktail hunting causes me to consider getting a tag to rifle hunt one of them. I enjoy the wet and windy hunts by vicariously going out with you guys.
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Re: Black Tail Down...

Postby olympushunt » 10 26, 2017 •  [Post 19]

That is a pretty buck for sure! Congrats!!!
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Re: Black Tail Down...

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 10 26, 2017 •  [Post 20]

olympushunt wrote:That is a pretty buck for sure! Congrats!!!


Thanks Oly.
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