got my blacktail

wheelerite · 10-06-2007, 10:27 PM

Thursday a friend I work with went after work, up near goat mountain looking to try to fill our tags in an old clearcut I found about a month ago while bow hunting for elk. We get almost to the clearcut and split up. he goes to the top and I go down the road that goes down to the bottom of it. I get about half way down the road and see som fresh tracks that cut across this clearcut. I follow them to about the middle and it gets really grassy and I lose the tracks so I just follow where I think the deer went towards the timber and when get to where I can see the tree line I dont see any deer. I decided I would glass it and right away I see a white spot near some vine maple that looks like a deers face. The clouds are moving in and out but it looks like the form of a deer. I remember my dad telling me quite a few times that a doe will not have a white face, and above the white patch on this buck was what looked like another white patch. Now I am thinking this is a buck. We had a staring match for about 8 minutes and I think I see horns outlined in front of the vine maple but still am not sure so I figure if it is a buck I will need to get a rest and I see a stump about ten yards to my left so I walked over to it laid my rifle on it and glassed him once more and seen he was still looking at me. About this time my buddy just gets to the top of the clearcut to get a good view and the deer either sees him or hears him. (at this time I am looking through my scope at him), he turns his head, I see That he has at least a fork on his head I flip off the safety of my 264 mag and watch him take one step and stop. I squeeze the trigger and the rifle goes off, He then stumbles backwards and I see him run behind the vinemaple he was infront of.I am thinking as I walk over there that its only about an hour till dark so I need to find him fast.Just as I am where he was standing I see bright blood and bone. I follow the blood for ten yards down the hill the blood quit. Panic goes through my mind.Then it starts to hail. Now I am really starting to panic because I dont want it to cover the blood, I start making small circles down hill and can't find him. After a couple three circles still no blood. I go back to the blood trail and decide up the hill is the only place left. My buddy is about half way down to me and as I look down after seeing him I see the belly of the buck but the horns are hidden behind a bush. As I get to him I see that what a monster he is. It looks like a four pount. I was wrong! It is a four by five with heavy beams and a set of eye-guards that look like about three inch blades!Biggest blacktail I have ever shot and the second largest I have ever seen that was killed. It is about 18 inches wide and 16+ from the skull straight up in heighth.I will add pictures of it when I get them.spent the next three hours packing it out in the hail,snow and rain.
hope you enjoyed this hunt as much as I did.
kim smith