My 2008 Blacktail

jaxflyfish · 11-18-2008, 08:19 AM

I was hunting Washington's late buck season last Friday. We left the house at 4 a.m. and drove out to our hunting area. We hiked in, in the dark and waited for first light. After a bit with nothing happening, I started moving down an old logging road that follows a ridge line above a couple of nice clear cuts.

I was moving pretty slow and trying hard to take my time when I heard something. Looking over I saw a HUGE buck that had been walking down the road right towards me. He was busting through the thickest brush you can imagine straight away from me...I had no chance.....

For the next little bit, I was talking to myself..you know...."way to go Jack, get up at Three in the morning, drive for hours and hours, hike in a couple of miles in the dark and then let a buck almost walk over me without getting a shot."..."Nice job..you dork" It was the largest blacktail I had seen in a long time.

So as I was walking along berating myself for screwing up....literally talking out loud, I kicked up another deer. As this one moved off, I was pretty sure it was a doe, so I didn't add to my angst (actually it wasn't a doe) but what I did decide to do was get my head back in the game. 2 deer in a couple of minutes, maybe there are more.

100 yards further up the old road and I saw some movement. I think it was his ear. Not sure. Anyway, as I was trying to make him out, he got up in a hurry, busted to my right and then doubled back to my left.

This time, I was ready.

He stopped at about 50 yards looking back but there was a tree in the way, As I stepped to my left, he took off at a dead run, right out into the cut below me. I wasn't sure that I wanted to take a shot at this deer running full tilt. I brought my rifle to my shoulder just as he stopped yet again and looked back.....

Bam, behind the left shoulder and out the neck.

He went down in a heap.

Here are a few pics. Many, Many thanks to Reel Obsession for helping me haul this beast out of the woods and hunting with me for years and years. Oh yeah, and coming to my rescue after getting stuck in the woods during elk season. A guy couldn't ask for a better hunting partner. We did some damage this year between Wyoming and Washington, we took 7 big game animals..

rem721 · 11-18-2008, 08:24 AM

Great buck, looks like he could have some whitetail in him- those eye guards are amazing!!

Lunkerlander · 11-18-2008, 08:28 AM

very nice congrats!

oregonmuley · 11-18-2008, 08:31 AM

NIce buck!!! Congrats to you for a good one.
That Reel Obsession seems to get around - and i thought he was just the Wyoming Antelope Master

jaxflyfish · 11-18-2008, 08:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rem721

Great buck, looks like he could have some whitetail in him- those eye guards are amazing!!

Yeah, it is hard to see in the pics but he has triple eyeguards on 1 side and double on the other. I can certainly see some similarities with a whitetail rack. However, there is a local store in the area that has probably 30 blacktail racks going back to the 1940s.....Probably 40% have this same main beam with multiple eye-guard thing going on.

Pretty interesting

beardbuster · 11-18-2008, 08:48 AM

definitely some whitetail in those genes - Great buck! So, the other one was bigger??

Ras · 11-18-2008, 08:49 AM

So, you going to look for a new place to hunt late-season blackies next year

???

Beautiful critter by the way.

Ras

jaxflyfish · 11-18-2008, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beardbuster

definitely some whitetail in those genes - Great buck! So, the other one was bigger??

Yes, the first one was MUCH bigger. He actually busted down in front of Reel Obsession...he saw where he crossed the road just minutes before he got there. I would say he was at least 4 inches wider than this guy.

The second animal came out into the cut while I was gutting him out. He was a pretty decent sized forky. He walked all the way across the cut right out in the open.

Nw dukn · 11-18-2008, 09:03 AM

That's a dandy buck congrats..

Reel Obsession · 11-18-2008, 09:19 AM

Ok, so we have to stop talking about the BIGGGGER buck!

First, this buck was huge. His body was bigger than the rack would indicate, which was really, REALLY nice. Second, and most importantly.... the bigger one dove back into some thick cover between a couple cuts, and crossed the logging road I was still hunting maybe 2 minutes in front of me.

Never saw him, just the tracks. He had settled down by the time he got to where I was, and would have been in open view for 20 yards had my timing been a little better.

Last comment... Geeez Jack, do you have to ALWAYS out do me?

Thought I would re-post the photos so that they aren't thumbnails.

rem721 · 11-18-2008, 10:01 AM

I like the looks of that country...

Reel Obsession · 11-18-2008, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rem721

I like the looks of that country...

It ALWAYS looks nice with a big buck laying in it....

BeaverPride · 11-18-2008, 06:51 PM

Congratulations on a beautiful buck! Did you by chance get it in the Ryderwood GMU?

pathfinder · 11-18-2008, 06:54 PM

Nice looking buck there, Another tag filled. Thats what i like to see....Good job.

Scrillznac · 11-18-2008, 09:30 PM

Sweet buck man! Nice story as well.......

jaxflyfish · 11-19-2008, 07:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeaverPride

Congratulations on a beautiful buck! Did you by chance get it in the Ryderwood GMU?

Nope...Lewis River

BeaverPride · 11-19-2008, 03:45 PM

We see those whitetail type racks in the Ryderwood a lot. Some say there are actually whitetails in the area, but I've never seen one.

Reel Obsession · 11-19-2008, 08:19 PM

The taxidermist that is doing the work on this head says that this is classic blacktail headgear for the area. He's been doing work here for 30+ years, so has seen a few blacktails... Pointed out some differences, such as a whitetail rack's tendency to hook back around towards the front while this one keeps spreading out. Not to say there may not be some whitetail genes here, just one profressional's opinion. The other interesting thing we noticed is that some of the old (20-40 year old) racks from the same area look identical. So if it's a whitetail influence, it's been around for a while. The more we looked at the rack, the more intrigued we were, but we've talked to a couple people now who have said "it's not a whitetail conspiracy, it's just a blacktail..."