I was 12 and the first day of hunting when I shot my first deer. It was a spike blacktail. My opinion is to start bowhunting on the westside as there are plenty of deer here and typically if you jump a small buck or doe they tend to stand there broadside. Thats just my experience with blacktails. A big blacktail buck now...good luck! I bowhunt eastside mule deer and although I see and stalk many deer most of the time I come home and fill the freezer with a blacktail.