My first blackie

[YellowDog]

Well, I tagged my first blacktail buck Saturday evening down in the Grayback unit.  He is a decent 3pt with eyeguards.  One of the eyeguards is split.  He was in hot pursuit of a doe.  His neck was definately starting to swell. 

[jackelope]

beautiful blacktail.
there sure are some slug blackies hitting the ground this year.

[Blacklab]

Good one  
 I'm heading over to that unit wednesday. I hope I have the same fortune you did  

[Michelle_Nelson]

Nice Blackie.  That is a dandy for your first!

[Dman]

 Very nice. My best from Vail I had mounted in '04 looks very similar. You can be proud, true trophy.

[BlackTail]

Congrats!! That is a very nice blacktail!

[Ridgerunner]

Good looking blacktail, beautiful cape on that buck.

[boneaddict]

Excellent.  More success for board members.  GREAT JOB. 

[missinmt]

Sweet buck.  Thanks for posting.

[MuleySniper]

Great job!! Thats a real pretty buck.
MS

[YellowDog]

Wow.  Thanks for all of the kind words.  I was a little hesitant to mention that I am having him mounted thinking that some might not consider him worthy.  I have shot a few muleys but none this symetrical or even this wide.  I started to gut him like normal and then realized that he might be a pretty wide buck for a blacktail (about 19 1/4") and his cape is in excellent condition with nice thick hair.  That and the split eyeguard made me change my mind and he is now going to be on the wall. 

One thing to ask you all.  The taxi mentioned that he has a lot of white on his nose.  Its not rubbed or anything just a lack of pigment for some reason.  He wants to know if I want him mounted and the detail work to reflect what he actually looks like or what he "should" look like.  What would you do? 

[jackelope]

what he actually looked like for sure.
why would you change it?

[billythekidrock]

Great buck...always keep them the same.

[YellowDog]

Yep, I plan to have him mounted just as he looked when he was roaming the hills.  My moment of hesitation stemmed from posts on "that other site" and the comments some people make there about people's trophys.  I want to respect the taxidermists work and not have some lame a@@ talk bad about the work my taxi does because my buck's nose and mouth are not going to be all black when its done.  I want my mount to be as close to the real thing as possible not what someone thinks he should look like.  Anyway, I have the photos to show the lack of pigment and I have confidence that my taxidermist will get it right and the photos will back it up.  Again, thanks for the kind words.

[swizzler]

does your taxidermist not work with many blacktails, I would say by looking at the pics the white nose is normal.