3nails and Son Quality Blacktail Hunt 2018

[3nails]

 This past application period I decided to quit applying for mule deer hunts and try to draw a less sought after late blacktail tag. I made this decision due to the poor mule deer numbers and the fact that I'm turning 50 this year. I told my son my plan and he chose to apply with me. Well sure enough, we drew our tags! I was very happy I was going to be able to hunt high country bucks in full rut. We talked about it all summer. No need for scouting or planning for I knew right where I wanted to be. The only hard decision was if we should hunt the early high hunt and then the general season hunt before our late hunt started. We decided we should mostly to get into good mountain shape.
 This is when things went sideways fast. Out of nowhere I blew a disc in my lower back requiring surgery. The disc was pressed against a nerve eliminating the feeling in my left leg from my knee to my ankle. Praise the Lord I still had full use of my ankle and 25% of my knee. Both early hunts were out of the question now and so was the high country for my late hunt. The tricky part now was to keep this info to myself. There is another local hunter who knows where I hunt and I feel would "sneak" into there if he knew I wouldn't be there. 
 My son decided to skip the high hunt and hunt mid-range for general. It was very tough not going with him! He passed a couple of bucks up and that season ended with him still having a tag. I was surprised because he hunted almost every day. I took the whole late season off from work and was just starting to feel healed enough to get out. (ish) Since we had the Weyerhauser permit we decided to hunt the higher elevation clearcuts as my son had killed a dandy there a couple years ago. 
 The first couple of days were pretty slow with warm weather and only 1 deer sighting. My son did find a nice 5 pt elk shed however. His first.

[3nails]

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[3nails]

 The next few days produced sporadic deer sightings but was it was becoming evident that the deer herd was in tough shape up there. Every cam we put out had at least 1 lion on it. I was having a great time with my son, however. Due to my back most of our time was spent driving from cut to cut with short walks in between. My wife made sure we had lots of food in the truck and instead of losing 10 lbs during the season I think I gained it! 

[3nails]

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[teanawayslayer]

Keep it coming 

[blackveltbowhunter]

Great shed!

[grundy53]

Tagging along. Explains why you took the year off from whitetails. I hope you heal up fast.

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[3nails]

 Several more days passed with a sighting here and there. One quick glimpse of a decent buck, two days later another. By this time I was growing very weary of staring at cuts. The whole time up there I was a bit concerned what I would do if I shot one in the middle of a brushy cut and how I would get it out without re-injuring my back. (even now I'm under strict orders from the Doc not to lift anything over 15 lbs) Several good friends were eager to help if needed which was good.
 My son and I both decided we needed to look at another area to see if we could find a rut hot spot. About 1 pm on the 8th day we headed to a new area. We drove a few miles up a new road and came to an intersection of 2 skid roads. I told my son to walk one for 15 minutes and look for sign while I'd walk the other. 50 yds from the truck I poked my nose into the brush. There standing 30 yds away to my left was a 2 pt facing me. With my back situation I was not about to pass this little porker so close to a road! One shot straight down the middle and my tag was filled. We had him gutted and in the truck in about 30 minutes. Last year I killed a booner blacktail but I think I was more excited about this one than that one! God is SO good to me! So thankful He gave me one like that.

[3nails]

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[bobcat]

Good size buck for a 2 point! Surprised you recovered a Barnes bullet with it being so close.

[Odell]

Tagging!


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[wildweeds]

Take em easy when you can cripple! Good luck on healing up good as new. Am I beating you to 50 in January?

[3nails]

 We still had a couple of hours of light so we drove up the road a couple more miles. A doe ran across in front of us and we saw another in the brush. My son wanted to go back to where I got mine and walk further down that road. I dropped him off and drove around for a bit while he was out. When he returned to the truck the first thing he said was he was going back in the morning and staying all day. Said he saw a ton of sign and another buck like mine. The next day was calling for rain so I had a great feeling about it.
 I was so excited for him and a bit bleery eyed I wasn't thinking clearly when I made the hour plus drive up there the next morning with him to drop him off. Why did I do that? He's 20 years old and has his own truck! We laughed about it and I told him I was going home for a nap. I told him I'd come back at noon. If he was there, great. If not, nap #2. 
 It was a loooong 5 hours with the rain pouring down and the rut still goingl strong. After my nap I couldn't get back up there quick enough. Driving back up the road every corner got me more excited. Coming around the last corner and leaning forward into the steering wheel I couldn't locate him. As I slowed the truck he suddenly stepped out of the brush with both hands raised high. I knew what this meant! Somehow I mannaged to stammer "how big?" With a big, drowned rat smile he said "big!". To say I spun out for the next 10 minutes would be an understatement. He said it was a couple miles and 6 to 7 hundred feet down. Too far for me to help him. We had to go back to town into cell range to recruit help but it was killing me to not see it!

[3nails]

 I was able to get ahold of Skagitsteel fairly quickly and after getting permission ( ) he was eager to load up his goats and come get the buck out. We got a bite to eat and headed out to quarter it up. Finally I got to see it. He is a very old heavy dark antlered regressed buck. Not a big frame but gigantic mass! This buck is everything I dream about. So thankful my son was blessed by the Lord so greatly!

[3nails]

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