Author Topic: Blacktail Down and Rutting Hard (Read 5185 times)

Tree Farmer · « **on:** October 23, 2020, 11:34:51 AM »

I have a little spot near my house that holds quite a few deer that I like to hunt. Last night I got home from work with about 30 minutes of light remaining. I jumped on my four wheeler, rode into my spot and hiked into the little opening where deer frequently cross. It was almost dark and I was getting ready to leave when a deer came quickly walking into the far end of the opening. He had his nose on the ground and was cruzing. I could see horns naked eye from about 130 yards. It’s only about 50 feet across this opening so by the time I get my gun up he was almost gone. I grunted to try and stop him. He immediately stopped. Did a 180 and tried to identify where the grunt came from. I was able to get one shot through the boiler room with my 20 gauge Remington 870. I live in the Battle Ground Unit firearms restriction. He spun around about three times and hit the ground.

I have trail cam pics from this summer and fall of a great 4x4 that I will include. This was the buck I was looking for. The buck I killed I have not seen nor do I have any pics. Because we have so many does I wonder if the rut brought him into this spot from another area. His neck was swollen, he was cruzing with his nose on the ground, and he stunk to high Heaven.

He had to have weighed 230 lbs. It took my 19 year old daughter, her boyfriend any myself about 3 hours to drag him out. By the time we had him hanging in the shop and cleaned up it was well over midnight. It has been a tough year. My 46 year old wife spent 61 days in the ICU at the begging of the year. We almost lost her. COVID and other things haven't helped. Our Lord works in mysterious ways and is always watching over us. I truly believe this was His work and I shed a tear during my prayer of thanks.

Fl0und3rz · « **Reply #1 on:** October 23, 2020, 11:36:41 AM »

Whoa! Nice blacktail. Congrats. And glad to hear that things are looking up.

h20hunter · « **Reply #2 on:** October 23, 2020, 11:37:45 AM »

Stud!

Boss .300 winmag · « **Reply #3 on:** October 23, 2020, 11:39:45 AM »

Nicely done.👍

bornhunter · « **Reply #4 on:** October 23, 2020, 11:39:52 AM »

Wow! What a buck. Congrats on that big boy.

trophyhunt · « **Reply #5 on:** October 23, 2020, 11:40:13 AM »

You killed a great deer!!!!

Tree Farmer · « **Reply #6 on:** October 23, 2020, 11:40:53 AM »

Thanks. if anyone knows how to rotate the top pic please do so.

WapitiTalk1 · « **Reply #7 on:** October 23, 2020, 11:41:10 AM »

Pig! Congrats, really nice BT.

OutHouse · « **Reply #8 on:** October 23, 2020, 11:53:10 AM »

Very nice! Anyone else think that buck's left antler looks like a whitetail antler?

Tree Farmer · « **Reply #9 on:** October 23, 2020, 11:56:51 AM »

It sure does. I thought it was kind of strange.

highside74 · « **Reply #10 on:** October 23, 2020, 11:58:05 AM »

What in the world? Holy moly!

Fatherof5 · « **Reply #11 on:** October 23, 2020, 12:01:09 PM »

Awesome buck! Congratulations!!!!

jowings22 · « **Reply #12 on:** October 23, 2020, 12:03:45 PM »

Congrats on a great buck!

BLDtraLR · « **Reply #13 on:** October 23, 2020, 12:06:29 PM »

blackveltbowhunter · « **Reply #14 on:** October 23, 2020, 12:26:07 PM »

Great deer!! Congrats!

Hectocotylus · « **Reply #15 on:** October 23, 2020, 12:26:49 PM »

Beautiful deer

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SeatoSummit88 · « **Reply #16 on:** October 23, 2020, 12:36:12 PM »

That is one stud BT. Nice work! I hope they are still rutting and acting stupid come mid Nov!

HillHound · « **Reply #17 on:** October 23, 2020, 12:44:04 PM »

That’s an awesome buck! You sure wouldn’t think it from the size of its body but those antlers look like he’s crossed with one of those Columbia Whitetail. Years ago I had a buddy kill a 6 x 6 black tail about an hour north of you that looked just like a white tail rack.

Tenkara · « **Reply #18 on:** October 23, 2020, 01:34:01 PM »

Awesome buck, congrats.

Rainier10 · « **Reply #19 on:** October 23, 2020, 01:40:50 PM »

Great googley moogley that is a stud blacktail. Congrats.

Lucky1 · « **Reply #20 on:** October 23, 2020, 01:51:23 PM »

Cool buck. God is good!
He looks like he has some Whitetail genes ...

pianoman9701 · « **Reply #21 on:** October 23, 2020, 01:53:31 PM »

Fantastic buck.

Henrydog · « **Reply #22 on:** October 23, 2020, 01:58:20 PM »

That is a dandy. Nice work

sjhgraysage · « **Reply #23 on:** October 23, 2020, 02:07:08 PM »

You were blessed with a great buck.
Congrats!

Jlittlebear31 · « **Reply #24 on:** October 23, 2020, 02:10:30 PM »

What brute!!!

IFunk · « **Reply #25 on:** October 23, 2020, 02:11:24 PM »

What a gorgeous and unique looking BT Buck!

JakeLand · « **Reply #26 on:** October 23, 2020, 03:54:53 PM »

Wow !

teanawayslayer · « **Reply #27 on:** October 23, 2020, 04:26:56 PM »

Great buck!!

Webfoot · « **Reply #28 on:** October 23, 2020, 04:43:40 PM »

Great blacktail. Good job.

codak · « **Reply #29 on:** October 23, 2020, 07:17:01 PM »

what a wonderful buck! your story was awesome to read. The lord does work in mysterious ways!

fishnfur · « **Reply #30 on:** October 23, 2020, 07:19:32 PM »

Quote from: OutHouse on October 23, 2020, 11:53:10 AM

Very nice! Anyone else think that buck's left antler looks like a whitetail antler?

I think they both look like WT antlers in the last photo. Very cool - looks like he was getting a dropper on the R. Every once in awhile, a BT buck ends up with a rack that looks suspiciously like a WT, especially in the lowlands. Columbian WT's were common in the region from the Columbia River up to Southern Puget Sound in the distant past. Hybridization has been confirmed between the two species previously, so it makes perfect sense that every once in a while, the BT offspring get a rare mix of genes that produces antlers that appear to belong to WTs.

Excellent way to close out the season Tree Farmer. Hopefully this success means you've turned the corner on a rough year and things are now headed in a positive direction. Shoot me a PM sometime if you want to talk trees.

7mmfan · « **Reply #31 on:** October 23, 2020, 07:48:00 PM »

Excellent buck, great job!

In relation to the antlers, blacktail are prone to all kinds of goofy antler configurations. I know a guy that's killed two near Darrington that had similar antler configurations that ones left side. The all off the main beam is consistent with Whitetail, that's what we recognize it as, but it happens in blacktail as well as mule deer. A close friend killed a whopper Mule Deer in sage brush of Yakima County a few years ago that had all antler points of the main beam. It happens.

pd · « **Reply #32 on:** October 23, 2020, 10:07:50 PM »

Forget about that four point in the trail camera. You shot the much better buck.

Congratulations!

Axle · « **Reply #33 on:** October 24, 2020, 07:08:35 AM »

Good story

abhold87 · « **Reply #34 on:** October 24, 2020, 03:45:03 PM »

Amazing buck congrats

fishnfur · « **Reply #35 on:** October 24, 2020, 04:03:42 PM »

Quote from: 7mmfan on October 23, 2020, 07:48:00 PM

Excellent buck, great job!

In relation to the antlers, blacktail are prone to all kinds of goofy antler configurations. I know a guy that's killed two near Darrington that had similar antler configurations that ones left side. The all off the main beam is consistent with Whitetail, that's what we recognize it as, but it happens in blacktail as well as mule deer. A close friend killed a whopper Mule Deer in sage brush of Yakima County a few years ago that had all antler points of the main beam. It happens.

Agreed. Muleys and WT also hybridize occasionally. The antler configuration could show up many generations after the original cross-breeding. I don't think I've ever seen a WT with forking like a muley though.... Hmmmmm

Regardless,,,, great success on that stellar buck! Congratulations again.

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Author Topic: Blacktail Down and Rutting Hard (Read 5185 times)

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