2020 Blacktail Adventure- Rain, snow, wind and hungry cats

[skagitsteel]

The weather certainly kept things both interesting and frustrating this year .  I didn't get quite what I was hoping for in a buck, but did fill a tag, hiked a lot of miles, and spent quit a bit of time on the mountain, solo the whole season.  I choose to hunt deer where I do not because it's easy, but because every year is an adventure with memories I won't forgot. 

Last fall I had a really nice buck in one of my areas, he looked to be right in his prime, so I was anticipating would be back this year. I had a few cameras in the area and suprisingly no bucks this year on them, I wasn't too worried because some of these blacktail dodge trail cams as well as bigfoot does I had a few back up plans and at least 2 nice bucks in another area. The plan was to hunt the main spot 2-3 days at a time, rest it for a few days and hit other spots, then come back.  I had the pack goats take my camp and gear along with some firewood in before the season opened. 

[skagitsteel]

I decided to hike in the day before season, the weather forecast said something about 50 mph winds and 2"-3" of rain that day, followed by colder and snowier, just typical October stuff In Western WA high country.  Weather forecast was not wrong! I got pounded on the way in and it was a good test for the new Kryptek rain gear which held the water out for the 4+ hour hike to camp.  First couple days of the season were slow, I turned up a couple of does and one younger buck that I passed on day 2.  Deer were unusually spooky and the mountain lion was on trail cams again.  Visibility and weather began deteriorating on day 3 so after hunting till dark I packed back to the truck to rest the spot a few days.  All that wet ground froze solid, along with my pack and gear

[h20hunter]

 

[skagitsteel]

We got a good round of snow and I was anxious to get back up and see some tracks.  The oldest and best bucks I have taken, all have had one thing in common:  I have seen their tracks and that's how I knew they were there.  I went in to a different area right after the snow and discovered that unfortunately, the deer had been pushed out of the area with the snow.  I headed back to my camp in the other area the next day found the same 4 does again, 1 set of tracks from a buck, but not monster size tracks like I had hoped to find.

proof that blacktail really do climb trees!

[skagitsteel]

The season continued the weather got colder, the snow got deeper, the hikes took twice as long and my hunt began to feel more Like an Everest expedition than a deer hunt.  One morning while hiking into camp in the dark the low was 7 degrees, with a nice breeze.  Took my sweaty gloves off to water a bush and they froze solid and stiff in about a minute.  Water bladder was useless and water bottles in my pack were freezing up.  I hunted hard each day daylight to dark.  I turned up the same 4 does again and again, I started to come up with ideas for names   I knew a buck had to come by and check them out at some point, however it was very apparent with the lack of tracks in the snow that the deer population in this area had taken a major hit from the previous year.  One evening as I was headed back to the truck after being in for a few days, I cut two sets of lion tracks with about 20 minutes of light left.  I had promised myself if I saw lion tracks at any point the deer hunt was temporarily suspended and it would become a lion hunt.  The cat was close, I didn't track it very far before I bumped it.  I stayed on the trail until I was just looking for eyeballs in my headlamp, hoping it might decide to go up a tree.  didn't happen, so I called it off. Given the size of these tracks neither one were large enough to be the Tom I had on cam, unfortunately that made at least 3 cats in the area.   

[skagitsteel]

The days were adding up and it was getting late into the last week of October, weather was not letting up much.  Most of the days were some form of reduced visibility: rain, snow or fog made it tough to see.  Some days I would get lucky and find a few hundred yards of visibility, some days were 50 yards.  I did have a late tag in my pocket, however my wife's work schedule would make it very difficult for me to hunt after Nov 1st.  I had to come to the realization the top buck I was after had probably either not made it thru the previous winter or had relocated due to the influx of predators, either way it was slim pickings!  I hunted another spot within striking distance of my camp and  one foggy day after hunting through the timber, managed to catch three decent looking bucks feeding together.  It was raining and blowing so hard, optics were just about useless because it was like driving down I-5 in the rain with no wipers! I watched them for about half hour trying to decide if I wanted to take one and which one I would take.

 

[skagitsteel]

I finally decided the middle buck needed a closer look (on the ground  :chuckle:0) and I had to risk the fact that I could not judge features I would normally look for, like mass, bases, shape of the face, ect..  I pulled the trigger and it appeared that all the deer were still standing there feeding like nothing happened. It was very difficult to see through the fogged, rain covered scope so a miss was certainly possible. It was blowing so hard, none of the deer even heard the shot.  I waited about 5 minutes and made sure I was lined up on the same buck I previously fired at and shot again.  This time the buck moved about 10' behind a tree, he was still standing there but I could not tell if he was hit.  The other two kept feeding, totally clueless. The bucks worked around the the tree and shuffled positions then came out from behind the tree together, creating the dilemma of which one is hit?  Blacktail can be pretty relaxed sometimes when they feel bad weather conceals there presence.  The fog lifted momentarily and I finally got a good look at the bucks just as one them bedded down and I noticed the blood in the snow.  I realized seeing him he was younger than what I had anticipated and that I probably should have taken the larger bodied 2 pt, but at that point it was over, so I sent one more and rolled him down the hill, at which point the other 2 bucks had enough and took off.  Pretty wild as I have never seen 3 bucks that anywhere close to maturity together feeding like that this time of year. 

[skagitsteel]

more lion adventures to come on the packout, I'll get to that a little later

[fishngamereaper]

  Good read so far...
Quality mountain buck. Well earned.

[h20hunter]

Sweet.  Big bodied deer and worthy of a shot I'd say.

[bigbore40]

Excellent read and good buck 👍

[WapitiTalk1]

Proof that blacktail really do climb trees!

I knew it (been thinking that for years)!!  Great write up Skagit, an epic hunt, and of course....congrats on a GREAT buck! 

[Fl0und3rz]

Awesome story.  Nice buck.  Love the goat packing.

[brokentrail]

Thanks for sharing your story, I enjoyed the read.  Congrats on your buck!

[MountainTracker]

Following along, good stuff, congrats on the BT


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[SeatoSummit88]

Lovin it! Great write up so far! Congrats on the BT!  I hope you got a Cat too!  Following along...

[JakeLand]

Good job ! Great buck and good to see the goats again !

[krolelov]

Amazing story. Thanks for sharing!

[fishnfur]

Incredible intestinal fortitude.  I would have been out of there on day one. I loved your story - it put me right on the mountain with you.  It may have not been the buck that you wanted, but it's a great buck nonetheless.  Congratulations!

[Alchase]

Great read, and nice buck!

I have to admire you guys that use pack goats. That is pretty cool. I have to be honest, the eyes of goats totally see creep me out.
 

[skagitsteel]

The pack outs are always an adventure and I didn’t shoot the buck until late in the day. Camp was still an hour and a half further in and over a ridge from where I took the buck. I loaded the head and trimmings in my pack, leaving quarters hanging in a tree to be retrieved with camp the next day via the packgoats. I headed straight back to the truck and part of the hike would certainly be in the dark I had to bushwhack around 3500’ down, climb through a big ravine up through the cliffs on the other side and cross another creek to get back to the truck. It’s steep and crampons are required with any kind of a load. It got dark after I dropped about 1000’. Right after crossing the big ravine I stopped near the cliffs to check my gps route and make sure I was lined up right. I caught a flash of eyes in my headlamp off to my left and just for the heck of it hit record switched to video on my phone and hit record. I quickly realized I wasn’t looking at a deer, the eyes had an orange glow, very bright and moved over a log and then disappeared. They reappeared again about 15’ closer. At that point I dropped the phone (still on record) and it rolled down the hill. I managed to get my rifle Unstrapped from the pack, put one in the pipe and then just waited to see if the cat was going to keep coming.   

[Harbor_hunter]

Great story and pictures, thanks for sharing! Nice work!

[skagitsteel]

The cat disappeared again and then appeared about 15’ away crouched on a large rock above me. I got a good look this time, young lion trying to decide if I truly was the rutting buck that I smelled like. I tried to fix the headlamp on the cat and look through the scope at the same time. It didn’t work very well, considering I was still at 15x from when I shot the buck. I decided to forgo looking through the scope and just look down the barrel, I didn’t want the cat make any sudden leaps, although he looked quite content staring at me from his perch. I took a shot and after saw the head dissapear real quick off the back of the rock. I was pretty sure I hit it, but not 100% sure. Only it’s face was exposed. I went down the hill to retrieve my phone before I checked behind the rock for a dead cat, as I shined my light back uphill, much to my dismay i saw the cat hop onto a log near the rock he had been on. Not only had I missed, he didn’t leave   I actually been pretty calm up to this point, but the adrenaline really kicked in as I realized i still had a hungry cat close and only 3 rounds left. I pulled up for another shot, the cat bailed off the log and hid. I moved down, he moved down. He kept some distance but continued to follow. I was holding my fire until he gave me a sure shot, but it didn’t happen. At some point it lost interest and went on its way. Unfortunately not the first time I’ve seen a lion at close range in the headlamp, seems to be a trend. Definately a young cat, but way too bold.

The only scenario I didn’t think of until a friend mentioned it later when I was home is there could have been 2 young cats and the 2nd one jumped up after the first one was shot. I still need to get back and check behind the rock, although it’s covered deep in snow at this point.  I suspect it was probably just one cat because I only for sure saw one set of eyes. Part of the video showed what looked like a second set briefly but it’s hard to tell.

[skagitsteel]

The next day went smooth. The pack goats had been at home and were rested and ready. Around 12-13 hours round trip to retrieve camp and the buck. I brought the rifle and sidearm this time, but didn’t see any more cats, although I made sure we had enough time to get out before dark so we didn’t go ‘trolling’ through lion country with a string of goats loaded down with venison at night. Some good adventures and it l will certainly be spending some time this winter to try and track down a cat.

[fishnfur]

Wow!  Scary situation.  Talk about a big pucker factor!  Glad to see you made it out unscratched.  Hope you pop a cap in that cat.

[SpicyTacos]

Awesome adventure. Got my heart rate up! Well done.

[Kingsnake1]

Great post!

[SpicyTacos]

Skagitsteel Your inbox is full. Maybe for a reason? Hehe. Trying to send a PM

[SeatoSummit88]

Epic!  That would have been chilling, yet exciting!  I'm sure that meat will taste better than a lot of other Deer other's have harvested... haha

[skagitsteel]

Skagitsteel Your inbox is full. Maybe for a reason? Hehe. Trying to send a PM

Made some room

[trophyhunt]

That sir is one of the best hunts I've read about in a long time, I love the goats and the fact you did this solo!  I absolutely love my solo hunts, always seem to do better.  You expressed your story very well but I can only imagine how satisfying that hunt was for you.  Totally kicks butt!!  congrats!

[skagitsteel]

That sir is one of the best hunts I've read about in a long time, I love the goats and the fact you did this solo!  I absolutely love my solo hunts, always seem to do better.  You expressed your story very well but I can only imagine how satisfying that hunt was for you.  Totally kicks butt!!  congrats!

Thanks! I prefer solo for sure