western vs columbian blacktail

[grundy53]

I just got my copy of northwest big game's record book for Washington. In it it says any blacktail west of I-5 is a "western" blacktail and anything east of I-5 is a "columbian" blacktail. Yet there are several bucks from pacific, grays harbor, clallam,Jefferson, etc counties under the "columbian" section. Can someone who knows about this stuff explain this to me. Maybe I'm a little slow. Thanks.

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

I asked about it myself a while ago...
still not sure.... 
near as I can figure out, "columbian" was the origional classification, and "Western" was added later...
It is pretty confusing because "Western Blacktail" is west of I-5, And "Columbia Blacktail " is between I-5 and "Cascade Blacktail" (west of PC trail)
I think it all depends on the guy putting the tape to the deer, and his opinion on where it fits......

[jackelope]

Bow4elk is our resident expert on this topic.
Hopefully he'll chime in.

[PolarBear]

This is why I don't take the record book seriously.  There are too many factors determined merely by an imaginary line.  There are far too many "cascade" blackies that are most if not all mulie (as has been evident on this site) and a lot of "western" blackies that are without a doubt bench legs.    You can have pure blackies on the Pacific Crest all the way to the coast.  You can't be 100% by just looking at physical characteristics.  The only way to be sure is a dna test and not some line drawn on a map.

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

This is why I don't take the record book seriously.  There are too many factors determined merely by an imaginary line.  There are far too many "cascade" blackies that are most if not all mulie (as has been evident on this site) and a lot of "western" blackies that are without a doubt bench legs.    You can have pure blackies on the Pacific Crest all the way to the coast.  You can't be 100% by just looking at physical characteristics.  The only way to be sure is a dna test and not some line drawn on a map.

DNA or not, I look at the tail, if it looks like a BT, it IS a BT, I dont care where it was harvested.
But then I have never shot a deer bigger than a 2 pt..
not much of a deer hunter, I just shoot the first legal one thats dumb enough to get in front of me while elk hunting.