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Joined: Sep 2010
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Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Sep 2010
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Are the Blacktail seasons open during the beginning of October? I was just thinking I have the first 10 days of October off work because I'm in for WY antelope. Even though I have PP I don't think the draw odds are 100% but they are close. But I will need a back up plan if I don't draw. The CA A Zone season runs from the 2nd Saturday in August for 44 consecutive days which makes it end around the 20 something of September. You have to apply for the tags but they have never reached quota. The northern area of Ca around Mendocino county is some of the best hunting. From SF Bay southwards the lions have been hammering the herds. The rut kicks in towards the later half of September making them easier to hunt. There are seasons open later in Ca but those are primarily mule deer areas.
I am continually astounded at how quickly people make up their minds on little evidence or none at all. Jack O'Connor
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Joined: Oct 2002
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Campfire Oracle
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Campfire Oracle
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 96,121 Likes: 1 |
2nd deer I ever killed, and still my best blacktail
"Dear Lord, save me from Your followers"
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Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 9,134 Likes: 2
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 9,134 Likes: 2 |
Great thread, and I hate to be the downer, but the reality is in extreme northern Calif, Shasta and Siskiyou Co's many factors have conspired to decimate the Blacktail population. Check the stats before you book a hunt. Probably the highest mortality for incidental kills is ancient migration routes between high country and winter range, are transected by high speed highways. Cal-Trans in Yreka district used to respond, 10 yrs ago to 20+ dead deer a day. Now they tell me it's 1 or 2 a week. Change in predator hunting laws, mountain lions..nope, black bears..no dogs or bait, nope. And then, after the numbers were decimated and the reported numbers of legal kills was down alarmingly, the CDFW continued to sell 2 tags per hunter with an unlimited quota. The B zones were the cash cow of the CDFW, have to keep the cash flowing in to fund the study of non game species. And, now of course, oh joy, we have wolves. How many predators can any species withstand at the top of the food chain?
Well this is a fine pickle we're in, should'a listened to Joe McCarthy and George Orwell I guess.
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Joined: Dec 2008
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Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 21,191 |
Wa and Oregon tags are otc mike. Dunno about California
Ping pong balls for the win. Once you've wrestled everything else in life is easy. Dan Gable I keep my circle small, I’d rather have 4 quarters than 100 pennies.
Ain’t easy havin pals.
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 56,324 Likes: 9
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 56,324 Likes: 9 |
Oregon has some good hunts. Honestly any blacktail hunt around here can be a winner.
_______________________________________________________ An 8 dollar driveway boy living in a T-111 shack
LOL
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 4,925
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 4,925 |
Honestly any blacktail hunt around here can be a winner. This. The deer on this thread are epic monsters compared to typical rain-forest deer. Okie John
If Montana had a standing army, a 270 Win with Federal Blue Box 130's would be the standard issue.
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Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 96,121 Likes: 1
Campfire Oracle
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Campfire Oracle
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 96,121 Likes: 1 |
"Dear Lord, save me from Your followers"
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Joined: May 2007
Posts: 12,140
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 12,140 |
It's rare to see a buck like this in the daylight. His little head was doing the thinking for him this day... ryoyshi; Good afternoon - almost - to you sir, I hope the weekend has been treating you acceptably and this finds you well. Thanks for posting the photo, it looks to me like he's what would be considered a cranker either on the Gulf Islands or Vancouver Island where I've seen/hunted most of the Columbia Blacktail I've encountered. In those locales, the deer themselves are quite a bit smaller overall than the ones Steve hunts up by Whistler and Pemberton. Going off of a bit of a foggy memory, I'd say the 2 point I killed on Salt Spring Island way back in the day went about 75-80 lb carcass weight and the locals who saw it said it was a pretty decent buck. There was one hanging I looked at which must have gone a bit more than 90lb carcass and had a rack almost the size of the one in your photo, but I don't recall the bases being quite that thick. As my friend Okanagan said, they're a different breed of cat than even the whitetail I've chased in a couple provinces, though to me they much more mirrored whitetail responses to seeing people/pressure, etc. than anything a mulie has ever done around me. The biggest bodied Columbia Blacktail I've ever seen was outside our daughter's dorm room window at the University of Victoria! It was by my estimate about a hand higher at the withers than any other bucks on campus - and there's no shortage of them there either I must add. Thanks again for the photo and thanks for the thread and those who've contributed. It's interesting reading everyone's experiences and how they differ. All the best to you all as spring continues to show up. Dwayne
Last edited by BC30cal; 04/07/19.
The most important stuff in life isn't "stuff"
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Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 5,469 Likes: 1 |
Last edited by Oregonmuley; 04/07/19.
"Rather hunt Mule deer than anything else" "Team 7MM-08"
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Campfire Greenhorn
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Campfire Greenhorn
Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 58 |
A-Zone a few seasons ago on California central coast
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 56,324 Likes: 9
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 56,324 Likes: 9 |
Santiam Unit blacktails, both taken 2nd to the last day of the season. Oh boy that gets my blood going. looks familiar. I've hunted Santiam and McKenzie a good bit. This one was a McKenzie unit buck. Most of the big bucks I used to hunt there had the crab claw points.
Last edited by Fireball2; 04/07/19.
_______________________________________________________ An 8 dollar driveway boy living in a T-111 shack
LOL
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 5,469 Likes: 1
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 5,469 Likes: 1 |
Fireball2, you have sure killed some really great blacktails. I struggle most years to even see a legal buck, they are just evil little deer but man is it nice when you do finally find a good buck!!!
"Rather hunt Mule deer than anything else" "Team 7MM-08"
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 56,324 Likes: 9
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 56,324 Likes: 9 |
Fireball2, you have sure killed some really great blacktails. I struggle most years to even see a legal buck, they are just evil little deer but man is it nice when you do finally find a good buck!!! Evil little deer, I hafta remember that one! Yeah, lots of fun to hunt.
_______________________________________________________ An 8 dollar driveway boy living in a T-111 shack
LOL
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Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 13,939
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 13,939 |
Wa and Oregon tags are otc mike. Dunno about California OK thanks.
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Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 1,581
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 1,581 |
It's rare to see a buck like this in the daylight. His little head was doing the thinking for him this day... ryoyshi; Good afternoon - almost - to you sir, I hope the weekend has been treating you acceptably and this finds you well. Thanks for posting the photo, it looks to me like he's what would be considered a cranker either on the Gulf Islands or Vancouver Island where I've seen/hunted most of the Columbia Blacktail I've encountered. In those locales, the deer themselves are quite a bit smaller overall than the ones Steve hunts up by Whistler and Pemberton. Going off of a bit of a foggy memory, I'd say the 2 point I killed on Salt Spring Island way back in the day went about 75-80 lb carcass weight and the locals who saw it said it was a pretty decent buck. There was one hanging I looked at which must have gone a bit more than 90lb carcass and had a rack almost the size of the one in your photo, but I don't recall the bases being quite that thick. As my friend Okanagan said, they're a different breed of cat than even the whitetail I've chased in a couple provinces, though to me they much more mirrored whitetail responses to seeing people/pressure, etc. than anything a mulie has ever done around me. The biggest bodied Columbia Blacktail I've ever seen was outside our daughter's dorm room window at the University of Victoria! It was by my estimate about a hand higher at the withers than any other bucks on campus - and there's no shortage of them there either I must add. Thanks again for the photo and thanks for the thread and those who've contributed. It's interesting reading everyone's experiences and how they differ. All the best to you all as spring continues to show up. Dwayne Good day to you sir! This buck lives not far from the GI/VI, just south of the border actually. He will likely die of old age or be hit by a car unless he develops wanderlust and some lucky hunter gets him, as he lives near/in town.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 5,611
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 5,611 |
As my friend Okanagan said, they're a different breed of cat than even the whitetail I've chased in a couple provinces, though to me they much more mirrored whitetail responses to seeing people/pressure, etc. than anything a mulie has ever done around me.
Dwayne
Hey, Dwayne. Re Blacktail behavior, I'd agree that northern rain country blacktails act more like whitetails. IME, the California blacktails act more like mule deer. It is a very general observation, but northern blacktails tend to sneak and hide, and southern blacktails tend to bust out and run like a mule deer. That's one of the reasons why I lean with the folks who make a distinction between northern and southern blacktails rather than lumping them together as the same deer. They don't look the same, act the same and they are waaaay different to hunt in the extremely different terrain/vegetation/climates they inhabit. And the southern ones have fleas!
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 5,611
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 5,611 |
ryoushi, don't know where the buck in your photo comes from and won't ask, but his antlers look remarkably like a buck that lived in the suburbs of Mission, BC. It's rare to see a buck like this in the daylight. His little head was doing the thinking for him this day...
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Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 23,506
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 23,506 |
Very nice animals, Frank! Did you hang the buck on the gravel road on a wall? 😎
Curiosity Killed the Cat & The Prairie Dog “Molon Labe”
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 21,191
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 21,191 |
That buck in the road is a dandy!!! I've hunted up outta sweet home before, Gordon lakes area. Big country.
Ping pong balls for the win. Once you've wrestled everything else in life is easy. Dan Gable I keep my circle small, I’d rather have 4 quarters than 100 pennies.
Ain’t easy havin pals.
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 3,353
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 3,353 |
2018 Buck [/img]
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