Decent blacktail

MD

MD

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I can't find enough words to thank 45ACPKING for his advice. I have hunted this area for the past 34 years with intermittent success, but his knowledge has significantly altered my success rate there.

Not really a big hunting story. I sat as still as possible for five hours, saw a handful of does and right around noon I was debating on whether to quit for the morning when this guy came ambling right towards me heading downhill.

I have shot big blacktails before, a 4x4 in the same watershed 20 years ago and my very first deer, a 4x5 on Vancouver Island 51 years ago almost to the day, but this guy is a hog. I couldn't move him once he was down and had to chunk him out on the spot and pack him out in three trips. I had my meat pack and cotton bags in the truck. The back legs and lower back in one portion weighed 61.6 pounds when I got home.

I processed Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and ended up with three liquor store boxes of boneless cuts, a box of ground, and a box of bones. Not to mention, the tongue, liver, kidneys and other edible portions. My wife loves the bones for soup. In fact this morning over breakfast she asked if I could please shoot a deer with more bones next time, say with six or eight legs. If I ever boned out a deer and brought only meat home she'd send me back for the bones.






 
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Very impressive, MD Congrats on a Blacktail worth taking.
I spent 3 years on Vancouver island, and shot several
Blacktail bucks, but none as nice as that one. Dave.
 
Ya MD you sure scored a nice one there.
When you told me you went to drag it and it didn't even budge I knew the pics were gonna be good hehehe.
Hunting that spot for almost 20 years and those mulie/blacktail hybrids are the reason I keeping making the journey into those woods.

When i was in the stand thinking about the text's I got from you just as I went out of cell range I kinda wondered what I would do if a dandy came along and was actually hoping for another smaller one so I would be able to get it out and praying for a buck coming on the high side instead of the main chute leading down. Wish I was there to help you but I think you, like me, enjoy your time as a solo hunter.

Congrats my friend ;)
 
pete dobinson said:
I've shot a lot of blacktails but never a muley/blacktail hybrid, nice deer btw. He looks to be in great condition. Congrats MD
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The river valley being hunted snows in too heavy for the deer to stick around so there is a mass migration that takes place every spring and fall. We are talking tens of thousands of deer in the grand scheme of it all. The deer on the east side of the river all funnel down from the alpine and head south towards the far remote back country behind harrison, alouette, stave lakes as a generalization. They make this migration in time to clear the snows in the alpine of their summer ranges to arrive in time for the rut. Here they will interbreed with the blacktails of the southern region, keeping the genetic diversity of these herds intact and thriving.

At the same time this takes place the big Mule deer from the western side of the fraser river are doing the same thing, moving down from the alpine into the valleys for the coming rut. This is where the co-mingling of these cousins of the mule deer family happens and the hybridization happens.
On the western side of this valley we are hunting, the deer migrate down out of their alpine summer homes and not being able to cross the river to join the southbound blacktails, these ones head south west towards the sunshine coast and they rut with the coastal blacktails, keeping the gene pools diverse. The deer on the west side of the valley will always be true blacktails but the deer on the east side of the valley have been hybridizing with mule deer forever. it is actually interesting to see the differences in the deer as they pass thru and how the true blacktails are so much smaller bodied and have different or more pronounced markings.
I learned this all from a hunter and wildlife biologist that I met many years ago on one of my trips up there. Kinda fascinating stuff. I have some really good examples of large bodied , 200 pound class animals taken in this spot but by and large the deer we harvest are not thumpers like the one MD harvested. So far a 5x4(tony's son) a 4x4 (tony)a 4x3(on my wall) and now MD's typical 3x3. The mass on MD's sets it a bit apart though.... very nice. While I don't trophy hunt these animals, it is really nice to see a friend harvest a nice one in a spot I've shared with them.
 
Great score!

Every one of my dogs these last years has thought that deer ribs were the shiznit, as far as treats, and I always saved about everything except the skull and the spine, to hand out on those winter days when they need to be distracted from my not taking them out in the cold for a run!

So, for other reasons, yeah, haul the bones home, but freeze a package of MEAT! It's really nice to be able to pick up a package and go "Yep, that will do!", and not find out that you got 3/4 a pack of bone!
 
FLHTCUI said:
What gun, what range and what bullet ???
Oh Congrats on your cut tag MD.
Btw, about 8500 snowies in the Ladner area, just not that special field.
Rob
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It's a Brno action 98 Mauser with a new barrel, plastic stock, Sako trigger, hinged floor plate and jewelled bolt in 280 Remington a buddy gave me, with a Bushnell elite 3x9 scope set on 4 power most of the time. Federal Trophy bonded tip 140 grain bullet.

Range 45 yards, give or take. I sight my rifles in for about two inches high at 100 metres, but always check them at 25 and 50 metres before leaving the range. It is amazing how many times you go hunting prepared to shoot 200 metres if necessary (I don't claim to be any kind of long-range sniper) and then find you're seeing deer 30 to 70 metres away.

Truth be told, that deer could have been shot with an iron sighted Winchester Model 94 30-30 or Lee Enfield 303.
 
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MD said:
It's a custom Brno action 98 Mauser with a new barrel, plastic stock, Sako trigger in 280 Remington a buddy gave me, with a Bushnell elite 3x9 scope set on 4 power most of the time. Federal Trophy bonded tip 140 grain bullet.

Range 80 yards, give or take.

Truth be told, that deer could have been shot with an iron sighted Winchester Model 94 30-30 or Lee Enfield 303.
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Very Cool MD, glad to hear it was a bang,flop kinda deal.
Red wine or Ale for the dinner aperitif ?
Thanks Again for sharing MD, Ill have to see if Federal Trophy is available for the 6.5 CM ;)
Rob
 
FLHTCUI said:
Very Cool MD, glad to hear it was a bang,flop kinda deal.
Red wine or Ale for the dinner aperitif ?
Thanks Again for sharing MD, Ill have to see if Federal Trophy is available for the 6.5 CM ;)
Rob
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Home-made elderberry wine.
 
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