New species, new friends , new respect !
Contributors to this thread:Mule Deer
From: Cajunarcher
22-Jul-16
I was fortunate enough to get a last minute cancellation blacktail hunt in California with fellow bowsiter buzz mc. With hardly any time to plan for this trip I wasn't sure what I was in store for... After talking with rob ( guy I got hunt from) and buzz I felt like it was gonna be a great trip! With flights booked we were set to leave in about a week. After weather delays , having to land in other airport to refuel the plane, missing connecting flights , learning buzz's flights got delayed , losing a half day of the hunt, etc.. I figured our luck couldn't get any worse ... We planned on getting our tags in laytonville which is where we were hunting. License system is down so we have to drive out the way to get tags which continued our bad luck. With good spirits from buzz and I we laughed about it and moved on .. Finally we made it to Miller ranch and after getting everything organized we were finally hunting!!
From: Cajunarcher
22-Jul-16
After drawing straws to see who would stalk first buzz won and we were off. We located lots of bucks the first couple days but either to small or not in stalkable area. What I thought was "rolling" hills going into that hunt turned into some really thick, DRY, and steeper terrain than expected ! We found a buck in good spot one morning and since I located it glassing buzz said " that's your buck u hunt it" I honestly can't say enough great things about my new friend and we will definitely do future hunts together! He didn't have to offer that stalk to me cause he won the toss fair and square ! Thanks again buzz! We made plans to head across canyon and stalk this buck. I wasn't worried about score of buck I just wanted a nice deer especially being my first time hunting this species. Fast forward a lil and my guide Richard had us in shooting range of this buck. After waiting for him to feed his way to a clear shot I came to full draw. Richard whispered 34 yds. Whether I just shot high or buck dipped to run ( probably the first thing lol) I hit deer really high and he bolted downhill. We gave deer some time and took up the trail. Very little blood lead to a long tracking job !! Covering lots of ground grid searching for this deer we were about to call it quits. 12 hrs later from the first shot on deer we were in sight of the truck . Just as we reached truck thirsty and tired Richard looks uphill and says " u not gonna believe this but there's your buck".. There he was bedded along a rock ledge and falling trees. Stalk was back on!! Looping around and getting above the buck had me 40yds above the buck. Saying a quick prayer to make a good follow up shot on this Deer I came to full draw.. Settling the pin on this bedded buck taking a deep breath I released the arrow hitting the buck great and seconds later he was down! Lots of ups and downs on this hunt but it all came together and I was fortunate enough to meet some great guys on this hunt ! I'm sure buzz will chime in on this adventure as well but thanks again buzz mc, njbuck and Richard for this hunt !
From: Cajunarcher
22-Jul-16
From: Cajunarcher
22-Jul-16
From: HUNT MAN
22-Jul-16
Great buck and congrats on the new friends and a great adventure. Hunt
From: Gus
22-Jul-16
Nice buck! Congrats.
From: Southern draw
22-Jul-16
Congrats!
From: Zackman
22-Jul-16
Congrats Lee! Nice Blacktail. Glad you enjoyed your trip out to hunt here in Northern California. Beautiful place and very underrated Bowhunting for Blacktails
From: sam
22-Jul-16
Incredible!!
From: iceman
22-Jul-16
I had zero doubts you'd get it done...killa!
From: 'Ike' (Phone)
22-Jul-16
Great job, great Blacktail, way to go!
From: Medicinemann
22-Jul-16
Congrats on the buck!!
....and thus begins another bowhunting season. California Blacktails, then Pronghorn Antelope, then elk, deer, moose, etc. I can hardly wait...!!
From: Cajunarcher
22-Jul-16
Thanks guys ! I had a blast and your right medicineman ! Mountain caribou hunting coming up soon with bigpizzaman. Good luck to everybody this season!
From: bliz6
22-Jul-16
Congrats Lee! I can't wait to get out there next year.
From: Cajunarcher
22-Jul-16
Thanks bill !
From: Bowboy
22-Jul-16
Congrats!
From: midwest
22-Jul-16
Congrats! Bowsiters are the best!
From: buzz mc
22-Jul-16
I'm laid over in MSP and still working my way home to East TN. I'll have time to add some more tomorrow. I will say Lee was awesome to hunt with and we had a blast. We'll have more adventures to post in the future.
.....and, apparently, I didn't pay enough attention to the poison oak thread.
From: Paul@thefort
22-Jul-16
I liked that a lot. Neat buck and good hunt. Nice story.
From: Willieboat
22-Jul-16
Way to go !
From: trkyslr
22-Jul-16
Great Cali blacktail buck and congrats!
From: t-roy
22-Jul-16
Congrats on a nice buck & a new hunting buddy!
Looking to give them a try in the near future!
From: Cajunarcher
22-Jul-16
Thanks guys . As much as I'm excited about the buck I'm more excited about meeting a new hunting partner cause they aren't easy to find especially when it means traveling all across US to bowhunt different animals .
From: joehunter8301
23-Jul-16
Good stuff! Congrats and glad you got to see what this state has to offer
From: BULELK1
23-Jul-16
Good for you!
Congrats
Good luck, Robb
From: otcWill
23-Jul-16
Good deal! Congrats
From: BOHNTR
23-Jul-16
Awesome, man! Congratulations.
From: EmbryOklahoma
23-Jul-16
Congratulations, Lee!
From: Lefty15
23-Jul-16
Very nice! Great way to start a new friendship also. CA blacktails are great trophies, especially with a bow.
From: Shug
23-Jul-16
Congratulations. ...
From: buzz mc
23-Jul-16
Lee pretty much covered the meat and bones of the story. I had my opportunity on the next to the last day. My shot appeared to be just a little far back but still not too bad. It still ended up being too far back and after around 10 hours of blood trailing, following prints in the dirt, and more blood trailing, we had to throw in the towel. It was an great experience and I feel privileged to have hunted these cool little deer with such great company. I'll include some pictures from the hunt.
This is the kind of country we were hunting.
From: buzz mc
23-Jul-16
The ranch had lots of deer. Some even stuck around long enough to have their picture made.
From: buzz mc
23-Jul-16
California Kingsnake. This was the only snake we saw on the trip. And, I have no problem with that.
From: buzz mc
23-Jul-16
Day 2 we woke up to fog. It kind of reminds me of home here in the Smoky Mtns.
From: buzz mc
23-Jul-16
And more bucks posing for the camera.
From: buzz mc
23-Jul-16
More fog on day 3.
From: buzz mc
23-Jul-16
That's the same day Lee drew blood.
From: buzz mc
23-Jul-16
Lee telling Richard how it all went down.
From: buzz mc
23-Jul-16
From: buzz mc
23-Jul-16
From: buzz mc
23-Jul-16
From: buzz mc
23-Jul-16
We saw plenty of hogs through the week.
From: buzz mc
23-Jul-16
And quail too
From: buzz mc
23-Jul-16
Before jumping on our flights from Sacramento, we headed over to see the Pacific Ocean.
From: buzz mc
23-Jul-16
Last but not least, we saw some Tule elk along the highway and stopped to take some pictures of a herd of cows and a spike bull when this guy stepped out.
From: B N A A guy
23-Jul-16
Awesome trip Lee!! Congrats on a great buck!! Kinda fun bowhunting for deer in July huh!! :)-
From: ToddT
23-Jul-16
Is that a representative size of a mature blacktail buck?
From: Cajunarcher
23-Jul-16
Guide said it was a 5 yr old deer . Idk cause I'm not great at aging deer but here's a pic of jaw bone
From: Cajunarcher
23-Jul-16
From: BOWUNTR
24-Jul-16
Congratulations. Ed F
From: Mad Trapper
25-Jul-16
Congrats!!! That is a fun, fun hunt and a special place!
From: WV Mountaineer
25-Jul-16
Congratulations and God Bless
From: Mark Watkins
25-Jul-16
Congrats Lee!!! Looks like you guys had a great hunt!
Mark
From: Matt
26-Jul-16
Congrats on the unique buck. It sounds like you guys had quite a hunt and took in much of what Miller Ranch has to offer. Hunting blacktails in July is unlike anything else I have experienced.
ToddT, in that part of the world, the deer mature slowly by comparison to deer in other places in the US. Typically a 1.5 year old buck will be a small spike, 2.5 a big spike (like pictures above)/small forkie (likewise as pictured above), 3.5 a bigger forkie or small 3 pt, and then they start to show their framework at 4.5 and thereafter - so 5.5 is representative of a mature deer. If I had to guess, they typically grow their largest racks in the 7-10 y/o range. I am familiar with 10 and 12 year old bucks killed on that ranch in the past ~5 years, with the 10 y/o at near-peak (B&C qualifier) and the 12 y/o probably regressing somewhat (but still a tremendous buck and a very unique trophy).
From: huntmaster
26-Jul-16
Good work Lee! Congrats!
From: hawg
26-Jul-16
That would be a cool hunt in beautiful country...congrats!
From: DL
27-Jul-16
Here's what an old BT jaw looks like.
From: DL
27-Jul-16
Hunting early season hear is a treat. Hot as hades. If your buck had died within the first couple of hours after you shot it in the heat it would have not been eatable.
From: ToddT
27-Jul-16
Wow,those are old bucks then. Apparently very different than whitetail. I knew they were smaller, but didn't realize how much smaller.
How much did they weigh? Do you have any idea?
And though it would be nice to be hunting right now, I absolutely hate the heat,but I would like to give this a try sometime.
From: Cajunarcher
27-Jul-16
Todd if I had to guess mine weighed about 110 to 120lbs . As far as the heat goes I'm from south Louisiana where is pretty hot almost year round so it didn't bother me at all, actually I was kinda cold up there in the early mornings lol.
From: loesshillsarcher
27-Jul-16
Awesome!!
From: buzz mc
27-Jul-16
"As far as the heat goes I'm from south Louisiana where is pretty hot almost year round so it didn't bother me at all, actually I was kinda cold up there in the early mornings lol."
I'm not from south Louisiana, but I felt the same way about the heat. I was wearing a jacket in the mornings and put on a second shirt most evenings. The middle of the day was hot, but not unbearably hot.
From: Matt
27-Jul-16
The mature bucks up there are in the 110-140# range field dressed.
From: DL
27-Jul-16
Well done fellas. Stalking early season in 100 degree temps and dry crispy landscape isn't easy.
From: kota-man
27-Jul-16
Fantastic guys. Good stuff...
From: Buffalo1
27-Jul-16
Really neat hunt. Congrats on the trophy. Thanks fellas for sharing with us.
