Sawfish
Lil-Rokslider
I normally hunt Blacktails the last week of the California Zone B-2 season. That is always a waiting game. Hoping that a late season storm will drive some of the of the larger mountain dwelling deer down into the foothills. By comparison, the early season offers a chance at resident deer in balmy temperatures. This year, I was offered a hunt during the early season, and jumped at the chance! Pre-hunt scouting disclosed a wide very respectable Blacktail, but lacking in mass. However, we also located a non-typical. I had never seen a non-typical Blacktail before, and did not know much about size, scoring, etc., but I knew that I wanted this one. His horns were not overly long, and the additional tines gave him the appearance of sporting a butch haircut, reminiscent of a style that was popular in the sixties. As luck would have it, I discovered my binocular/rangefinder had suffered a broken battery compartment returning from my January whitetail hunt in Louisiana, so I was winging it with my old 10 x 40 Kahles binoculars. Two days of watching and searching, and I had my chance at 67 yards. No ranging necessary. I touched off the Federal Classic factory load from my 25/06 Encore pistol, and the 117 gr. Speer flat base dropped him in his tracks. So ended the chase for the Butch buck. The unofficial point count is 6 x 10, and will likely vary after scoring. My wife commented that it must have been a tough hunt because the deer and I both have the same expression on our face!
