Lets See Your California Blacktails

[chiefhoyt]

good to see you on rokslide zack. never gets old seeing all your killer bucks over the years

 

[Arrowslinger]

good to see you on rokslide zack. never gets old seeing all your killer bucks over the years

Same here, welcome Zach!!!!

 

[RosinBag]

Zack has made it to Rokslide.....Welcome.

 

[Arrowslinger]

Dave, those are some great bucks!!!

 

[RosinBag]

I wouldn't be shy about those Dave. Some of that country looks real familiar to me......

 

[Zackman]

Just shot this buck on Saturday night. I am attaching the story I wrote about it for my website. It is kind of a long read, but not too boring. That is tag number two for me this season, so I will be waiting until next July for more Cali blacktails. Good luck to everyone!

Late-Season Blacktail 2012

Each time I tried to straighten up, I would collapse back against the side hill. I don’t know if it was because of the slippery grass, the fact that I was wearing only socks, or the 35-degree slope—or any combination of the three—but it took me four attempts to steady myself and stand upright.

During my stumble fest, I managed not to alert the bedded blacktail buck less than 30 yards away and now I was ready for the shot. I ranged him one last time at 25 yards and began waiting for him to stand on his own. There was just one problem: there was only about 10 minutes of shooting light left.

Since turning 12 years old, I have been chasing blacktails with bow and arrow. The majority of my hunting experience with blacktails has been during the early season when bucks are gathered in bachelor groups and spend at least some of their time in the open. It always seems to be 100 degrees, and the hunts rarely last more than one hour at first and last light.

It wasn’t until a few years ago that I was able to hunt blacktails during the rut. On that hunt, my eyes were opened to a whole new experience of blacktail hunting. It was amazing! Bucks were chasing does left and right; other bucks were fighting one another, and best of all, bucks would come to calls. It made me wonder why I had spent so many years sweating like crazy while trying to find a mature buck that never moved during daylight hours. Man, was I a sucker.

Since that hunt, I have chased blacktails during the rut a couple more times. This year, I was able to draw a late-season blacktail hunt with both my parents. When the first weekend of October rolled around, we were headed towards the coast with visions of rutting bucks. After getting to our hunting area, we loaded up the boat and made a couple trips to set up camp on shore near our hunting spots.

Friday evening we cruised around the lake and saw a few bucks chasing does. It was enough rut action to keep us excited heading into opening day. The following morning, I was headed up the hill at first light to an area we scouted. Almost immediately, I spotted a nice buck 400 yards above me. I waited for him to crest the ridge and started slowly working towards him.

When I was about 200 yards from where he disappeared, I looked up to see two bucks and a doe running back over the ridge towards me. They were running from something. I hunkered down and watched the deer dive into the trees. A minute later, a guy popped over the rise with an arrow nocked—I assume—expecting the deer he just ran off to be waiting for him in the open, just over the ridge. They were not.

After the hunter moved along, I picked the bucks up in the trees again and watched them settle down to chase the doe. Not two minutes later, another bowhunter comes walking right through the middle of the large opening, oblivious to the bucks chasing within 150 yards of him. He continued on his nature hike up and over the ridge. At this point, I figured I needed to change the way I was approaching the morning hunt.

With so many hunters running around, I decided to sit down and wait. I sneaked down to the point I last saw the doe moving through the trees and found a point I could overlook a small opening and still listen for deer moving through the oaks. I really wanted to be 20 yards farther into the opening, but because of a deep cut, I could not get to my desired location. That would turn out to be a big mistake.

I had been waiting no more than 10 minutes before I heard some deer rustling through the thicket. They were heading my direction, about 100 yards in front of me. Suddenly, a deer popped its head over a bank at the edge of the opening, and I didn’t need my binoculars to see it was a shooter. The tall, compact 3-point was nearly attached to the two does he was accompanying.

After a brief pause, the does started moving directly towards me. I ranged the buck at 70 yards when he started following on the same path. When the hot doe was at 40 yards, still walking directly towards me, she had to make a decision. Because of the deep cut in front of me, she had to go uphill or downhill. Uphill would bring her — and the buck — within 30 yards and an easy shot. Downhill would take her — and the buck — into the thick trees and out of my life. You can guess which way she went.

She dropped down and I could see flashes of her between the limbs and leaves at 25 yards. Seconds later, the big 3-point followed the same trail and offered no shot. I tried sneaking around the thicket to catch them, but never saw them again.

I spent the rest of the morning watching deer get spooked all over the mountain by guys with bows, and even more guys cruising around the lake looking for bucks to harass. When I settled down for lunch and a nap, I thought about how I would approach the afternoon hunt. I tend to like solitude, especially when I bowhunt. So needless to say, my morning hunt, even though I came close to shooting a really nice blacktail, was not how I wanted to spend the rest of my trip. I’d change my plan for the afternoon.

With the midday sun beating down, I started out for another spot I found on the map. This area had fairly open hillsides, with extremely steep canyons and thick groves of oaks and manzanitas. I didn’t expect many hunters to venture into this area, which was why I was headed there. It was a steep climb from the shoreline and up to the ridge. From there I spent a couple hours glassing, picking up only a couple does. With less than an hour of light, I decided to spend my time scouting the spot for sign.

I crept into one of the thick oak groves (where I expected deer to come out of) and found tons of acorns among the fallen leaves. However, there was very little sign of recent deer activity. Most of the sign seemed to be weeks old. Surprised, I moved up the next ridge to spend the last half hour glassing the next deep canyon.

When I was almost to the top, I glassed back down the opposite side of the canyon and picked up a bedded buck a third of the way down the steep hillside. From almost 600 yards, I could tell it was a mature deer with long main beams. With only 20 minutes of shooting time left, I decided to make a run for him and took off around the head of the canyon at a steady trot.

When I reached the bush on top of the ridge I was using as a marker, I pulled off my boots and began silently sneaking down the incline towards where the buck was bedded. At 40 yards, I could see the buck’s antlers. But because of the nearly 35-degree slope, I could not yet see the buck’s body. I slipped down another 10 yards and could now make out most of the buck’s body; however, a small bush blocked his vitals.

Another few minutes and several near-tumbles later, I was perched 25 yards above the buck with a perfect view of his chest. I waited for nearly 10 minutes, waiting for the buck to stand, but he was quite happy in his bed. Looking at my watch every few seconds, I realized shooting time was nearly over. So I settled into my pre-shot routine and drew. My hold was steady and the shot was perfectly executed. At impact, the buck flipped over backwards, did a side somersault, and flung himself over the ledge towards the bottom of the canyon. I knew the hit was good; but because of the quickly-closing darkness, I wanted to back out and give him time.

I looked down to the water and saw a boat at the mouth of the cove far below. It was Dad. It turned out he had watched the entire scene unfold. Although he could not see the buck, he watched me creep down the hill, draw and shoot. Of all the places he could have been, it was great that he got to be there to watch me arrow another animal.

Two hours later, we walked right up to the buck near the bottom of the canyon. With a three-blade hole from a Montec CS through both lungs, he tumbled 50 yards before crashing into a bush. I was able to slide the rest of the way down the steep chute with the buck, and we hanged him in a tree to cool overnight.

This was a short but fun hunt for me. Not only to be able to hunt blacktails during the rut, but to be able to do another hunt with my parents this year was special. They both still have tags, so I hope to be able to help them tag a couple bucks before the season ends.

 

[trkyslr]

Awesome blackie zack!!!

 

[Arrowslinger]

Zach, damn nice buck, congrats!!!!

 

[JNDEER]

Nice job Zach!

 

[Zackman]

Thanks guys

Nice job Zach!

Congrats on your bucks Josh!