My little Blacktail buck

[highsierra]

My cousins and I spent over a week up in the wilds of Tehama Co, CA, in search of California Blacktail deer. We probably saw 40-60 deer every day, but most were so far down in Mill Creek Canyon that a stalk was all but impossible. Despite the obstacles, we managed to bag 9 bucks for the 14 hunters in our camp. That was as of last Thursday, so more may have been scored since then. The season ended today.

I elected to take this big fork horn out of the gene pool because he was always going to be just that, a two pointer. You Easterners would call it a four point, but we only count one side out thisaway. The deer was downhill a ways below the canyon rim, so I had to Injun up to the edge and take a peek to see if he was good enough to shoot. I determined that he was so got out the rangefinder to see the exact distance. It read 229 yds, an easy range for my .30-06. The buck was quartering away, which left me only one option, to hit him in the back. I had to lean over the edge to get the crosshairs on his back, below the neck, and touched 'er off. Boom, the deer collapsed like a house of cards. now the work began.


The place I shot from is just to the left and above my "lucky hat". It's at the top of the rim where the oaks are. WHEW! We had to cut the buck in half to pack him out. It was way past dark when we got back to camp and I still had an hour's work to complete the skinning. The deer weighed just under 140 lbs and the antlers had 22" spread and were 19" high. Good enough.

[rmartin]

Nice Job! Thanks for the story.

[arrow719]

Way to go, I bet he taste good! I almost got one this morning with my truck, I found out that my breaks work real good!

[henry english]

good story and fine eatin mike , congrats ,

henry

[KEVINSMITH]

Congrates on the fine hunt!!

[DesertWalker]

Nice one, Mike.

[lebruce]

Congrats !!!!

[Shannon Graham]

Nice shootin'. Learned something as well in regards to only counting one side...OK, a nice two-pointer indeed!

Shannon

[Trask]

Shannon we call a "two pointer" a "Fork" or Forked Horn"...If you wanna sound like one of the boys you say "forky".. Just wanted your Left Coast lingo to be right

Huge Buck...Our N.coast Blacktails are pretty small by comparison.