800yd oregon blacktail. pics...

[lovdasnow]

well, I finally got a big blacktail. i have wanted to get one of these guys for a long time but as anyone knows who has hunted them, they are few and far between.

long story short, public land, general tag. glassed this buck up in a clear cut, and had perfect conditions for shooting that morning. no wind at all.

I had already entered all my info into my ballistic program just before light from my kestrel. as soon as we spotted him we knew he was a shooter, and i handed the swaro rangefinder to my buddy and had him range him over and over calling out the range each time while i entered range and angle to my drop chart.

by the time i was ready for the shot(matter of seconds) i had already started to shake a little. I have never had a chance at a buck this big! so i calmed myself down and started to press the trigger.

he had just got out of his bed and was just standing there enjoying a few bites to eat when the 185gr VLD from my custom 300RUM caught him exactly where i held. entering just behind the front shoulder, and exiting just in front of the offside shoulder.

by the time i could get another round in the chamber, just in case, my buddy on the spotter said he was down.

 

[jmden]

That is a very nice blacktail. Good shooting and congratulations!

 

[kiwi3006]

Beautiful animal, great shot and excellent preparation. Well done!

Stu.

 

[LRSickle]

Well done! Well done!

 

[winmag]

Thats a PIIIGGGG of s blacktail!!!
.........and I had just made up my mind that blacktail were fairytale deer. Nothing more than mythical, imaginary creatures that people tell stories about in order to FRUSTERATE hard working hunters.......... Man, you ruined it for me! I had just sworn NEVER again would I waste my time on immaginary deer............ and there you go proving me wrong......... REALY WRONG by the looks of it...........
VERY NICELY DONE. Great trophy!

 

[ol mike]

lovdasnow -great shot and deer !

 

[lovdasnow]

thanks a lot guys!
thanks to learning from this site and all the great people on here over the years i was able to make it happen.

i still can't believe it. I have to check the pictures when i wake up to make sure it wasn't a dream. because I too, was starting to believe deer like that were fairy tales as well

thanks again

 

[Moman]

That's a real nice Blacktail. It's amazing how hard those bugggers can be to hunt. Great buck.

 

[dieseldoc]

Good story and great Blacktail shooting, congrats. One thing for sure you have raised the bar on you self for future Blacktails, I sure you will do it again.

Charlie

 

[helidriver72]

Great horns and an ENORMOUS body, you didnt happen to get a chance to weigh it did you? Looks like a Cascade "benchleg" to me. More than likely you had to quarter it up and pack out on your back I'm sure.
ps--good shot also.

 

[lovdasnow]

it was at a pretty stinking low elevation to be a benchleg, but it is still east of I-5 so technically it would be.

did not weigh the body, but dang it was heavy. really really heavy. yes, we quartered it up, and packed it out.


thanks again guys

 

[AJBello]

Simply an AWESOME blacktail, and nice shootin'. I've taken some decent blacktails, but none like that!

I hunted Silvies unit (east) this year (tag soup to show for it...), but am hunting the valley on my 600 series Willamette tag now (hair tag / through Feb 28!). Jumped a few this morning but no shooters.

 

[lovdasnow]

good luck with the 600 tag! i hope you get a big one!

i'll draw that tag next year, and have some good private ground to hunt in the valley. can't beat the hunt dates on that one.

 

[Booney]

Where in Oregon are you from.