What would you choose to hunt black tail deer

[bdyal1972]

Take them all......do as I do.....flip coins to see which leaves the trucks cab for the day......
But....
Having grown up in the same area as BDyal......knowing what "dropping of a ridge into thick nasty viney maple..black berries..and salal" really means......go light and have fun.....
Pays to have extra clothes in the truck....sucks smelling your own sweat heading home.....
PS......there was a BDyal there abouts when I was there abouts......but his first name.....was........
BBBBRRRRRIIIIIICCCCCEEEEE.....
You'd understand if I am correct......

Well it MUST be my brother!!! Killer of nubbin head fawns for veal meals, smoker of old doe hams, prostetizer of the 6.8spc for elk, chokersetter of the garret, Elmer Keith copycat of the 38 special snubnose and 44mag @ 300 yards and reloader extraordinaire who REGULARLY KILLS DEER AND ELK OUT TO 125 YARDS WITH A 10MM PISTOL!!! and his home poured, home sized home coated hard cast 140 grain lipstick copycat mule deer penetrating pink 10mm ammo!!!

Btw still carry the scars of those encounters with coos County salal, Marion berries and 2" thick blackberries 12' tall!!!

 

[WalksLikeADeer]

Living on the Oregon coast the majority of the deer I hunt is black tail I just finished my 4th and last custom build rifles now I'm having a hard time choosing what to use my choices are Remington 260 6.5/06 and 270 wsm what would you use

I've hunted Blacktail in Oregon most of my life and would not use anything larger than a .243 Win. Blacktail are like a large German Shepherd and are not hard to kill. If you valve the meat at all, .270 and up is way overkill. I've seen the entire front half of Blacktail blown completely apart with a 7mm Rem Mag.

 

[Blacktailer]

Have used 22 to 375 caliber and 30-30 to 300RUM velocitywise. Depends on where you shoot them and how much meat you want to have left. IMHO pick the rifle you want and know your ballistics.

 

[Glenn Tullius]

260-is not a fussy cartridge to load for. Short stiff action, with a light stock and 22" barrel is my certified deer whacker!

 

[bdyal1972]

I've hunted Blacktail in Oregon most of my life and would not use anything larger than a .243 Win. Blacktail are like a large German Shepherd and are not hard to kill. If you valve the meat at all, .270 and up is way overkill. I've seen the entire front half of Blacktail blown completely apart with a 7mm Rem Mag.

I have helped pack out 6 blacktails over 200lbs and 2 crossbreed blacktails over 250lbs (1 whitetail and 1 mulie cross breed)

AWFULLY BIG SHEPERD!!!

 

[BallisticsGuy]

I've hunted Blacktail in Oregon most of my life and would not use anything larger than a .243 Win. Blacktail are like a large German Shepherd and are not hard to kill. If you valve the meat at all, .270 and up is way overkill. I've seen the entire front half of Blacktail blown completely apart with a 7mm Rem Mag.

I've done this. 35 yards, 140gr soft point 7RM and aimed down through the top of the shoulder right through the heart. Was my first legal buck. We got half of one backstrap and the hams. Everything else was jelly.

After 35 years hunting blacktail from Washington to California I've learned one thing about how much gun to bring. They'll die at the drop of a hat. Any hat. A 9mm works as well as a 300wm. The big deal is velocity destroys meat which is true but the depth of the maximum diameter of the wound channel has a lot of play in that. A common blacktail deer ain't but maybe a foot wide at the chest, a lot aren't much more than about 9 inches wide which is where a lot of rifle chamberings will put the widest part of the wound channel, meaning you can really easily end up with a 6 inch wide hole in the side of your deer. You're also really unlikely to see a blacktail very far away if you're hunting the hills and mountains so probably the best single option is an old .30-30 with 180gr round nose soft point. .243win work like lightning but impact velocity tends to be really high which has for me lead to exceedingly large exit wounds and associated destruction of shoulder meat.

 

[Atoyot1031]

6.5/06

 

[WalksLikeADeer]

I have helped pack out 6 blacktails over 200lbs and 2 crossbreed blacktails over 250lbs (1 whitetail and 1 mulie cross breed)

AWFULLY BIG SHEPERD!!!

What part of Oregon were the Blacktails harvested from? 250 lb deer is no problem for .243 Win. Still, not hard to kill. I have killed Elk much bigger than that with .243 Win.

 

[bdyal1972]

What part of Oregon were the Blacktails harvested from? 250 lb deer is no problem for .243 Win. Still, not hard to kill. I have killed Elk much bigger than that with .243 Win.

I have a friend on the slopes of the Columbia on the east side of the colocum east of Ellensburg been shooting 1 or 2 cow elk a year for 30+ years with 243.

Less than 250 yards double lung heart shot no issues...

As far as blacktails go...

Between clatskanie and Astoria seen SEVERAL large blacktails taken down

Between elkton and Lincoln city

Tioga unit

Nancy creek above agness

Panther creek southeast of powers

Crossbreeds southeast of estacada near granite peek, split of Calloway and Clackamas

Trillium lake saw a blacktail tail, whitetail 5x5 main beam antlers on a darn near grey mocha mulie buck that gutted was 312lbs hanginging...

Of course my dad shot more than a couple of these

One was a 3 point 225 lb blacktail shot folloqing does on indian creek outside of myrtle point in the rut during forestry class last day of the season 1979???

The big body blacktails are out there...

Drive to the end of the road.
Ride the bicycle to the end of the skid road.
Walk to the end of the trail.
Stealthily sneak up to the furthest hidden gully.

A buck or bull will be there....

Been working for me 38 years...

 

[Barrelnut]

Wasn't the 260 invented for blacktail hunting? My favorite is a 25-06 with a 110 Accubond

 

[WalksLikeADeer]

I have a friend on the slopes of the Columbia on the east side of the colocum east of Ellensburg been shooting 1 or 2 cow elk a year for 30+ years with 243.

Less than 250 yards double lung heart shot no issues...

As far as blacktails go...

Between clatskanie and Astoria seen SEVERAL large blacktails taken down

Between elkton and Lincoln city

Tioga unit

Nancy creek above agness

Panther creek southeast of powers

Crossbreeds southeast of estacada near granite peek, split of Calloway and Clackamas

Trillium lake saw a blacktail tail, whitetail 5x5 main beam antlers on a darn near grey mocha mulie buck that gutted was 312lbs hanginging...

Of course my dad shot more than a couple of these

One was a 3 point 225 lb blacktail shot folloqing does on indian creek outside of myrtle point in the rut during forestry class last day of the season 1979???

The big body blacktails are out there...

Drive to the end of the road.
Ride the bicycle to the end of the skid road.
Walk to the end of the trail.
Stealthily sneak up to the furthest hidden gully.

A buck or bull will be there....

Been working for me 38 years...

Nice!

 

[26Reload]

Okay B....quit telling the goods...
But I will back em'.....seen some brutes in my time in most of the places he quoted.....and a few monsters in other places....most of the time I was bow hunting....only got one 149" blacktail.....from "no-tell" flats...somewhere east..of the Pacific......

 

[Sockeye66]

Here's my version of a "Blacktail Special", a 25/06 built on a Springfield 03A3 action.

 

[Winfwt338-06]

Last Blacktail I shot in Etna (Siskiyou County, CA ) was at 35 yards - with a bow and arrow. So why the great need for sub MOA?
But that being said, I see nothing wrong with either the 260 Remington (first choice) or a 6mm cal (243 Winchester or 6mm Remington). These are not large deer, compared to a big Midwest Whitetail or Mulie

View attachment 206145

Wouldn't say blacktails aren't big bodied. Grew up hunting blacktails around springfield oregon. Lucky enough to shoot #46 all time in 2002 cascade blacktail 146 7/8, 4x4 hanging weight, no hide or feet, 190 lbs. Also shot forked horn, revert, in northern washington, hanging weight, no head, hide, or feet 156 lbs. Say what you want about blacktail being small, I say not always true. Seen tons of whi

tetail not much bigger than German Shepard. Most televised killings shot in rut so look bigger. First pic, washington forked horn 156lbs last two, #46 in oregon cascade blacktail, 4 1/2" eye guards, 5" bases. Not sure how pics will post but can figure out by description. I pack 30 W