The Oregon archery opener found us chasing blacktails in southern Oregon. After two days and only seeing two does and a small forked-horn, I left the area, for bucks hadn’t started migrating from the high country. In hind-sight, I’m glad it turned out that way, as deep inside I wanted a pure Columbia blacktail to round-out a single season slam, not a Cascade blacktail.
The next couple days found me looking for blacktails in my old stomping grounds, east of Springfield. This place had been hammered by Deer Hair Loss Syndrome in 2001, t
hen again in 2005. The last big buck I took from this area was in 2005, and I hadn’t seen many deer since.
But this year things had changed. Doe populations had greatly increased, many does had twins, even triplets. Buck numbers had also bounced back; I even saw some nice bucks in velvet, during summer scouting missions. Once I started hunting it, I saw some small bucks chasing does, and caught glimpses of two mature bucks running a horizontal ridge that extends for over a mile, east to west. This is one of my favorite places to target big bucks, as they cover lots of ground on these ridgelines as they cruise for does.
Just as I was getting on deer, our family headed to WA for a week, where we hunted mule deer. This took me away from my favorite blacktail time, the five days around Thanksgiving. This is when I’ve killed most of my big bucks.
A few days after returning home, and getting caught up on business, I was at it once again, chasing blacktails. Rubs, heavy trail use and lots of does kept me optimistic. Warm weather had me worried, however.
I kept working the ridgeline, rattling here and there. I rattled in a nice forky that I was tempted to shoot, but with nearly a week left in the season, I held off. This was a place I’d had good success rattling during the early part of December.
I did get to see one of the most intense blacktail fights ever. Two young bucks (forky and 3-point) went at it for nearly five minutes. They were loud, aggressive and tore up the ground. Two other bucks came barreling in, and when the 3-point declared a win, one of the newcomers wasted no time locking antlers. The champion won that battle, too. Right before dark I also watched two different bucks, both mature, chasing does in the distance. The 2nd rut had kicked-in.
The next day I saw only does. On my ninth day of the hunt, the temperature dropped 12º. Grabbing my bow I headed to the foothills for an evening hunt. I rattled my way up the ridge, with no results. As I got ready to crest the ridge and start working to the west, into the wind, an alert doe and three yearlings popped out of the timber. They were concerned, and my first thought was “cougar.” Ears pinned high, all four deer were dialed-in to something behind them. Slowly they worked their way downhill, toward the feeding area, but every time they stopped they looked back up the trail with concern.
Eventually they moved out of sight, and I quickly covered ground to get closer to the trail, just in case a cougar or coyote was following them. Then I saw the back of a buck, heading my way. His head was down, but by the looks of his body he was mature.
At 70 yards out he finally lifted his head. Though daylight was rapidly deteriorating, I could tell he had a heavy frame. He worked his way right down the trail, so heavy in rut mode, I think I could have killed him with a rock!
When he paused to smell where one of the yearlings had just urinated, I came to full-draw. The Diamond Fugitive spit out my Gold Tip Velocity arrow, which sped right through his chest. The shot (about 25 yards) felt good, but I lost sight of the buck as he ran into the timber.
Hopping on the blood trail, I was pleased with what I saw. I was even more elated to find the buck piled-up 80 yards from where he’d been hit.
Though we didn’t catch the action on film due to low-light, I wasn’t about to pass on this great buck. I don’t know what excited me most, the fact big bucks had once again returned to my boyhood hunting grounds, that I tagged out on one of our country’s greatest big game animals, or that he rounded-out my single-season Columbia blacktail deer slam…with a bow.
Earlier in the year we took a nice buck in N. California (west of I-5), then a dandy from the San Juan Islands of Washington. Both of those hunts were caught on film and will be featured next year on our Trijicon’s The Hunt TV show, on the Sportsman Channel.
Admiring my Oregon buck, I was amazed at the rutty smell he carried. The bottoms of his hind legs were worn to the bone due to intense rub urinating, and upon skinning him, I found he had very little body fat.
In my book, Trophy Blacktails: The Science Of The Hunt, I state early on that consistently getting a trophy class Columbia blacktail (with bow, rifle or muzzleloader) is the toughest challenge in North American big game hunting. This season epitomized that feeling, for the buck I took was the only big buck I saw. It only takes one buck and a few precious second to turn a tough season in to one you’ll never forget.
The cream contains aciclovir that works to stop treat the virus. One of the most well known is Kamagra. What consumers talk about real viagra for sale or generic viagra for sale? It’s active ingredient is Sildenafil. The definition of sexual malfunction the persistent impossibility to achieve an erection to the orgasm, exerts an estimated more then twenty millions men in the America alone. Anyone with sexual disorders need professional help. Certain treatments will include couples therapy. Several remedies may add to sex drive difficulties, so its vital to ineract with your physician so that the prescription can be tailored to your needs. Keep reading for a list of medications that may cause heartiness problems and what you can do to put an end to potential side effects.