Mystery of the Columbian Black tail...

Only got 3 days out for deer this year. First time big game hunting in the PNW.
Go figure i was met with 40+Mph winds and torrential downpours. A bad day hunting beats a good day working. Thankful for the time i did get out in the woods.
Managed to see a total of 6 deer. 5 does and 1 Buck that was not yet legal. Now that i have the hunting system figured out a little better up here i think i will try to get some premium tags next year. More hunting time and if i had a doe tag i would have meat in the freezer after 1 day of work.
Some photos of the process mostly in between the crazy weather.
Now switching gears to Sport fishing in Cabo, then goose in mid December.


This is where i spent my first 1.5 days. There is a stream about 500yards passed what you can see in the photo.

Well...
This year I decided to place a blind in the corner of a clear cut after striking out on the spot and stalk method last year.

I placed the blind out in Oregon's unit 16 in the snow peak area 3 weeks ago and left the spot alone so anything near there could get used to it and not think twice about it. Drove out there Friday afternoon looking for some turkey and ruffled grouse on the way. Once I was about 500 yards from where I was going to make my base camp I bumped two grouse. I decided to let them go since it was so close to the deer blind. Spent the rest of the day adding some necessities like chair and spotting scope to the blind so I didn’t have to carry much but a pack and rifle in the morning. Spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying nature and reading a book.

Woke up at 0530 on opening day, made some coffee, admired the stars, and started the hike to the blind. Got 25 yards from the blind and realized I forgot the bolt to my rifle!!! Headed back to the truck and still managed to get back to the blind before any sunlight started to fill the sky.

Sat in the blind for about an hour and a half until I saw some movement about 150 yards away. It was a group of 4 does and 2 small bucks. I decided to go for the bigger spike of the 2. I put my spotting scope down and got my rifle ready, Once I had the rife ready to go they had shifted and had their heads down eating so I couldn’t tell where the buck was. I grabbed my binos from my chest and made a small noise and they all lifted their heads in my direction and decided I was nothing of concern and continued on their way. Once I had successfully ID ’ed the buck they were just about to drop out of sight and disappear into some thick brush. I put the crosshairs behind his right shoulder and squeezed the trigger and down he went. Double lung shot .308 went straight through. Guess I need to get one of them 6.5 CM's or target bigger bucks!


He was not the trophy everyone seems to be after these days but it was my first solo buck, my first Oregon deer, and my first black tail so I am still proud of him.

I managed to be home by 11am and had him in the freezer by 6pm.

Would I shoot a spike like that again? Probably not. Would I shoot another deer on the down hill side of a hill, probably not! Thank goodness the road was not far...

Think I may do the blind again next year but in the forest instead of a clear cut this time.



Red circle in the picture is where the blind was, photo was taken about 25 yards uphill from the deer.