2012 d zone Mount

[BrownsandBucks]

I finally got my 2012 Buck back! Came out great and the cape looks perfect! Might not be the biggest buck but where we hunt on Public land in OTC zone we are fired up on the Bucks we have been finding. They truly show Blacktail habits, antler configuration , small faces, bodies ears, and have tails that have Black from top to bottom and are more flag like compared to the rope like Muley or cross breeds we find in areas. The genetics are strong where we hunt with tall narrow deep forked bucks and then a heavy but short tine wide configuration. These two types dominate on mature deer. Here is my 2012 and a couple others from 2006, 2009, 2012, and 2013!

 

[6x7]

Lots of good bucks up in that d-5 4 and 3 country then people think

 

[YukonDall]

YES !!!...............VERY NICE.......CONGRATS..........YD.

 

[NickW]

Nice bucks, Mike!
Ditto what 6x7 stated!!!

 

[sageadvice]

Those are great bucks for what they are and where they're from. Thanks for sharing with us!!!

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"

 

[bullskin]

Fantastic bucks. Lots of character.

 

[eelgrass]

Awesome mature bucks. Whatever you're doing, I wouldn't change a thing!

Eel

 

[Califelkslayer]

Great results from a OTC Kali tag, keep up the good work.

I grew up hunting D5. Success rates averaged 10%-12% each year but I always killed a buck, but only one in the class of those you showed. 4 weeks of archery followed by 5 weekends of rifle. Some time during the season Me and a buck were going to have an encounter that went my way. I think the success rates were so low because most guys just came up on the rifle opener, drank and didn't hunt.

One year in the middle of the rifle season I had a 20" forked horn with eye guards and gnarly bases hanging in my camp when the Game Warden came by and checked me. He was impressed by the size of the deer and kept saying so. I thought to myself, "You should have seen the bucks I killed the last couple of years." But didn't since I had the place to myself after the opener, year after year.

But in about 12 years of hunting the he!! out of that country I only saw 2 bucks that would have looked like they belonged in your photo spread. Both were during archery season, and neither ended up with my tag on it.

 

[BOHNTR]

Those are all some really nice CA mule deer.......you've done well pilgrim!

BOHNTR )))---------->

 

[BrownsandBucks]

Thanks guys, these are from the group I hunt with and only the buck I harvested is the buck I have is the mount thats my hands. The others are from friends and family in our party, I have posted few of them from last couple seasons.

Bohntr , these all have had the long flag like top to bottom black tails and heaviest body was maybe 140lbs. We hunt some other areas and have harvested Cal mule deer that even when forkies have had larger bodies the rope like tail with black tip and habits like the mule deer we have hunted out of state. This was from this past season and this buck we were able to pattern and see frequently and hunt and harvest.

This one also what our group calls more cali mule deer, more mule deer habits, tail, Body size goes into 200 lb plus.

This one was still not fully mature and had a much larger body and mule deer tail from this year.

The Blacktails which most would consider hybrid we don't get to pattern and almost all were first time encounters during the season.
While we are not able to hunt the giants in other state's we do get 2 tags a year and hunt hard to have success. I have way more unpunched tags then punched tags and always enjoy the hunt with or without a harvest. I hope this year we draw an X zone!

 

[manny53]

Nice

 

[BOHNTR]

Awesome photos.....and even better bucks! That velvet bucks is a toad. Thanks for sharing.

Although not Columbian Blacktail, they are a subspecies of mule deer......the CA Mule Deer. (see chart) On a side note, there's an interesting study just completed by a DNA specialist from AZ G&F on our deer herd just east of the B&C boundary in the Golden State. He essentially did the study for B&C to verify species overlapping. I spoke to him at the last P&Y convention and his results were very interesting. While there were some differences in areas as far as mule deer are concerned, not one Columbian Blacktail (DNA strands) was tested or found in the area.

http://www.monstermuleys.info/photos/user_photos2/945210_24_0.jpeg

BOHNTR )))---------->

 

[BrownsandBucks]

I saw the tail chart recently also, pretty cool. The closest looking is actually the example of the southern mule deer or regular blacktail or last 2 example's, but I guess its safe to say alternative mule deer. I can't explain the difference in habits. The one herd we hunt are brush loving, highly nocturnal, non pattern sneaky deer. The other herds we hunt have habits like the rocky Mountain mule deer where they move early and late, use trail consistently, and feed in open country thus making them more capable to pattern. Thanks again for the nice replies and info sharing.

 

[NickW]

I agree with B&B on this issue!
The following is an excerpt from the August*September 2013 Eastmans Hunting Journal.
"California Blacktails:Genetic research has changed record book blacktail definitions and boundaries.

Genetic research by a team of California Department of Fish and Game biologists in 2006 was compiled in a document that states there are five generic clusters of deer in the Golden State and there are two distinct genetic blacktail clusters:the "northwest cluster" (these would be Columbain blacktails)and the "central cluster." The California Records of Big Game (CRBG) calls the central deer "inland blacktails."This cluster encompasses most of Northern California from the western edge of the Sacramento Valley, east to the Sierra Crest and from about the city of Redding, south to near Fresno.
According to the CDFW map (dna%20map) in the DNA document Columbian blacktails are limited, in the most part, only to the North Coast mountain ranges in the far northwest corner of the state, and do not extend east to Interstate 5 until near Redding. From there, their range runs east of I-5, up Hwy.299 and the Pit River drainage. The CRBG changed their blacktail boundaries in 2011 to reflect the new DNA evidence.
It is interesting that the Record Book for Washington's big Game Animals divides that state's blacktails into Western, Columbian and Cascade."

I talked with a state biologist back in the mid 1980's when I killed a big non typical in D-4, scoring 193 and some change. He told me the best way to tell if my buck was a blacktail or mulie, was to measure the metatarsal gland, located on the outside of each rear leg. If 2 to 3 inches, blacktail. If 5 inches plus, mulie.