Love the One You're With...

sageadvice · Jun 8, 2011

I'm talking Muleys and Blackies here but could apply to most any critter we go for so whatever works for you is just fine.

You have a tag but it's not a great tag. Some might say your tag isn't even a good tag. Some said it weren't worth having...Hey, it's a tag!

I seen some really good bucks come from spots or areas that they just weren't supposed to be. If you agree, let's hear about it. Some pic's would be nice too! Thanks!

Joey

Zim · Jun 9, 2011

This applies to me for sure. I have gotten the opportunity to score some big bulls in NV, AZ & UT. However after not drawing anything and missing out on the last 3 elk seasons I cannot describe how thrilled I am with the standard tag I drew in New Mexico this year. On top of it I get to return with my hunting buddy who took the last 10 years hunting off due to family. My goal will be to help him score his first elk of any kind. The tag is gold to me.

fatrooster · Jun 9, 2011

LAST EDITED ON Jun-09-11 AT 06:33AM (MST)[p]One year in Nevada I didn't draw a tag but was able to put in for the second draw which was archery only. I'd never hunted archery and was reluctant to put in for but I did and drew the tag in July. The season started in August and I had to buy a bow and learn how to shoot it. To make a long story short, I got this buck on my second day which scores about 150". Not a great scoring buck but impressive looking. I apologiize to those of you who have seen it a couple of times because it has been posted before. fatrooster.

264mag · Jun 9, 2011

That's a great looking buck!

huntindad4 · Jun 9, 2011

Fatrooster that is a great example of why score doesn't mean much to me!

My story is about the year my dad drew a NV PIW tag (about 5 yrs.ago) and I had only an ID OTC tag in my pocket we hunted NV for about a week and a half and in the early rifle hunt of area 6 and saw several nice bucks but none worthy of dad's PIW tag so we decided to go hunt 5 or 6 days in ID and while I was feeling sorry for myself for not having a PIW tag too I decided to make the best of it.

We hunted ID and I killed a great buck 7x7 with a long tined 4x4 main frame with a great inline 5 on his passenger side long eyeguards and great mass with a couple stickers , the only thing he lacks is width at only 22 or so inches outside. He scores in the mid 190's gross and is one of the best bucks I have ever killed and I have had a couple of better tags in my pocket!

Great thread idea Sage!

Bill

Look out Forkie, FTW is watching us!

MuleyMinor · Jun 9, 2011

Thats a smokin buck fatrooster!! I would be flippin sticks at him opening morning!!

hornkiller · Jun 9, 2011

+1 That is a really great deer for just learning how to shoot a bow!

But i bet daisy run him down for ya got him by the flanks why you got real close;-)

sageadvice · Jun 9, 2011

Fatrooster, a Dandy buck to be way proud of, especially for first year archery and i had not seen it before, Thanks!

Huntindad, Sounds like a smoker buck, Thanks for posting your tale!

I think that as long as your unit has some serious cover where bucks will/can hide out, oakbrush, Quakes, thick timber... you have a chance to kill a buck with some good years on him. It's surprising what can be found after the seasons, not really talking every state here cause some seem to almost hunt all year there, when the bucks come calling on the ladies. Some may believe that there are no decent bucks around and the hunting to be poor but if there is cover, there is always hope that a smoker buck can be had and some guys have a knack of making the most of those tags.

Joey

HuntinFool · Jun 9, 2011

I'm not judging either of the two guys that I am going to mention in this post, but I just wanted to point out a few things. The guy in the classifieds is asking for a bow to buy because he drew an archery elk tag. Oh boy, did he make a mistake when he asked that. Almost every single post was criticising him saying that he shouldn't put in for a tag if he doesn't have a bow, but then Fatrooster does almost the exact same thing and everyone is praising him for his buck. Whats with the double standard.
Again, I am not criticising either guy.

BuckSnort · Jun 9, 2011

>I'm not judging either of the
>two guys that I am
>going to mention in this
>post, but I just wanted
>to point out a few
>things. The guy in
>the classifieds is asking for
>a bow to buy because
>he drew an archery elk
>tag. Oh boy, did
>he make a mistake when
>he asked that. Almost
>every single post was criticising
>him saying that he shouldn't
>put in for a tag
>if he doesn't have a
>bow, but then Fatrooster does
>almost the exact same thing
>and everyone is praising him
>for his buck. Whats
>with the double standard.
>Again, I am not criticising either
>guy.
>

Easy answer... There is no double standard.. The ones praising here on this thread are not the ones that were criticizing on the classifieds thread..

Disclaimer:
The poster does not take any responsibility for any hurt or bad feelings. Reading threads poses inherent risks. The poster would like to remind readers to make sure they have a functional sense of humor before they visit any discussion board.

HunterHarry · Jun 9, 2011

I live in California's "A zone".
Known for low success rates and small blacktail bucks generally.
It is an OTC guaranteed two tag zone.
The weather is always hot and miserable as archery season is in July and rifle opens the second week of August and runs through late September most of the season temps are 90 degrees plus.

That said, it's always been home.

Growing up here and living in the hills, I've been fortunate to know landowners that allow me exclusive hunting rights on private ground.

We can count on hunting two bucks every year.
They may not be the eye popping 200" Mega Muleys that show up here on MM, but the years I've spent hunting blacktails with my son in this somewhat marginal zone have proven to be priceless to me as I look back in time.

TOPGUN · Jun 9, 2011

Love the photos of younguns doing their thing!!! Good job and beautiful country!!!

sageadvice · Jun 9, 2011

Thanks Harry! Always love your pic's! Lots of people out there just don't know how tough and how fun it is to hunt good Blackies. They'll test a guy but can be very rewarding.

Growing up, our place in A zone was pretty good sized as they go in Cali. We had maybe 10 sections to hunt and another 10 that the neighbors didn't care and were never there. I put in a lot of time and foot miles every year scouting, figured i knew about every buck around but i also knew that there were some big bucks there that would show weeks after the season around Thanksgiving that i'd not ever seen before.

Some of those big ol bucks hid out in the thick brush all season. Some may have come from miles away, hard to tell. I didn't have to hunt those bucks so i didn't but i sure kept a tag for the last of the season because sure as a bell rings, a "new" good buck or two would always pop up from seemed like nowhere. I miss those hunts!

Joey

kawboy · Jun 9, 2011

I got this Bull a couple years ago with an over the counter tag. Any way you look at it, if your out hunting you can have fun. Its always fun to dream. I was with my dad, This will always remain one of my most valued trophy animal. He is not huge but the experience was priceless.

I'll tell you who it was . . . it was that D@MN Sasquatch!

lonetree · Jun 9, 2011

LAST EDITED ON Jun-10-11 AT 00:10AM (MST)[p]Hunterharry, those pics are indeed priceless!

TOPGUN · Jun 10, 2011

LAST EDITED ON Jun-10-11 AT 09:28AM (MST)[p]Walt (264mag) asked me to post this blackie for him. It was 550# taken in A Zone in CA in 1983 and was a B&C score of 21 3/8"

eelgrass · Jun 10, 2011

A ho hum blacktail tag in California. They are over the counter. Can't get much more ho hum than that. But every one is a ticket to a monster buck. You just have to do the work and have some luck.

All these blacktails were taken recently on public land.

If I don't draw a good muley tag somewhere, bummer. I'll love the one I'm with.

Eel

sageadvice · Jun 10, 2011

LAST EDITED ON Jun-10-11 AT 09:53PM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Jun-10-11 AT 09:28?PM (MST)

Thanks for posting that up Eel!! A remarkable group of Blacktails!

I know of two other outstanding groups of B-zone bucks that were taken recently, one group taken by a good friend of mine, but they won't allow posting up of their animals. The B zone, guarantee tag, is another zone that will test a guy in many ways but it still can produce world class animals!

DadBill, save it bud!

Kawboy, Thanks! That Bull would work for me! Nice!

264mag, Very nice! Thanks!!

Joey

huntindad4 · Jun 11, 2011

Haha Sage! No argument here!

Nice bunch of blacktails Eel!

I love hunting B-Zone Blacktails and as Eel has said and Sage too in other posts, it truly is a good opportunity for a Trophy buck, but you MUST work for it.

If I could change only one thing in B-Zone hunting it would be the eradication of Poison Oak! That Chit has no place on God's Earth IMO! Everything else about it has made me a better more patient hunter and I would not change it.

Bill

Look out Forkie, FTW is watching us!