Since didn't enter or draw a tag in the multi-season lottery, here's a new post for a new season!

Western Washington blacktail starts on Saturday morning...a few days in the woods is about exactly what I need right now.

Eyeballed a few decent bucks on our game cam array...including one chunky 3x4 that has a habit of walking around in daylight.

Campfires, camp food, camp drinks, and camp stories...starts tomorrow afternoon!

Fish on...

Todd

Sounds fun. Good luck Todd.

Shoot straight and take something to camp for the headaches sure to come.
Enjoy.

A couple of tags were filled today at our camp.

Fish on...

Todd

Sweet.
Pics?

I think SkyGuy may have a pic or two of his first ever big game harvest ;-)

Fish on...

Todd

It was a great start to our season. Camp is a well oiled machine this year and it almost looks like we know what we are doing. Boat limits of jumbo crab the night before opening day was just an awful way to kick start our festivities. Crab, heart and backstrap. Just terrible.

Our boy Ryley is starting to develop the eye of the tiger.

Yeah, dinner tomorrow will be tenderloins, heart, Dungeness crab, and foraged chanterelles, lobster mushrooms, and Zeller's boletes.

I love being in the PNW in the fall...so much good food to shoot, catch, gather, or grow in my garden.

Fish on...

Todd

Just got done cutting and wrapping Ryley's BT. He left with a cooler full of prime groceries and a big ol' chit eating grin on his face. Of course, I had to sample some backstrap before he was able to make his escape.

Can't wait to get back out there this weekend.

This past weekend was the best couple of days of BT hunting we've ever had. Yesterday was just ridiculous. I got my new personal best BT buck and Todd....well, I'll let Todd take it from here.



BTW - there are no big BT's on the islands. They are all small German Shepard dinks.

Nick shot a buck on Sunday morning that was every bit as big as the mondo buck I shot a couple of years ago...he got to bask in the glory of it for about four hours until I shot one that looks like it's half Cape Buffalo

It took a few years but apparently we have learned thing or two about finding some gigantic mature bucks on Whidbey Island.

I caped out the one I shot on Sunday and he'll be going to the taxidermy man for full shoulder mount.

Fish on...

Todd

Way to slaughter the swamp rats!

Here's the little island blacktail from Sunday...



That's the landowner in the pic with me...he has never wanted to be in a pic of any of our deer, but insisted on getting some pics with this one

They don't grow the biggest racks on the islands, even the big deer, but this guy's is pretty impressive nonetheless...



And here he is, ready for the taxidermy man...



Fish on...

Todd

There are two "types" of BT's on the island. Kind of like labs...American field labs and British standard labs. One type is a long bodied, taller but thinner deer and the other, a shorter, heavier body. The long body types tend to be big forked 2x2's or 2x3's and the short body types tend to be squat 3x3's and 4x4's. Todd's is the latter. He wasn't long bodied, but holy cow was he squat and fat. Really, really, fat. Big ol' sway belly looked like he was preggars with triplets.

That rack on Todd's looks reminiscent of a Sitka BT, actually, but heavier.

Good stuff

Wow ! I loved the photos.

Nice work guys. Just a classic case of puttin' in the time and then reapin' the rewards. Congrats, you guys earned it.

M

Thanks, guys.

Yes, Bart, and it has been a labor of love getting to really know the area we hunt.

Besides being a beast of a buck, after as silent of a stalk that I could manage after hearing a branch break not far from me in the woods, he and I ended up face to face at about 25 yards with me only able to see half his head and none of his body, with him looking right at me.

All I could see is one eyeball, half a muzzle, and that he had horns.

The kill shot resulted from a long throw from a shotgun into a very tight opening in the impenetrable brush at a buck at full gallop, and of the 9 BBs that left the barrel of my gun, 4 of them ended up in his chest.

Not a shot I'd bet much money on making, but I'm sure glad it was made.

Fish on...

Todd

I have shot two oversized bucks on this Island, and both had racks like this...only this one was a bit bigger and thicker than the last one!

Fish on...

Todd

Nice work, men !

ETA:
Toddler, that's a creepy, loving stare in that first pic.

The smell of that stinky buck put him into Estrus.

LOL

Dandy buck Todd!


Seems someone was a tad tardy going to bed after a late night out....

Whoa...nice 5x5 Driftin! Congrats! Great mass on that bad boy. Got any other pics to share?

Way to thin down the island dog heard, boys! That's a big ass island deer! Nice that the kennel owner still lets you on his property.

What did Rico shoot?

Even after seeing all these cool photos, I still hate hunting blacktails. Fvck that.

The plan is to be in central Iderho for next season. Took this season off as we gave up the Tonasket property. Buckzilla awaits.

Paker finds Buckzilla

That is one cool twisted rack! Thanks for adding photos Todd

Great bucks!

Nice buck Ted!!!!!!

or

Todd.

Mr Nugent

Late modern season is on deck. 4 days on the island next weekend will be nice. I have my 2nd doe tag to fill and until 12/31 to do it - so no rush.

Elk on the other hand....

To recap, it was a great deer season for us. Everyone filled their tags; Todd dropped a boss and Ryley took his first ever BG animal (to which I am / was extremely happy to be a part of....very cool!). 5 years into our island camp and we have it dialed. I ended up taking my best-to-date BT buck (a very nice typical 3x3) and also filled my 2nd doe tag. My freezer is looking pretty good for the winter.

But...my freezer would look even better if'n I'm able to connect on a cow late season. TBD.

Yeah, it was probably our best season to date, eh? Those antlerless 2nd deer tags are the bomb...putting two deer in each of our freezers each season is amazing. My freezer is well stocked, and I still have three or four pounds from last year still

Maybe it's a good thing that salmon season didn't get worked too hard...it was difficult enough to work around all of the yellowtail and yellowfin, and halibut and lingcod and rockfish ;), to fit in all the venison.

Fish on...

Todd

If all you have is a spike only tag, finding big bulls and copious cows is easy!

Do your due diligence and arranging a blind date with a slick should be handily done. Good luck!

Great report !

My takeaways....

1) I imagine that the guy with that creepy loving stare, must be like a Woods Fairy out there.
Skipping along in the forest barefoot, while poor Nick has to keep an eye on him while watching for game.

2) Driftin' I am certain is withholding secret game-calling poems and songs that have been passed down through the ages.
Reading his delicate and finely crafted prose, I get an occasional whiff of these deep, wonderful secrets.

3) And Nick marches on like the good soldier that he is, with the poet of the left and the fairy on the right.

Accurate. More so than you know.

Ryley and I broke down deer camp yesterday and brought the RV back over from the island. The RV died in the ferry line just as we were loading - dead battery possibly caused by a faulty solenoid, alternator or ground. I was in my little car in another loading lane and had to board - sorry no choice. Left his ass on the dock to deal with it. See ya on the other side sucker! Then I went to a bar and shelled some peanuts.

Pro Tip: WA State Ferry Systems are not a big fans of RV breakdowns on busy Fridays.

Fall is a season with trees without clothes on and brown snowflakes falling.

Yes it was and yes you definitely do. The deer are wily, mostly nocturnal, and damn tough to harvest.

Had fun with you guys again this year.

Ike

Luckily cows are open as well. Care to elaborate what our "due diligence" should entail in order to find a slick after general archery, muzzy, and modern seasons? I think you could count all the true spikes in the unit on one hand during the late hunt.

Forecast calls for clear sunny days with single to low double digit temps and no major amounts of snow on the ground.

Any tips and tactics greatly appreciated, mostly by Nick.

Ike

Bringing this one back to the top...after a long wait, finally got my little island blacktail done up, and he's on the wall in my home office now!



Trap Line Taxidermy did the artistry, and I am very happy with the result.

Fish on...

Todd

Very nice, Todd !