Haiku's and the need for a thesaurus takes me out of the running to be a blacktail hunter it appears. Plus, I don't even own a cowboy hat...but that's because the horses went away when the first wife did too!

I will say though Mr. Todd, that the size of the horns are relative to the species (as you know) and I definitely respect the coastal blacktail. Having spent 1 late rifle season a few years ago chasing them with a "local buddy" who has a wall filled with large ones, yet we never saw a buck in 4 days. I can honestly say they surely earned my respect! We had snow and wind, just nasty weather overall. And every morning we jumped the same big buck (so we think, by the track) in this gnarly thick timbered draw, that is choked with vine maple, and each day we hunted him a different way and he gave us the slip over and over. Never even getting a glimpse of him! RESPECT!

Same as the Couse Whitetail the boy and I hunted in New Mexico for the tag he won last month. The N.M. seasons are only 5 days, and by day 3 I felt we had a legitimate chance to waylay a buck. We were seeing does/fawns, and in an area with lots of sign as well. Those grey-ghosts would glide through the junipers and pin oaks, and then just disappear. Super steep terrain in canyons, so it was alot of spotting from the canyon rims. As a side note, we'd met 2 other hunters who'd scored on "trophy-sized" Coues the day before. I'm telling ya, I'm glad I got to actually put my hands on a couple of keeper Coues, otherwise, if I had seen those bucks on the hoof I would have advised my son to let them go. Not much bone on a 95" Couse, but everything is relative. As it turns out, the first buck we encountered was a mule deer that made the kids mind up for him, and we then loaded up and made the 25hr trip home (driving straight through, just like the way down..was a kick in the pants!).

Cue ABU..."Too Long"