hunting washington

This deer was shot near Skykomish, I cant believe a Blacktail could get this big. I think it has to be a hybrid or actually a stray mulie. What do you think?

check out the tail, mulie for sure. if anything its a benchleg.

i hunt around snoqualmie and kachess alot and most of the deer i see are cross. ive seem some big bucks with mulie sizes racks that were more blacktail then mulie and some other with very tiny blacktail sized racks that were more mulie then blacktail.

looks like he put up a good fight.

muley, nice buck

Tail looks like a Muley. But man what a great looking animal.

Awesom animal. Muley that rubbed on alders.

I wonder how they would classify this buck if he was to enter it into B and C. I mean do they do genetic tests to classify the subspecies or do they look at certain traits?

i think they classifie blacktails as west of i-5...

I have heard that as well but my buddies dad has a Boone and Crocket Blacktail taken in Gold Bar, a long ways east of I-5. I havent looked at the record books lately but I am willing to bet there are a lot of B and C bucks taken east of I 5

I just looked it up on the Boone and Crockett website the boundary for Blacktail Vs Mule deer is

Washington — Beginning at the Washington-British Columbia border, the boundary line runs south along the west boundary of North Cascades National Park to the range line between R10E and R11E, Willamette Meridian, which is then followed directly south to its intersection with the township line between T18N and T17N, which is then followed westward until it connects with the north border of Mt. Rainier National Park, then along the north, west and south park boundaries until it intersects with the range line between R9E and R10E, Willamette Meridian, which is then followed directly south to the Columbia River near Cook

Doesnt make sense to me, can anyone translate?

Elk are classified by their relationship compared to I-5. Not sure about blacktails.

So the Elk taken in Margeret and Toutle are considered Rocky Mountain Elk not Roosies?

From the Boone and Crockett website it lookes like Tule elk are designated by being west of I-5 but I couldnt find anything regaurding Roosevelts and Rocky Mountain.

i know that hiway 97 that goes through goldendale says."west of 97 black tail, east of 97 muley. ???

Wow-Super nice buck regardless of what we call!

Sure looks like a hybrid to me. Tail is definatly a Muley but the rack being taller then wide and the smaller ears scream blacktail to me.

It sure can get confusing though. A few years ago my pup jumped a blacktail at about 40 ft. while birdhunting Sunnyside. Couldn't miss the tail as he sprung away.



Is that what makes the rack so dark? My buddie's call any buck with a dark rack like that a "timber buck" although that never really made any sense to me. But then again that buck looks to have been shot high up a ridge where there wouldn't be a lot of alders?

For deer, i think both B&C and P&Y essentially use the cascade crest in WA, So, even though this looks like a mulie, it would be a blacktail. Just like where I hunt in Goldendale. Many look like blacktail but would be scored as mulies.

Unfortunately, they need to draw lines somewhere and most deer don't read (much).

Elk gets really convoluted because of introductions made in the last century. I know that there are Rocky Mountain elk in CA that are living in what used to be tule elk range. There is also a conflict here in WA about the elk in the Cascades (both sides). Just what is native, what were they, and what are shipped in from Yellowstone.

Nice rack, regardless of what the scorekeepers call it. And in the end, who cares? It is a beautiful animal.

Had a friend that hunted that country and those big deer in the Skykomish country were considered to be mule deer by B&C. The line that they used to separate the two is well west of the crest of the Cascade.

The north/south line between Range 10 and 11 crosses highway 2 about 1 miles east of Baring. Up the north Fork valley the river upstream of the mouth of Salmon Creek is east of the line. In the upper South Fork basin all the Beckler, Foss, Miller, etc are all east of the line. Any buck taken in that area would be considered to be mule deer.

Tight lines
Curt

Mulie!

Thanks Smalma.

Interesting that B&C will consider them mulies and WDFW manages them as blacktails. Kin dof the opposite of what is happening in Klickitat.

nice bench buck