Nice, and now safe, buck

While BBQing tonight I heard a crash in the brush. Flashlight showed a really nice, symmetrical 3x3 Blacktail. Tines were modestly long. Been here since Oct of '15 and this is the biggest buck I've seen. Quite a few buttons and spikes, but not much branched.

He should be dropping those antlers soon. Go do some shedding for kicks & grins. His home range is right there, so they'll be laying around somewhere nearby.

Those Cali Blackies are known for having longer, thinner tines. They don't always get great mass, but they often make up for it in length. They look more like a Mule deer than a WA style BT.

It's a WA BT. I'll have a look for the sheds. The tines were not as long as I have seen in CA. I saw a 4x4 BT near Aerojet (just east of Sacramento) and that was pretty much the biggest rack i've ever seen on the hoof. It was not real heavy, but long.