Columbia Blacktail Deer

Much like the Coues' whitetail deer of the southwestern US and Mexico, the Columbia blacktail deer has a very regional fan base. Unless you live on the western side of the Cascade Mountain range in the Pacific Northwest or northern California you may never see, or have the opportunity to hunt Columbia blacktail deer. Those who do live in these regions, or those looking to hunt each of the North American deer species know him and know him well.

He's as challenging to hunt as a woodlot whitetail or a rim rock mulie. The blacktail is a handsome animal that is always one leap away from being swallowed up by rainforest, oak brush  or Ceanothus.

The blacktail is an ancient, interesting species. The more popular and well-known mule deer is actually the result of prehistoric pairings between blacktails and whitetails. Blacktails and mule deer are correctly designated as one species, and both are commonly called blacktails. But there are significant biological differences between the two. Blacktail deer have their own unique molecular fingerprint, while the metabolism of the mule deer runs on cells that are essentially those of the whitetail.

With its descendents, the mule deer left to conquer the vast western mountains and the central North American plains, blacktails remained steadfast residents of their old-growth, Pacific Rim home, except in southwestern Oregon and northern California where they spread to occupy dense chaparral forests and oak savanna-covered slopes. Both blacktail and mule deer prefer the security of near vertical hillsides where surefootedness and jumping ability place obstacles in the paths of pursuers. They also excel at hiding and will quail behind screening vegetation to carefully monitor their back trails. Mule deer and blacktail antlers are similarly configured with a bifurcated mainbeam--forking and then forking again. The differences between the two are only in overall size--mule deer having the potential to grow much larger--and it is less common to see blacktail bucks with eye guards as compared to mule deer. As is the case with all deer species there are specific areas where blacktails grow the largest antler sets.

Of the four states or provinces with Columbia blacktail entries in Boone & Crockett records, the state of California tops the historical list at 664 total entries, both typical and non-typical. The Sunshine State is followed by Oregon with 443, Washington with 219, and British Columbia with 26 records book blacktails.

Mule deer and blacktail deer do crossbreed where their ranges overlap. Due to this overlapping of ranges, especially in Washington, Oregon and California, for records keeping purposes, Columbia blacktails are recognized in areas roughly west of the Cascade Range summit.

If you are considering a Columbia blacktail hunt it is best to keep in mind that any blacktail buck can be a trophy--they can be that tough to hunt and records book bucks are few and far between. Nevertheless, scanning the enclosed data it is pretty clear where to focus your energy if you are looking for the best bucks. The good news is you will find ample National Forest, BLM, and timber company holdings in the top counties of Trinity, Mendocino, Humboldt, Jackson, Clackamas, Lane, Lewis and Pierce Counties.

NOTE: There are only 29 non-typical Columbia blacktails in B&C records. This low number is due mainly to the fact that the non-typical category was only recently started by B&C in 2001. Up until that time, there were not enough qualifying heads known to begin a new category. Since that time, and as word has spread, trophies are surfacing that had been taken back as far as 1947.