OT: Successful CA Blacktail Deer Hunt

[86er]

I arrived Friday after many long hours in the air and luckily all my gear made it too. Saturday morning there were no deer where my friend Dale had been seeing them every day. We spent the morning in the workshop tending to some shotguns and beginning my own double-rifle project. At 2PM we set out on the ranch. It is a privilege to hunt my friends 6600 acre ranch that has not been deer hunted in 22 years. I have a call that was made out of a screwdriver handle. It sounds nothing like a deer to me, but I sought out the foremost Blacktail hunting experts and 3 of them told me about an elusive call that very few people use or even know about. We rounded a bluff and could see over 300 yards in every direction and across the lake. I let loose on the call and instantly a buck stood up from high weeds near the lake rim and walked up to the brush line. Another deer, a doe, ran just about up to us and eyed us real good before wandering off. We walked and stalked the buck for 2 hours and finally got a close look at him and his buddy. They were both 4X4's with at least a 20" spread and high antlers. I decided not to shoot but instead to mark the spot and let Larry, the land owner know of their position. His young grandson also has a deer tag and will take one on this ranch. We scouted some more and then back to the shop for more shotgun work. Around 6:30 PM we left the workshop and went back out onto the ranch. This time we set up a hillside overlooking the lake where a well worn deer trail came down to the waters edge. I blew my call a few times and we waited. 5 deer zoomed in from the left. The new Pentax binos gave a crystal clear view of the deer and revealed they were all does. Dale spotted another group of deer coming in from the right. 4 deer ran up straight in line with us, about 300 yds out. They meandered around in the grass there, content. Suddenly, a lone deer appeared around 400 yards out. I gave one "eeee-aawww" on the call and he ran another 100 yards closer. At that point he spotted the does off to his right 100 yards more. I checked him out with the Binos and saw he was a 2 year old 4 point. I passed the binos to Dale. He said the first two deer we saw were much bigger, but I reminded him I was going to leave those for Larry's young grandson. I phoned Larry's son and in a whisper I told him about the big one's and asked him what he would prefer I shoot. He said "If you'll be okay with a 4 pt or a 6pt I'd be grateful. The meat will be tender and my son will love chance at the big bucks" Enough said, this deer would do for me. I put the Leica rangefinder to use and found the buck was 285 yards. A tight sitting position settled the crosshairs of the 7mm Magnum rifle and suddenly the sound surprised me. I had no idea if I hit the deer but didn't see him any more. Dale and I both glasses all the deer that were standing and determined none of them had antlers. Therefore, we figured I must have hit that deer and it dropped. We walked out and used the rangefinder to get our points correct. Once we were 285 yds from our shooting position we made a quick circle and found the buck stone dead with a through and through shot in the center of his shoulder. The 150 gr Scirroco that Ricky was kind enough to load for me did a splendid job. In a Zone with an 8% success rate I am thrilled. Larry was very excited for me and so taken that I passed the big deer after telling him about them earlier that he said I could either buy another tag and take a second deer or come back next year and shoot whatever I wanted. In the words of the Governor, "I'll be back".

[madman4570]

Very nice there Joe!

[Mike D.]

Nice little buck, he'll be mighty tasty. I know that in the states further to the east of here Whitetail racks are counted by the number of points on both sides. In the far West that's known as a two point, or forkie. We only count the points on one side, if they're even. If not it could be a 4X2, 3X2, or any combination of both sides. I got excited when you said 4 point. I know where there are some monster 4X4s and larger around Amador Co, but most are off limits due to the proximity of homes. I didn't buy a D ticket, but did get drawn for a late season buck in G1 which is Butte and Lassen Cos.

[buckeyeshooter]

nice buck and kudo's for leaving a nice one for the young man!

[RKrodle]

Congrats Joe! Nice buck! I look forward to trying some of the steaks .

[bsaride]

Excellent post.

Nice eating buck.

Tell us more about that call, sounds interesting.

[dr walker]

Good post. You are a very thoughtful man. Congratulations on a nice deer.
What is the story on the call?

[CowboyTutt]

IIRC I remember your dilemma about this in the past. Very well done, Joe!

-Tutt

[Ysabel Kid]

Sorry Joe - I got stuck at "6600 acres"... my dream come true. Heck, that may be another state! Might even be able to fit GK's whole country in that ranch!!!

Congrats on the deer! Y2K is going to love this report!!!

[kimwcook]

Great job, Joe. You're a true philanthropist. Good on ya!

[huntress]

Pretty cool! I'm glad the license arrived and you were able to get your deer. Congrats!
Sandy

[rjohns94]

Congrats Joe. True sportsmanship. Blessings.

[71fan]

Congrats on a respectable and tasty CA deer, and thanks for helping excite our next generation of hunters.

I'm interested in your call too. I used a fawn bleet call for many years with interesting results. It would get them to stand up out of their beds, and it would stop a departing buck in his tracks for a quick look back, usually time enough for shot. I never had them come toward me though...that's cool. I lost that call and have never seen another one. I think bought it from a little booth at the Big Reno gun show in the early 90s.

Anyway, thanks for the great report.

[hemiallen]

Looks like you had a good time this weekend Joe.

How is ole Larry Skinner doing these days?

Looks like a pretty decent Camanche lake Buck.

Allen

[Old Savage]

Congrats - nice buck!

[handirifle]

Congrats on the successful hunt. Sounds like a true dream hunt. VERY nice to be so considerate of the youngster, and I'm sure the owner made a note of that as well, for your future hunts.

What great fortune, for you, to hunt such a ranch, AND not in the lead ban zone. Very nice.

[El Chivo]

Great!!

[Hobie]

Thanks for sharing!

[black tail]

AHHH what a nice buck. Our Black tail deer are not real big but they sure are tasty! Sounded like a great hunt.

[86er]

Since the post I have seen 146 more deer. Funny, only 2 were bucks. The 2 bucks were way bigger than the one I shot with one having 5X4 and the other 4X4 plus a drop tine. I don't regret taking the smaller buck though. I learned a lot about blacktail and I secured my spot for whatever buck I want next year by showing some courtesy. BTW - for those of you that know the area this was NOT taken on the Camanche Hills property - there's no hunting there. However the property across the street that has the cattle operation were my hosts that let me hunt. I know them from my affiliation with Camanche of course.

The call is made from a 2 inch resonite screwdriver handle. A hole is made through it and one side cut on an angle. A slot it etched for a single plastic reed to grab and the reed is shaped pointy to match the profile of the bottom of the cut portion of the call. There is a rubber O ring over the reed. We called up a doe that was so close I could pet her. Another time I blew the call and had 5 deer stand up just 75 yards from us that we didn't know were there. This morning 31 deer, all females and yearlings came from over 500 yds uphill to within 50 yards. I have a contractor that I sent the call to today. He is going to make the body out of injection molded plastic with a hard plastic slither reed. I'd be happy to sell you one for $20.

[Mike D.]

That's amazing. After all these years of CA deer hunting I've not even heard of a Blacktail call. Not even sure I'd know how to use one. Prob'ly just bring in a bunch of crows.

[hemiallen]

Thanks for the additional information Joe.

My father in law grew up in Wallace, just on the south side of Camanche Reservoir and knows the area and most land owners ( or who owned the land back in the 50's) and knows Larry's relative, the notorious Game warden....

I have known Larry for 13 or so years, he is a Lodi native. My son and I hunted a few times under the state's youth Pheasant hunts, and I have many friends who belong to Camanche hills club.

Allen

[bsaride]

put me on the list for that call.

[Tycer]

I wonder how that call will work on whitetail?

congrats on another stellar hunt!