RE: Wa. F&H News blacktail buck of the year
Part of a good article from BT Country on the subject;
The Columbian Blacktail Deer
By Dan Gibson
For many years the Columbian Blacktail Deer has been considered a subspecies of the Mule deer, however recent DNA testing has proven this not to be the case. In Valerius Geist's informative book Mule Deer Country he explains that by testing the mitochondrial DNA (the mothers DNA ) of the three species (blacktail, whitetail and mule deer), researchers have now determined that it was the mating of Whitetail does and Blacktail buck's that gave rise to the Mule deer and not the opposite as was once suspected.
It is now believed that millions of years ago the Whitetail deer expanded its range down the east coast of the United States, across Mexico, and then back up the West coast, where it eventually evolved into the Blacktail Deer. This may help to explain the strong resemblance in appearance and psychological characteristics between the two. Thousands of years later as the recently evolved Blackball's range spread eastward and the Whitehall's range again expanded westward, the two deer again met. At this point the Blacktail bucks, displaced the Whitetail bucks, and bred the Whitetail does. Researches now believe that it is this hybridization that produced what is now know as the Muledeer.
For those of you not familiar with the Columbian Blacktail, their range, as recognized by Boone and Crockett (B&C), extends form central British Columbia, south to the Monterey Bay in California. Columbian Blacktails inhabit a narrow strip of land from the shores of the pacific ocean inland for approximately a hundred miles. This distance will of course vary from location to location
In regards to the geographic boundaries of the Columbian Blacktail one must rely on the observations of wildlife biologists, graduate students and scientists, who have done extensive scientific research and identification on the Columbian Blacktail and it's range. I wish it was as simple as having years of hunting experience in order to be able do identify the possible genetic make-up of a particular deer, but unfortunately it isn't. This is why DNA is such an important tool in deer identification.
When I refer to the boundaries of the Columbian Blacktail, I am referring to the recognized Boone & Crockett boundaries. B&C's boundaries are not the exact boundaries of the Columbian Blacktail, they have actually been moved slightly inward to help reduce the possibility of hybridization with Muledeer or Muledeer/Blacktail crosses. Since we are a hunting website these are the boundaries we recognize.
There are undoubtedly pure Columbian Blacktails in other area's but because of possible hybridization, they are not considered pure Columbian Blacktails by B&C. Just because a buck appears to be 100% Columbian, doesn't mean that generations ago there wasn't a Muledeer in his heritage.
Blacktail deer on average are smaller than their Whitetail and Muledeer cousins. Here in my north western California a 140 pound buck (live weight) is considered very good size. Blacktail bucks do occasionally approach 200 pounds, but from my experience, it's a very rare occurrence. Years ago I killed a huge bodied forked horn in San Joaquine county that tipped the scales at 171 pounds field dressed. To date this buck is the largest Columbian Blacktail I have ever personally witnessed.
Although I do not have a lot of experience with Oregon Blacktails I am told they are slightly larger in body size than the California bucks. Washington on the other hand produces some very large bodied Blacktails. If my experience with this website is any indication, it appears that bucks weighing 175 lb. field dressed are not that uncommon in the "Evergreen state".
Horn size in Blacktails runs contrary to what one might expect and is an often debated topic among Blacktail hunters. In the Columbian Blacktail body size appears to have little relationship to horn size. This is generally not the situation with Whitetail and Muledeer. In their case, body size and antler size are closely related and as a rule of thumb both get larger as you travel north. The larger the body the larger the antlers. This becomes very evident when you compare a Florida Whitetail to a Michigan Whitetail, or a Desert Mule Deer to a Rocky Mountain Mule Deer.
In the case of the Columbian Blacktail this circumstance does not apply. California, the southern most state in the Columbian Blacktails range, has produced more B&C Blacktails than either Oregon or Washington. One would think that the opposite would be true but the record books state the fact clearly. The largest racked Columbian Blacktails are found in the southern portion of their range. Even though California and Oregon regularly produce higher scoring bucks than Washington. The current world record comes from Washington state. Obviously California and Oregon are not the only areas capable of producing huge Blacktails.
