Brownsville, Crawfordsville, Blacktail

[Redbluff77]

Hi guys, I'm going to visit a good friend that lives in Central Point, Oregon in the fall. Anyway, I'll be staying in Brownsville, Oregon for a couple of nights as his mom lives there and we have to drop off an ATV trailer. I wanted to glass up some Blacktail bucks in the area and get some photographs. I'm just curious, are those deer around Brownsville and Crawfordsville, Oregon all Blacktail? I believe all those deer around I-5 and west of I-5 in and around the Willamette Valley are all blacktail deer right? To be clear, (I'm not hunting), would just like to get some cool photos. I'll be in my wheelchair so it might be hard to get close to the bucks. I'll probably bring my spotting scope. Good luck to all Oregon hunters this year, thx Greg

 

[lostinOregon]

Greg,

The west side of Oregon have blacktails. There are some in Central Point and some in Brownsville. The Boone and Crockett boundary for blacktails is the edge of the national forrest east of I5. Anything on the other side is not eligible without a DNA test. But most of the deer on the west side of the cascades summit are blacktails.

 

[Redbluff77]

Thanks for the clarification. I know in California some hunters argue that anything west of I5 is a blacktail and east of I5 is a Benchleg Buck, Blacktail-Mule deer cross. Since we are talking about Oregon, it sounds like most the of deer in the NF around Brownsville, have mostly blacktail genetics. When in doubt it's good to get a DNA test if one shoots a PY or BC record blacktail, thanks.

 

[lostinOregon]

There are some big bucks in the city of Ashland which is south of Medford.

 

[Redbluff77]

There are some big bucks in the city of Ashland which is south of Medford.

Thanks!!

 

[Redbluff77]

David Morris, author of "The Record Book for Oregon" has a non-typical section and has further set up three separate blacktail categories; one for Cascade Blacktails, one for Columbia Blacktails, and one for Northwestern or Coastal Blacktails. The Cascade classification allows bucks to be entered that wouldn't be allowed under Boone and Crockett boundaries because of concerns about inter- breeding with mule deer. (Maybe that's changed with DNA testing now.) The separate Columbia and the Northwest or Coastal Blacktail classification allows the coastal bucks, which tend to have smaller more compact antlers, to compete with animals of similar habitat and genetics and not be judged against the antler size of the mid range black tails which tend to be larger. The last paragraph is quoted from the book "" Blacktail trophy tactics II" by Boyd Iverson. Mr. Iverson definitely has an interesting take on Blacktails. I've killed several nice blacktail bucks over the years but In no expert hunter _Greg

 

[lostinOregon]

Boyd and I were friends before his passing. We hunted in Alberta together several times and shared a room for several weeks at a time. Most people don’t know that Boyd moved on from hunting blacktails and started hunting mule deer and whitetails in Alberta. He would hunt 4 weeks straight to find a certain deer that he identified. He had a serious ability to stay focused on the task. He killed some bomber whitetails and mule deer. I used to pick his brain about blacktails every evening. He told me I only needed to know one thing. Hunt the week of Halloween instead of the last week of season in Oregon. He said that big buck will seek out does during that week and make his first daytime appearance of the year. Boyd also had a passion for 60 muscle cars. RIP my friend.

 

[Redbluff77]

Thanks for those cool stories about Boyd Iverson. It sounds he was a great man and an excellent hunter. He helped lots of hunters by answering their questions and gave them great hunt info. RIP Boyd Iverson.

 

[Coyotebrowntrouthunter]

Boyd and I were friends before his passing. We hunted in Alberta together several times and shared a room for several weeks at a time. Most people don’t know that Boyd moved on from hunting blacktails and started hunting mule deer and whitetails in Alberta. He would hunt 4 weeks straight to find a certain deer that he identified. He had a serious ability to stay focused on the task. He killed some bomber whitetails and mule deer. I used to pick his brain about blacktails every evening. He told me I only needed to know one thing. Hunt the week of Halloween instead of the last week of season in Oregon. He said that big buck will seek out does during that week and make his first daytime appearance of the year. Boyd also had a passion for 60 muscle cars. RIP my friend.

Such great advice about hunting the Halloween week instead of the last week of season for Blacktails in OR. I live and hunt the North Coast area in OR. Personally seen some monster bucks on the 29th and 30th of October consistently out in the middle of the day. Sunny blue bird skies even. Thanks for posting this.