Southern Cal. Coastal Bucks

ridgewalker · Feb 18, 2003

Here's a few photos I took this last year in Santa Barbara County. Most of the deer around here have 90 percent blacktail characteristics, but every once in awhile I'll run accross a deer with some muley characteristics.
I have 7 years worth of photos from the Santa Barbara area including a few bombers. I photographed a 3 by 3 in 2001 that was about 25 inches wide and ran into him again this past year. He was about 27 inches wide and a 3 by 4 last season. Unfortunately, this buck was shot in November. The ranchers found him by their house with a small caliber bullet in his chest. What a shame!! I will upload those photos and post them soon.

Blacktail_boy · Feb 19, 2003

Thanks for posting the pictures! Those are nice looking deer.

BuckSnort · Feb 20, 2003

Dude,those are some awesome pictures of some great CA bucks!Thanks for sharing them.

manny15 · Feb 21, 2003

Judging by the tails on those deer they look more muley then blacktail, aprox where were those pics taken, the bucks up in N CA. where I live look more like the forky's tail in the sencon pic..?..

ridgewalker · Feb 21, 2003

LAST EDITED ON Feb-21-03 AT 10:38AM (MST)[p]The pictures were taken in Santa Barbara County. The tail on the big 4 by 4 is the exception around here. Most of the deer have tails like that forky in the second pic. and weigh about 110-120 lbs. Most of the deer in my pictures are on a ranch and eat well, so they are a little heavier! Take care.

Bura Nut · Feb 21, 2003

Great looking bucks, thanks for the pictures..... Allen Taylor......

CDN_blacktail · Feb 22, 2003

the top and bottom bucks look like they are the same one. I believe those are mule deer also by the tail it is a mule deer tail. but who knows could be a hybrid.

ridgewalker · Feb 24, 2003

The top and bottom pics. are of the same buck. These bucks are for sure all hybrid. I grew up here and have photographed hundreds of bucks over the past 7 or 8 years and I've only seen about a half dozen with a mule deer tail like the big 4 pointer in those pics. All the rest have a stripe down the middle of their tail(some thicker than others).

varmintsinc · Feb 25, 2003

Ridgewalker,
Would you happen to be in the Santa Ynez or Lompoc area? I lived down there for 25 years and have seen two deer that looked like a muley or hybrid, one was a fat 4x4 on the run and I found a dead 4x4. One of the long standing rumors was that Vandenberg Air Force base brought in 50 mule deer from another base in Colorado as a means of controlling the Colorado's bases herd. I confirmed that 42 does and 23 bucks were transplanted in 1977 but cannot find out where they came from. And yes those blacktail can get real fat when they hang out in the alfalfa fields all day.

ridgewalker · Feb 25, 2003

Varmintsinc,
I live in Santa Barbara. These pics. were all taken closer to Santa Ynez than Lompoc, but I have heard similar, unconfirmed stories of Mule Deer transplants north of here. Mainly from Lompoc(Vandenberg)and up. They generally shoot a little bigger deer in those areas than they do around Santa Ynez. The bucks in my photos are on private property that I am not allowed to hunt, just take photos. I do all my hunting in the forest around here and I will have to say, in my opinion, it's the most challenging hunting there is. Many hunters go years without even seeing a legal buck. A 14 inch forky is very respectable around here. I've done a little better than most, but not without hard work. My buddy and I usually hike in 3-10 miles and that still doesn't guarantee you'll even see a legal buck. Not to mention it's usually 90+ degrees!
Where abouts did you live?

bigbearhunter · Feb 25, 2003

nice bucks, are these deer in a huntable area? I'm looking for a place for DeerKing and I to go to get our blacktails?

ridgewalker · Feb 25, 2003

No, these bucks are all on private property. Super tough hunting around here unless you get locked in on a ranch, which isn't very challenging to me.
20 inch plus blacktails that just stand there and look at you from less than a hundred yards are only meant to be photographed in my opinion. I think that some of the bucks on the property that I photograph on get poached, so the big ones can be a little jumpy, but nothing like out forest bucks. They are as smart as any deer I've ever hunted. I'd head farther north if you are looking for good blacktail public land hunting.

varmintsinc · Feb 26, 2003

I lived in Santa Maria and hunted a ranch in Los Alamos. I have never seen or heard of hybrids or mule deer north of the Lompoc area in recent times. Vandenberg usually takes a couple of big 4x4s each year but they rarely go past 25". I havnt been able to see the bodys but I am guessing they are some type of hybrid. In Nipomo (just north of Santa Maria)I have seen several mounts from the 60's and 70's that were definetly muley 4x4s with 26-28" spreads. The bucks I hunted in Los Alamos and Santa Maria area are pure blacktail and if it went over 130lbs you had a monster. Boone and Crockett says that everything in the coastal area is considered a blacktail.
So are those photos from the San Marcos Pass?