I was born and raised in Utah and have spent most of my life there. It is a great state for big game hunting, but it only has one deer species – mule deer. As a result, I never paid much attention to other deer species until I happened to get my hands on a rare Columbia whitetail tag in 2011. This hunt ignited my interest in a quest to hunt as many North American deer species as I could. This is the story of how and when I was able to harvest six species of North American deer.
COLUMBIA WHITETAIL – ROSEBURG, OREGON – 2011
In 2011, I got a phone call from an outfitter in Oregon who had received a Columbia whitetail tag in Oregon’s outfitter draw. He had obtained a list of hunters who had applied for Columbia whitetails in the past, and my name was first on the list, so I got the first call. After discussing the hunt, I told him I wanted the tag and we made arrangements for me to get it. It was a muzzleloader rut hunt in late November. The outfitter told me this was an area that consisted of public land and could easily be hunted on my own, so I chose to go self-guided.
I hunted with my son and son-in-law, driving up from my daughter’s home in Folsom, California after Thanksgiving dinner. We scouted the area the Friday before the Saturday opener and saw several whitetail bucks. We set up our plan for opening morning with me hiking up the bottom of the drainage and my partners hiking up the ridge above me to help glass for deer. At first light, I came upon a nice whitetail buck that was chasing a doe and did not notice me. When the buck and doe finally saw me, I was 75 yards away and was able to take the buck with one shot from my .50 caliber muzzleloader.
EASTERN WHITETAIL – WOODSTON, KANSAS – 2014
I had been buying points in Kansas for three or four years and knew I had enough to draw a tag, but I didn’t have a plan yet. I realized that a self-guided hunt in Kansas on limited public land would probably be a long shot. At the Western Hunting Expo in Salt Lake City, Utah in February 2014, I ran into Mike Adams’ booth for Bucks, Bulls, and Beards Outfitters in Kansas. Mike offered a reasonablypriced rifle hunt in early December, so I made arrangements to hunt with him.
My son and I drove to Woodston, Kansas and met up with Mike and his other hunters. He set us up in blinds and tree stands throughout his leased farmland. My stand was in an area of mixed farmland, grassland, and wooded river bottoms. The bigger bucks were still nocturnal, and we never got an opportunity in shooting light. After four days, we were on our way out of our blind for the evening and ran into a really nice buck, which I was able to harvest with my .300 WSM.
SITKA BLACKTAIL – KODIAK ISLAND, ALASKA – 2015
A couple of my colleagues in Alaska hunt Sitka blacktails on Kodiak Island every year in late November to early December. I told them about my quest for North American deer and that I would really like to take a Sitka blacktail. They were kind enough to invite me along on a hunt out of Old Harbor on Kodiak Island using a transporter who would cruise the shoreline in his commercial fishing boat as we glassed for deer. Our timing on this hunt was off a bit, and most of the deer were up very high in almost impenetrable alder and devils club.
After three or four days, we finally found an area where we glassed up several deer in accessible country. The other four hunters and I all went to shore and headed our separate ways. We were all able to harvest bucks that day. My buck was in some country high above the shoreline that required a long drag out and an encounter with a brown bear. I took that buck with my .300 WSM.
MULE DEER – DUBOIS, WYOMING – 2016
I have harvested a lot of mule deer over the years, but this buck was my biggest to date. I had applied my son, Taylor, and me in Wyoming for several years, and we had one point under maximum for deer. This year, we applied together for unit 128. We were both fortunate enough to draw the tag. We would hunt this area on our own after obtaining information and advice from several hunters who had hunted this unit in previous years.
Taylor couldn’t join us for a couple days, so my son, Craig, and I arrived in Dubois on November 10th. On the first afternoon, we drove into the high country. We noticed some deer coming out to feed in a basin way below us. As I was setting up the spotting scope to take a closer look, Craig said, “Big buck!” By the time I looked, the buck had gone out of sight. Craig said the buck was big, so I grabbed my rifle and hurried down the ridge to a point where I could see the other side where the buck had disappeared. I saw him just before he was going to disappear into the trees, and he was big enough that I couldn’t resist. I set up and was able to take him with my .300 WSM. Taylor was able to get another nice buck a couple of days later.
COUES DEER – HERMOSILLO, MEXICO – 2017
I had applied for Coues in the New Mexico and Arizona state draws, but I had also applied for the San Carlos Apache Reservation tag. I spoke with a few outfitters who offered Coues deer hunts. In late 2016, I got a call from Hunter Smith with Broadhead Outfitters stating that they had a cancellation opportunity for a Coues deer hunt out of Hermosillo, Mexico. After thinking about it for a while, I told Hunter I was in.
Hunter was there to meet me in Hermosillo, and he drove me and three other hunters a few hours north and west to a ranch in the Sierra Madre Mountains of Sonora. This hunt consisted of finding a high spot to glass from and shooting at a distance. This country was way too thick for stalking and seeing these little grey deer. After several misses, I finally connected on a nice Coues buck with Hunter’s .28 Nosler. I was very impressed with the friendliness of the ranch owners and cowboys and the knowledge and support of Hunter and his team.
COLUMBIA BLACKTAIL – GRANTS PASS, OREGON – 2017
I had applied for deer points in Oregon long enough to have enough points to draw the Applegate late muzzleloader hunt. There is quite a bit of public land in the Applegate unit, but I had never hunted Columbia blacktails before, so I was nervous about the best approach. I spoke to several hunters who had hunted this unit in previous years with mixed success. One day, I received a call from Taylor Thorp of 4x4 Outfitters. He told me he had access to a good piece of private ground on this unit that had produced nice bucks in the past. I made the decision to hook up with Taylor for this hunt.
My son, Craig, and I drove to Grants Pass, Oregon the weekend prior to Thanksgiving. We met up with Taylor and his dad, Bill. Taylor picked us up early on Saturday morning, and we headed into the unit and to the private land he had access to. We immediately started seeing deer, and they were heavy into the rut. We tried a stalk on a nice high-horned buck, but he evaded us in the thick timber as he was chasing a doe. We kept working the area and ran into the same pair a couple hours later. This time, I was able to get a shot at 120 yards. When the smoke cleared, the buck was down and kicking, but he was able to get back up and take off. I quickly reloaded, and we moved through some trees. The buck was with the same doe as if he had never been hit! A second shot at about 80 yards sealed the deal. I used my .50 caliber muzzleloader and 275 grain Maxi-Hunter bullets for both Oregon deer with good results.
That ended my quest for six North American deer species. I know there are other obscure subspecies around, but this covered the most widely recognized deer on this continent. It was a real adventure in which I saw some beautiful country and met some wonderful people. After all, that is what hunting is all about as far as I am concerned!
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