Story By: Masoud Yousefi
One of the trophies on my bucket list was Columbia blacktail. For eighteen years, I applied and accumulated points in Oregon with the hope of one day getting a chance at a nice trophy in the Applegate unit in southwest Oregon.
There are two subspecies of blacktail deer: Columbian blacktail deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) and Sitka blacktail deer (Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis). These subspecies occur in the coastal rainforests of the Pacific Northwest (northern California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and southeastern Alaska) and have different habitat needs than mule deer. Although they are subspecies of mule deer, both types of blacktail deer are physically and genetically different from mule deer and from each other.
The blacktail deer is currently common in California, ranging as far south as Santa Barbara County. Moving up the coast, they inhabit western Oregon, Washington, both the coastal and interior zones of British Columbia, and extend as far north as the Alaskan panhandle. It is a very popular game animal. Interestingly, approximately forty deer from Oregon were released on Kaua’i, Hawai’i, in 1961. These deer thrived on the island, where they now number around 1,000. They have become a fairly popular game species on the island.
I love Oregon. First, I attended Oregon State University in Corvallis, where I met the love of my life and married her after three years when I graduated from a master’s program. Second, I was so lucky to visit my in-laws in Oregon many times. I was even more privileged to draw and harvest a great California bighorn sheep in 2003 and have been applying ever since in Oregon. To add a nice blacktail trophy to my collection, I stayed in close contact with Ken Wilson of Spoon Creek Outfitters. I’d hunted Roosevelt elk with him in 2022 and harvested a great bull (see the 2023 February issue of Huntin’ Fool). After consulting with him throughout the years, we determined that I had accumulated enough points to draw the famous muzzleloader unit of Applegate in 2025. Ken decided to finish with all his elk hunters first and reserved the last five days of the season to coincide with the rut. He only takes two hunters on this muzzleloader hunt. During all this planning, my friend Dave also had enough points to pull his tag the same year, so we planned to hunt with Ken. We all met in Jacksonville, Oregon, in a nice, comfortable house and got organized for the next day’s hunt.
Oh man, was I surprised when I found out that I had printed all my required documents but had not downloaded my e-tag. Ken and I quickly went to town, bought a duplicate, printed a copy, and got back to the base camp.
I am sure you are all aware of the beauty of the landscape in Oregon, and that time of year, the colorful foliage of the forests and valleys is breathtaking. Ken told me I would be hunting with Ross. I had harvested my Roosevelt elk with Ross Morris. The morning of December 3, we split into two teams and left the base camp house before sunup, heading in two separate directions. We arrived at our destination at sunrise, and Ross opened a locked gate in order to access the private property and national forest. This section of the unpaved road was like a driveway to the hunting area.
It looked like a beautiful habitat, covered in Douglas fir and ponderosa pine. We immediately started to glass for deer. We saw many does, including some with fawns, and a few small bucks. When we got to the more open areas, we pulled out the spotters and binos in search of deer. This went on until about 10:00 a.m. Then we decided to backtrack and check on the does. Afterall, we were hunting in the middle of the rut. Imagine my surprise when we got to the last herd of does and spotted a very nice buck on their tails, sniffing and pushing the does. In less than four seconds, Ross dropped his binos and said, “We have to kill this buck.” He’d said and done the same thing at 8:00 a.m. on the first day of my elk hunt. I couldn’t believe him, so I asked him, “Are you sure Ross?”
He was already priming the muzzleloader and hurriedly answered, “Please shoot this buck.” I had some experience hunting with a muzzleloader with no scope, but Oregon is even more strict. Ken and Ross had two guns ready for me to use. Ross gave me one of the guns, and, after careful aim, I squeezed the trigger.
Nothing happened. The cap didn’t go off and the deer didn’t move. We changed the cap, and I aimed and squeezed carefully. Nothing again. I was frustrated, as I had no idea what was going on. Neither did Ross. We gave up on that gun, went to the truck, and grabbed the backup gun from the back seat. “Ross where is the powder? Where is the cap?” I asked. He didn’t say a word—he just pulled out a charge tube from his pocket, and we loaded the gun.
I aimed, praying that this time something would happen. The buck was so lovesick that he had no idea what was going on, and the does were running about in circles trying not to be harassed by him. So, I took my time, aimed, and squeezed—BOOOM.
The buck collapsed in his tracks. I am usually very cool during the stalk, but my heart took a pounding during those three to four minutes. As we got to my buck, Ross kept saying, “Oh man, what a buck! Where did he come from?” When I lifted him from the brush and looked at him, I realized why Ross had been so excited when he saw this buck. He measured the buck immediately and said he scored 143” and surpassed the 135” minimum. We cheered and did our handshakes and high fives while I was still trembling and recovering from the two misfires.
Ross stopped and said something to me that I hadn’t realized until that moment. He said: “Masoud, you harvested a great Roosevelt elk in the first three hours of the hunt with me, and now a great blacktail deer in the first four hours of the first day.” Two hunts done in seven hours total. What are the odds? He was right. Then we posed the deer for some pictures and headed back to the house. It was 11:30 a.m. on first day of the hunt. After we took care of the cape and the meat, we examined the gun. The powder and the primers had absorbed so much moisture that we had a hard time removing the hardened powder from the barrel.
Now to Dave’s hunt. Since we had four and a half days left to hunt, I accompanied David and his guide until the last day of the season; although we saw many smaller bucks in many different public and private locations, we never laid eyes on another decent buck—it was as if the rut wasn’t happening. We had a great time hunting together, but we’ll have more chances to hunt again soon.
Many thanks go to Ken and Ross for another successful hunt and to David for letting me hunt with him until the last day of the season.