The author shot his first Columbia blacktail 49 years ago and he ranks them among North America’s most challenging big game animals.
Darkness consumed the Douglas fir forest in Oregon’s Cascade Range. The author was out hunting, but the season had come to an end after 35 days, with him having hunted for 31 of those days.
Despite not killing the buck he wanted, the author scouted the mountains multiple times after the season ended and saw the buck two more times: once in late muzzleloader season and again in late December.
The colossal buck was the only deer I saw that day. That’s common with big blacktails.
Author's summary: Columbia blacktails are challenging to hunt.