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Milliondollarbear · Joined: 28 Aug 2004 Posts: 259 Location: Minnesota,

Where are blacktail deer most common. My wife has reletives in Fort Benton Mt
She says they have blacktail, muledeer, antelope and bison not to far from there ranch. If I went out there where would I start for blacktail they have more than 15,000 acres

el_vaquero · Joined: 12 Nov 2005 Posts: 5 Location: Agua Dulce, Ca

This is the second time in one day I've heard someone talk about blacktail deer in MT. As far as I know, blacktail deer are a west coast thing. The Columbian Blacktail Deer ranges from Southern california to British Columbia. The Sitka Blacktail Deer ranges north of that into Alaska. I could be wrong, but that's what I've put together from the various articles I've read on them. They do breed with Mule Deer quite a bit resulting in hybrids.

bigbucks8 · Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 146 Location: Rochester WA.

HAy i am from washington i have killed two blacktails they are like smaller versions of muleys. I have never herd of blacktails in MT but there could be as far as i know there is Whitetail Antalope and muleys ,but i could be wrong. In washington the different hunting areas are spilt in two by the Cascade Mts. the westside(like seattle side(dont hunt in seattle LOL)) where i live( i live in the boonies in a town named Rochester) IS hunting blacktails and its the only deer you can harvest. The eastside (like spokane wanatchee) have whitetails and mules you have to choose a hunting unit and that unit has sertain regulations about deer size and type tthat you can kill.
:thumbsup1:
I hope I was helpful.

Good luck this fall!!

coop · Joined: 02 Aug 2005 Posts: 80 Location: Florida

Blacktail are a west coast deer, a coastal deer. California coast northward, when you get inland you will find mulies and white tail in Washington. the largest racks usually come from Northern California, the best counties in my opinion are mendocino, sonoma, trinity and syskiyou. The hybrid deer occur where mulies and blacktails co-exist....ex. shasta county. Tough hunting in rugged coastal terrain...buy good boots, binoculars and excercise in the off season. Check out the pic of a sonoma county buck killed this september.

AGCHAWK · Joined: 02 Dec 2005 Posts: 8 Location: Clarkston, WA

You are all right, there are no Blacktail in Montana. Although I am now a Washington resident, I lived in Montana for a while and still have a number of relatives in the Great Falls area (SW of FT Benton).
Sorry my friend, if ya want to hunt Blacktail in the lower 48, ya gotta stick to California, Oregon, or Washington.

Illinois_Dave · Joined: 10 Jan 2006 Posts: 336 Location: St. Louis County

What did your neighbors think about you hunting in your front yard?

(joke)

Rooselk · Joined: 09 Apr 2006 Posts: 9 Location: Washington State

My family lives in Montana. More than once I've heard references to blacktails in Montana. However, what they are refering to are muleys, not Columbian blacktails. It seems that "blacktails" is an old name that many folks used to use for mule deer. It's kind of fallen out of fashion in recent decades, but I have even seen the term used in several old books.