Blacktail

I’d just strapped knee-high gaiters over my boots in the bunk-lined forecastle when a rifle shot rang out from the bow deck directly above my head. After settling my heart rate I climbed into the F/V Kylia’s tophouse to hear what happened. It was 9:00 a.m., but the pale pink late November sunrise...

My first exposure to blacktail deer came during late summer, high above treeline on an unnamed mountain on Alaska’s Prince of Wales Island. Upon seeing that first buck, I was immediately struck by just how different Sitka blacktails are from the whitetails and muleys I’d hunted all my life...

On this hunt, Steve returns to his fish shack on Prince Of Wales Island for another shot at Sitka blacktail deer. He’s joined by hunting buddies Ryan Callaghan from First Lite and Mark Boardman from Vortex Optics. Unlike an earlier hunt that took place during late summer, this time the guys will be...

Blacktail deer have a presence of that only rivaled by a ghost.  They are there, within the blink of an eye they have vanished, never to show their whereabouts again. A blacktail deer’s greatest defense strategy is its own home. When faced with even the slightest hunting pressure, blacktail deer...