The Season Part 2
By Dave Gibson

...After experiencing the frustration of trying to film actual Blacktail Deer Hunting sequences, it became apparent why you almost never see Blacktail Videos for sale or Blacktail Hunting segments on any of the outdoor TV shows. It's very difficult to film a non rut Blacktail Hunting video which makes the odds of success very low. It makes sense that if you're going to send out an expensive film crew, you're going to send them to a location where they have the best chance of returning with usable footage. If I were making that decision I too would probably opt for a hunt of rut-crazed farm bred, feeder trained Whitetails. The chance of capturing a successful hunt under those conditions are far greater than if a camera person was trying to follow your typical spot and stalk, pre-rut Blacktail Hunter.
... I am totally in awe of the recent accomplishment of Shaun Rapp, an acquaintance of my brother. A few weeks ago Shaun managed to film a successful bowhunt in the Sierra foothills. Remarkably, Shaun and the hunter both snuck within bow range of a really nice mature Blacktail buck. The big 4x4 never knew they were there and Shaun got it all on tape. I have been sneaking up on, or should I say I've been trying to sneak up on Blacktail bucks for about 35 years now. It's extremely difficult, that's why I find it so amazing that a cameraman and a hunter could both approach a big Blacktail buck to within bow range, kill the buck and get it all on film. Well Done!!!
... Accompanying me on several hunts this past deer season was my sister-in-law Linda along with her trusty video camera. We really felt the frustration early on. We couldn't even get acceptable video of small bucks. As time went on and we had more stalks under our belts, We began to achieve some limited success.
... When I'm hunting and I spot a buck, no matter how small, I usually always try to stalk to within rifle range. The reason for this is that there's always the possibility that there's a wall-hanger buck with a smaller one, but just out of sight. On several occasion I've spotted a small buck in the distance and made no attempt to conceal myself, or to get any closer. Only to be totally surprised when the small buck decided to leave and that he had one or more bigger bucks with him as he bounded over the ridge. Keeping this concept in mind, Linda and I stalked a few small bucks hoping that there were bigger ones nearby. What we found was that we really had a hard time getting within range of even very young bucks. Often they would bolt long before we were even close. Other times we would think we had done everything perfectly only to find, as we quietly rose over the last knoll, that the buck had long since slipped away. Sometimes, everything went smoothly right up until the camera went into position then they would spook.
... As time went on Linda and I began to improve. We learned from our failures. We began to work together more like a team, after a couple weeks, it seemed that we could stalk nearly as quietly as a lone hunter.
... Finally we started getting some film of successful stalks on some pretty good bucks. One afternoon we watched a 22" wide buck as he bedded down under a tree about 500 yards away. Linda got some pretty good video as we approached to within 150 yards. It was perfect. I had a solid rest on a fallen log and could have easily killed the buck. As I studied his horns more closely I noticed that even though his rack was wide and he was a 4 point, the tine length past the last branch was very short. He was basically a big forked horn with very small third and forth points. I had just whispered to Linda that I was going to pass on this buck when he spotted us. In an instant he was over the hill. As I watched the film later it appeared that maybe I had passed up an old regretting buck. Not a regressing buck with small antlers due to old age, but one you are still regretting that you didn't shoot as you throw your unused tag into the wood stove at the close of deer season. It seems that for the last few years I see one or two of these old regretting bucks each season.