The following numbers were taken from B&C Records of North American Deer and Elk, 1st Edition. Even though the numbers are more than ten years old, I still found then interesting. Math is not my strong point so the numbers my be off slightly. I used B&C Records of North American Deer and Elk because it also includes outside spread measurements in its tabulations. I hope these figures will help people more accurately understand the outside spread widths Columbia Blacktails are capable of attaining. Another thing to remember is that excessive width is not a plus when using B&C's scoring system. Many bucks in fact do not make the book because of the deductions that excessive width can cause. I have no idea how many of these type bucks are taken every year but the numbers must be considerable. One thing I do know is that twenty plus inch wide Columbian Blacktails are much more common than many hunters realize.

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California’s Widest Bucks

Outside Spread Widths in inches

Total number of 20 plus inch bucks - 168 out of 236 entries - 64 %

Break down of 20 plus inch bucks:

20 - 23 7/8 - 120

24 - 25 7/8 - 31

26 - 27 7/8 - 11

28 - 29 7/8 - 02

30 - 35 3/8 - 04

California’s widest - 35 3/8

State record - Inside spread 26 5/8, Outside spread 30 5/8

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Oregon’s Widest Bucks

Outside Spread Widths in inches

Total number of 20 plus inch bucks - 97 out of 173 entries - 56 %

Break down of 20 plus inch bucks:

20 - 23 7/8 - 73

24 - 25 7/8 - 16

26 - 27 7/8 - 07

28+ - 01

Oregon’s widest -29 6/8

State record - Inside spread 21 4/8, Outside spread 25 3/8

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Washington’s Widest Bucks

Outside Spread Widths in inches

Total number of 20 plus inch bucks - 47 out of 112 entries - 42 %

Break down of 20 plus inch bucks:

20 - 23 7/8 - 37

24 - 25 78 - 09

26 - 28 - 01

Washington’s widest - 26 4/8

State record - Inside spread 20 2/8, Outside spread 22 4/8

The following numbers were compiled from the most recent edition of Boone and Crockett’s Records of North American Big Game. Hopefully these numbers will help to inform hunters on where the biggest Blacktails have been coming from. Since the latest addition of "the book" only includes entries up until 1997 the numbers shown were compiled from the five years preceding 1997.

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Number of all-time B&C entries by state,

California - 281

Oregon - 211

Washington - 106

Top 3 Blacktails of all-time

#1 - 182 2/8 Lester Miller, Lewis County, Washington, 1953

#2 - 175 2/8 Clem Coughlin, Mendocino County, California, 1981

#3 - 172 2/8 B.G. Shurtleff, Marion County, Oregon, 1969

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California - Number of entries per County, 1993-1997

Mendocino - 20

Trinity - 12

Tehama - 6

Siskiyou - 5

Santa Clara - 4

Humboldt - 3

Lake - 1

Shasta - 1
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Total - 52

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California -Total number of entries per year, 1993-1997

1993 - 17

1994 - 5

1995 - 8

1996 - 15

1997 - 7

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California - All time top producing counties

Mendocino - 77

Trinity - 73

Siskiyou - 31

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Oregon - Number of entries per County, 1993-1997

Clackamas - 4

Lane - 3

Linn - 2

Jackson - 2

Lincoln - 1

Columbia - 1

Josephine - 1

Douglas - 1

Washington - 1
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Total - 16

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Oregon - Total number of entries per year, 1993-1997

1993 - 3

1994 - 4

1995 - 6

1996 - 3

1997 - 0

Oregon’s - All time top producing counties

Jackson - 45

Linn - 20

Clackamas - 19

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Washington - Number of entries per County, 1993-1997

Whatcom - 2

Lewis - 1

Mason - 1

Clark - 1

Jefferson - 1
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Total - 6

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Washington - Total number of entries per year, 1993-1997

1993 - 2

1994 - 1

1995 - 1

1996 - 2

1997 - 0

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Washington’s - All time top producing counties

Lewis - 22

Pierce - 17

King - 10


The following information was compiled form the incredibly informative book
"The Deer of North America"


To print click on chart and then print

To measure heart girth measure the chest circumfrance directly behind the deer's front shoulders. I use this chart as a quick an easy way of estimating the live and field dressed weights of Columbian Blacktails and have found it surprisingly accurate.


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