WOW, IT'S HOT HERE! That was the first thought to hit me as I walked with Butch Carley from the Sacramento airport into the stifling summer heat. This was a dramatic change from the weather back home in Watertown, Wisconsin.

But, then, I could not hunt coastal blacktail deer back home in Wisconsin either. While I've tagged whitetails, Sitka deer, muleys, and Coues deer, I'd yet to arrow a Columbian blacktail. Getting a chance to finally draw down on a blacktail buck would make this late July trip -- and the hot northern California weather -- well worth the long ride and the loss of a little perspiration.

Standing on the porch of the Carley's gorgeous log home, Brenda Carley greeted Butch and me with a smile and a cool drink at the end of our ride. Soon I was settled into comfy guest quarters above the horse barn, and later, with the evening shadows lengthening, Butch and I piled into a '72 Bronco for a quick tour of the 5,000-acre ranch we'd be hunting. The terrain consisted mostly of rolling hills dotted with clusters of live oaks and other trees and shrubs totally unfamiliar to this Midwestern whitetail hunter.

Minutes later I spotted my first blacktails, five beautiful velvet-racked bucks resting in the shade of manzanita and mountain mahogany. The sight was enough to make me wish the deer season opened tomorrow instead of August 1, another full day away. Butch pointed out many more deer during our ride, and by the time we headed back for a bite of supper I was totally primed.

July 31 dawned surprisingly cool. In fact, I regretted not having packed a jacket as Butch and I made another scouting tour of the sprawling ranch. Although we again saw lots of deer, one great 3x3 buck and a huge 4x4 B&C candidate with eyeguards really snagged our attention. When the day heated up and the deer had bedded, we focused on locating a good stand site. After lunch, we grabbed chainsaws and a portable treestand, and a short time later we stood admiring our handiwork, confident the setup was situated in an ideal spot.

Returning from stand building, we found that Montana bowhunter Dyrk Eddie had just arrived. Like me, Dyrk had taken the other four North American deer varieties, but never a Columbian blacktail, so he too had come to complete his personal quest of taking all five North American deer species recognized by the Pope and Young Club. While Dyrk stowed his gear and shot his bow to make sure his arrows were flying true, Brenda and I took a short sightseeing horseback ride in the California heat. Later, we all piled into Butch's Bronco to show Dyrk several stand choices for tomorrow's opening day. During the drive, we again spotted the giant 4x4, one brute of a wild boar, and countless valley quail. The temperature had "cooled down" into the 60s by the time we finally returned to the cabin that evening.

IN THE CHILLY EARLY morning light, a doe moved under my stand, and I saw another 25 to 30 deer moving around me, but the great 3x3, the buck I'd seen while scouting with Butch, and the deer I really wanted, never showed. By 8:30 a.m., with the warming sun chasing the cool shadows from my ambush site, the blacktail parade slowed considerably.

Continued -- click on page link below.