Team MDT: Blacktails in British Columbia

Editor's Note: Today, we have a guest post from Team MDT Shooter David Gheriani!

I'll preface this story by saying I barely got out hunting this year; work and family commitments ate up all my time. Prior to the day of that hunt, I had spent 3 or 4 evenings out at last light in known spots of mine but had only seen does. It was the Season's last weekend, and my buddy Tyler called me to join him in hunting a spot he had been eyeing on Google Earth. Getting there would require a river crossing and some solid hiking and bushwhacking. My local hunting spot would be overrun with hunters participating in the "Menzel Massacre," a big buck contest held at the end of the season. Wanting to avoid crowds was super appealing, so we decided on an early Sunday morning departure.

We met up Sunday morning, well before sunrise, stashed my truck at a friend's farm, and hopped in a canoe. The crossing only took 10 minutes, and we were beaching the canoe on a sandy spot as the sun started rising over the horizon. The terrain was your typical Coastal Mountain, with thick vegetation and steep slopes split up with occasional bluffs and rockslide areas. We planned to get into some of the old-growth forests and bluffs where the deer were like to Winter. We figured we could stalk the ridges and were prepped for long shots. Equipped with mountaineering gear, we were prepared to recover a deer if one fell into some rough terrain.

We hiked in for about 5 hours, alternating between moving quietly through old growth where we saw tons of signs, climbing up bluffs, and having to bushwhack through thick brush. At around noon, we were in a section of old growth moving uphill when Tyler signaled to me that he saw a spiker. I knew he was planning on holding out for something big as he'd already taken a spiker the week before, but I was in it for the meat (and the exercise).

I couldn't see the buck at first, but then it appeared uphill from me about 75 yards away; as I raised my rifle, it walked behind a few medium-sized trees, exposing only its hindquarters. I tried to get an angle on him, but he disappeared behind a few more trees heading uphill. I dropped my pack and signaled to Tyler that I would follow the spiker. I moved slowly and quietly uphill for about 100 yards when I noticed a head pop up between 2 large rocks. I lifted my rifle and pressed it sideways against a tree next to me to steady it. Once on the glass, I saw it was the same spiker I had seen earlier, so I settled the rifle, took careful aim, and dropped it with a headshot.

Dave’s hunting rig. Notice the new MDT CRBN Rifle Chassis System.

The upside to packing in a heavier, braked rifle (actually my NRL Hunter rifle, about 13 lbs with bipod and Vortex Impact rangefinder) was watching the round hit and seeing the deer drop. I ejected the round, pocketed the brass, chambered another round, and started uphill. After a short walk, I found my deer piled up behind the two rocks; I made sure he was dead, cut my tag, and started back toward my pack. We both walked back up towards the dead deer and as I started field dressing it, my buddy went off to search for a big buck with an agreed-up return time of 2:00 pm. I dressed the deer, then fired up the jet boil, made myself an espresso (if you know me, that's no surprise), and ate my lunch.

Tyler returned at 2:00, I made him a coffee while he ate his lunch and then we started the pack out. We knew we'd be coming out in the dark so instead of just following our GPSed route back, we decided to try to follow more of a downhill trajectory towards the river as we had originally moved quite a bit laterally while bushwhacking. We reasoned that moving downhill would be easier and faster, provided we didn't get cliffed out. Once at the river bank, one guy could ditch his gear and quickly move back upriver to where the canoe was, launch it solo, and then we could load everything where the other guy was waiting.

The hike out was slow as we purposefully moved to avoid trips and falls and getting stuck above cliffs and bluffs. We returned to the river around 7:30 or 8:00 pm, and Tyler set off to get the canoe. We loaded everything upon his return and pushed off downstream. The paddle out was relatively uneventful, except for inadvertently beaching a few times in shallow spots we couldn't see in the dark and fog. Half an hour or so later, now with soggy, cold feet, we beached the canoe at the farm, loaded up in my truck, retrieved Tyler's truck, came back for the canoe, and both headed home. It was definitely the most work I've ever put in for a spike buck, but it was a super fun day in a spot I plan on returning to next year.

Dave Gheriani competing in the 2024 IPRF World Championships.

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