Story By: John Hakes, Pure Precision COO
I never imagined that one of the smallest deer species of North America would become one of the most impressive trophies I’d ever take home. My obsession with hunting Columbia blacktail deer began two years ago when I met Dylan Carr, the owner of Diamond C Outfitters. We met through mutual friends at the Western Hunt Expo at the Pure Precision Rifles booth a couple of years ago. We instantly hit it off, and I was invited to hunt his legendary ranch, which I had only heard stories about from our clients. On my first day, I managed to take a magnificent 4x4 buck in the most beautiful country. I knew I had fallen in love with hunting these miniature ungulates!
Naturally, I eagerly awaited another opportunity to venture into the land of the little giants. In true Dylan Carr fashion, he teased me about my return for a few months before finally extending another invitation. The hunt was on, and I soon realized that I would be getting trail cam pictures from Dylan. During our time together, we had become good friends and had shared a few camps on other adventures, so he couldn’t resist teasing me about the deer I wanted to hunt.
The days ticked by, and I was almost ready to leave for my hunt when Dylan sent me a picture of “The Clayton Buck.” His massive 3x4 frame instantly captivated me, and I couldn’t contain my excitement. Knowing this deer was of such immense size and that Dylan had been patiently waiting for it for nearly a decade, I was in a state of pure exhilaration.
The wait was finally over. My business partner and good friend, Dustin Speer, and I boarded a plane to Northern California, armed with deer tags and a couple of Pure Precision rifles. We arrived at Dylan’s at around 3 p.m. Dylan had two fully equipped rooms for his hunters, providing everything they needed. Notably, he never puts hunters from different groups together, which was a great perk. We were greeted by Dylan’s wife, Holly. The other two guides and friends were John Stillwell and Carlos Alejandro. After a delicious dinner prepared by Holly, we loaded up in trucks. Dustin and John, affectionately known as “Juancho,” set out to find Dustin’s buck, while Carlos, Dylan, and I ventured into Clayton’s lair.
The Clayton Buck had only been seen twice by Dylan. All other encounters had been through trail camera photos, so Carlos, Dylan, and I descended into the steep and rugged terrain that Clayton called home. As we approached the location Dylan had planned for our hunt, he parked the truck and we continued on foot. The sun beat down relentlessly on our eyes. As we drew nearer to the spot where Dylan intended to set up, I couldn’t help but be astounded by the sheer difficulty of the terrain. To our left, we faced a massive cliff, while to our right, a deep, treacherous canyon stretched out, littered with trees and boulders. In the center, a hogback ridge rose, offering a small glade that seemed perfect for a large buck to reside with escape routes everywhere. To my surprise, we spotted deer in the open area, but Clayton remained elusive. We spent four hours basking in the sun, patiently waiting for Clayton’s appearance.
Just before we decided to call it a night, we heard a shot ring out from Dustin and Juancho’s direction. A quick text confirmed that Dustin had successfully smashed a massive 3x4! That night, we celebrated Dustin’s beautiful trophy, but The Clayton Buck was on everyone’s mind.
Morning arrived early, as it typically does in most hunting camps. However, we decided to avoid Clayton’s usual ridge he would hang out on. Dylan had a specific preference for hunting him in the evenings, so we decided to explore other parts of the ranch, which was a delightful surprise. During our morning travels, we encountered multiple impressive bucks that I would have been thrilled to have, but Dylan had a strict management program – Clayton Buck or nothing.
As the afternoon wore on, at 3 p.m., I knew it was time to take action. The scorching heat, pushing 90 degrees, made it seem unlikely that we would see him tonight. To our complete astonishment, we peeked over the hill where we had sat the previous night, the sun still blazing in our eyes, and Dylan whispered, “He’s there.” In disbelief, I prepared myself for the shot. I crawled to the edge of the hill and peered through the Swarovski Z5+ scope, unable to comprehend what I was seeing. The Clayton Buck appeared almost cartoonish. His antlers seemed disproportionately large compared to his body, making it difficult to believe that he was the same buck. Gathering my composure, I allowed the Pure Precision Ascent rifle chambered in 6.5 PRC to do its job. The shot was downhill at 324 yards. I was instructed to only shoot when he was facing right as this would give us a better chance of preventing him from running into the cliff country just yards away from him. Finally, when he faced right, I settled in on his shoulder and fired the shot. With a loud “Thwap!” Clayton reared up like a bucking bronco and disappeared into the dense forest to our right. I felt the shot was great, but I was a bit concerned because he didn’t just drop. We gave him a couple of hours, and then we went in to look for him.
We got down to where he was last seen, but he wasn’t there. We did slow circles in the direction we had seen him run, but we traveled only a couple hundred yards before backing out as the light was fading. Dylan didn’t want to push him if he wasn’t expired. To say that I was in disbelief was an understatement. The next morning couldn’t come fast enough.
We gathered everyone at the last known location. After a while, Juancho called Dylan and said he had found him! To our surprise, The Clayton Buck did a circle and tried to make it off the cliff. Just before he got there, he expired. The shot was great, entering his front shoulder and exiting his last rib. Another curveball thrown at us was that a bear had gotten to him before we did. I was petrified that he would chew on his antlers.
As I walked up to The Clayton Buck, I was in utter shock. Dylan, Carlos, and John were speechless, and I knew we had something special. Other than losing the meat to a bear, I couldn’t be any happier. I give thanks to some of the best friends I have had and allowing me to experience something that very few get to. I know there are bigger bucks out there, but Clayton could be the baddest 3x4 Columbian blacktail. We will never know his true B&C score because we wanted to preserve his velvet, but it’s up there. We do know that Clayton’s width is staggering, going nearly 25” wide. A true Columbian blacktail 20 miles from the coast with a history that spans nearly a decade.
Thank you, Dylan, Holly, Carlos, and John “Juancho.” The friendship and opportunity you have blessed me with will never go unpaid. I also want to thank you for being one of the top ambassadors of Pure Precision Rifles. We are making waves in the industry because of good folks like you and your team.