Few big game species are as elusive – and thus as sought after – as the Columbia blacktail deer. Hard to find and harder yet to get a shot on, chasing blacktail is a demanding hunt. Even more so when you’re doing it on public land, oft times surrounded by your fellow hunters.

Leupold’s Shawn Skipper and Nic Kytlica were recently joined by Adam Heggenstaller (of American Hunter, an official journal of the National Rifle Association) and John Snow (Shooting Editor for both Outdoor Life and Field & Stream) for a week-long blacktail hunt in northwestern Oregon, all on publicly-accessible land. Battling unseasonably warm weather and bouts of heavy fog, the group was able to put eyes on numerous deer – but never a shooter buck. Such are the perils of true public land hunting.

That said, lessons were learned and adventures had as our hunters traversed miles on foot and mountain bike alike in a valiant effort to find one of the Lower 48’s most notable trophies. Learn more about their hunt – and learn a thing or two about hunting from a bicycle – in this latest episode of the Leupold Core Insider Podcast.