They actually break up blacktails into two weight and trophy classes.
The Sitka Blacktail in Alaska
The Columbia in Washington/Oregon
In general, the further south you go, the larger they get.
I'm not sure that Sitka's actually weigh less than the Columbia - they are smaller but "chunkier" if you know what I mean. The racks are certainly smaller. The one in your photo would make B&C if it was a Sitka. B&C minimum for the Sitka is 108 points, for the Columbia it's 130 points (I think..).
They used to think Blacktails were a subspecies of mule deer, or even a hybrid between mulies and white-tails. The latest DNA studies indicate that just the opposite is true. Blacktails and whitetails are distinct sub-species and mule deer share DNA traits of both of those species - the mule deer is a hybrid of the other two.
Not that any of that matters - the important thing is that blacktails taste better!
Nice buck!
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Keith
The Bears and Bear Maulings Page:
members.xoom.com/keithrogan