Please! Do NOT add blacktail deer to SRP

[Snail Rancher]

EW is planning to add Blacktail deer to Silver Ridge Peaks in the next update. I would like to strongly urge them to reconsider this, even though they want to have them on another reserve. (Solution to that issue is discussed below as well.)

SRP is specifically stated to be in Colorado. Colorado is home to only 4 deer species: 1) mule deer in the Rocky Mountains; 2) whitetail deer east of the Rockies, mostly occurring in river areas (which is why they are not in SRP, a location that is further west, towards the San Juan mountains around Ouray, Colorado); 3) Rocky Mountain elk; and 3) moose (which were introduced in the 1980s I think). There are no Blacktail deer in Colorado at all; they live hundreds of miles northwest of there.

Blacktails are a subspecies of mule deer and they only live in the Pacific Northwest (i.e., Layton Lakes). There is no chance for them to be found as far east as Colorado. Similarly, there are no Roosevelt elk in Colorado either, so putting them in SRP would be equally inappropriate (“but we need Roosevelts on another reserve…”).

Since there is a desire to add Blacktail to another reserve, rather than adding them to SRP, add them to Yukon Valley. There is a type of Blacktail living in that area IRL, the Sitka blacktail deer, which is also a subspecies of mule deer but closely related to the Columbian Blacktails like on Layton. Layton-style Blacktail could be added as either Sitka deer (i.e., as a new species, similar to how we have different types of turkeys), or just as Blacktail (similar to how we only have Bighorn sheep rather than Rocky Mountain bighorns and Mexican bighorns). This would actually add a “proper” deer (rather than moose or caribou) to Yukon Valley and really add to the game, rather than an inaccurate and rather meaningless addition to SRP where we already have mule deer.

I am certain that this plan is far along and abandoning it would delay things for blacktails, but there is no logical reason for them to be added to SRP. EW has long publicly stated that they strive for reasonable accuracy for their animal selections. Other than the Lesser Kudu being added to Vurhonga Savanna, based in southern Africa where Lesser Kudu do not actually live, they have been fairly true to this goal. (I am still not certain about turkeys in New Zealand, but will trust that this is the case.) Please EW, don’t ruin SRP with this! Those of us from Colorado, and those who like the game to be as true to life as possible, would really appreciate it, even if there is a delay. And I really do think blacktail on Yukon Valley would be great.

[SouthernMan1972]

Nice post, and well written. I agree with the idea that reserves should stick with animals that are actually in their real world regions. I would vote for blacktails in Yukon instead of SRP as well just based on what you said. We already have a mid-sized deer in SRP, but we could use one in Yukon.

However, I did find this:
https://land.lease/united-states/colorado/deer-hunting-leases/blacktail-deer
So maybe Sitka Blacktails have migrated that far east.

It's probably too late anyway, as you alluded to. What keeps popping in my mind is the judge from My Cousin Vinny after Vinny's "lucid, and well thought out objection".... OVERRULED.

LOL...Sorry man.

[Snail Rancher]

Originally posted by SouthernMan1972:

Nice post, and well written. I agree with the idea that reserves should stick with animals that are actually in their real world regions. I would vote for blacktails in Yukon instead of SRP as well just based on what you said. We already have a mid-sized deer in SRP, but we could use one in Yukon.

However, I did find this:
https://land.lease/united-states/colorado/deer-hunting-leases/blacktail-deer
So maybe Sitka Blacktails have migrated that far east.

It's probably too late anyway, as you alluded to. What keeps popping in my mind is the judge from My Cousin Vinny after Vinny's "lucid, and well thought out objection".... OVERRULED.

LOL...Sorry man.

That website is a search engine for leasing hunting sites. Anyone expecting to hunt blacktail in Colorado is going to be waiting a long time unless there are some high-fence game ranches.

[SouthernMan1972]

Fair enough. I'll take your word for it. Either way, I'm in favor adding blacktails in Yukon instead of SRP.

[Snail Rancher]

Seems EW has changed their minds (thankfully!) and Blacktail will not be added after all.

https://youtu.be/Gg7kjucNKG0

[Neurotic Panda]

yawn.

who cares. they cant even get ammo/guns/classes correct or even similar to IRL variants and you were concerned about black tails in colorado?

i think the game has more pressing issues IMO.

also a NE map? call me when we get something new... more moose, black bear, white tail, canadian geese all with a 'fall like' back drop probably.

[me and the boys]

I don’t think SRP needs anything else tbh. I get why they thought about it though and blacktail would by nice on another map.

[Morte-360]

Originally posted by Snail Rancher:

Seems EW has changed their minds (thankfully!) and Blacktail will not be added after all.

https://youtu.be/Gg7kjucNKG0

For the best. Hopefully blacktail get added to another map at some point.

Bummed out it's a New England map, was hoping we'd get an Asian map preferably India :/. Hope they get around to an Asian map eventually.

[DanthemanBoone]

@ Snail Rancher.
We definitely have Turkeys (Feral) here in New Zealand. I remember being chased by one as far back as 1952 or 3 when visiting an aunts farm in the south island when I was just a kid.
We also had them regularly crossing our lifestyle block in the north island just out of Napier along with (Believe it or not) Peacocks.
Te Awaroa is also a possible place for Roosevelt Elk, as we have a large herd in the south islands Malborough Sounds area. While I would prefer to have Himalayan Thar there in Te Awaroa as an entirely new species.

[Snail Rancher]

Originally posted by DanthemanBoone:

@ Snail Rancher.
We definitely have Turkeys (Feral) here in New Zealand. I remember being chased by one as far back as 1952 or 3 when visiting an aunts farm in the south island when I was just a kid.
We also had them regularly crossing our lifestyle block in the north island just out of Napier along with (Believe it or not) Peacocks.
Te Awaroa is also a possible place for Roosevelt Elk, as we have a large herd in the south islands Malborough Sounds area. While I would prefer to have Thar there in Te Awaroa as an entirely new species.

Thanks! I had no idea there were turkeys, though the fact that they are feral makes sense. I just wondered if wild ones might have been imported as a game species.

I had heard there were peacocks, and I still think that they would have been a lot more fun than turkeys, since our chances of getting an Indian reserve are at about zero percent.