BT blues

[Kc_Kracker]

|Since Saturday we have hunted nonstop, from greenwater to little naches, all we have seen is a few does, so where the heck are the blacktail? bedded down in the thick, up high, already dead 

[Kc_Kracker]

and i should add. we are hunting areas with a massive amount of trees rubbed bad, deer crap, prints, etc. so, what are we doing wrong? wrong time of day? technique? too high, too low? havent even seen a buck.  or poor areas?

[Ripper]

If you are seeing ton's of sign, rubs, poo, tracks, but no deer, then it's a bad spot with no deer. Look elsewhere!   

[Ripper]

On a more serious note, slow down. These deer are very smart and hard to hunt. Most people walk through the woods way to fast. If you are then you're just pushing the deer to other people. Go into the area's with lots of sign, get as far down wind as you can and sit down if possible. I see about 10 times as many animals while on stand than while walking. If I find a spot with that much sign then I'll sit all day.  Keep at it, good luck

[sirmissalot]

Massive amounts of trees rubbed bad sounds like you're in the right area. Assuming they are buck rubs and not bull rubs. Blacktails are pretty nocturnal, and my experience with the areas you are mentioning is they get a good amount of pressure, day and night.

[mrmoskillz]

Bucks only come out at night   At least at my house.  There is always a few does in the yard in the morn on the way to work but the bucks leave well before sun up

[HighCountryHunter88]

patience grasshopper

[Kc_Kracker]

Bucks only come out at night   At least at my house.

so does this mean we need to go high to find where they are bedded down / hanging out? 

[deerslyr]

If your really hunting from green water to lil naches your moving around to much. Find an area with all of this sign and rubs you speak of and stick to it. Theres obviously deer there

[deerhunter_98520]

If your really hunting from green water to lil naches your moving around to much. Find an area with all of this sign and rubs you speak of and stick to it. Theres obviously deer there

I hunt a stretch of land thats about 3/4 mile long and thats it...and im usually at one spot all day long.....i tag out every year...and years i dont its because im holding out for bigger bucks

[deerslyr]

Ive heard it more than once that a blacktail buck will die with in a mile that it was born. Im a firm believer in that as well.

[BOWHUNTER45]

  I am still waiting to kill one particular buck who keeps giving me the slip within that 1 1/2 SQ Mile ...Seen him lastnight but again he slips away from us .... His day is nearing ... yeah this one ....

[DaveBTS]

Stop driving and start walking.

[deerhunter_98520]

I am still waiting to kill one particular buck who keeps giving me the slip within that 1 1/2 SQ Mile ...Seen him lastnight but again he slips away from us .... His day is nearing ... yeah this one ....

need some help locating this buck? 

[Holg3107]

Pick a spot and really hunt it. Set up early and glass, still hunt through the day in heavy timber / bedding areas, set up in the evening and glass. I hunt an area thats less than 1 mile square and I dont touch half of it in a day. Take an area with lots of good sign, slow down and pick it apart until there is no leaf unturned. They are in there you just need to concentrate more on one area. 

[notellumcreek]

patience grasshopper

[Hunter mike]

I know how ya feel, I'm in the same boat...  Hours upon hours in the timber.  It's my first year out and I haven't seen a thing - just tracks and sign everywhere.  I think I also might be covering too much area, I've got about 4-5 spots I'm alternating around.  I feel pretty good about where I'm glassing from, but I know I suck at still hunting.  Around the edges of cuts and along the timber there always seems to be tons of branches and other obstacles.  I feel like a freight train rolling through there no matter how slow I go!

I'm headed back out next week hoping to seal the deal!

[jackmaster]

if i was you i would quit chasing the gray ghost and go east and hunt muleys and whiteys.... no one wants to hunt the impossible blacktail anyways 

[Kc_Kracker]

if i was you i would quit chasing the gray ghost and go east and hunt muleys and whiteys.... no one wants to hunt the impossible blacktail anyways 

tell me where to go and im on it 

[grundy53]

I know how ya feel, I'm in the same boat...  Hours upon hours in the timber.  It's my first year out and I haven't seen a thing - just tracks and sign everywhere.  I think I also might be covering too much area, I've got about 4-5 spots I'm alternating around.  I feel pretty good about where I'm glassing from, but I know I suck at still hunting.  Around the edges of cuts and along the timber there always seems to be tons of branches and other obstacles.  I feel like a freight train rolling through there no matter how slow I go!

I'm headed back out next week hoping to seal the deal!

When you are going as slow as you think you can go, slow down twice as much as that. And always know what the wind is doing.

  You can never be going slow enough...

[Blacktail Sniper]

The older and thus more experienced blacktails will sometimes just lay low in place and let you move right past them.   One way to off-set this trait is to literally take 2 or 3 slow, quiet steps, then just stand still for 3 or 4 mins and look and listen to whats around you, take 2 or 3 more steps and so on. 

This really slows the world down around you, will take a long time to cover a patch of timber/cover this way, but hunting was never meant to be a speed sport.   I have had deer that would otherwise have let me walk right on by with-in spitting distance, not to be able hold their ground and bust up & out because I was spending too much time inside their comfort zone.

One big, old doe several years ago was bedded just under an alder tree whose branches were low enough to reach the grass growing up along side it.  She let he pass within 5 feet of her and didn't budge, but when I stopped and stood for several minutes less than 10 feet away, she couldn't stand it and exploded up and out of her bed.

Now, mind you she did this within 10 feet of and BEHIND me, so, of course my first thought was that a squatch had me!  You think grouse are bad (and they are!), try having a 100 pound or so beast explode almost from your back pocket!!!  After that, coverscent is no longer an issue.....

As has been said, the big ones are generally night walkers, but they are there in the daylight, so pick a spot with abundant sign showing that there are deer in general, and especially the fresh buck rubs, and spend the better part of or all day working a small area of cover like this. 

If you have a partner or two, you can post one or both in areas that would serve as choke points or likely escape routes while you work the cover.  But by just cruising through the area like this, you have the higher percentage chance at a shot, because by the pace of your movement, you are not actually driving the deer.  Although, a shift in the wind, or some other aspect of Murphy's Law may jump, and they will move out without you knowing or seeing them, maybe giving one of the spotters a shot.

Takes alot of patience to not want to just run through an area then move on trying to up your odds by covering alot of ground.  Sometimes this does work, but sometimes somebody wins the lottery too.

Good luck!

[jackmaster]

sometimes when you hunt blackys ya gotta use reverse psychology on them bad boys, blacktail are by far the wisest of all deer, especially when they are not in the rut yet, find some southwest facing slope that has a mix of alder fir vinemaple and ferns, get the wind in your face and puddle along, use your binos to pick the ferns apart, dont look for the whole deer look for pieces, do a quick scan as far as the eye can see and then come back to your feet and start lookn behind every leaf and work your way out, when you have worked an area over, then go back through it at a little quicker pace, and just keep doing this, try to get mid hill and side hill if possible, a big buck will hold and let you walk right on by... good luck, blactail huntn is an addiction 

[wt]

I have hunted the same area for three years, I usually see alot of sign a few does and one buck! Boom! My first year I hunted 6days for not,day 6 after a huge downpour 2days before Halloween I walk into what looked like a game farm 6-10 does 3-5 bucks boom! The year after it took until late season. Last year was the first year I didn't still hunt and score in the rain I sat about 10yards into the timber before light and got the opportunity to watch one come right on its way to bed in the same timber.....Boom.  I get less frustrated every year when I don't see alot of bucks because it is the pattern. I have only shot bts the last week of October or the late season. Bowhuntwe45..that rub is narly! Small buck I predict.

[jackmaster]

at one point i had hunted the same piece of dirt from day light to dark for 7 days and about 10:30 on the 8th day i whacked one of my biggest blacktails, i like to find some little crap hole with desent sign and just rip it apart day in and day out, i have my son in a treestand this year watching a nice alder patch with a mix of old growth stumps, maple trees, hemlock, fir and alot of ferns, wild blackberries and huckleberry covered stumps, it boarders a real old reprod patch i will come in from the bottom and work the hill back and forth and see if i cant push this nice buck i have seen the past couple years right to him, he has killed a few deer but nothin like this and i would love to see my son cause me a taxi bill 

[Blacktail Sniper]

at one point i had hunted the same piece of dirt from day light to dark for 7 days and about 10:30 on the 8th day i whacked one of my biggest blacktails, i like to find some little crap hole with desent sign and just rip it apart day in and day out, i have my son in a treestand this year watching a nice alder patch with a mix of old growth stumps, maple trees, hemlock, fir and alot of ferns, wild blackberries and huckleberry covered stumps, it boarders a real old reprod patch i will come in from the bottom and work the hill back and forth and see if i cant push this nice buck i have seen the past couple years right to him, he has killed a few deer but nothin like this and i would love to see my son cause me a taxi bill 

  Good luck to ya!

[Kc_Kracker]

anyone know if the area south of carbonado area is any good for blacktail?

[jackmaster]

ya know wilkeson and parts of carbenado use to be damn fine bt huntn, over the years there has been alot of poaching in those parts, but i would bet that a fella culd still find a few deer around there, have you ever checked out the evenscreek orv trail system, there is still some good spots to get off the beatn path, if i was you i would ask a few of those farmers down there in south prarie valley, i have seen some studs along the river behind some of those old farms, great spot for a tree stand as well

[Hunter mike]

KC - My buddy got one there during archery season - I've heard good things about the area overall.  I'm headed back out next week hoping to finally get one... I may give it a shot if I need to stick closer to home!

So for techniques, here's what I have so far-

1) Road Hunting - basically drive around hoping you see something.  This isn't fun for me but I suppose it pays to keep your eyes open when moving between spots in the woods.  I've glassed large basins from just off the road (looking for deer way down in there at the bottom of the drainage from a landing/skid road etc).

2) Still hunting - I need to work on my patience and slow down even more for this.  I have a really hard time being quiet enough at any speed.  I'm really not sure if I'm hitting the right areas or picking the right path through the area.  I don't have a lot of confidence in this method yet as you can tell, but you do learn a ton about an area by getting down in there.  I've been doing this mid-day mostly when I'm tired of sitting glassing.

3) Glassing from a ridge/landing.  I've been doing this the most of all.  It's easier to control your scent when sitting still and I like being able to cover a large basin from one spot.  I know lots of deer move through my areas, so one would think it's a matter of time... Most of my areas I would be within a 250 yd. shot at the most, so I wouldn't necessarily have to close much distance if I spotted something - maybe just re-position a bit.


So how's my analysis of how to go about this so far?  I really don't know what I'm doing or have much guidance other than what I read on here.  I try to pick up every tidbit I can.  It's funny how many people come on the site looking for exactly where to hunt - I'm confident I found some pretty good spots on my own with a small amount of effort.  I'm hunting timber country and focusing on clearcuts between 2-8 years old or so and watching for a nice drainage or cover in the bottom (I really like the areas with a nice meadow/marsh area at the bottom).  Sorry to kinda hijack the post, but trying to learn and help out other guys in the same situation...

Thanks!

[RoyBoy]

If your really hunting from green water to lil naches your moving around to much. Find an area with all of this sign and rubs you speak of and stick to it. Theres obviously deer there

 

find where 3 or more trails kinda intertwine in the middle of thick stuff and sit. make sure your scent killered from head to toe.