Buddies nice 5x4 Blacktail

[KillerBeee]

Thanks for bringing this back to the top. I am pumped for this season and hope to see another decent one but it's not all that important as I'm not a trophy hunter. We get ours each year whether it's a buck or a doe, they all taste great to me.

Good luck to the hunters out there and be safe.


Beee

[JDHasty]

I saw the rack on your buddies buck and said: hmmm I've seen a few of his close relatives. 

I am after big blacktails, but will shoot an antlerless too just because they need to be thinned on the properties we have access on.  We have an elk in the freezer already and will have one more decent size deer made into Italian sausage and probably give one away.  It's not hard to find a taker for good blacktail venison. 

I'm busy with a couple white oaks and a madrona that went down in the wind and as soon as I get my heat situation for this winter taken care of, hopefully this weekend, we are going to get our stands up and do a bit of scouting. 

I have been behind all year, new baby in May, and have been playing catchup all year.  I'm not going to have time to scout for particular deer, but I will be able to get myself up to speed on what the general population is up to by checking the sign.   

We use Deerslayers too, I have a DSII and a DS and a rifled 20 inch barrel that I use on my Model 37 Ultra Featherweight frame with reduced recoil Lightfields for still hunting.  The DSII is good for an inch at 100 yards and the DS about 2.5 inches.  My buddy uses a Hastings barrel on a model 37 frame and an 18 inch barrel he cut off and put chokes in for still hunting w/buckshot.  I hate buckshot, I won't use it.

My shorty barrel shoots into a couple inches at 50 and probably better, but I just take a shot once per year to make sure the sights are on.  We also use Excalibur Matrix 355 crossbows and compounds depending on where we are hunting. 

Good luck! 

[KillerBeee]

I put a rifled barrel on my Bennelli Nova and a scope to make those longer shots a little more confidently. That being said, the longest shot we have taken is less than 75 yards, with average being about 40.
     In the Nova, I like the Hornady SST. Those things fly straight and do a fine job.

[JDHasty]

Lightfield 2-3/4 Hybrid Elites for me.  The 3" has flatter trajectory, but the bullets shatter at close range, the 2-3/4 stays together and either will flatten any blacktail that ever lived.

Most of our shots are pretty close, but I like my firearms to put a round right exactly where I want it to go and the Ithacas most certainly get that done.  We have taken a few that we're pushing a hundred yards though, and when you do have a shot that is out there... you don't want any surprises.

Best of luck to ya. 

[highhunter]

I picked up a Browning A-Bolt 12 gauge for the firearms restriction units and topped it off with a Leupold muzzle/shotgun scope. Shoots less than 1'' groups at 100 yards. Not cheap but potent medicine. If you can swing it, I endorse it for sure.

[highhunter]

btw, awesome island deer.

[tgomez]

I put a rifled barrel on my Bennelli Nova and a scope to make those longer shots a little more confidently. That being said, the longest shot we have taken is less than 75 yards, with average being about 40.
     In the Nova, I like the Hornady SST. Those things fly straight and do a fine job.

I agree 100%, I LOVE Hornady but use the GMX Superformance out of my 30-06 and get right around 3000 fps! Takes the power of the 06 and gives it the speed of a 270! Hornady definetly makes the best factory hunting ammo for sure.

[fishnfur]

Really gorgeous island bucks.  You've obviously figured out how to get it done in your respective situations.  The thread somehow leaves me wanting more information.  It's like watching cookies being mixed in the bowl, baked in the oven, but never getting a taste when they come out.  I feel like I want to ask questions, but I can't figure out how to learn just a tidbit from you guys who've pretty much mastered hunting big island blacktails.

 The only question I can come up with is:  How do you place your stands in relation to the rubs that you're hunting.  30 yards or so downwind in the direction of the prevailing winds, (NE of the rubs) or some other method? 

Perhaps one more:  Many of Puget Sound's islands have significant human populations living side by side with the bucks in question.  Do you feel like you need to get as far away from those residential areas to improve your opportunities to see bucks?  Are the bucks less nocturnal than you might find in more remote off-island areas or area with less deer per square mile?   (yes, I know.  That is two questions, not one.)  I get the feeling from reading your posts that the big bucks are really hard to locate until the rut is in full swing.

Thanks!  Have a great season.  Look forward to your posts this year.

[JDHasty]

I just like to be in the vicinity of where I find rubs on larger alders.  On a secondary trail leading to the rub location if I can locate one, or better yet in a place where I can watch more than one trail. 

If there is ONE tip I can give is visit the islands in the spring when people are really pissed off about their gardens being wrecked.

If you find a property owner whose young fruit stock has been wrecked by bigger bucks, when you see it you will know it - they ravage them, you are really in.  The young bucks just rub them, the biggens fight them to the death and leave them absolutely devastated.

I shoot a compound on some properties because of proximity to occupied dwellings, same for crossbow.  The crossbow is better for stands, but miserable to still hunt with.  Both are equal in range and substantially so for accuracy. 

Anytime the stand location allows it I prefer a Deerslayer II w/Lightfield 2-3/4 Hybrid Elites, but my Deerslayer w/Foster slug is just as capable.  The DSII gives me ~25 yards more range though.  Both have Nitrex 1.5-5 scopes.  I use a rifled 20 inch DS barrel on an aluminum frame Ithaca 37 Ultra Featherweight and Lightfield reduced recoil slugs and open sights for still hunting. My buddy uses an 18inch barrel and Flight Control 00 Buckshot for the same.  I hate buck, he prefers it. 

We both usually have a revolver in stands because when a buck comes in from behind your right shoulder it is much easier to get in position to shoot.  That is if we are far enough away that we are in the stands with our shotguns.  He uses an Ithca w/Hastings rifled barrel and Lightfields. 


These bucks are there, but rarely seen.  They hole up in the smallest, thickest patch they can find and archery season happens before the General and they go to ground as soon as hunters are in their home range. 

I try to have stands up where I can catch them on the move and really like crappy weather. 

A biologist gave me an estimate of the blacktail densities on the islands and it flat boggles the mind when you hear it.  There are a lot of deer out on the islands.  I suppose I probably focus on hunting in between fairly densely populated areas.  The deer are a bit more used to people there. 

The big bucks are so secretive that the property owners don't see them that often.  They are right there, back in the thick crap watching though and only come out after dark normally.  The pre-rut and rut is the exception.  They are on the move looking for does to breed. 

If you can locate the secondary trails that the bucks travel to feed you can catch them moving to feed, but catching them in the open when the rut activity is not started is not something that I would bank on. 

They will move close, but will hang back and watch does and small bucks feed until well after shooting hours. 

Even Island residents have a difficult time with these guys.  They are tough.  What you want to do is locate where they will be moving to feed or to hook up with the herds of does.

Access is hard to gain on all the islands, the earlier in the year you meet people and start to develop relationships the better.

Another thing - an 8x42 or 7x50 binocular is what you need in the stands in heavy cover at the times you will catch them moving.  I use a 6x32 for mid-day still hunting and it is all but worthless in the stand situations.   

Best of luck.       

[JDHasty]

To try and answer the questions better, I like densely populated areas.  But that means one home/five-eight acres.  But there are probably more deer on the bigger parcels.  I like orchards or single apples drawing the herds of does and spikes in to feed because the bucks will be watching them right before dark. 

By secondary trails, I mean that the does and small buicks will utilize the major trails, but I don't find the bucks on them BUT I do find their rubs along them.  So they don't avoid them altogether and visit them pretty regularly when they are making the rubs but me thinks they are sneaking up on them by way of what I call a secondary trail.  Make sense? 

Usually you can locate a few secondary trails that converge to rubs or funnels, such as fence corners and to orchards or lone "abandoned" apple trees, there will be many of them anywhere you are on any of the islands.  Lone apple trees that are back in the crud and do not get visited by humans any more are all over on the islands and if you find one set up a ladder stand seventy yards or so from it and make certain you have a clear shot to the trails leading to it. 

We had a guy on his first hunt w/us shoot a big mature three-point w/eyeguards w/my DS and knocked him off his feet but couldn't find it.  By the time I got there the place the buck was standing was shot was all trampled and I had to chase the shooter away and had him start making bigger and bigger spirals looking for any sign of blood.  After a half-hour on my hands and knees I found a dime sized piece of leather w/fluffy white hair on it.  He must have just knicked the brisket and scared him off his feet.  Had he stayed put and kept his scope on the spot he probably would have seen him jump back to his feet and could have flattened him for sure.  We have took a few bucks from that very location over the years, three and four points, but nothing really spectacular.  The big three is still there, if he hasn't kicked the bucket from natural or vehicle causes.  I saw him late last year.  He is a dandy, but he won't be shot coming to that particular tree. 

I am not as wind cognizant as I probably should be, except I like hunting in hell-weather.  The wind swirls so much on all the islands that trying to set up to take advantage of it drives me nutso.  So what I do is set up tall stands.  They are 17 feet to the shooting rail.  I buy Big Game Steath Deluxe on sale and they are fine.  I think we also have some other similar Big Game that goes on sale every year and just bought a couple two-man Guardian XL stands on sale.  They are fine.  Others are obviously more comfortable, but what we use is just fine.


Every year I threaten to set up the stands early and just let the archery tag holders sit in them if they stumble across them.  But every year I get too busy until I have no time left and we will get them in next week.  The fact that we are near human activity probably takes some of the bucks "seeing something new and avoiding it" away.  Humans change things all the time where we are hunting.

The small chair blinds are great and I will set them right out in the middle of an open area instead of back next to cover.  My reasoning that they WILL be noticed either way and I personally feel they are less threatening that way.  The deer will look at them for a while, but then decide they are just a pile of branches or something and I think they contain scent well enough.  Just my thought on them.  I have had better success by doing this than trying to secret myself inside or under an evergreen w/branches that go almost to the ground.  Probably because I am comfortable and able to glass from back inside the thing w/out being busted.  I don't really know, but it works fine.  You do give up about 270 degrees in one though.  I know there are side windows, but...

Keeping warm is the key to not getting fidgety too.     


   

[fishnfur]

Thanks for the input JD.  Great stuff - worth reading more than once.  I caught your meaning on the secondary trails. 

I wish I could justify spending the money on a DS shotgun.  I was practicing with slugs and buck shot in an old 16 gauge side by side, which I don't think I would push much past a 40 yard shot without putting some sort of sight on it.  It would still probably never be too accurate past about 60 yards or so (I'm guessing).

I did a little still hunting in reprod on an island this morning that the locals say is full of deer.  I'll be darned if I could find more than a single doe in 5 trips of driving the island over the past few weeks though.  While it was down in the 30's this morning, the full moon must have given the deer enough reason to go to beds early with a full stomach, 'cause once again, I got no sightings.  Need the weather conditions to worsen a bit I think - I'm fishing for the next two or three weeks. while I wait.

Thanks again for taking the time to post some great techniques and thoughts on island deer.

[JDHasty]

You don't need anything fancy to greatly improve the sights to "good enough."  You really don't need a DSG, even though I have more than one.  Have you tried a selection of slugs through your gun?  They can vary wildly in what they like and do not like.

You can make a cheap peep sight out of a piece of sheet metal and duct tape it to the rear of the action and then use a rubber protected hose clamp to do the same for a front sight.  Start high and file the front sight down for elevation and loosen the clamp and move it side to side for windage.  Yep, looks like hell, but that should give you a solidly reliable eighty yard slug gun and in all honesty I can't remember any of our crew shooting over that range more than once and that was a hundred-thirty yard offhand shot that I witnessed.

Actually, once you have sights you will be surprised how accurate Foster slugs can be.

"I'll be darned if I could find more than a single doe in 5 trips of driving the island over the past few weeks though."  Yep, been there. 

Last year we hunted opening weekend and didn't see a deer.  The following weekend I saw thirty or more including three really nice bucks and a couple heavy beam high rack two points w/brow tines.   

I like steady rain showers pretty well.  I really like hell weather.  That big wide buck was heading in to an apple tree at the same time another was coming from another direction.  The other was taller, but not as wide or as heavy.  I saw a monster of a buck earlier in the day, crossing the road, when I was taking a doe to the butcher.  That evening the weather was absolutely terrible, it was raining and the wind was blowing down trees across the streets and all hell was breaking loose.       

       

[JDHasty]

If you decide to try buck out of your double, I don't know if they make the Federal Flight Control in 16 ga, but it is by far the best my buddy has found.  He can put every piece of shot on a paper plate at 65 yards with it.  I think the best price he found for it was from Gander Mountain. 

[KillerBeee]

I haven't seen the bucks that often. Only taken 2 bucks in 5 years. The piece of property that I have access to is about 40 acres and borders another large plot of thick reprod that is about 20 years old. The place where I have my stand is off a major trail intersection and is well shielded by small alders and nestled in between a couple of madronas.
     Between my buddy and I we have taken 1 deer per year and split it. After 1, we just do the cleanest processing we can do and try to get another but the effort is not that great. Half a deer usually does me just fine.
   We have both had success still hunting as well. The cover is getting very thick so it's tough to get decent visibility. As with all blacktail hunting, patience and ultra slow movement is key.

[JDHasty]

One year, I think it was three years ago, we had trouble filling our antlerless tags....  By that I mean we had filled our general tags and were out for another couple weekends looking for an antlerless deer to shoot.  What the heck was that all about?  Heck if I know. 

Most years we will try to wack a good sized doe right off the bat, like by noon on opening day, and get them into the butcher for processing before settling in and hunting for bucks.

That third photograph down in your original post.  Oh yea buddy, that looks like a great place to have a stand over.  It would not surprise me one bit if you post another photo this year of another big buck that comes out of that very spot.

I bought a buck decoy last year in The Bargain Cave and had a copy of this book : http://www.amazon.com/Decoying-Big-Game-Successful-Tactics/dp/1585747467  that I picked up at Half Price Books for a couple bucks.  I am going to try to pick up a doe and fawn decoy and follow the author's instructions for setting them up.  You can bet the farm that I will not be setting them up anywhere there is any chance what so ever that they are visible from a road though.

One of my friends bought a life like 3D archery target and only had it a couple days before a big buck absolutely destroyed it one night.   I mean it was beat into pieces and had been stomped into the ground afterwards.  I have heard that blacktail bucks are the most aggressive of our deer species and will run much larger whitetail and mule deer bucks off of a doe in heat if given the chance.   

That got me to thinking that if they are hanging back, especially during the rut that seeing a doe with another big buck may bring the big ones out of the cover.  The fawn decoys I have seen are made of very light weight weight foam and would just be there, maybe a little off to the side, to add movement.