Blacktail Tactics - what works for you?

[tip]

I'm following this thread closely!  This is my first year hunting blacktail on the west side, so these tips are great.  I'm with most of you guys and will shoot the first legal deer I come across (its 'any deer' in my gmu).

The season opens here (bow) on the 24th.  Would calling be effective after the 24th of Nov?  How about doe bleats?

[billythekidrock]

tip, I think calling can be very effective in the late archery season.

[stumprat]

I call deer frequently during late muzzleload.
The key is never be afraid to try something different.

[stumprat]

I'm following this thread closely!  This is my first year hunting blacktail on the west side, so these tips are great.  I'm with most of you guys and will shoot the first legal deer I come across (its 'any deer' in my gmu).

The season opens here (bow) on the 24th.  Would calling be effective after the 24th of Nov?  How about doe bleats?

The best tip that I can give you for calling deer. Is to call with confidence. Calling blacktails has mixed results. And if you are not confident. You will not be as alert.
When it works. It can catch you totally off guard.

Calling with an expectation of success is the key ingrediant.

[billythekidrock]

I think i've learned more about blackies from this thread than all the info combined i could find elsewhere on the internet... good stuff.

Great.

Can you tell us a little about what you have learned and how it relates to what you are or are not doing? This may help some of us explain things better in the future.

[tip]

all really good points...

[woodrat]

I managed to call in another hunter today with the antler rattling, but that's the only thing I've ever called in.

[AKBowman]

I think i've learned more about blackies from this thread than all the info combined i could find elsewhere on the internet... good stuff.

Great.

Can you tell us a little about what you have learned and how it relates to what you are or are not doing? This may help some of us explain things better in the future.

One thing that I have learned from this site is that just becuase you have a nice or a few nice BT bucks patterned during the summer and fall does not mean they will be in those patterns come hunting season. I also have found that the deer in 454 rut later (or longer) than they do in previous areas I have hunted (636) where they seem to rut in late October and are done by late arhcery season.

I plan on doing a lot more calling this year and staying persistent with it until the end of the first week of december. After that I would have had 8 or so days in the field and at that poitn I will stand hunt until the end of the year or I tag out.

I have a few pics of the button buck from last year but cant get them posted b/c the file size is too big. I can email them to someone if they know how to resize.

Good luck to all and thanks again

[SW Blacktail]

I've called in my fair share of blacktails, the vast majority of them from the opener of late archery to the first week of Dec.  My most memorable and frustrating set up was on opening day of late archery about 15 years ago.  I set up my treestand on the edge of gnarly reprod where I knew a good buck was bedding down back in September of that year.  An alder swath ran through the timber and briefly parralled the reprod.  In this small stretch there was a crazy rub line on a game trail in the alders, the rubs were about a month old but there was an absurd amount of fresh deer sign which justified the hunt.  During this period of time I was really starting to experiment with rattling and scents and learned some super valuable information on what not to do.

The first stormy afternoon I still hunted to the stand dragging a doe urine rag behind me and then rubbed a tarsal gland on a few alders with rubs & hung it from a string soaked in doe urine to an alder branch in a shooting lane about 15 yards from the stand.  (Have your buddy's save all tarsal glands from bucks killed during modern.  Some are stinkier than others depending on how rutted out the buck was.  Put them in the freezer until you need them for late season.)  After getting settled into the stand and while admiring the rubs below I gave a super low soft grunt, waited a few minutes then started softly rattling...then got fairly aggressive with it for just a couple minutes.  Just as I hung the horns up I could hear grunts coming from behind me in the reprod (on the other side of the reprod was an impenetrable swamp).  He came in fast and pissed off, head down, ears back looking for a fight.  He immediately circled to the right and hooked out in front of me behind some alders and started intensely rubbing.  I had no shot and couldn't believe how fast it all happened, I had only been in the stand for about 10 minutes and I had a 18" 3X3 with eyeguards at less than 15 yards.  I got to watch him rub and act tough for about 5 minutes then he left the exact same way he came in.  Never giving me a shot op.  Right before dark a spike popped in looking super scared and immediately left.

The next evening hunt I did the same thing except for some stupid reason I tied the doe urine rag & tarsal gland to the bottom of my treestand platform (always wear gloves when handling these stinky things).  I did a repeat rattling sequence from the day before with some soft grunts.  This time within 5 minutes of hanging up the horns the spike squirted in to take a quick look then immediately got out of there.  A few minutes later I started to hear something else coming...sure enough within a few minutes the same 3 point came in directly behind me outta the reprod but this time he stood directly under my platform and continued to grunt as the doe urine rag dripped in front of him. Stupid place to hang a rag.  Once again no shot.  Extremely frustrated to say the least at that point.  Had to wait till well after dark for him to leave and let me sneak out of the stand.

Day 3 was stormy as well, I had another treestand set up about 40 yards away as a crow flys on the same alder swath within sight of the other stand (this stand was for my camera man who was hunting out of state at the time).  I figured I'd mix it up and try to get a different angle on the trail out of his bed.  I safely hung all scents well away from the platform and went through the procedure again.  Nothing came in right away, I listened intently for 2 hours and kept thinking I heard a deer sneaking in.  I kept talking myself out of it thinking it was just the sound of rain on dead leaves.  Then right before dark the noise I had been hearing materialized under me...it was the damn spike.  I thought for sure it was the 3 point stealthing in.  The spike turned and headed directly under my platform, in my crazed frustration I emptied a bottle of doe in heat urine on his back.  Kinda felt bad after the fact, the poor little *censored* probably got raped 

Figured I'd let the spot cool off for a week or so, when I came back a survey crew had found both my stands and they mysteriously disappeared off private property.  Of course the survey crew denied it and the landowner was apologetic but my stands are long gone as is the amazing chunk of ground I had permission to hunt.  Now million dollar homes border the swamp where the reprod and timber were.  Oh well I had a lot of fun and learned some valuable information over the years hunting that spot which allowed me to be successful in the future.

[washelkhntr]

in my crazed frustration I emptied a bottle of doe in heat urine on his back.  Kinda felt bad after the fact, the poor little *censored* probably got raped 

Now that is funny.   

[coachcw]

I'll be heading into a spot by boat tommorrow . we saw mr big in there last week with does . we will see what the multi tag brings . I hope the big guys still there if he timbers up he'll be real tough to get at.I dont think he's ever been hunted and he's used to hearing gun shots .good luck tomorrow its gonna be chilly.

[krout81]

Well put,  I have always gone to the same places year after year for blacktail.  They are all within 30 square miles. There are a few spots that I have killed blacktail on the same trail, and other years I dont see any sign on the same trail.  Any year that I have hunted blacktail late season archery I have gotten one.  Never the same place 2 years in a row.  One year I got nice doe  saw a monster take off just 100 yards past the one I just shot.  I went in there for 3 years looking for deer never saw 1.  They are tricky animals you think you got them pinned down and then pow they are gone like the wind.

[Phantom Gobbler]

I've been able to harvest two small blacktails with my bow and have missed a few others (buck fever)?   Seems like I have had the most luck still hunting in the heavy rain or fresh snow.  Good luck to all in the late hunt!

[tip]

So what type of calls would be effective this late?  What about rattling? 

[stumprat]

Rattling, and doe bleats.