Blacktail Tactics - what works for you?

[krout81]

I love Late Season Archery.   I have killed only 1 deer in the early season and that was my biggest buck be he just happened to be walking up the same trail I was while Elk hunting.  I have gotten a few small bucks late season that just happened to be the deer at the end of the tracks in the snow.  I think 70% of the deer I have gotten were due to SNOW and finding fresh tracks.  The other 30% were luck of the draw just happened to be in the right place at the right time.  Although you could say they were all luck because I just happened to come across fresh sign.  If you are Horn hunting I have no advise I shoot the first deer that gets close enough for my Bow.  I guess my Real Advise is GET IN THE WOODS AND GET READY TO BE COLD AND WET

[Atroxus]

Hunting for "meat" is no different, just shoot the first legal deer you see.  

Right, I should have just left it at "beginner" hunters. In my case at least my level of knowledge seems to be below what most articles assume the reader to be at. A lot of what I read seems to be targeted at hunters who grew up hunting and already have a good foundation of knowledge to build from. For a hunter who is a late starter such as myself(this is my first year hunting at age 37) who never got to learn from family/friends growing up it can be frustrating at times trying to find information tailored to beginning hunters. This site has been a great resource, but even here I sometimes have a hard time getting a straight answer to some of my more basic questions. For example when I asked what "reprod" was awhile back and got about 4 or 5 smart ass answers before someone actually explained what the term meant. I even asked once somewhere what types of things deer look for in clear cuts to eat and never got an answer.

[Curly]

Blacktails are just a real pain in the ass.  You have to have patience and some luck.  You may not get one every year and the first couple weeks of the rifle season, most of the bucks are just going to be nocturnal anyway.

If you don't have a lot of patience to be going out and not seeing any deer time after time, just wait until the last week of the season to go out looking for bucks.  And if you get skunked that week, then you've got 4 days during late buck (going on right now) where most of the leaves are off the trees and you can see a little better. 

Just think of the first couple weeks of rifle season as scouting time.  If you think of it as scouting then maybe you won't get too discouraged by not seeing bucks.  Just try to find well used deer trails and deer sign, because you will likely not find the deer out during daylight hours anyway.  Just try to find a lot of sign and get ready to be in an area with lots of deer when the last week of the season comes around (rut time).  You may find one the first couple weeks (while "scouting") and just think of that as a bonus.

Anyway, that is my  and that is probably overcharging you.   I haven't killed a lot of blacktails but I think I am starting to get to know those sneaking little *censored*s a little better now...........

[Yeti]

There are some good books out there.  "Backcountry Bowhunting" by Cameron Hanes for one is a great book.  It touches on bear, elk, deer and others.  Though this may no be technically "beginner" you still need this info, whether or not you decide to pack into where youy are going to hunt.   It gives tips and pointers as well.  He has antoher one "Bowhunting Trophy Blacktails".

I know these are bowhunting books but they are great resources.

Another great thing is go sit at borders or something smililar and read all the hunting magazines you can, (i take my wife along cause she can read all the girly magazines and to her it seems like a date).  Its free to sit there and read. So is the internet.

Outside of all the reading you do, nothing NOTHING beats spending time in the field, hiking, scouting.  60% of the hunt is preaseason. 20% is during season and the other 20% is after the kill.  Some prolly argue a 70/20/10 split. Preseason starts as soon as this season ends. 

[Atroxus]

Blacktails are just a real pain in the ass.  You have to have patience and some luck.  You may not get one every year and the first couple weeks of the rifle season, most of the bucks are just going to be nocturnal anyway.

If you don't have a lot of patience to be going out and not seeing any deer time after time, just wait until the last week of the season to go out looking for bucks.  And if you get skunked that week, then you've got 4 days during late buck (going on right now) where most of the leaves are off the trees and you can see a little better. 

Just think of the first couple weeks of rifle season as scouting time.  If you think of it as scouting then maybe you won't get too discouraged by not seeing bucks.  Just try to find well used deer trails and deer sign, because you will likely not find the deer out during daylight hours anyway.  Just try to find a lot of sign and get ready to be in an area with lots of deer when the last week of the season comes around (rut time).  You may find one the first couple weeks (while "scouting") and just think of that as a bonus.

Anyway, that is my  and that is probably overcharging you.   I haven't killed a lot of blacktails but I think I am starting to get to know those sneaking little *censored*s a little better now...........

I plan on making one more foray last day of late deer season. I found an area with some fresh deer sign, I don't know yet whether it was does or not though I suspect at least one set of tracks was a doe. Haven't actually *seen* any deer in that area though. Am hoping rut will still be going on last day and I will luck across a hormone addled buck that is too dumb to live, but legal to shoot.

[steen]

Scout where you know they come out then sit at least 100yds from the treeline.  If it is not a long walk in I like to take in a camp chair so I'm a little above the vegitation.  It is also alot easier to sit for hours when you are comfortable.  Shooting sticks, never go without them it improves success 99.9%.  A few hour before dark or just before shooting hours and stay a few hours.  It's a good tactic if you are waiting for kids to get home from school.  Stick to the same spot and hunt it every night or morning.  Dress warm!

 My 2010 blacktail and the first one I've gotten o a morning hunt, hence the pictures in the daylight.

[Atroxus]

All of the anwsers to your "reprod" question were legitamite.  Not a one seemed smart alecky to me...

When someone asks what a term means, just giving them different terms that means the same thing isn't very helpful. It wasn't till 4 or 5 posts down that somone actually posted that reprod was new growth. The posts before it just seemed to me to be showing off how much more they knew than me, or rubbing my nose in the fact that I didn't know that bit of "basic" information. If someone asked me what a computer monitor was, I wouldn't turn around and tell them it is a screen, I would tell them it's the part of the computer that displays the images....unless I was trying to be a smart ass.

[woodrat]

atroxus:

I'm also teaching myself late in life. I'm 45 and last year was the first time I ever bought a hunting license and got out there. Last year I saw no bucks at all during the season, just a couple of does. I walked all over the place, and tried hunting a local clearcut that I can walk to from home, but everyone and his brother was driving up there 40 times a day and the deer were not going to budge in the daylight. I also hunted part of elk season last year, and saw a couple of deer, but no elk.

This year, I did a little bit, but not enough, pre season scouting, and then missed opening blacktail weekend for work. But I got out at least part of every day for the last half of the early season. Saw two bucks; one was running over the top of me chased by dogs, but I couldn't shoot because two other hunters were downrange of that shot. The other was a spike who never moved onto the property where I had permission to shoot him until after it was too dark to shoot.

I hunted every single day of elk this year, and actually saw elk on two different days. One time I managed to track them for seven hours and even caught up to them once, but had no decent shot on the bull. The other group got into the timber before I could figure out where exactly they went and I couldn't sort the tracks out correctly.

I'm home right now to refill my thermos and then I'll head out again. All the deer and fresh deer sign I was seeing during elk season are gone now. The places where they were a week ago are empty. I found some fresh tracks this morning, of a doe and youngster that I saw a couple of days ago, but today's tracks were headed OUT of the timber in the early AM and headed into some horrible reprod jungle where they could last for weeks without coming out, so I doubt I'll see them again today. But the key I think is to just keep being out there, as much as you possibly can.

The book that I've been reading is "trophy blacktails" by scott haugen. Yeah, it has the word "trophy" in the title, but there's a lot of good general info in there that I didn't know before. You would think that a deer that has a well beaten track right through my driveway and garden would not be that hard to hunt, but so far I haven't succeeded in bringing one home. I have noticed though, that even the "experienced" hunters don't always connect, and a lot of the "experienced" hunters that I've run into in the field are moving way too fast, barely looking around, and basically just hoping to blunder into one standing in the open during shooting hours. I've never run into another soul working the timber, just the roads.

I've been doing all of this alone, and with only what I observe while I'm out there and what I read in books. Some of what I've seen in the magazines is stuff I practically could have written myself, based on what I've seen and read elsewhere. It amazes me that people can collect a paycheck for regurgitating the obvious and listing off the GMUs, which are pretty well listed already in the regs.

Good luck!

[Blacktail killer]

Ive killed 5 four points or bigger in 5 years its the right place at the right time and hunt all day in the crappiest weather 9 times out of 10 and move slow

[Blacktail killer]

o yes all with a bow

[billythekidrock]

All of the anwsers to your "reprod" question were legitamite.  Not a one seemed smart alecky to me...

When someone asks what a term means, just giving them different terms that means the same thing isn't very helpful. It wasn't till 4 or 5 posts down that somone actually posted that reprod was new growth. The posts before it just seemed to me to be showing off how much more they knew than me, or rubbing my nose in the fact that I didn't know that bit of "basic" information. If someone asked me what a computer monitor was, I wouldn't turn around and tell them it is a screen, I would tell them it's the part of the computer that displays the images....unless I was trying to be a smart ass.

I have to agree. I thought all the answers were stated in an honest and friendly manner. If you knew what the term "dog hair" meant and someone told you that it was also called "jack firs" then you would have known what it was. No one knew or assumed that you didn't know the other terms.

Often the terms are regional or localized. Sometimes they are unique to a small group of people.
We often hunt in or near the "wiggly's" and most people outside my group of hunting partners don't have any idea that I am talking about about lots of young alders or willows, but could be amost anything that is small, "wiggles" and obscures a shot, but where there is visibility.

Is this advanced hunting terminology? No, just local or vague vernacular to get a descriptive point across in conversation.

[billythekidrock]

I have seen several guides on tactics for trophy hunters, but not much for beginning hunters or meat hunters. Most of the info I can find seems to assume that you already know a bit about hunting deer.

So how can we help you get caught up? How much of a beginner are you? You said that you are teaching yourself but you don't mention what other transferable skills you may have.

Can you read a map? Not just North and South but can you tell elevation? Peaks from valleys on a topo? Do you hike or already have camping gear? Have you shot much in the past or are you new to shooting as well?

If you are serious about hunting blacktails then you will need to be out in the woods as soon as the season is over (next weekend) and do some scouting for next year. Take notice of where you see animals and sign. Follow the tracks and see where they go and what they are doing on the way. Write all this down in a journal with gps locations and digital photos if possible.

This winter you will want to read Blacktail Trophy Tactics I & II by Boyd Iverson. Then read any other book on bt hunting you can find. Don't worry about the word "trophy" or about learning all of the terminology right off the bat. But by reading these books you will pick up terms and generalities that are talked about here. It will also help us understand how or where to help you in a different manner than we are acustomed to teaching.

In the early spring hit the same areas weekly and see what you find. If they are not there then go look for them and write it all down again.

Stay on top of them because they will change habits around July/August. Just because you don't see them doesn't mean they aren't there.

Believe me, it can be just as hard for me to teach a new person as it is for a new person to learn. Some of us who have been doing it a long time forget how long it took us to learn what we know and we take that knowledge for granted and often assume that others know the basics. Heck, most of us have forgotten more than we know anymore.

[woodrat]

Another thing that I've noticed in the last few days: deer don't seem to like to bed down in their usual spots in the timber when it blows hard. I was finding and making note of all kinds of does and deer beds and fresh sign in the timber during elk season. I figured this was going to be really helpful during the late season, but then this wind storm moved in and there have been no deer in the timber since then. This morning I still hunted through one of the areas that looked so promising a week ago, and I can see why they would clear out. There is an amazing volume of twigs and branches piled up in there now that wasn't there a week ago. I don't think they like all that crap falling on them.

Where they seemed to go was across the street and into the deep, thick 20' tall reprod jungle, where there is plenty to eat, safe places to sleep, and where I can barely move around if I try to go in after them. I'll get out again this evening and some tomorrow, hopefully the weather will have calmed down by then and they'll be moving out of there. I haven't heard a rifle shot up there in the last three days, even though there have been people hunting. mostly though, people are truck hunting the areas where they can drive, and it seems like even the ones that walk in behind the gates still stay on the roads all the time, looking at clearcuts. FWIW, I have never seen a buck in a clearcut in daylight hours during hunting season. I know it must happen occasionally, but in all the glassing of clearcuts I've done in the last two seasons, I've yet to see one. During elk season? Sure!

[billythekidrock]

BTKR, just as an add on here, You said for this guy to scout as soon as the seasons over this weekend, remember archery starts up the 24th

Yes, but I am assuming that he hunts modern and if he wants to get a deer during next years late buck hunt then he should be out as soon as he can. If they are there this November, they should be there next November. Basically make the best use of his own down time.

[stumprat]

Solid advise!!!!!!