The (blacktail) rut is on!

[shanevg]

I've hit one of my lowland spots a few times over the past couple of weeks without any luck so I decided to try a different spot this morning.  I was a little bit late and it was about 15 minutes after sunrise as I walked into the clearcut.  The second or third time I pulled my up my binoculars a big buck takes off 50 yards away.  I immediately pulled up my rifle but he pulled a classic mature blacktail move and used the available cover to stop me from getting a shot.  I saw him about 4 more times over the next 5 minutes as he worked his way through the thicker cover to get out of the clear cut.  He was a 115-125 class about 2inches outside the ears and 3-4 inches above the ears. 

I decided to head back in after work and see if I could get lucky.  This time I took some blacktail doe in heat urine to spray around in the clear cut.  As I'm working my way slowly through the clearcut spraying the urine, I see the top of a 12 foot sapling over a rise swaying back and forth as a buck thrashed the base of it.  For the next 25 minutes I slowly worked my way towards the trees and watched them swaying side to side as they were thrashed, sometimes they were literally bent all the way over to the ground then they would pop back up and start swaying all over the place again. I kept thinking he would step out into the clear cut eventually but he just kept thrashing so I kept getting closer.  Eventually the thrashing stopped but I could still hear him every once in a while moving around.  I kept moving closer but he was on the edge of the clear cut in some really thick brush and it was starting to get dark.  At 25 yards I hear a snort and brush crashing as he takes off into the darker timber.  I never once saw him but he held up again at about 100 yards and kept thrashing trees, snorting, stomping and making noise.  I grunted at him a few times but he wouldn't step out into the open.  Finally he busted out of there and within seconds a second deer comes crashing through the timber about 100 yards away.  He started thrashing a tree and snorting at me but he also would not come out into the open.  I eventually left as it was too dark to see even 100 yards and I could still hear one of the bucks thrashing a tree in the timber.  I was within 25 yards of one buck and probably 50-100 yards of the second and never saw either of them!

I'm definitely heading back in tomorrow.  Hopefully an entire bottle of doe in heat urine sprayed throughout the clear cut will pull them out into the open in the morning.  I'm also taking my rattling antlers and if nothing is moving all see if I can rattle them out into the open. 

This is really my first ever experience hunting the blacktail rut.  I'm open to any other advice anyone has!

[akirkland]

Bring lots of patience with you. Im totally frustrated with the deer right meow.

[Houndhunter]

Unimpressed...... You should be at 6000' hunting the high country blacktail..... Even if you do have work, thats no excuse

[madmack76]

It's been on now if the weather would just cooperate.

[Stump]

We have seen some real nice bucks, yup the rut is on just need to be able to get closer than 600 yds to them. Been watching a couple fight over one doe. And after we left last nite they had had a real rub party. Will try again in the am.

[Smith_22]

My best advice for you is to get on the edge of said cut and sit your butt down ALL day, every day you can til the 31st.  You will catch one of those boys make a mistake, just no saying when.  Morning, midday, dusk, during the pre-rut/rut its all prime time.  Some have success rattling and with scents, if doing these things will keep you focused and make you sit tight longer, then go for it.  I prefer to sink into my surroundings and wait for them to slip up.  Good luck!

[3nails]

 Hoping for a success text tomorrow! You'll know if I put one down.

[wildweeds]

Get ya one!

Hoping for a success text tomorrow! You'll know if I put one down.

[PolarBear]

My daughter and I have rattled up a couple of bucks this week but haven't been able to get a shot due to how thick the brush, jack firs and scotch broom are.  Had one grunt back at me yesterday but never showed himself.  Hopefully the bruiser that we jumped last Saturday will be a little more easily enticed out into the open for my girl either tomorrow or Sunday.

[RB]

Been wondering hope next week the weather cooperates!

[beav1980]

No signs of rut where I'm hunting

[FLIZZ]

Bring lots of patience with you. Im totally frustrated with the deer right meow.

This has been my worst season in awhile, on average I see two deer per outing, sitting, bustin brush, Boyd'n it at a snails pace. You name I've done it with marginal success, the most frustrating part is the amount of sign I'm seeing... SO MUCH SIGN.

[sirmissalot]

I think we are fully involved in the pre rut right now. Bucks are roaming, which is perfect. I watched the buck I killed chasing some does and lip curling like crazy before I shot him, and passed on 3 small bucks in the last week that were clearly on the hunt for a hot doe.

Some friends of mine saw three separate bucks this morning, all of them had their noses on the ground and on the move.

[klikboom]

Do you have one of the doe bleat cans? It works perfect for the instances you described. Twice now bucks and does have let me get within 20 yards of them when they knew i was there as long as I would intermittently use the doe bleat. It will also stop a running buck for a bit. I haven't had the opportunity to use it right smack dab during the rut yet though.

[deerhunter_98520]

I have 2 canyons I hunt.....one canyon there's bucks every time I go there and the other has tons of does and not the bucks I usually see...but I've seen well over 150 deer and 11 bucks....lots of repeat deer but I'm seeing them all the time