After spending the first two weeks of the season hunting, I finally connected with this guy. With the lack of deer in the cuts where I was hunting, I focused on hunting the thick stuff. I was creeping down an old overgrown skid road infested with blackberries and eight foot tall alder, when I heard brush moving towards me. He stepped out into an opening less than thirty feet from me. His nose was on the ground and he never saw me until I punched him behind the front shoulder. This was at 11:30 AM. I am amazed every year how sneaky blacktail can be.