about to give up hunting all together

[Natas5150]

I will chime in here becuase I know the feeling and how frusturating this whole hunting thing can be, and i have yet to harvest anything in my 8 years of hunting  . I hunted archery and that didn't work, hunted black powder and that didn't work and this year I went MF with my wife who hunts with me and I am having a blast. Why you may ask? For starters I am keeping it very simple. Sure I would still like to tag a deer but i am not worried about being stealth or scents or making sure I am in the right place or whatever. In the past the group I hunted with burned me out. Everything had to be so perfect. This year I am just doing what feels good. Don't get me wrong I am not going into the woods with cologne on, nor am I going into the woods without some sort of plan. What i am saying is my hunting  doesn't have to be perfect. I am probably the worst hunter ever due to the fact that i haven't harvested a single animal but I am okay with that. Why? Because I am having fun and thats all that matters. Stick with it, eventually it will happen at least thats what I tell myself. Don't get super wrapped up in what works for someone else so maybe it will work for you. Just have fun.

[sirmissalot]

It sounds obvious but the more time you spend in the woods the better your odds of killing something are. I haven't missed a day yet this season and although I only get about an hour in the evening after work it's a productive time to be in the woods, 90% of my blacktail Bucks have been killed after work. Find an area close to home or work and stick to it. If you'd let us know where you live it would help a lot

[James]

As a kid I fished and hunted small game/birds.  I didn't pick up big game hunting until a bit later than most, and for the first few years of trying to teach myself had a similar story as you.  It was very frustrating.

The last three straight years I have put deer in the freezer, the big turnaround for me was location.  I finally started finding places with adequate deer numbers to reliably see deer.

Have you thought about buying one of Bearpaws maps?

[pianoman9701]

Lots of good suggestions here. I understand not filling tags. It's my thing! One of the things I don't do because I'm cheap and don't want the loss if it's stolen is putting up a game cam. Some of the most successful hunters on here have at least a couple set up where they see good sign. Blacktail bucks are sneaky and will lie next to trails without moving. You can walk right by them if you're not looking close as well as far. Tips to spend a lot of time scouting are right on the money. Where do you live on the wet side?  This is a pretty big area. You might be able to hook up with someone experienced who will hunt with you. Have you considered hunting mulies on the E. side. Whitetails? It doesn't sound like you're going after elk, which is crazy. Hunting elk is a great way to get into deer. Typically, when you're elk hunting, you'll shoot a buck and then the elk will be all over the place as soon as you're elbow deep in your deer carcass!  It's called hunting and not harvesting for a reason. Find a friend who's successful and hunt with them. Get out in the woods year round. Spend at least three or four weekends scouting before the opener. Get into mushroom picking and huckleberry picking and combine it with your scouting.

[Kittman]

Homework assignment time.  Please do go out to the areas you are hunting with a camera and take pictures of the animal (Deer) tracks and scat of the animals you are pursuing.  Also take some photos of the game trails the target animals are using in your current selected hunting spots.  Then take more pictures of what they are eating (browse) in that particular area.  As a bonus, let's have some pictures of their bedding spots, or where they have been napping.  Extra credit:  pictures of antler rubs sites.  By the time all this homework assignment information is completed, you will hopefully have seen something.

[30draw]

The only thing i ever come across is deer poop, and seems very rarely but never rubs, never found a shed, and the occasional bear scat which is weird because 2-3 years ago i saw loads of beat scat and this year i have not seen any at all anywhere. maybe i have just been in awful areas   

[Kittman]

If a reasonable scouting effort to obtain picture "proof" cannot be satisfactorily obtained, then you may consider moving to a different area where the fresh, "tangible" game signs are present.  Wasting too much time in a poor area will not help.

[sirmissalot]

Where do you live?

[Odell]

I feel your pain on the elk. Just gotta keep going. I would focus on exploring new areas looking for fresh sign. Tracks and poop don't lie. If you find fresh sign the deer are somewhere on the area

[260Rem]

If you got a 700 I will trade you for some  golf clubs? 


Stick with it, it's only getting better.

[DP]

Hmmm. I shot over half of my deer in Capitol Forest, most out of one clearcut that is long since overgrown. After the first 4 years of not shooting a deer, and seeing very few, I changed tactics, became a lot more patient, moved a lot slower. Sit when the deer are moving, move when they are bedded. Obviously, you want to be in an area you know contains deers. Hunt the edges. Hunt when it's rainy and windy. And last but not least, watch your noise. If you can hear anything you are doing, so can the deer. From the moment you open the door. Close very softly, load a round as quietly as you can, then walk as quietly as you can to the area you plan to hunt.  Most of the people I know who don't kill BT are noisy.  By the way, it's sometimes good to hunt with noisy people, you just have to get away from them. I could keep going. If you can, find someone who is successful and hunt with them. Get their brutally honest opinion of what you're doing wrong.

[csaaphill]

If possible talk to a local biologist that knows the areas and where they hang out. Farmers too, and land owners if you can. One land owner who used to give me permission to hunt his land used to kind of tell me right where they are and where to look. Not sure on blacktail but I know whitetail like edges hunt edges a lot and usually see at least a doe or two. I don't always do as I say but sometime hunting on top and working your way down in morning then back up in the evening can pay off. If you still hunt ya take a few steps look and wait look in brush trees etc... look for a moving ear tail head antler etc.. same with glassing an open spot what at a distance doesn't look like much walk in it and see just how big or deep the grass is or shrubs whatever is and how a deer might look lying down in it. Driving down the road a few years ago archery hunting I looked in this wheat field and seen something I was like WTF and stoped and glassed it it was doe laying down but in a cut row so even though she was in her late summer coat she still kind of blended in. If it hadn't of caught my eye I would have just drove right past her and not known she was there.
It is fusterating I know it's been two years now and going on my third without one and never an elk so ya. When spot and stalk or still hunting it doesn't have to be a race and see how far back in you get some people never go more than a few hundred yards from the road/pickup and score almost every year. SOme wander back in two three miles or more and never see anything so sometimes slowdown is key.  IF it was just killing I'd quit for I've gone more years without than with so ya I hnt because I enjoy the outdoors. It's always an amazing feeling to be on top and be windy as all heck but hunt down into the canyon or draw and be pretty calm down in. and notice just how things look down there instead of up on the road. Do you or have you tryed tracking?
and tell if they are fresh or several days old?
Mud and snow can be your best firend if prepared to be out a while.

[billythekidrock]

Don't take this wrong but I think I can see the problem.... lack of vision or intuition.

Several times it has been asked "where do you live" and even "where in Capitol Forest" but you either did not see those questions or understand why they were asked.

Knowing where you live and where you have hunted gives us more information on how to help or even if we want to take you out scouting. It does not have to be posted in the open forum but can be sent by pm.

[wooltie]

When I was growing up I hung out with an old carpenter who also bowhunted.  When we would hunt together he would always see more animals than me.  He finally said to me, "Quit wasting your time looking for animals where they are not.  Focus on where they should be."  He wasn't being a smart arse.  He was giving me some of the best information he could give.  He was right and I started seeing more animals as a result.  But, only time in the woods will help you understand where those areas are!

This is great advice.  I'm still way way new at hunting, but I've fished theses areas for salmon and steelhead for over 15 years and my experience learning how to find fish is practically the same.

The idea is to connect with the animals.  Same goes with fishing.  The secret to successful fishing is first finding where the fish are, then approaching them properly.  I fished steelhead for 4 years alongside two veterans (who taught me everything I know) before I actually hooked my first on my own.  After that, it was fish on year after year.  It took that long to learn how to read the water, to assess the conditions, and to decide to fish "here" and not "there"...to look at a section of river and say "there's gotta be something there"...to walk into a line of guys on the Cascade, the Vedder, the Nooksack, and pull out a fish from under their feet...literally.

So everyday in the woods I'm always assessing my surrounds, land contour, ground cover, types of trees, sign, etc., and trying to draw conclusions, see patterns, to maybe explain why there is sign here, lots of sign there, and nothing over here.

As far as blacktails are concerned, I'm beginning to think that I NEED to seek out areas that are mostly overgrown with large vine maple, plant like, deciduous bushes---the kind that are 5-10 feet tall and leaving you with a 10-15 yard shot--if I'm looking for BT bedded during the day.  The kind that are impossible to go through without making a significant amount of noise.  That I need to avoid mostly open forests with minimal ground cover that offer 30-40 yard shooting lanes...

It's a process that just takes time unless your fortunately to go with someone whose figured out where they hide, who can say "look for this".

[RadSav]

As far as blacktails are concerned, I'm beginning to think that I NEED to seek out areas that are mostly overgrown with large vine maple, plant like, deciduous bushes---the kind that are 5-10 feet tall and leaving you with a 10-15 yard shot--if I'm looking for BT bedded during the day.  The kind that are impossible to go through without making a significant amount of noise.  That I need to avoid mostly open forests with minimal ground cover that offer 30-40 yard shooting lanes...

It's almost impossible to pick a plant or a condition where all the answers fall in line with blacktail deer.  I think that is why so many have difficulty killing good blacktails every year.  More than any other animal I have hunted blacktails are weather specific.  Benchleg bucks are a little different, but true blacktails change habits as fast as the Western Washington weather in October - literally.  Blacktail vegetation changes very little from early archery season and the late buck hunt.  Berries come and go, young salal leaves come and go, but their browse changes very little.  And unlike muledeer and eastern whitetail, blacktail have A LOT of choices when it comes to browse and cover.

If you pay close attention to successful blacktail hunters you will notice each hunter seems to take bucks in roughly the same vegetation at roughly the same time of year and during roughly the same weather conditions.  Some guys always have deer in dry weather and sunny days, the next guy seems to kill his buck every year in a complete downpour in heavy timber while the next guy seems to always have thick necked bucks in the Christmas trees with frost on the ground.  Seldom do you see a successful blacktail hunter finding success in all vegetation and during all weather variations.  Once we see success we often get tunnel vision and only seek out bucks in that type of bush or terrain narrowing our window for success.  While seasons dictate this to a degree it is mostly weather related.  There are consistencies in regards to breaks in terraine in all weather conditions, but I find vegetation variations and knowing which ones when are key to success in all seasons.

Take the early velvet season in the first few weeks of archery season.  These hot weather soft horned bucks like being close to light limbed leafy cover and often feed in more open areas.  They feed in the relative open and escape the heat in the shade not far from their feed routes.  Low berry bushes not too far from some acceptable water or cooling source are good bets. If rain comes they abandon the leafy stuff and often just stand in the open until the rain passes.  Sometimes if heavy timber is close they stand under heavy canopy with full vision of open spaces.
 
Later when the rain comes more frequent and their horns get hard they seldom venture into the clearcuts during daylight.  They hang tighter to the evergreens and bed on breaks and edges where vision is good.  A lot of my best archery bucks were taken at this time of year during this mild rain / drizzly days.  Every single one taken in the tall timber within 45 yards of a middle age clearcut edge and usually bedded in fir needles 30 to 40 yards above a vegetation or elevation break.  If days get warm the deeper these bucks go into the timber.  The more it rains the closer they get to the clearings.  Often times venturing into these clearings before night fall when rains are heavy.  North facing slopes are good producers this time of year if weather and rains are warm.

As the weather cools, the rut approaches and the rains get heavier these bucks start to become restless.  They no longer will stay close to their archery season feed zones.  They will no longer sleep all day in the fir needles.  I like to call this time of year and weather as the Tall Timber Wandering.  They are not in a rush to get anywhere as they are during the rut, but they are too restless to simply bed in the damp dirt.  This time of year I like big timber, heavy canopy, low light, scattered browse and vine maples where breaks in the canopy let in more light.  I also notice the bucks starting to migrate from benches and breaks to more level ground in anticipation of the upcoming rut. 

The pressures of hunting season have started taking their toll as well.  Less and less does their timber wandering pass close by open clear cuts.  Now if close to more open spaces it's more often Christmas trees instead of low slash and berries.  Mornings are colder but afternoon can still warm enough for clear changes in thermal wind direction.  One of my favorite things to do this time of year is throw on the pack, the rain gear and my best pair of mucky bottom boots.  I'll find an area big enough for a half days hunt.  Starting from a road beneath I still hunt, zig zagging my way up and over as thermals are headed down and zig zagging my way down as thermals rise.  Once at the truck I have a hot cup of soup and drive to an area I can hunt dropping in from the top.  I zigzag my way down and over as the thermals are coming up and I zigzag my way back to the truck once the thermals are working down.  I rarely ever step foot in the Christmas trees or alders at this time of year.  This is some of the more enjoyable blacktail hunting as you are on high alert at all times with very little waste in the day.


I expect this is getting past the reasonable read time.  Perhaps later I will share my approaches to the rut during wet and cold and post rut archery hunts when frosty and stable...if you would like me to.