What terrain to hunt BTs

[PolarBear]

Heavy timber and thick brush.  I hardly ever hunt clear cuts unless it is right after or during a big storm.

[RadSav]

When I want a big buck, I look for maples and ferns and blue lines.

That's where you find us during rifle seasons on those odd multi-season years.  Deeper, darker and above the maple edges mid-day during early archery.

[predatorG]

When I want a big buck, I look for maples and ferns and blue lines.

That's where you find us during rifle seasons on those odd multi-season years.  Deeper, darker and above the maple edges mid-day during early archery.

I'll spend a couple hours in that thick stuff today. It will be nice because outside in the cuts I don't think the wind has dropped below 30 mph all week. Thanks for all the great advice guys, I've got a couple dandy's around here so hopefully I'll post pics.

[Jonathan_S]

Mountain Walk - Blue lines?

  ??

Logging boundaries...trees have blue paint on them.  Or maybe he means creek bottoms.

[MountainWalk]

Nope! Look at map!

[predatorG]

  I was wondering that also but I kinda figured it would be the creeks.

[MountainWalk]

Bingo.

[RadSav]

Mountain Walk - Blue lines?

  ??

Logging boundaries...trees have blue paint on them. 

Usually boundary lines are red.

[Jonathan_S]

Come to think of it  but I still see tons of trees marked blue in the woods 

[bobcat]

On DNR land, the trees painted blue are the "leave trees" - the trees they're not supposed to cut.

[RadSav]

On DNR land, the trees painted blue are the "leave trees" - the trees they're not supposed to cut.

Yep.  At least on BC where I grew up.  Yellow/Orange = Harvest, White = Experimental/Research Plot, Black = Correction

[fishnfur]

When I want a big buck, I look for maples and ferns and blue lines.

That's where you find us during rifle seasons on those odd multi-season years.  Deeper, darker and above the maple edges mid-day during early archery.

RadSav,
    let me try to squeeze your mental image from you again (one that obviously makes total sense to you) and turn it into some thing I/we can visualize  'cause it's a bit too cryptic for my brain to paint a picture clear enough that I will know that I found that spot it when I see it.  (It took me about 5 minutes of thinking about blue lines after your quoted post above until one of my few remaining functional neurons fired and I had a rare moment of clarity).
    I seem to remember a similar post you made last year about the BT bucks being in dark/big timber this time of year.  (please correct me if I'm wrong).  I think you also mentioned above cuts, but perhaps on more level ground/benches rather than bedded 2/3rds up the sides of the steepest north facing slopes. 
    Where then would you look when you're early season archery hunting in vast areas of commercial timberlands consisting of mostly level ground with minimal hills and timber ages ranging from young reprod to 30 - 50 year old commercially thinned trees?  Seems like they could be about anywhere, because there is food, cover, and enough water virtually everywhere.
   Many thanks! 

[RadSav]

When I want a big buck, I look for maples and ferns and blue lines.

That's where you find us during rifle seasons on those odd multi-season years.  Deeper, darker and above the maple edges mid-day during early archery.

RadSav,
I seem to remember a similar post you made last year about the BT bucks being in dark/big timber this time of year.  (please correct me if I'm wrong).  I think you also mentioned above cuts, but perhaps on more level ground/benches rather than bedded 2/3rds up the sides of the steepest north facing slopes. 
    Where then would you look when you're early season archery hunting in vast areas of commercial timberlands consisting of mostly level ground with minimal hills and timber ages ranging from young reprod to 30 - 50 year old commercially thinned trees?  Seems like they could be about anywhere, because there is food, cover, and enough water virtually everywhere.

Very seldom do we ever run into bucks during BT hunting season of any kind that viney maples and ferns are very far away.  Wife shoots most of her rut bucks in Christmas trees, but even if the pics don't show it there are maple edges and ferns within an arrows cast away.

You are correct about me saying that during this time of year I have found most of my bucks bedded in big dark timber.  But in my most productive areas the clearcuts have been to the side of the timber.  My best spot being a clearcut that runs from the creek bottom to the top of the ridge.  In this early archery spot the vegetation under the timber canopy from creek to ridge goes something like this - creek, muck, devils club, maples, maple/ferns, definitive game trail, mostly ferns and fir needles, then ridge line.  There are always some small benches, but I don't pay too much attention to flats and benches until the rut.

I should note here:  I'm talking true coastal blacktails here and not benchlegs.

Those late August and early September bucks seem to be sleeping well off the fire trails of a clearcut.  Usually bedded above the definitive game trail but only a couple bounds away from the tangle of viney maples and seconds from the horrors of the muck and devils club.  Very seldom, or maybe even never, have I spotted one of these bedded bucks before they have seen me.  It may be an easy time to find them but it is one of the absolute worst times to successfully shoot one.  Seems they are always bedded with their head facing the fire trail and their posture facing the game trail.  You are almost always silhouetted as you make visual contact with the bucks. This is the only time of year I find the big bucks sleeping in this location.

When they see you they usually freeze.  I've taken advantage of this by continuing to walk, avoid eye contact (hard to avoid horn contact  ), I draw while I am walking and then stop, swing and shoot in one fluid motion.  If it takes you more than a second and a half to get the shot off it's usually a miss followed by fleeting glimpse of a raised tail and clean arse hole!

As pressure increases they seem to go deeper in and further down until they completely vanish until pre-rut.  It is an extremely fun time to hunt them, but it can become equally frustrating!  Tracks I follow show they are definitely eating out in the cuts at night.  On rainy evenings I have gotten lucky and caught a few headed out early before shooting hours end.  My first P&Y qualifier was one of those rainy early September bucks that couldn't wait for dark.  Those are the easiest of all to sneak within bow range!  Put in the time and you will find one that makes a mistake.  Might take a lot of evenings to happen though.

When you do find one of those get back in the timber, find a good quite trail, drop down (or up) to his level and come up from behind him on the same trail he entered the clearing from.  Should be quiet enough for you to move fast!  If you move quickly you should be able to take the shot from inside the timber.  He wont have a clue you are there until the arrow hits.  If ever there is a slam dunk in early archery blacktail hunting...that's it!!  Just watch the wind.  This approach allows for a large margin of error, but wind direction is not one you can avoid!!

[predatorG]

I though I found a fantastic spot Friday. It was about the size of 2 football fields and it was all ferns with some birch, alder, and a couple maples mixed in. There was one logging road leading up towards a clearcut, and one leading down to the creek. There We're trails everywhere, spots they had bedded down, and some old sign, but no deer. Is this a spot to put some serious time in at?

[fishnfur]

I wish I could give you a great answer - I'm book smart, field stupid. 

The beds tell you there are certainly deer around.  From my experience, evidence of deer bedding only lasts a few days up to a couple weeks before the area recovers enough to hide the past activity.  You may be able to guess how long ago the bed was used based on the recovery of the surrounding plants.  Also, remember that deer also bed in the middle of the night in between feeding forays.  These spots are often in more open areas where they can watch for predators while they rest.  You should consider whether the beds and trails in that spot you found is used during the day or during the night.  A trail camera may give you a great idea of how much the area is used and whether it is worth spending time sitting on.

RadSav - as always, great input!  Thanks for taking the time to paint a clearer picture of what you do.  I found the comments on fire trails interesting as I never even knew they existed.  Perhaps they don't use them as much out in 506 and 530, or more likely, I didn't know what I was looking at.  I don't learn something new every day anymore, but I did today.