Unsuccessful BT hunt

[mendozer]

Just got back from a 4 day hunt on the west side for BT empty handed. We missed shot opportunities on a doe and while driving back to camp one night, we saw a big buck cross the road, not 3 minutes from our campsite. We set up the following morning and then evening, but nothing. We didn't see it cross the road again, we didn't find anything all that fresh in the woods there. We scoured probably 15 acres of land total. I found one scrape and several tree rubs. I camped out by the scrape since that's what I found to be a good thing in my deer book (doh! noob move) and no action. Now I'm assuming that if we stayed on that spot 4 days in a row we might have got em. But with our limited time seeing him only Saturday night, we had only Sunday to try. And since we were empty handed, we tried another spot this morning with better woods for stalking (quieter floor with hotter game trail).

So a few questions for the experts...
1) would he have come back to that scrape in a few days?
2) does a buck smell slightly sweet/tangy? I was near a den that tracks led to that I got a whiff of this
3) what would YOU have done to track him down?

I'm quite sad about it since it was easily a 200 lb guy. But for my first time out bowhunting, I don't feel too bad. I saw diddly squat rifle hunting last year.

[notellumcreek]

I would have looked for feeding area and beds around the same trail he was on. It depends if you were in some serious reprod or big timber or clearcut or Cause those guys are sneaky and he might not have been far from ya. Tough to find big blackies this early they dont get big being stupid.

[Turner89]

I dont think that you were on a scrape from a blacktail. They defiantly rub the heck out of trees , but I've never seen a blacktail scrape. This time of year best bet is to find a place they are feeding on. Its tougher right now to find them with all the leaves on brush, and trees.

[2labs]

I bet he could find you

[fishnfur]

Pretty exciting just seeing a big buck this time of year.  I think you did well in your hunting attempts.  I do agree that in general, Blacktails are not known to make scrapes like Whitetails do.  Every once in awhile you will find a hunter who swear he has seen them, but it is certainly not a typical behavior.  Even if it was truly a scrape, I would assume that in early Sept., it is just a territory mark that he would not likely return to regularly this time of year.   He may be close by, but probably not guarding that spot.  You should have seen some fresh rubs on small brushes and trees that showed signs of rubbing off velvet.  Some consider these rubs territorial marking as well as the bigger rubs made at the start of the rut.

I'm not much of a hunter, but I think staying close to the trail that you saw him on when he crossed the road was your best bet.  BTs are notoriously hard to pattern and may only use a trail once a month, or once a year.  Unless you have multiple sighting of the deer over a longish period of time, you just never know exactly how or when they are going to travel from point A to point B. 

Picking a trail or intersection of multiple trails that show recent sign is your best bet for increasing your odds for seeing deer.  Chances are decent that if a specific deer used a trail yesterday, then he may use it again today.  In my mind, if the deer used it ten days ago, all bets are off - the deer is likely somewhere in the neighboring half-mile radius from that point.

[bowtechian]

Where you seen that blacktail cross back track track his trail you could find his core area

[crowinghen]

Sounds like you had fun! I think BT's are a hard bunch to hunt! They are always in the thick stuff it seems!

[mendozer]

I was on the west side, like I said, but I don't think it was a whitetail since those are mainly SW Washington right?

I did see a fair amount of rubs, but couldn't tell how fresh. The freshest poop I found was somewhat hard  on the outside, so I guess a few days freshest at the most.

I thought bucks stay put in their core area so we surrounded it thoroughly.

The only "trail" we saw him on was the logging road. Uphill of that was dense forest (which I scaled down the next morning over the next hour and a half!) Downhill of it was STEEP drop into a gully. I found mixed old sign so I theorized that it was looping his path in overlapping circles.

[Natas5150]

The elusive black tail the ghost of the woods. I would say go back to same area you saw that big buck and look around the area he is probably feeding and bedding somewhere in or near that area. You never know. Just don't give up. When you think you are done hunting for day wait 5 more minutes. 

[b0bbyg]

listen for squirrels they can chirp at all kinds of critters.
I had a squirrel rat out a buck yesterday. The buck busted me sneaking in at about 30-40 yards before I spotted him behind some brush. probably moving too fast looking too little.

I was hoping I was sneaking up on an Elk    but it was fun to see him either way and he was legal if I had the chance.

[mendozer]

what kind of stuff do they eat? In the woods everything looks the same, brushy, low ground cover vs ferns vs trees.

[Team Baze]

Is this a real post?

[jackelope]

Is this a real post?

What exactly is it that you find questionable? Seems pretty clear to me that we have a new hunter looking for some advice.  Maybe I'm missing something.

[Team Baze]

Some of the questions he's asking kind of sounds like he's yanking your chain. Talking about whitetails in SW washington? Only hunting 15 acres for 4 straight days? I'm all about helping people out but this one kind of had me asking myself is this guy real?  This forum is about sharing stories and seeking and giving advice. I'm not try to be a smart ass I'm just curious.

[Natas5150]

Some of the questions he's asking kind of sounds like he's yanking your chain. Talking about whitetails in SW washington? Only hunting 15 acres for 4 straight days? I'm all about helping people out but this one kind of had me asking myself is this guy real?  This forum is about sharing stories and seeking and giving advice. I'm not try to be a smart ass I'm just curious.

I think you are reading too much into what he is asking. I think all his questions were valid. By you questioning his thread all you are going to is get him and others upset and the next thing you know this thread has gone to trash.