How to hunt Blacktail in Alder

[JimmyHoffa]

I beat a ton of brush to find that spot.  Cut a trail and all that after google earth scouting.  It's a unique spot for sure.

Sounds like you really did some homework and prep work early for that beautiful timber buck.  That takes a lot of time!  Truly something to be proud of.  Was an interesting story too.  I've never had any luck baiting blacktails.  I might need to call you for some pointers

If I win the lotto or sell the business we will be spending most of our free time trying to find those kind of spots again.  Seems every time I find a good one Weyco mows it down to slash and dirt.  Especially this year!  I was snotty to a Weyco employee a few years ago.  I think they must have decided to get me back by destroying every spot where they see my truck on a regular basis

Good time to scout those areas is when they are mowed down.  Then just keep note what is where for when it fills in and go back later.  One of the areas I go the old loggers marked a bunch up on old maps after they leveled the area.  They could drive around and see the benches and where it was too steep, how to approach knobs, where the boundary to the OG was, etc.  I go back there now on a road and it looks all the same--wall of jungle 150ft tall and have to crawl through it to find anything.  Tougher to get a mental picture of what the ground would look like from today's view.  But as clear cut, you know the leave tree islands and where the big stumps that will be good dens and where a giant cedar is laying in a creek before even having to boot up.

[fishnfur]

I'm attempting to use nature's bait to attract deer.  Thinning out the overcrowded alder stands nearly doubles the light reaching the forest floor.  Down here, the Elderberry/Salmonberry/Trailing Blackberry complex responds incredibly quickly to alder thinning and becomes an amazing food source for elk and deer.  Brush that was knee-high suddenly grows to 6 - 8 feet and becomes impenetrable in wetter places.  I found out the hard way that when thinning and pruning trees, it is easy to go too far and end up with no remaining cover to hold animals during the day though - at least until the brush grows in.  Once that occurs, finding a bedded animal in that stuff is needle-in-haystack work.   

I've got another woodlot in Longbranch in which the reprod is just four years old.  I get to play with this one and attempt to create corridors and patches of alder among the fir in order to keep deer on the property.  Time will tell if this works according to plan.

[predatorG]

I think I need more variation in terrain. I just hunt a bit of land behind my house in Kitsap and I'm not sure if it has the potential to hold a large blacktail. We saw one large three point a couple years ago but it wasn't season. we've seen nothing since then. Not enough timber land to help vary the age of trees.

[fishnfur]

Predator G - you might be surprised at the size of some of the bucks hiding out there and running through your bit of land in the middle of the night.  A trail cam might be called for - sooner rather than later.  Now is the time to catch bucks cruising.

[RadSav]

Predator G - you might be surprised at the size of some of the bucks hiding out there and running through your bit of land in the middle of the night.  A trail cam might be called for - sooner rather than later.  Now is the time to catch bucks cruising.

Just hang around Cabela's in Lacey this time of year.  It's amazing how such a little bit of cover can hide so many trophy caliber bucks.  That big 3 with eye guards that hangs out in their parking lot fascinates me!  What a specimen

We have a huge B&C buck here in Vancouver by the Costco that is living in tight quarters.  Find the right spots and a little bit of land can really produce big on blacktails...and whitetails!  Sometimes those small plots can be completely void of pressure.  That's never a bad thing unless it's so small you can't hunt it safely.

[fishnfur]

RadSav - what?  No pics of those parking lot bucks???

[RadSav]

I am smart phone challenged!

[2labs]

I think I need more variation in terrain. I just hunt a bit of land behind my house in Kitsap and I'm not sure if it has the potential to hold a large blacktail. We saw one large three point a couple years ago but it wasn't season. we've seen nothing since then. Not enough timber land to help vary the age of trees.

I lived over there for twenty three years. Kinda by gold mt. There are some freaking toads around that area. Biggest blacktail I've personally layed  eyes on was at the McCormick woods driving range. Google earth that area. There's alder patches and ponds and swamps. And a lot of it is legal to hunt.might be no rifles. Who cares, ya can't see 30 feet in that stuff.what do ya need a rifle for.

[RadSav]

Here is a July pic of a Church deer over by the Home Depot here in Vancouver.  I just about got in an accident trying to pull over and get my phone out at the same time   Lousy picture, but I actually got the phone to work while excited.  That's a miracle in itself

[predatorG]

I think I need more variation in terrain. I just hunt a bit of land behind my house in Kitsap and I'm not sure if it has the potential to hold a large blacktail. We saw one large three point a couple years ago but it wasn't season. we've seen nothing since then. Not enough timber land to help vary the age of trees.

I lived over there for twenty three years. Kinda by gold mt. There are some freaking toads around that area. Biggest blacktail I've personally layed  eyes on was at the McCormick woods driving range. Google earth that area. There's alder patches and ponds and swamps. And a lot of it is legal to hunt.might be no rifles. Who cares, ya can't see 30 feet in that stuff.what do ya need a rifle for.

I have seen many pics of all the Kitsap toads, and they can easily compare to a beast from any other GMU. I think that I will probably just finish the year sitting in a stand that looks over our plot. I'm planning to put in alot of scouting time next summer either right close to home or in the backcountry.

Radsav- I completely agree with everything you say about large bucks growing even in very small areas. Quite a few people on here have seen pictures I posted of the buck from my Grandmother's yard in Bellevue. we know there's some good bucks back behind my house, I just wasn't able to out in the time scouting them and am having to pay for it now. 

[huntingbaldguy]

I have 2 massive deer on cam in Kitsap.  They grow big there because you have this tiny piece of land to hunt them on if it's private and surrounded by private residences.  And there's a lot of fruit trees, veggie planters and clover fields all over.  I'm working on getting another property next year in the gmu.  I know a guy that owns a ton of land out there bordered by alder and maple trees.  I worked for him in high school.  I would just say try to catch property owners outside.  Most people won't let you gun hunt there, but archery is much of the time a yes.  I just drive by properties i'm interested in a lot and hope to see the owner out and about to chat with them.  Not a big fan of knocking on doors and the little i've done it, they seem less receptive.

[predatorG]

I have 2 massive deer on cam in Kitsap.  They grow big there because you have this tiny piece of land to hunt them on if it's private and surrounded by private residences.  And there's a lot of fruit trees, veggie planters and clover fields all over.  I'm working on getting another property next year in the gmu.  I know a guy that owns a ton of land out there bordered by alder and maple trees.  I worked for him in high school.  I would just say try to catch property owners outside.  Most people won't let you gun hunt there, but archery is much of the time a yes.  I just drive by properties i'm interested in a lot and hope to see the owner out and about to chat with them.  Not a big fan of knocking on doors and the little i've done it, they seem less receptive.

I'm still in high school so buying land isn't really an option right now, although it is definitley a goal in the future. I've been torn between asking people to hunt on their land or just scouting and putting more work in behind my house. I've thought about offerring to do some work around someone's place in exchange for being able to hunt, but I would probably be more focused on people that live in a more urban area.

Fishnfur- sorry for hijacking the thread 

[bracer40]

I think I need more variation in terrain. I just hunt a bit of land behind my house in Kitsap and I'm not sure if it has the potential to hold a large blacktail. We saw one large three point a couple years ago but it wasn't season. we've seen nothing since then. Not enough timber land to help vary the age of trees.

I lived over there for twenty three years. Kinda by gold mt. There are some freaking toads around that area. Biggest blacktail I've personally layed  eyes on was at the McCormick woods driving range. Google earth that area. There's alder patches and ponds and swamps. And a lot of it is legal to hunt.might be no rifles. Who cares, ya can't see 30 feet in that stuff.what do ya need a rifle for.

Gold mtn is one of my favorite courses. But I rarely play golf from the start of Aug til the new year because I'm hunting instead. I'll bet my golf bag could hold a slug gun 

[fishnfur]

Bracer - I'll golf-hunt with you.  What's your handicap?      (Mine is that I'm not too good at either)

Predator G. -
no worries about my thread.  I'm not hunting modern elk, so I've got 13 days to talk about anything and everything.   In my mind, land is a great investment - as soon as you can afford to (after HS, college, found a great job - priorities first!) consider investing in land/homes, real estate in general.  Raw land will never be as cheap as it is now (or at that time).  Prices keep going up, up, up, and often you'll find you can't afford ten years from now what you could have managed to purchase today.  I can't tell you the number of times I've regretted not getting into the market or buying a certain piece of property.

Also - perhaps the late afternoon of the 17th (after school), you should drag and hang some quality doe estrous urine scent in or upwind of your spot and do some light rattling in the last hour of light, which is pretty much right after school now.  The rut may be declining at that point, so this is your first and best day of the late buck season.

RadSav - That is an incredible buck!   Good pic in my book.  I don't even carry a smart phone - I still use the old style cell phone - it takes pics, but I'll be darned if I can remember how to do it.     I carry a point and shoot in the woods, just in case I actually see something move that needs a photo.  (though I failed on that yesterday - I saw my first bobcat ever on a road going into DNR land get firewood.  My binocs were fogged for some odd reason and I couldn't find my camera.  Oh well!

[bracer40]

On a serious note, I want to thank everyone (especially Rad for sharing his knowledge and Fishnfur for spurring him on), for their insights on blackmails, their behavior, the terrain, and best ways to hunt them.
Years ago when I first arrived from Michigan, where I grew up hunting whitetails, I found my previous experience didn't offer me much help while scouting the wet side woods. I remember reading Boyd Iversons book on hunting them and feeling lost while looking for signs in the woods. Then in my first season here my buddy and I started hunting near Conconully, where during archery season we could still hunt down mountains for mulies and stand hunt whitetails in the evenings. And the late season brought cold and snow, the kind of weather I grew up hunting in.
Fast forward 25 years, and with the exception of my first year here, all of my deer and elk huntings been on the East side. I had this mind set that wet side hunting was this miserable, wet slog through deep ravines choked with Devils club and logging debris.
This year I started thinking I needed to reconsider the wet side. (I think partly due to the long hours I've spent on the road for work causing reluctance to  drive 4-5 more hrs to hunt on weekends).
So on the night before Halloween, as I sat next to the fire outside, i decided I was getting out the next day to explore and pursue blacktail. I threw together what I thought I might need and was on my way the next morning.
As I don't have any timber land passes, I pulled the Gazzetter out and located a couple of good sized areas of public access with roads systems and found myself in the Capitol forest during the Halloween monsoon. I creeped the roads going in (I'd even given myself a pass on road hunting because I'd heard it could be effective). But it didn't take too long before I knew I just needed to find a likely looking spot and get into the brush. After several forays into different terrain, I found the last spot to be full of sign. Lots of large sized droppings, trails and fresh rubs. But I also found myself struggling through and over dense alder slash. Sometimes I was walking on top of it 2feet above the ground. I'd look down at the foot high remnants of the alders and think, ouch, that could hurt to fall into those!
The boots and the rain gear performed well and all in all I had a fantastic time in this new terrain.

Then what do I find in Hunt Wa when I return, but a great discourse on how to identify good clearcuts and how to hunt them for blacktails!!
I'm so stoked! I'm rethinking all my gear for next year, probably getting a mountain bike, not to mention whatever forest passes needed. And of course, I'll be doing my homework in preparation for a new season next year. I'll get out for a few days of the late season (late elk is still the priority) hoping to use the time to learn what I can in the woods.

These blacktail "how-to" threads have been great!!

Thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge guys!