Best late season Blacktail tactics

[fishnfur]

I was speaking of early archery.  Many miles?  Hopefully less than 5 or 6

November  -  If I don't get out early, the day disappears like a morning mist in the sun.  Poof!  Time to go home.

[JDHasty]

All I have left is an Antlerless General Tag.  Going to set up in a doghouse blind next to an apple w/my crossbow Thursday and put a buddy who has his General tag up in one of my stands with my Ithaca Deerslayer over another apple tree.  Hopefully he gets a shot at a decent buck.  So there is my advice. 

I can't hunt Friday or Saturday and Sunday is my fallback day to fill that deer tag.  Don't need the meat, but have friends who were shut out all together this year and they will appreciate it.   

[Soady]

My best late season blacktail tactic is simple...spend every single moment of light in the woods.  Don't take the afternoon off, don't sleep in, don't leave early.  Late blacktail are seen at any moment of the day regardless of weather.  And double down on your diligence between 1:am and 2:pm

.  they will show up when you least expect it. Like Radav said, stay in the woods as much as possible, and keep you eyes wide open. I'm starting to really watch places that others don't even bother to look at. Areas near main roads that other hunters ignore are going to hold deer. If they think they are safe and nobody spooks them, they will just lay low and let people pass right by.

I agree on your point of hunting those spots right off the road or roads. This spot has so many deer bedded and feeding between the roads it is unreal. Every time I go into it the norm is three to four deer during all times of the year.

[Pete112288]

My best late season blacktail tactic is simple...spend every single moment of light in the woods.  Don't take the afternoon off, don't sleep in, don't leave early.  Late blacktail are seen at any moment of the day regardless of weather.  And double down on your diligence between 1:am and 2:pm

.  they will show up when you least expect it. Like Radav said, stay in the woods as much as possible, and keep you eyes wide open. I'm starting to really watch places that others don't even bother to look at. Areas near main roads that other hunters ignore are going to hold deer. If they think they are safe and nobody spooks them, they will just lay low and let people pass right by.

I agree on your point of hunting those spots right off the road or roads. This spot has so many deer bedded and feeding between the roads it is unreal. Every time I go into it the norm is three to four deer during all times of the year.

I will be another to say...  and emphasize it. Last year I killed my buck in a narrow strip of 15-20 year old timber with brushy alder draws and bordered a clearcut that is so thick in alder saplings and blackberries that you cant go through it without a machete. The whole area is only 300-400 yards long and 20-200 yards wide. On 3 sides is a HEAVILY used paved road and on the fourth side is a set of powerlines that get hunted hard. Spots like these are where I find deer more often then not esp in late season after they have been pressured.

[Thehowler]

I will spend many hours just sitting and waiting, knowing what could step out in areas like that.

[RB]

I'm hoping I just get lucky and hit one with my truck 

[fishnfur]

My best late season blacktail tactic is simple...spend every single moment of light in the woods.  Don't take the afternoon off, don't sleep in, don't leave early.  Late blacktail are seen at any moment of the day regardless of weather.  And double down on your diligence between 1:am and 2:pm

.  they will show up when you least expect it. Like Radav said, stay in the woods as much as possible, and keep you eyes wide open. I'm starting to really watch places that others don't even bother to look at. Areas near main roads that other hunters ignore are going to hold deer. If they think they are safe and nobody spooks them, they will just lay low and let people pass right by.

I agree on your point of hunting those spots right off the road or roads. This spot has so many deer bedded and feeding between the roads it is unreal. Every time I go into it the norm is three to four deer during all times of the year.

It seems to me that is a great tactic if you have the time to scout the spot in advance and actually see deer in there in the middle of the day.  It's not the road traffic that makes the deer clear out of an area but more likely, the hunters stopping, getting out of their vehicles, talking and stomping around a bit, perhaps popping off a couple of shots for fun, etc.  Recent deer sign may also suggest that the deer are coming in from outside the road confines in the middle of the night to use the area.  Hate to waste a day hunting an area only used at night.  On the other hand, sometimes you just have to think outside the box and just go for it when it seems right.

The first cut or so you come to as you head up into the hills are great candidates for finding deer in unexpected places.  Most hunters drive on by so they can get deeper in before they start hunting.  I know I'm guilty of that.

[RadSav]

I'm hoping I just get lucky and hit one with my truck 

Weld a big Trident to the front and you don't even need to stop until you get home to the beer cooler!

[RB]

I'm hoping I just get lucky and hit one with my truck 

Weld a big Trident to the front and you don't even need to stop until you get home to the beer cooler!

Hahaha yup!   

But, in all seriousness there is a lot of excellent advice in this thread looking in the spots most people drive right by is good this time of year. The local Deer here have been known to bed under the Cedar trees right next to the main paved road in front of my place no more than 40 feet from the road. Just a small amount of cover and they feel safe because there is a couple escape routes.

[JDHasty]

My best late season blacktail tactic is simple...spend every single moment of light in the woods.  Don't take the afternoon off, don't sleep in, don't leave early.  Late blacktail are seen at any moment of the day regardless of weather.  And double down on your diligence between 1:am and 2:pm

.  they will show up when you least expect it. Like Radav said, stay in the woods as much as possible, and keep you eyes wide open. I'm starting to really watch places that others don't even bother to look at. Areas near main roads that other hunters ignore are going to hold deer. If they think they are safe and nobody spooks them, they will just lay low and let people pass right by.

I agree on your point of hunting those spots right off the road or roads. This spot has so many deer bedded and feeding between the roads it is unreal. Every time I go into it the norm is three to four deer during all times of the year.

I have turned a lot of people on to a spot just to the south and it is literally crawling w/deer in July when I camp nearby every year.   It is almost exactly like that one and I have seen really nice bucks in it.  I don't hunt deer there, but I recognized that clearcut you posted as soon as I saw it. 

[bobcat]

The best tactic I've found for blacktails is LUCK. 

[hogslayer]

My best late season blacktail tactic is simple...spend every single moment of light in the woods.  Don't take the afternoon off, don't sleep in, don't leave early.  Late blacktail are seen at any moment of the day regardless of weather.  And double down on your diligence between 1:am and 2:pm

.  they will show up when you least expect it. Like Radav said, stay in the woods as much as possible, and keep you eyes wide open. I'm starting to really watch places that others don't even bother to look at. Areas near main roads that other hunters ignore are going to hold deer. If they think they are safe and nobody spooks them, they will just lay low and let people pass right by.

I agree on your point of hunting those spots right off the road or roads. This spot has so many deer bedded and feeding between the roads it is unreal. Every time I go into it the norm is three to four deer during all times of the year.

Looks like we hunt pretty close to each other.

[RB]

The best tactic I've found for blacktails is LUCK. 

 

[RadSav]

The best tactic I've found for blacktails is LUCK. 

What is the old saying about luck?  Something like, " "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity."

[2labs]

Gary Player I believe.  The more I practice the luckier I get