Blacktailitis

[bigbore40]

I seem to get more frustrated by the day after chasing these grey ghosts in pursuit of a single targeted buck . My last encounter with this big 3 was Nov. 20th and since then I have spent multiple hours in chase. Through out late archery I have passed on many of legal bucks but always remember being told I won't shoot monsters if I keep shooting mediocre bucks. Oh one other thing this is all 100% public land but way off the beaten path. Any words of wisdom ?

[singleshot12]

Maybe you're not meant to kill the big breeder of the woods His meat is probabely real tough anyways. If you don't like eating tag soup most years you should capitalize on what God sends your way. Either way he'll usually show up when you have completly givin up,beat,tired and your head is hanging as low as it goes.you'll look up and there he is

[packmule]

Stick with it, he's a good looking buck.  Our blacktails are cruising pretty good right now looking for does that were missed during the first breeding cycle.

[bigbore40]

Over the last few years I have been fortunate to harvest a few quality bucks from this same area within a 2 mile radius. Definitely some high quality blacktail genes in there.

[~T-BONE~]

Persistence will prevail..!

[pd]

I agree with what SingleShot12 said.  It seems you have harvested some nice bucks these past few years.  Try hard this year (maybe next and the next), but be satisfied if you don't harvest the biggest buck.  You have spent a ton of time this year hunting, right?  That is the harvest for you, perhaps.

(It was for me.    )

[sled]

Saw a buck chasing a doe tonight on my way home from work.

[Thehowler]

Looks more like a doe chasing a buck?

[Turner89]

Looks more like a doe chasing a buck?

[dreamunelk]

Looks more like a doe chasing a buck?

x2

[sled]

Well ya in the pic.  When I stopped to take the pic he spooked and headed out with her behind.

[fishnfur]

Hang in there bigbore.  Those are some stud racks on your posted trophies.  Big time mature bucks with serious knurling at the bases.  (My fav is that 3 X 2 monster - appears to have been well into regression).  The trophy you're after looks like he's worth waiting for, and you seem be one of the few that have the skills to pull off harvesting a big BT buck of that quality on a repeated basis. 

Unless you really need the meat to live, I'd rather risk eating the tag rather than notching it on a lesser deer (That is, if I were you, and had your skill).  It will seriously suck being left to wonder every day for the next eight months if you could have killed the big one if you give up now. 

If I were me, (which I am) I'd kill a lesser buck and be happy (which I did, and I am).

[JDHasty]

It is a mind game.  You know that there are mature bucks, and you are not in the right frame of mind. 

That being said, tag soup is a byproduct.

I was all about big bucks this year up until the season.  A hunting buddy invited a shirttail relative to stay in my RV and sit up in MY deer stands without even so much asking if it was OK. 

I had big bucks on my mind right up to that and it just made me so disinterested in blacktail hunting that once another buddy that had never taken a mature buck scored this year, I said:  I don't want to be here and just took the first decent buck I saw.  It was a four point, but not what I had been gearing up to all year. 

I knew we needed brats and Italian sausage and that is what I shot... just to give me an excuse to get the   out of there.  We already had an elk in the deep freezer.

What I am saying is that you know what you are lacking to close the deal.  You know that "he" lives there, believe me - other big bucks also know and are right there too.  He would not be there if that area did not attract big bucks.

What you need to do is buckle down and hunt them hard.  Hang in and keep your mind right.  They are difficult, but not impossible.   

[Shooting Stix]

I felt your pain about these blacktails but you have to pass the smaller bucks and stick with what you are looking for and my last year I shot a Pope and Young blacktail which scored 106 its not 120-150 but to me I wanted a buck that was record book. I actually passed up a monster fork buck that scored 99 PY and is number 6 in Washington State because I wanted a bigger buck. Only reason I know this because MLBowhunting (brother) shot it.

[bigbore40]

Hang in there bigbore.  Those are some stud racks on your posted trophies.  Big time mature bucks with serious knurling at the bases.  (My fav is that 3 X 2 monster - appears to have been well into regression).  The trophy you're after looks like he's worth waiting for, and you seem be one of the few that have the skills to pull off harvesting a big BT buck of that quality on a repeated basis. 

Unless you really need the meat to live, I'd rather risk eating the tag rather than notching it on a lesser deer (That is, if I were you, and had your skill).  It will seriously suck being left to wonder every day for the next eight months if you could have killed the big one if you give up now. 

If I were me, (which I am) I'd kill a lesser buck and be happy (which I did, and I am).

Yes that old 2x3 was estimated to be 8-9 years old and is by far my favorite buck harvested to date . he also was shot at 15yards during a heavy wind storm in a small pocket meadow that was the only place within a 1/2 mile that was not in large standing timber.