...and thats a wrap. Tag Soup 2015

[fishnfur]

An unsuccessful season of seeing animals has enough stories to annoy your co-workers all year.

You remember that time I ranged a deer at 38 yards, then decided to put the 20 yard pin on the vitals and send it? 

I wish this was fiction.

Mine goes a little more like...You remember the time we were stump shooting at lunch and I left my sight set for 80 yards.  Then saw that nice buck at 30 and forgot to reset my pin.  Do you think that arrow is still going?

Sad part is that wasn't that long ago.

My first shot on a buck was with a bow.  I forgot my rangefinder in the truck and guessed him at 30 yards, then changed my mind moments later to 40.  I'm really good with sighting distances so I was pretty confident that it was within a yard or so of 40.  I drew back, put my 30 pin on him, and watched him run after the arrow dropped between his legs. 

The second shot at a buck was with my boy's 7mm-08 rifle that the scope had been left on 9X after the last clearcut hunt.  I rattled a buck in at 20 yards in the brush and without any focus, I couldn't put the crosshairs on him - nothing but a brown blur.  It turned out the scope was loose too, and the results of the shot at his chest was a clean miss. 

I made a ton of mistakes over the first few years and expect that I still have backpack full of new ones yet to rear their ugly heads at the wrong moment.  It's all part of the fun!

Don't ever mistake my input as being nearly as worthwhile as RadSav or some of the other truly skilled hunters that post here.  I only recite others' works and ideas and translate them as best I can from my understanding of the content of my readings or viewings.  I've re-read Boyd Iverson's book five or six times because I keep thinking that I may have misunderstood the intent of his words in some of the text.  While it is extremely well written, the reader still has to interpret Boyd's words based on his/her own field experiences and try to make them fit into the situation that he/she encounters while hunting.  I'm pretty comfortable with my knowledge base and suggestions.  They may not work at all for me (or anyone else) on a given day or even during an entire season  - some are only ideas/tactics that have worked for other hunters in other situations.  Myself, I really just love the difficulty of achieving close encounters with these deer and having a chance to experience the adrenaline rush that goes along with it.  Sometimes I bust out laughing to myself in the middle of the woods after I screw up.  The deer must think I'm crazy!

RE: Still hunting - If the animals are running from you all the time when you're still hunting, then you're moving too much or too fast, or not hidden well enough.  With a backdrop of brush immediately behind you or around you, and you standing STILL and downwind of a deer, that deer will look right through you and never  (or almost never) see you if you don't move.  Stay in the shadows, watch more than move, glass when you're movements won't be obvious, and hunt when the deer are moving -(morning, evening, mid-day snacking, and just before, during and after the rut).  Outside those times, you've got to be either lucky or able to find them in their beds, which is no small task.

Here's a still hunting vid just for fun.

index=150&list=PLw37fITUiiMRvY2xVf75E3Cz-3qwpD9wg

[Encore 280]

It's a wrap, tag soup. Got the wife settled in after the Dr. app't then headed out. Got to the gate and two other rigs are parked there and the gate is open. Biked up to the top and spotted one of the bow hunters on the road then the other one coming out of the brush. Bs'd a few minutes then I went down a road they hadn't been down and sat there til the sun went behind the trees and it chilled down really quick. Nothing was moving but some yaehoo up above where I had left the bow hunters was shooting!!! He was up there the other day shooting too!! Well after it cooled down and I got back to the truck a big cube van comes down the road followed by 3 cargo vans loaded with people and two pick ups!!!! Only thing I can figure is they were planting or pruning. My first day up there I noticed fresh cut marks on lower limbs of the pine trees.

I get busted faster when I'm on the bike than I do when I'm walking really slow. Riding I can't spot 'em as fast as I can when I'm walking really slow. I always take a few steps and my eyes are always scanning from side to side and out in front. I'm always looking for a light colored "V" (ears) or just a head or body. I've spotted them by just seeing a black spot that ended up being a tail or the elbow of a hind leg when it was bedded down. I use the glasses a lot for spotting but sometimes I can spot 'em with the naked eye pretty good. I'm thinking I'll do archery again next year too. Don't want to call it quits after the first unsuccessful year. I've a couple years at times doing modern and I kept going back so being unsuccessful is nothing new to me. I just love being out there and seeing the animals. If I get one then it's a bonus. Now I can't wait to get started next year. Who knows, may be tag soup again. 

[RadSav]

Don't ever mistake my input as being nearly as worthwhile as some of the truly skilled hunters that post here.  I only recite others' works and ideas and translate them as best I can from my understanding of the content of my readings or viewings. 

Sounds like your input is valuable too.  I'm not sure if I know any experienced and successful hunter who was born into the knowledge base.  I read every book I could get my hands on when I was in highschool.  Not a single one was as valuable as making mistakes in the field.  Sounds like you are getting a wealth of knowledge without realizing it.

My old hunting partner Bone was the most insane blacktail hunter I have ever known.  No father at home, poor reading comprehension skills, no real mentor, no seminars, no youtube, no internet and not born into a superior gene pool.  But he always strived to never make the same mistake twice and the guy noticed everything.

One late season I watched Bone stalk a small buck in a clearcut that I thought was impossible to kill with the bow.  That buck looked in his direction at least a dozen times and yet Bone waited to take his shot until he was about 25 yards away.  When I grabbed the packs and headed down to him I said, "How in the heck did you get so close?"  He told me he had been watching doe feeding behavior.  And every time the buck looked in his direction he was acting, sounding and thinking like a doe.  It was truly one of the more impressive stalks I've ever witnessed. 

We were maybe 17 or 18 years old, green as spring grass and determined to be successful bowhunters.  That day we both, with little to no experience, became better hunters.  Bone had learned from prior mistakes, added observation and a willingness to experiment.  And on that day he was better than Larry D., Iverson, Adams, Schuh or Dougherty.  He was simply the best, at that moment, than I have ever seen after more than 35 years of chasing blacktail with a stick and string.

Reminds me of a sales training course I took in my teens.  Just might be as appropriate for bowhunters as it is for sales professionals. - “I am not judged by the number of times I fail, but by the number of times I succeed; and the number of times I succeed is in direct proportion to the number of times I can fail and keep on trying.”
―Tom Hopkins

[pd]

Honestly, this has been one of the better blacktail threads.  All of you guys added a lot to the conversation.  Great Hunting, guys, and see you again next year.   

[fishnfur]

Great story RadSav and a good lesson for those of us still learning the craft.  An added bonus - a couple of authors to research!

A final recommendation for winter book reading is Mapping Trophy Bucks, a Whitetail book that has direct application to understanding deer movements in the terrain.  I wouldn't pay $34 for it though.  Check libraries or Amazon New and Used later in the year.  I think I paid $10.

http://www.amazon.com/Mapping-Trophy-Bucks-Brad-Herndon/dp/0873495039/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451673916&sr=8-1&keywords=mapping+for+trophy+whitetails

A really interesting online six-part article is here:  http://www.outdoorblog.net/pnwbowhunting/2011/04/05/deer-post-season-scouting-6-part-series/

I also hit other boards and search for Blacktail posts - there are some really good ones here (examples provided): http://www.ifish.net/board/showthread.php?t=382807
http://www.ifish.net/board/showthread.php?t=458290&highlight=blacktail+tactics
http://www.ifish.net/board/showthread.php?t=446836&highlight=blacktail+tactics

I'm out of secrets.  Time to go shed hunting.
Happy New Year all!
G.

[JeffRaines]

I'm going to be ordering a few books here shortly on the subject so I can start getting ready for next season.

To RadSav, predator, fishnfur - I really appreciate the help and suggestions. I'm bookmarking this thread so I can refer to it over the coming months. I checked out those threads you linked fishn, including the six part article on post-season scouting. I'm thinking in the next week or two I'm gonna get out and get started.

Happy new year all!

[RadSav]

I'm going to be ordering a few books here shortly on the subject so I can start getting ready for next season.

Back in the mid eighties I would hit the phones and call anyone who would talk about bowhunting.  That's how I first got to know Duke Savora, Chuck Adams, Larry D. Jones, Dwight Schuh, Bill Krenz and Doug Walker.  They were all so gracious with their time and willing to help out a punk kid who wanted not only to learn to hunt better, but also how to get into the business.  Bill Krenz was so incredible to me.  After an almost hour long conversation I was sitting on the couch eating lunch when the phone rings, "Hello Bryan.  This is Bill Krenz again.  Our phone call got me thinking and I wanted to share a little bit more with you..."  What an amazing man he was.  I was nobody and he was willing to go that far just to help.

Your post made me think about Mr. Krenz today.  Especially what he said to me at the end of my first industry trade show.  He was waiting for a shuttle to the airport and we were saying our goodbyes when he says, "Your next successful season starts tomorrow.  Get after it!"  I took that to heart and started practicing the next day.  I practiced stalking, observing, scouting, reading, hiking, small game hunting and stump-n-clump shooting.  It paid off huge!  I entered that season having never shot a mature 3 or 4 point buck with my bow.  I drew a second deer tag and ended that year with two Pope and Young qualifying blacktails, a P&Y qualifying Yellowstone elk and a bear that just missed at 17-7/8".  I also took a 48# Javalina, a half dozen CA pigs and maybe ten Catalina goats.  And best of all - When I saw him at the show the following year I had a job in the industry and had started living my dream!!

Good luck!  Sounds like you are well on your way to making the most of 2016.  Your next season starts today.  Get after it.

[fishnfur]

"Who was that masked man?"

Perhaps I've missed it somewhere, but I'd love to hear or read the RadSav story someday.

Good luck Jeff!  Ask questions as they come up.  Nine short months till early archery opens.

[JeffRaines]

"Who was that masked man?"

Perhaps I've missed it somewhere, but I'd love to hear or read the RadSav story someday.

Me too!

[RadSav]

As Howard Wolowitz once said. "...always leave them wanting more."

[PolarBear]

I ate my multi-season deer tag as well.  I set out with a goal and stuck with it until the last hour of the last day.  Hunted a lot with my daughter after she got her buck.  She chewed me out at least a dozen times for letting nice bucks walk.  We almost got a selfie with a nice 3 point that I let walk.   I think that in the back of my mind that I didn't want to shoot a buck unless she was with me and it was going to be a monster if I did.  We chased a monster blacktail for over 2 miles in the snow before it crossed a creek that we couldn't .  That was as much fun in itself as killing it. This year tag soup tasted really good and all that mattered was being able to hunt 3 different weapons seasons and spend a ton of time in the woods with my baby girl!

[Sitka_Blacktail]

With still hunting, I feel like I'm aimlessly(and very slowly) walking through the woods hoping to stumble upon a deer. Maybe that is all there is to still hunting, but I feel like there has to be some other method, something you're looking for... kinda like fishing a river. You don't see the fish, but with enough experience you know what riffles/rocks/pools to put your fly though. With this said, I'm looking forward to trying spot and stalk next year.

I find still hunting blacktail one of the more rewarding and enjoyable hunting experiences.  For me it's not so much walking slowly - It's about stopping frequently.  Even in thick cover the field glasses are used A LOT!  I'd guess that over 50% of my still hunting blacktail buck opportunities include bedded animals.  Many of those I did not see until I glassed at 40 or 50 yards.  If it is open under a canopy you can have stretches of fast moving, but you have to really know from glassing that the path is clear.

I love still hunting blacktails. I'd say when I hunt alone, my hunting time is divided 30% spot and stalk, 30%, 30% still hunting, 20% taking a stand and watching trails and openings, and 20% opportunistic such as spotting an animal while driving from one area to another. When I hunt with others, some soft pushes get thrown into the mix. Usually I will have whoever I'm hunting with sitting at a vantage point and I will go into small timber patches or steep brushy canyons to push animals out where the stander can get a shot, or we will still hunt parallel ridges. many times you will bounce an animal to one of your partners.

But still hunting is what spins my prop. There is nothing like getting into tight quarters with a blacktail and getting the job done. I love it up close and personal. Maybe it comes from the way we hunted them when I was a kid and learning the ropes. All we ever hunted was big timber and alder patches. And it usually involved a drive of some sort. one or two standers and 2-5 pushers. We sometime just tried to push animals to the standers, but most of the time it was the soft pushes where we weren't so much driving as doing parallel still hunts and the standers were just for animals that got away from the drivers. We hunted just like we were hunting alone, slowly and softly. My first buck, at 10, my uncle kicked to me and I shot it at 10 yards. My second buck at 12, 4 of us were driving some timber to my brother who was watching from a powerline. I came around a big cedar stump and a huge fork horn stood up out of his bed about 5 yards from me and I dropped him right there. I was hooked. Don't get me wrong, Spot and stalk is fun as you know where the animal is and try to make the best approach to get the best shot, but nothing gets the adrenaline going like sneaking through the brush and having a deer take off seemingly under your feet.

The thing about still hunting is, the more you do it, the better feel you get for where the animals are going to be. Especially if you hunt the same area a lot. But even when hunting new areas, something will set you off and you'll get a hinky feeling and your brain will go on super alert, and more often than not you'll either spot an animal or jump one right where you though it would be. Still hunting really gets me to focus on what's going on around me. Eyes, ears, and even smell.  For me, it makes hunting more intense. That's the best I can describe it.

[PolarBear]

I saw most of my bucks this year still hunting the timber along with just sitting and watching.  Walk slowly through the woods and when you find a likely spot just sit your butt down, watch and listen for a while.

[RadSav]

We chased a monster blacktail for over 2 miles in the snow before it crossed a creek that we couldn't .  That was as much fun in itself as killing it.

I did the same late archery.  One of the few days I actually hunted myself.  First saw two bucks fighting as we drove up a road.  They saw us before we saw them.  Both complete monsters.  And the chase was on.  Usually they will hold up if they aren't cruising does.  Think they are starting to get smarter around here or something.   Those are always good times, IMO.

We passed up a good number of bucks during rifle season.  That MS tag can be as much a curse as it is a blessing.  We always start with our standards extremely high when we get it.  Especially when we are seeing rubs of the big boys.  That doesn't always make for the most successful shooting year when you are guide most of the season.

I think letting a buck walk for a chance to get a picture of you and the daughter together with the buck in the background was worth it.  That would have been a picture I'd have wanted to see.  Pretty cool.

[The Fin]

It's official I ate my tag too.  Actually I am eating it today it is in the crock pot as we speak.  Can't wait till next season!