blacktail deer pre-rut

[fishnfur]

Dad shot a big 2x3 today that weighed 203 lbs without the guts.

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Toad! 

I think the pre-rut thread has morphed into the rut thread.  Pulling scotch broom in a cut for the last couple days in Mason.  Lot's of fawns and yearlings out wondering why mom ditched them.  Found some nice rubs as it was starting to get dark.  Cleared the branches/ferns etc. so that I could move my trail cam to that spot.  Dropped my gear and started off to get my cam in a close by location.   Turned around and there's a forkie right at the rubs.  I thought the branches being broken might have brought him in.  Turned out he was with a doe.  I chose to follow them noisily in my waterproof forestry bibs, boots, etc.  Not surprisingly, I couldn't find them, so I went and got my cam and came back two minutes later they are right there, 20 yard in front of me.  Her: rural no worries doe - never been hunted.  Him:  stupid in love, going to follow her to the ends of the earth.  I bleated at them 5 or 6 times and he wouldn't even look at me.  Just followed that doe.  He's lucky tonight, in more that one way.

[RadSav]

I think the pre-rut thread has morphed into the rut thread. 

Natural evolution for sure.  Still early though.  We are only seeing full activity in a few areas.  Which is good being the last day of general.  Should still be on heavy for the late season and maybe a little still into archery season.  Which it looks like we might need it.  Last weekend was a rough one for us.  Think we started off the day at spot "D" and there wasn't much moving from there on up.  Maybe today will be better. 

Wife will be giving it hell today regardless!!  Think from here on out any mature buck with branches will probably be in trouble.

[fishnfur]

Agreed.  It will keep getting better for another week or so.  The number of does in estrus occurs in a bell shaped curve with the peak being somewhere around the 8th - 12th of November (for Blacktail).  Does will keep cycling until they are successfully bred.  By December 1st, roughly 98% of does are pregnant (from memory).  Those last few will keep many bucks searching though Christmas.

Good luck today everyone.

[RadSav]

Almost had the place to ourselves today.  Was better a week ago.  Today we came across 10 does in daylight and 18-20 on the way out in the dark.  Not a single buck dogging a doe.  Did see three bucks after legal, but all three were by themselves cruising through clearings.  Nothing of any size.  All total for the general rifle we've only seen a few good shooters.  One was just a glimpse and the others 10 minutes before or after legal hours.  But we have seen more than a dozen bucks through general which is encouraging for the future.

Some years you got the magic.  Some years you don't.  Guess we didn't have anything but the dinker dose of magic through general and we weren't after those.  Two more seasons for our luck to change.

[Molon5labe]

Almost had the place to ourselves today.  Was better a week ago.  Today we came across 10 does in daylight and 18-20 on the way out in the dark.  Not a single buck dogging a doe.  Did see three bucks after legal, but all three were by themselves cruising through clearings.  Nothing of any size.  All total for the general rifle we've only seen a few good shooters.  One was just a glimpse and the others 10 minutes before or after legal hours.  But we have seen more than a dozen bucks through general which is encouraging for the future.

Some years you got the magic.  Some years you don't.  Guess we didn't have anything but the dinker dose of magic through general and we weren't after those.  Two more seasons for our luck to change.

I need to hunt where you hunt! I saw 9 doe/fawn and 0 bucks during all of modern. That's about the norm for the past 3 years for me, unfortunately. And I'm out there everyday

[fishnfur]

RadSav pays extra to have those deer trucked in from other areas.     In all seriousness though Molon5, I don't think you're well below normal. I don't know of any spots where I could see 20 doe in an afternoon either.

My season ended early this year.  I saw 5 bucks and I think 2 doe.  Seems like I must have seen more.  I tend not to remember doe like I do bucks.  I think I can remember every buck I've ever seen.
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I went out with a cam this morning to Willipa Hills.  Got busted by a satellite cow when I was trying to put the sneak on a group of noisy animals.  I found in the past that deer tend to be absent when elk are around.  Today was no exception. 

While there, I noticed how much foliage was still intact on the brush layer.  I wondering how much of that will still be in place two weeks from now if we don't get a freeze.  Salmonberry and Elderberry for sure will still be hanging on the plants. 

Sure could use some cold weather soon. It could be a tough late hunt without a freeze (the opposing argument to that:  the longer food is available, the healthier the herd comes out of next winter). 

[Whitenuckles]

No more pre rut. It's on!!!!!!

[RadSav]

RadSav pays extra to have those deer trucked in from other areas.     In all seriousness though Molon5, I don't think you're well below normal. I don't know of any spots where I could see 20 doe in an afternoon either.

Sounds rather normal to me.

Few things that increases our results this time of year:

Almost all of our day is planned out in advance.  We've hunted Winston and Toutle for so many years now that even with our primary spots getting logged to oblivion every year we have more hunts planned than we can fit into a day. (With the spraying it gets harder and harder.  Used to be good the following year.  Sprayed clear-cuts are dead for 3-5 years now.  Sucks really bad!)

We never take a break during Pre-Rut through Post-Rut like we do during early archery.  If one of us is not walking we are driving to the next walk.  Wednesday we were in place almost an hour before legal and never saw a deer until 10:00.  If we had stayed where we were it's doubtful we would have seen much.  Most of the deer we saw during legal were between 1:30 PM and 2:00 PM.

We cover a lot of ground when blacktail hunting.  We start close to the gates and just keep working back and deeper.  Reason we see so many deer after legal light is it takes us up to two hours to get out sometimes.  Sitting and waiting is not in our make-up.  Stop glass move on, stop glass move on, stop glass move on...  Only time we ever sit is the last hour.  And then only if we end up at a spot we know well with all the right ingredients.  It is completely different than early archery.

We never ignore sign or pre-legal or post-legal sightings.  To hunt "Where the deer are" you have to constantly be absorbing information.  One of our most consistent spots this year is what I would consider a ridiculous spot to find deer.  For years we just drive by at light speed barely giving a glimpse.  But there was a rub there very early this year.  Next day there were two rubs, next hunting day there was a doe and five rubs.  Ridiculous or not...ain't going to ignore that!!  Take it all in, ignore nothing.

Few of our hunts last more than an hour.  Slow walk-in, slow walk-out.  Get in the truck and head for the next.  Walking longer or farther only makes sense if the deer are there.  A lot of people see us cruising and say, "Hey, I saw you guys up road hunting XXX day"  We don't ignore what we see driving, not by any means.  And we do spend a lot of time in the truck during a day.  But we aren't just blindly driving around looking to get lucky and see a deer.  Just getting from place to place on schedule and with a plan for the next walk.  IF we can get ten in during a day...we're going to see deer.

[fishnfur]

That makes me tired just thinking about it.  I don't even like driving out there from Longview.  I'll say one thing though. Your wife is a trooper.  Also, it sounds like you earn each and every deer you find.  Thanks for another great explanation.
 

[RadSav]

That makes me tired just thinking about it.  I don't even like driving out there from Longview.  I'll say one thing though. Your wife is a trooper.  Also, it sounds like you earn each and every deer you find.  Thanks for another great explanation.

I do miss the old days in Oregon or the days hunting Pierce CO scotch bloom jungle where you could hunt one buck all year and not have to drive much.  I do like targeting specific animals.  Just not much of that down here.

This year the wife is doing almost all the walking solo.  Since I have no tag left I've been working hard on my power napping!!

[fishnfur]

 

I thought you were the ever-supportive husband type, there with her for every grueling step of the hunt. 

Hey RS, I was thinking about some buck craziness I saw last year.  This gnaws at me periodically.  No one has mentioned similar behavior in my reading.   I figured if anyone has ever seen it, you would have.  Here's my description from last October: 

"Had some quick action this morning.  Went to a spot I'd twice bumped deer while walking in the dark.  I decided to arrive and enter the woods at first light instead of bumping them.  While it was light enough to see out on the road, once in the woods, it was still very dark.  I pushed in a few hundred yards and slowed down to a crawl.  I reached the first bench up, and though it was still pretty dark, I could see.  Dang if I didn't stick my toe into some bump in the road making a bit of a thump.  Not loud, but noticeable.  I held my position and waited while watching into the darkest woods.  Just seconds later, out of nowhere, three deer running at light speed in a fully crouched positions blow by my position about 50 yards in from me.  All three flew by in well less than a seconds time, heads low, running at incredible speed and at a height that was no higher than my knee.  I was totally shocked how fast it had happened, and without any sound whatsoever.  If I hadn't been looking in that direction, I never would have known they had been there.  A few seconds later, one of them let out a bawl from probably 100 yards away as it ran.  I know BT sneak about in crouched positions, but I've never before heard of them running that way."

I went out and watched cars going down a road from similar distance in an attempt to guess speed.  To my best estimates, those deer were going somewhere around 30 mph in a fully crouched run.  It still amazes me that they were absolutely silent as they ran.   

Have you ever witnessed similar behavior?

[RadSav]

I've seen them running really low and fast trying to escape cats and bear.  Happened just this early archery season with benchleg does and a bear.  Can't say I've seen that from a simple miss/stutter step I've made.

I have seen young bucks move off semi-rapidly in a crouched position giving a wide birth to a dominant buck.  All the time being vocal in what I call an acceptance bawl/bleat.  Seen that a lot during rut.  Always figured that was a young bucks way of saying, "Sorry.  Just passing through.  Please don't kill me."

Not sure if any of those things are similar to what you experienced.  I still seem to learn something new from these creatures every year.  One of my favorite animals!

[Thehowler]

RadSav,

Have you ever seen a blacktail deer, while hidden behind a stump, or other obstacle, leep straight up and down several times, trying to figure out what was making a approaching noise?
One of the most amusing things I have witnessed in the deer woods.

[RadSav]

That would be a new experience for me.  Would like to see that someday. 

Seen spikes jump up on a stump, back down and back up like a barnyard goat with pen toys.  That's probably the closest I've come. 

[fishnfur]

Crazy!  Gracias!  (I'm working on my Spanish in preparation for the caravan's arrival  )