Blacktail Deer Hunting

[Old Man Yager]

I try to locate a clearcut with a part of the clearcut that can't be seen from the road. They will stay close to roads if they think they are out of sight.

[Bogie85]

If there are clear cuts I would advise you to spend time behind your binos picking them apart. Most people underutilize glassing when hunting blacktails and they can appear out of thin air in a unit. All 4 deer that myself,a buddy & my 2 boys harvested last year never knew we were there or that the shot was coming.

Do you air towards upwind of the clearings? And what's your preference fresh clearings? Or a couple of years old? I have heard several different suggestions and always good to hear other peoples experiences. Thanks for sharing!

[opdinkslayer]

I’ve seen deer in all ages of clearcuts. If your just looking to harvest a deer then don’t overlook any unit including ones that are a year old. We tend to concentrate on units 3-6 yrs old because they provide feed & cover. Late October is prime time for rifle BT hunting & is when you will find the bucks starting to show themselves more. We hunt the peninsula so I have no knowledge of your area but blackies require patience & persistence but we all kill one every year. If you find doe’s & fawns eventually there will be a buck. Keep at it,enjoy the experience in the woods & you will be rewarded in time. Good luck

[Bogie85]

I’ve seen deer in all ages of clearcuts. If your just looking to harvest a deer then don’t overlook any unit including ones that are a year old. We tend to concentrate on units 3-6 yrs old because they provide feed & cover. Late October is prime time for rifle BT hunting & is when you will find the bucks starting to show themselves more. We hunt the peninsula so I have no knowledge of your area but blackies require patience & persistence but we all kill one every year. If you find doe’s & fawns eventually there will be a buck. Keep at it,enjoy the experience in the woods & you will be rewarded in time. Good luck

Thanks a ton, I am eager to just get out there and sit. Just glass and have been doing as much research as I can. I have been scouting other areas just to know what signs to look for etc. But I am at a point that only going out is all I can do.

[WSU]

Don't burn yourself out.  The best hunting of the rifle season is the last day.  Late season is good too.  I put more effort in later in the season.

[opdinkslayer]

Been hunting them for 35 years & still learn something from just being in the woods. Nothing can take the place of first hand experiences. Getting schooled by a buck from time to time is just part of it. Enjoy the season.👍🏻

[JimmyHoffa]

This cool, rainy weather has been awesome.  I'm hoping it sticks around for the start of the season.  Too many years of T shirt deer season.

[Eric M]

Walk slow and stop to glass every few steps. It will take you awhile to see them before they see you. Dont get discouraged. As soon as you let your guard down you'll bump deer.

[Axle]

Washington state can be intimidating

This may be because of devils club, stinging nettles, Himalayan blackberries, Evergreen blackberries, Canadian thistle, rough terrain, sideways rain, varying wind, and brush so thick that you can't see more than 5' in front of you, but hey - it's all about the adventure - right? 
This helps to keep sissies out of the woods I assume 

[fishnfur]

If there are clear cuts I would advise you to spend time behind your binos picking them apart. Most people underutilize glassing when hunting blacktails and they can appear out of thin air in a unit. All 4 deer that myself,a buddy & my 2 boys harvested last year never knew we were there or that the shot was coming.

Do you air towards upwind of the clearings? And what's your preference fresh clearings? Or a couple of years old? I have heard several different suggestions and always good to hear other peoples experiences. Thanks for sharing!

You should read up on hunting thermals and then attempt to put it into practice as you scout.  The general rule is the winds move like the sun, up in the morning, down in the evening.  In reality, the upward movement of air begins as solar radiation heats up the atmosphere and air starts rising.  At some point during the morning, depending on the warmth of the day (typically 0700 - 0900), if you are midway up a slope, you will notice that the thermals change from downward to upward.  Some hunters work their way uphill until the thermals change, then work their way back down when the air is rising.  Atmospheric winds can minimize or even overcome thermals, and a stream at the bottom of the hill may cause thermals to continue down much later into the day.  Each spot is site dependent.  Once you get to know the area you're hunting, you will better understand the how winds and thermals work there. 

In general though, it is much better to be above a buck than below.  If you're hunting timber during the early season, they often bed where they see a long ways downhill (looking for predators) and use their sense of scent and foliage or other noisemakers above them to warn of danger from above.  According to rumor, they generally bed on a slope above a feeding area (think 50 - 500 yards), where the thermals coming from below mix with the predominant winds above the ridge/hill.  That allows them to scent check areas above and below them at the same time.  This often ends up being somewhere around 60 - 75% of the way up on the lee side of the ridge/slope.  Hunting perpendicular/horizontal to the slope gives you an advantage in that the deer won't wind you until you are directly above or below them (given straight up and down thermals).  Later in the season, the bucks will be up and moving more during the day, and you should keep the wind in your face and also be looking for does that might have a buck nearby.  Stay hidden.  Sit more than stand, stand more than walk.  Move slow, examine everything. 

RE reprod: St. Helens tree farm has superb soils.  Once trees have been in the ground for eight years, they've often pretty much closed out the unit and you won't be able to see squat unless you've got a good vantage point from above.  Google Earth allows you to easily age a cut and pick spots to hunt prior to arriving.  I like 4 - 6 year old trees to hunt in down here, which may mean the timber was cut 5 to 8 years ago.  These units provide a lot of hiding spots (and food if they've not been sprayed to death) so deer may stay in them all day.  If there's a lot of traffic close by, they'll often be in the timber above or to the sides of the reprod.  Stay hidden while you glass a unit, and don't give up quickly.  After an hour of glassing, you'll swear there's no deer in there and a minute later, a couple of does are standing right in front of you.

[Deerelk37]

Don't be so sure about the spook more than a white tail.
Pro tip #479874 
Blacktail will just stand there as frozen as they can and watch what You do. My Dad says "They believe in their camouflage more than most animals". If You don't show signs that You have spotted them they often won't move a muscle.

Ditto that. Two blAcktails I have harvested in past years stood behind a slinny tree that I just shot right through at less than 50 yards. Last years late season buck crossed in front of me and I ran down the hill to see it before it went into the thicker reprod. When I got to where I knew I would at least see it’s rear end going away and it wasn’t there I started looking up the hill. Nothing there. I slowly started to walk up the open hillside scanning back and forth. Nothing. I get up on a bench and it’s nowhere to be seen. Still scanning. I look to my right and I catch it behind a small tree following my movement, our eyes locked and it immediately bolted. I ran down the hill as it bounded towards a clearcut and got him. I cut his route to the thick off and he had nowhere to go but a more open area. Gotcha!

[Boss .300 winmag]

I try to locate a clearcut with a part of the clearcut that can't be seen from the road. They will stay close to roads if they think they are out of sight.

Ditto 

[Bogie85]

If there are clear cuts I would advise you to spend time behind your binos picking them apart. Most people underutilize glassing when hunting blacktails and they can appear out of thin air in a unit. All 4 deer that myself,a buddy & my 2 boys harvested last year never knew we were there or that the shot was coming.

Do you air towards upwind of the clearings? And what's your preference fresh clearings? Or a couple of years old? I have heard several different suggestions and always good to hear other peoples experiences. Thanks for sharing!

You should read up on hunting thermals and then attempt to put it into practice as you scout.  The general rule is the winds move like the sun, up in the morning, down in the evening.  In reality, the upward movement of air begins as solar radiation heats up the atmosphere and air starts rising.  At some point during the morning, depending on the warmth of the day (typically 0700 - 0900), if you are midway up a slope, you will notice that the thermals change from downward to upward.  Some hunters work their way uphill until the thermals change, then work their way back down when the air is rising.  Atmospheric winds can minimize or even overcome thermals, and a stream at the bottom of the hill may cause thermals to continue down much later into the day.  Each spot is site dependent.  Once you get to know the area you're hunting, you will better understand the how winds and thermals work there. 

In general though, it is much better to be above a buck than below.  If you're hunting timber during the early season, they often bed where they see a long ways downhill (looking for predators) and use their sense of scent and foliage or other noisemakers above them to warn of danger from above.  According to rumor, they generally bed on a slope above a feeding area (think 50 - 500 yards), where the thermals coming from below mix with the predominant winds above the ridge/hill.  That allows them to scent check areas above and below them at the same time.  This often ends up being somewhere around 60 - 75% of the way up on the lee side of the ridge/slope.  Hunting perpendicular/horizontal to the slope gives you an advantage in that the deer won't wind you until you are directly above or below them (given straight up and down thermals).  Later in the season, the bucks will be up and moving more during the day, and you should keep the wind in your face and also be looking for does that might have a buck nearby.  Stay hidden.  Sit more than stand, stand more than walk.  Move slow, examine everything. 

RE reprod: St. Helens tree farm has superb soils.  Once trees have been in the ground for eight years, they've often pretty much closed out the unit and you won't be able to see squat unless you've got a good vantage point from above.  Google Earth allows you to easily age a cut and pick spots to hunt prior to arriving.  I like 4 - 6 year old trees to hunt in down here, which may mean the timber was cut 5 to 8 years ago.  These units provide a lot of hiding spots (and food if they've not been sprayed to death) so deer may stay in them all day.  If there's a lot of traffic close by, they'll often be in the timber above or to the sides of the reprod.  Stay hidden while you glass a unit, and don't give up quickly.  After an hour of glassing, you'll swear there's no deer in there and a minute later, a couple of does are standing right in front of you.

Wow this is awesome, thanks for all the info. I am going to take this into account and read up more on thermals. You all have been super awesome.

[Bogie85]

Washington state can be intimidating

This may be because of devils club, stinging nettles, Himalayan blackberries, Evergreen blackberries, Canadian thistle, rough terrain, sideways rain, varying wind, and brush so thick that you can't see more than 5' in front of you, but hey - it's all about the adventure - right? 
This helps to keep sissies out of the woods I assume 

Meh none of those things bother me lol. It's more about the bear, and not wanting to go solo. But now I have a 10mm sidearm and pepper spray. I have seen firsthand how fast a black bear can be and how much damage they can do quickly. But overall pain is relative , my pain tolerance is high and I grew up with a lot of these things in the midwest.

[Special T]

Boys Irverson Blacktail Trophy Tactics 2 book.  That's my pro tip

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