Blacktail Deer Hunting

[Bogie85]

Things will change drastically this week. Good hunting weather is coming just in time for pre-rut activities.

That's the hope right? I am going out tomorrow, I bumped some deer 3x now near my spot I have been hunting. I am going to just move into the area when it's sun rise and watch without bumping them now that I know where their bedding is at.

[fishnfur]

I ran into a deer just before sunrise, couldn't tell if it was a buck or not. Went hunting from sunrise to 3pm yesterday with not seeing anything.

Do calls work at all? Is it too early for calls? I heard that when it rains the deer move more often? What does that mean? Does that mean I should just sit where they are bedding down at? Or should I be looking for certain things?

Also if I get a buck in one area, is there ever a chance that my brother could get his too? Would we need to move locations? Or if were patient and wait, could we see another one?

Also would deer evacuate a place if you are finding predator poop in the area? I think it's bobcat scat, but not 100% sure it could be mountain lion.

Light occasional rattling might bring in a small buck or two.  You should hide, wait a half hour or so, rattle for 10  - 15 seconds, repeat 5 minutes later.  Sit, wait, listen, glass.  Repeat sequence in a half hour.  Move a couple hundred yards or more in an hour or more if no takers.  Some hunters swear by a doe can call.  Use alone or in conjunction with rattling and or grunt tube.  Many think this is all a waste of time.  You choose.

Rain makes the forest noisy.  Deer loose their sense of hearing and get nervous.  If it is pouring, they will often stand up in an opening and just look for predators.  Lesser rains cool their bodies so they need to eat more calories to stay warm, so they get up more frequently in rain (to eat) than in warm weather.  If it is raining pretty hard, I'd be up moving slowwwly, trying to stay hidden at all times.

Only you will know if there is another buck there.  There's a decent chance there is more than one buck close by in the pre-rut.  To my knowledge, they become loners when they are really searching and chasing.  Assume there are more close by.

What makes you think it was cat poop?  Cats cover their scat.  Yotes and bear leave piles for you to find.  Ignore predator sign unless it is really fresh (cougar), otherwise, you're the most dangerous predator in the woods.  The deer hide but don't leave, or go too far.  That is their home.

Move ultra slow. Stay hidden. Use your instincts. Be a predator.

(Disclaimer: some or all of this may be incorrect or outright lies)

Here's some more lies for your reading pleasure: https://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,232470.0.html

[The scout]

the blacktail in my area have been pre rut for a week, witch is my favorite time to hunt them. I hunt more reprod than anything else so I prefer this calm quiet weather so you can hear them moving and its better for calling. had a buck cruise by me last night at about 20 yds that was grunting the whole time. but I think I hunt them different than most because I don't hunt clear cuts and I don't go walking down logging roads unless its to get into a particular patch of timber. the deer are moving around in the thick stuff they don't just lay around for 8 hrs at a time waiting for it to get dark out when its nice out.

[aman]

what's a better time to hunt: morning or evening?

[3nails]

Things will change drastically this week. Good hunting weather is coming just in time for pre-rut activities.

I'm pretty sure everyone here is hoping that you post up another masher this year 3nails.   

    Do to my current circumstances I'll be fortunate to fill my tag!

[CLARKTAR]

Here's what I started doing and found instant success: drive further east and hunt muleys or whitetails.

This has not worked for me! Just spent 6 days in Selkirks...

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

[fishnfur]

what's a better time to hunt: morning or evening?

Dawn till dusk if you can hang that long.  The 10 AM - 3 PM period has a lot of believers too.  Many large bucks are shot between these mid-day hours.  There are whitetail hunter stats that answer your question, I just don't remember what it was.  Google knows.

[fishnfur]

the blacktail in my area have been pre rut for a week, witch is my favorite time to hunt them. I hunt more reprod than anything else so I prefer this calm quiet weather so you can hear them moving and its better for calling. had a buck cruise by me last night at about 20 yds that was grunting the whole time. but I think I hunt them different than most because I don't hunt clear cuts and I don't go walking down logging roads unless its to get into a particular patch of timber. the deer are moving around in the thick stuff they don't just lay around for 8 hrs at a time waiting for it to get dark out when its nice out.

I'd love to hear more about your technique.  I hear those deer moving around in there too.  Once I get in there, I can't see a thing with all the fir branches in my eyes.

[The scout]

the blacktail in my area have been pre rut for a week, witch is my favorite time to hunt them. I hunt more reprod than anything else so I prefer this calm quiet weather so you can hear them moving and its better for calling. had a buck cruise by me last night at about 20 yds that was grunting the whole time. but I think I hunt them different than most because I don't hunt clear cuts and I don't go walking down logging roads unless its to get into a particular patch of timber. the deer are moving around in the thick stuff they don't just lay around for 8 hrs at a time waiting for it to get dark out when its nice out.

I'd love to hear more about your technique.  I hear those deer moving around in there too.  Once I get in there, I can't see a thing with all the fir branches in my eyes.

A lot of my technique is due to scouting in the off season. I spend a lot of Tim in the thick stuff trying to find natural magnets for the deer to eat or travel through. I spend 10 times the amount of scouting as I do hunting. It’s really hard to get on the deer in that thick stuff when the weather is nasty because it’s all so close quarters that it’s almost impossible to see the deer before they see you, you have to hear them first.

[Turner89]

I ran into a deer just before sunrise, couldn't tell if it was a buck or not. Went hunting from sunrise to 3pm yesterday with not seeing anything.

Do calls work at all? Is it too early for calls? I heard that when it rains the deer move more often? What does that mean? Does that mean I should just sit where they are bedding down at? Or should I be looking for certain things?

Also if I get a buck in one area, is there ever a chance that my brother could get his too? Would we need to move locations? Or if were patient and wait, could we see another one?

Also would deer evacuate a place if you are finding predator poop in the area? I think it's bobcat scat, but not 100% sure it could be mountain lion.

I saw a cougar in the middle of a clear cut this last Saturday in the middle of the day. He saw me first, and was going mock 5 across the cut to the timber before I could even raise the gun. I've never seen so much cat sign In an area. (Cougar and bobcat).
There was also a ton of fresh deer sign. We saw 2 bucks and a few does. Jakeland shot a bear there today by the way. 
The predators dont seem to be scaring all the deer out this spot anyways. 

[fishnfur]

the blacktail in my area have been pre rut for a week, witch is my favorite time to hunt them. I hunt more reprod than anything else so I prefer this calm quiet weather so you can hear them moving and its better for calling. had a buck cruise by me last night at about 20 yds that was grunting the whole time. but I think I hunt them different than most because I don't hunt clear cuts and I don't go walking down logging roads unless its to get into a particular patch of timber. the deer are moving around in the thick stuff they don't just lay around for 8 hrs at a time waiting for it to get dark out when its nice out.

I'd love to hear more about your technique.  I hear those deer moving around in there too.  Once I get in there, I can't see a thing with all the fir branches in my eyes.

A lot of my technique is due to scouting in the off season. I spend a lot of Tim in the thick stuff trying to find natural magnets for the deer to eat or travel through. I spend 10 times the amount of scouting as I do hunting. It’s really hard to get on the deer in that thick stuff when the weather is nasty because it’s all so close quarters that it’s almost impossible to see the deer before they see you, you have to hear them first.

Interesting.  It's all based on hearing the deer coming and going?  I've found squirrel chatter is a pretty good way to locate moving deer in there as well.  I can imagine you have to cut trails or find existing trails into the reprod that allow you to move fairly quietly as you work your way in. 

Do you focus on geographical features and/or open areas where seedlings were missed or died inside the cut as prime spots to hang out.  Do you use any calling techniques while you're in there? 

There's a hunter on an Oregon forum who's mantra is:  Reprod - Rubs - Rattle.  Find rubs in reprod and then work the area with rattling sessions.  I've never shot a deer using this method, but I've tried and missed, and had several deer come in to the calling.  This technique works pretty well in some reprod units, but not all. 

[Special T]

In the off season when scouting i always bring hand pruners with me, some times a hatchet.  during the scouting after the leaves have fallen Ive made travel routes in the thick stuff so i can move through it more effectively. So far ive seen signs that deer end up traveling them just never caught up with them doing so. I think if you create a travel zone through thick stuff you may create an ambush opportunity. I dont think there is any way to sneak up on them in the really thick stuff cleared trail or not. And you have to try and hide the entrance from other hunters...

[fishnfur]

Agree with that.  Start your trails a couple (tree) rows in, in a spot you can find over and over again, but that other hunters will not realize are there at all.  You can also close adjacent trails just before hunting season, diverting deer on to the trails you want them to use.

[Special T]

iverson talked about hunting evenings on a stand. Ive personally bumped too many deer on the way to my black tail tree stand so i only sit in one during the evening.

[fishnfur]

Though he doesn't say it (or at least I don't remember it), I think Iverson did the same.  Go into the stand in the middle of the day and hunt the evening.

In my mind, if you keep jumping deer as you head in during pre-dawn hours, it makes sense to wait until just before first light to enter the woods, and hunt my way in to the target spot for that day.  During the early season, I may only have just a few minutes of shooting light before deer disappear and bed for the day, so being at that spot prior to first light makes sense.  At this point of the season, when we may find deer moving at any time of day, I'd rather not bump deer trying to get to some spot that may or may not have deer once I get there.  (This hasn't worked out for me at all, but it makes sense, and I can justify sleeping in a bit later  ).