Free: Contests & Raffles.
Just spend your free time this and next year just doing scouting. On weekends, holidays, or any other day that you have to lay on the couch do nothing, find different places and do a lotta scouting. Even if you can't get out, check out the forums(hunting, fishing, hiking), maps, and so forth. If u got a bike, use it to get anywhere easier and faster, if not, you can find a really good one for less 100 bucks easily. I got my Giant mt bike in a pretty much new condition for 80 bucks that costs at least $500 at the stores. Ride behind the gates to learn the places or hike the trails.If you go where it's easy for most people to go, you won't find crap unless you get lucky. The more time you put in for scouting, the better you will be. This season wasn't as good for me because I didn't do any scouting due to my long absence from the country. I personally would never-ever hire a guide, even for a specific animal that I have absolutely no clue about, I'd rather study myself and do everything myself. I'd rather fail for a year, but learn how to get them by myself next year, rather than paying 3K just for being taken to a spot where you both know you'll see deer for sure and just paying $3000 just to experience that moment of shooting it, meeeh. I don't think you'll learn much IMO. Just easy hunt, taking cool pictures, and meat in the freezer, not much learned, no challenges, no adventures. (no offense to hunting guides here). if you just wanna do it once in a lifetime just to experience it, yes, hire a guide, if you wanna hunt for the rest of your life, do it yourself. If you ever got questions, post the question and people will do their best to help you here.
"Keep your chin up. This is supposed to be fun, but also, rarely is it easy. It can be very frustrating at times but that can all end in a split second when a buck suddenly shows himself. It happens so quick that you have trouble believing what just went down before your eyes. Enjoy it for what it is - a chance to challenge yourself, be in the woods, and attempt to outsmart a critter with exceptional survival instincts. It will be over in the blink of an eye. Come January, you'll regret it if you didn't give it your best effort."Fishnfur hit the nail on the head The hunt is the best part of the it. I had my most favorite BT season yet last year. Hunted harder and more days than I ever had the chance to in the past......and i didn't get one last year either.I'd go buy a bear tag and cougar tag if you dont already have them. Go out this weekend and find a gut pile to sit over. You might get yourself one of the above, coyote or bobcat. You will most likely see the buck you weren't able to get this year. Also, noticed you posted at 4:30pm on Halloween.
Halloween is an excellent day to take a Blacktail. I kinda agree that you shouldn’t have posted until about 7:00 as shooting hours were until 6:20 and a big one probably would have come in at a nice location at about 6:00 or so. Being in woods until you can’t be is how you get one.SR1
Patience and flashing plays off, this is the crap my buck this year was bedded in. Patch of alder saplings in a ravine with lots of slash and blow down.
My best bt experience was my second year of hunting when I shot my first deer--a mature 3x4. That week..mid season during modern, we saw a buck or two every day and 5-10 does a day. I shot my buck on the 3rd day. Dnr land on the peninsula. I've changed areas every season practically since then, mostly because I moved. Stil looking for an area. I think there are bt in Whatcom/Skagit/sno county...finding an area where they consistently hsng out is another thing altogether. I gauge an area by the amount of sign I see and I'm surprised how many good looking area e.g. timber, cuts have next to no sign. Course when ag land is only a few miles away, I wonder if the deer just concentrate where it's safe and there's food. I want to see lots of sign and consistently see animals on multiple trips before I commit to a spot..that's my current line of thinking anyways. I was out in the rain all day today, glass cuts surrounding timber. There's sign in the cuts. I didn't see a single deer.
I’ve hunted black tails for many years, I’ll take luck over any thing! I’ve done it all, tree stand from 1 hour before light till after dark, bait w trail cameras, walk in a gated road 6 miles hours before dark, road hunted, hunted all three weapons year after year. Hunted private, public, areas with lots of sign, little sign, busted through stickers, ferns, reprod! Dude, black tails are the devil!! I could have killed small bucks just about every year, hell, even passed up a 4x4 on that 6 mile hike because he didn’t have eye guards, but, out of all that and 31 years, I really haven’t seen that many blacktail bucks. I am not lucky w that species, I’ll take luck over skill ANY day! If you want to kill deer, go with white tails in Idaho on the late hunt, it’s fun and you’ll actually get lucky!
Your welcome to come with our group for the late hunt. I can’t guarantee you a Deer but I can put you on a great spot. Been hunting this public land area for over 25 years. I took a hunting-Washington member last year. We are great friends now and text each other all the time. Pm Me if You’re interested.
