Question for blacktail hunters

[TheGreenHunter]

This is my second season hunting and first time I'm trying archery.  I have not succeeded yet and still trying to learn deer behaviors.  I was hunting in gmu 460 in the western half of it.  From looking at the satellite imagery of the area, I picked a thin stand of trees between 2 clear cut areas to go walking in. 

I went to this location yesterday and was  about 25 yards into it as I walked up a little incline.  I was looking at the ground looking for tracks when I looked up and noticed a doe in front in front of me about 40 yards away.  I immediately stopped and it stared at me for a few minutes and then slowly walked away.

Afterwards, I was wondering why it didn't bolt off.  I'm sure it saw me way before I saw her.  The weather yesterday was a gray overcast with scattered sprinkles.  It was around 8 am and there was a steady wind blowing perpendicular to both of us. 

I was wearing a first lite cipher camo pattern.  I figured that given wind conditions, it did not get my scent.  Was the camo pattern enough to give a pause to the doe and it was trying to figure out what I was? 

Had it been a buck, I was wondering if I would have the same few minutes where it was looking at me.  I did ever so slowly manage to raise my bow to see if I could do that.

Also, has the rut already hit this area or not yet?

[dilleytech]

It didn’t smell you or have a fear of humans for any reason. Your camo didn’t make a difference.

[Mallardmasher]

They are the grey ghosts, they would rather slink off, and disappear then bring attention to themselves, if you would have just kept walking and angled to parallel her, not staring directly at her, she would have probably let you walk by, then slipped out behind you.
They would rather be Wiley like a pheasent, and only bust when stepped on, or just slither off.

[Bullkllr]

That, as above, and sometimes individual deer just do weird stuff.
I've had blacktails literally follow me around several times. Last week I had to chase a spike and doe out of their beds about 40 yards off a road in plain sight. I waved, yelled, then finally hucked about 6 rocks before they would move.

[Boss .300 winmag]

I seen older bucks get killed with younger ones in tow, that had to be chased off.😉

[fishnfur]

I agree with both of those first two answers, and I believe the third.  I've found that if does have relatively frequent contact with humans and are not hunted in their area (or had their boyfriend shot while standing next to them), they tend not to be afraid of humans (sometimes).  There are times though during the rut but when they are getting harassed daily (or possibly when some other predator is afoot), they seem to be hyper-sensitive to everything moving or making noise in the woods and will bolt at the slightest movement. 

You can continue on, as MallardMasher suggested, reverse course, or stand your ground and turn your back to the animal.  If you don't make long eye contact with them and/or pretend you never saw them, they generally remain still and calm.  Acting casual, as though you are out mushroom hunting or just walking in the woods will often keep them watching you out of curiosity.

We'll never know if it recognized you as a human.  If you had brush behind you and were very still, you may have been invisible to the doe, at least until you raised your bow.  Movement is a dead giveaway to a deer.  I've been busted trying to glass an area after standing still for five minutes with at tree behind me.  Even with a very slow-motion elevation of my binocs, an unseen buck and doe erupted from some brush and exited stage left waving white flags as they bounded away.  There have also been times when I've made a ton of noise and found does just standing their ground watching me.  I believe that during the rut, they are expecting a buck to come in and visit, so the noise is expected.  If they see humans frequently, they may just wait for you to pass, and they can get back to waiting for a buck to arrive. 

I don't think you'd find a buck willing to stand there for any period of time once the hunt is on, except possibly during the rut.  If the buck is tending a doe, he will often stay close by and not leave her for anything.  There may have been a buck with that doe you encountered, but you didn't see him standing in the brush a few yards away. 

I am not a great hunter, but I believe the best way to attempt an archery shot from the ground on a buck that has seen you is to very slowly turn away from the animal (or at least not look at him), very slowly nock an arrow and draw back, then make a turn back to aim and fire within a second or so of turning.  Someone with more expertise in bow hunting BTs can likely give you better instruction. 

The rut should keep many (but not all) bucks searching through the first week of December or so.  Some bucks will still respond to rattling through the end of the year, or until they loose their antlers.

[TheGreenHunter]

Thanks for the information.  It sounds like it could go either way with their behaviors.   I was just happy to actually see something as it was the closest I've ever been to a deer.  I took a day off for Thanksgiving but will be back at it for the next few days and hopefully see some bucks.  I would really like to see some rutting behavior. 

[fishnfur]

Go back to the same spot.  Keep eyes in the woods.  Look at the ground after you've scanned the woods for animals.  Pause often.  Look a lot.  Take a step or two.  Repeat.  Slower than slow.  If you see a single mature doe, expect a buck to be close by but at least partially hidden.  Good luck!

[Tradhunter]

Very good stuff from the above posters. That has all been pretty much my very experiences over the years so it is very normal to have blacktail stand there for you. IF...you see a mature buck, do not make eye contact with hm haha. No joke either as my friend and I both have had different experiences with this. Even at ten yards the bedded buck did not get out of his bed until my buddy locked eyes with it. Next move was full tilt to the next county. He tracked that buck for a half mile down the mountain and it never stopped running. Those guys you have to be careful with. Last year I missed a 125" and a 140" blacktail buck with my bow all within 20 minutes as they were just standing there staring at me. I didn't know it at the time but my sights had been moved while dragging my bow through the blacktail woods haha. I usually hunt with a recurve or my hybrid longbow so I wasn't use to having to take such great care of a bow that is so delicate. Stupid thing costed me a booner blacktail! Point of the story is you just never know. I think it all depends (I don't wear those by the way) on the area for pressure and human presence and mainly an individual deer.

[TheGreenHunter]

I totally struck out on Friday.  Didn't see anything.

When I checked the weather Friday night I noticed there was a winter storm warning in effect for the western side of the cascades and to expect snow down to the 3000 ft elevation. 

This Saturday morning I decided to get somewhere near that elevation in a different area.  There was fresh snow and at around the 3200 ft elevation, I found deer tracks.  They were in a clear area and were moving from a north facing slope to the southern facing area with some nice tree cover. 

I followed them into the tree covered area and did another slow walk but eventually lost the tracks. 

I'm going to try checking the same elevation area again on Sunday

I'm wondering if the rut still hasn't hit this area yet and that the bucks are still at the higher elevation?



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[dreadi]

I’ve been out hunting black tails since Wednesday with a break for T-Day and haven’t seen any since last week Saturday. So now I’ve got a question from all my time out there in the woods to think.

Are the Any Deer units categorized as such because during those seasons the young bucks may not have antlers yet or have already dropped them? Or is it because they have a higher deer density? The former seems to make more sense due to proximity of units that are currently Any Deer such as 454 and 460 which is Any Buck. 

[Special T]

Byod Iverson Blacktail tropphy tactics 2 read it.

in very promising areas like the timber strip first described go super slow with the wind in your face. binoculars helpo you see bucks bedded up against root wads and brush. 2 steps pause look around repeat. move SLOW!

good luck!

[Calvin Rayborn]

The spirit of the deer moves him as he pleases

[fishnfur]

    ....or sumpthin'

Dreadi - correct on deer density.  Populations are at or above recommended levels.

GreenHunter - at least one estrus cycle as come and gone.  Two down at lower levels.  There should still be bucks out looking for hot does. There may be another estrus cycle coming sometime in the next week or so (for unbred does).  You've got to stay in the woods in areas with a lot of fresh sign.  All you can do is try your hardest. 

Significant drops in barometric pressure just before a storm hits are notorious for getting the deer up and moving and trying to get some food in their bellies before they hunker down for the storm.  That is a great time to be out hunting in an area with a lot of deer.  (the hunting is not much better in an area with very few deer - it still sucks.)

[deerhunter_98520]

There still out with does, find the right doe and a buck will be close ....wish I had multi season....seen a masher 3pt with a doe at noon bedded in the middle of a clear cut this weekend