Late Season Blacktail-Getting Discouraged

[WapitiTalk1]

Oh hey, how high up should my treestand be? I am planning on placing the stand on the edge of a cut.

At least 15’ but higher is better. John Erickson, author of Tree Stand Hunting Rocky Mountain elk advocates up to 30’......

[ljsommer]

Oh hey, how high up should my treestand be? I am planning on placing the stand on the edge of a cut.

At least 15’ but higher is better. John Erickson, author of Tree Stand Hunting Rocky Mountain elk advocates up to 30’......

I can't shoot well over 40 yards just yet so I was wondering how much of a consideration I needed to make with that regard. Is setting up in a cut a bad idea?

[WapitiTalk1]

Gotta target the game trails leading into or leaving the feeding cuts bro.  Remember, BTs will travel one direction “to” feed and another “leaving”. They’re weird deer  .

[fishnfur]

I put in about 50+ hours of hunting since early December.  Mostly in GMU 454 and 460.  During that time I saw 1 deer.  My buddies who hunted with rifles earlier in the season had no problem spotting and finding their deer in this area.  We hunted the same spots and the areas are still heavily tracked up.  Do deer become more scarce in late December?  Maybe more nocturnal?  It's like they just disappeared....

They travel less and feed less.  There's not a lot of nutritious food out there in the winter.  It is a starvation diet that they're hoping will carry them through until spring.  Conserving energy is their priority. Sucks to work that hard and see so little.  I hate the late season - it can be really frustrating.  Knowing where/when the deer travel to and from food sources is super important in achieving regular sightings of animals.

[dreadi]

I had to stop hunting for a couple days and catch up on work that came in, in addition to family that came in town.

While not hunting yesterday and having lunch on Whidbey Island, I met Sam Lungren of MeatEater.

[Skyvalhunter]

What did you think

[predatorG]

At least 15 to 20 for sure. That’s gonna feel like a mile when you’re up there. I was up in my stand yesterday and the wind made me feel like I was in a roller coaster. Super spooky.

[ljsommer]

At least 15 to 20 for sure. That’s gonna feel like a mile when you’re up there. I was up in my stand yesterday and the wind made me feel like I was in a roller coaster. Super spooky.

Yeesh! I better practice today. They sent me my stand missing one of the foot stirrups but I think I can use it with only one. I'll find out today when I practice. The weather tomorrow will be worse for hunting but better for my first time in a stand - I think if the weather was like it was last Friday I wouldn't make it. That was some gnarly stuff.

[Jonathan_S]

For those guys who are hunting blacktail so much and not seeing them. How many of you are carrying a decent set of binoculars and using them?

[ljsommer]

For those guys who are hunting blacktail so much and not seeing them. How many of you are carrying a decent set of binoculars and using them?

Carrying: All the time. Using: Not nearly as much as I should be. Ironically, my last trip out I used them the most I ever have, but the weather was so bad they were either fogged from the bino case or covered in water droplets which made it hard to see out them.

I'll definitely be using my binos a LOT more when I am out there, especially if I am stalking through an area that looks like good bed habitat.

[fishnfur]

Dry optics is a process unto itself.  Tireless vigilance.  Here's some ideas.  Use the search function for more:

https://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,108663.msg1421416.html#msg1421416
 
Here's a couple more of my own:

When sitting but not glassing, my binocs are suspended above the belt/abodomen.  My body heat warms the objective lens' causing them to fog.  I try to remember to push them off to the side of my body where they won't warm and fog.

I had a set of inexpensive Leupolds that fogged whenever I kept my hands on them in icy weather.  Leave them alone for ten minutes and they were fine again.  Turns out the seal was broken on them - consider that it may be that your glass is defective.

[t2shortb]

For those guys who are hunting blacktail so much and not seeing them. How many of you are carrying a decent set of binoculars and using them?

I always carry mine too and use them a lot, I'd venture to say more than most. I have some 10x50 leupolds that are awesome for low light situations and I tend to use them quite a bit when I am picking my way through dark timber and thick stuff. I can see more with my binos than I can with my eyes in the lower light situations. During early season I was going to cut across a corner of a clear cut and stopped short to glass first  and I didn't see anything. I moved in about 60 yards and came up out of a little depression and looked down into the next little depression that was about 50 yards further in front of me with naked eyes and didn't see anything, grabbed the binos up and 35 yards dead nuts ahead were two fawns clear as day bedded down... totally missed them with the naked eyes. somehow they were oblivious to me being there which I think had a lot to due with it being pretty windy that day, but I eased into 17 yards just to see how close I could get by taking a few silent steps at a time when they were not looking my way. I just let my camo do its job and I wasn't skylined. pretty awesome because had I not pulled up the binos I never would have seen them until they busted me... which happened once that great swirly wind thing happened...lol  they were like, "oh hey...we gone"
They were not shooters, but I learned the importance of using the glass much more than I had been prior to that day even in situation where you don't think you need them!

[dreadi]

Binos are like a AMEX.

[ljsommer]

Binos are like a AMEX.

Yes! Exactly! "You won't get to use it that often, but when you do, you'll feel like a rockstar!"

[dreadi]

Finally saw two HUGE bucks in the 4x variety walking within bow range!

Unfortunately we were in the car pulling into the zoo parking lot in north Tacoma.