2020 Blacktail rut/pre-rut and post rut thread

[Thehowler]

Who knows, but maybe you had a cat move in? I've seen individual areas crash pretty fast once they move in.   

Had one move into one of my areas. Got a shot off at him and missed. Went to check for any blood and I could smell that stinky sucker. He smelt like a gut shot coyote. I stepped up on the road after I was done looking, and see him again crossing the road about 200 yards away. I hoofed it down the road hopping to spot him again, never saw him again but could smell him.
Large cat but looked thin.

[fishnfur]

There's always a chance a cat is working the area.  It's happened before about 5 miles on the other side of town.   

You never know what's out there.  I'm pretty sure I heard a wolf in the pre-dawn hours out in 530/Ryderwood on the MF deer opener where there are not supposed to be any wolves.  Nothing else makes a noise even close to that moan on the Westside that I know of.  I had to hit the internet to find the match to the sounds I heard.  I went to the wolf reporting website for WDFW to investigate and sure enough, someone else reported a "sighting" about 5 miles from there in June of this year.  Go figure - WDFW spending our hunting dollars to bring in predators.........

[TheStovePipeKid]

I've got a bear and a cat working the area I'm hunting and it really is making for sporadic deer activity. There are quite a few homes near the area and the deer use them as a safety buffer when they can.

[fishnfur]

Perhaps it was the cold weather, but the deer all suddenly decided to get up and move last night.  Six to eight or more different animals coming and going starting at 2030, then 2130, 2330, 0130 and 0500.  Only one 3X2 buck that was with a single doe, but he seemed to be content eating apples.  Hard to tell which ones were repeat visitors.

Edit - (5 hours later).   I checked a different cam and found that there had been a menagerie of small bucks with goofy sets or single spike antlers chasing a couple doe w/ fawns around early AM on 6 Nov.  There had been a 2X0 forkie in the yard a week ago, and he seems to have lost his last good horn, but he's still chasing the girls on that morning.  Perhaps loosing his bones it is a strategy to keep from getting poached.     Only the 3X2 is anywhere near being a decent buck.  Seems like things should pick up in the next couple days - maybe the big boys will come out to play. 

Here's the forkie before (and I assume) after loosing his last proof of manhood. ( though when I compare them together, I'm not so sure they are the same buck)

[fishngamereaper]

Well chalk up another day to no visual sightings..hit the evening hunt after kid finished his school work.
Nothing moving. We found are area with the huck brush worked over pretty good along some thick 10-12 year old reprod. Some light rattling eventually got us a couple snort wheezes but nothing would show itself...

Kid is about tapped out . Probably drag him out a couple more times but his motivation is all but gone.

[WSU]

His luck should change with the rain!

[WapitiTalk1]

Well chalk up another day to no visual sightings..hit the evening hunt after kid finished his school work.
Nothing moving. We found are area with the huck brush worked over pretty good along some thick 10-12 year old reprod. Some light rattling eventually got us a couple snort wheezes but nothing would show itself...

Kid is about tapped out . Probably drag him out a couple more times but his motivation is all but gone.

Sure hope a snot nose, rutty buck makes himself available for the young hunter soon 

[fishngamereaper]

His luck should change with the rain!

One would think so .
Problem is he's not at my level of insanity ( I'm part duck) so he's only good for a couple hours in the rain.

I think the rut is just starting in the area's we hunt which will probably lead to a slaughter fest late season. Just hope we are in on it.

[fishnfur]

Maybe give him a break for 3 or 4 days?   Blacktail are often a tough hunt for kids.  No problem when you luck upon one on opening day, but grinding day after day without seeing jack even makes me question my motivation. 

[fishngamereaper]

Thought he wanted today off until he told me at 230 he wanted to go...so I dropped everything and off we went.
I'm pretty sure he's skipping tomorrow. Should be back at it Wed with the no school holiday. It's easy for me to keep plugging along, I've been there done that with success and failure and know a deer could be right around the corner. He's felt nothing but the agony of defeat for 4 year's running, so he doesn't have the smell of success to keep him driving on. We ain't giving up yet..

[highside74]

Maybe give him a break for 3 or 4 days?   Blacktail are often a tough hunt for kids.  No problem when you luck upon one on opening day, but grinding day after day without seeing jack even makes me question my motivation.

I agree. I hated hunting blacktail as a kid. I don't even hunt the 1st 4 to 5 days of the early modern ao I don't burn myself out by the end of Oct when it usually gets good.

[WSU]

Maybe give him a break for 3 or 4 days?   Blacktail are often a tough hunt for kids.  No problem when you luck upon one on opening day, but grinding day after day without seeing jack even makes me question my motivation.

I agree. I hated hunting blacktail as a kid. I don't even hunt the 1st 4 to 5 days of the early modern ao I don't burn myself out by the end of Oct when it usually gets good.

I don’t hunt until the last handful of days. It is a grind for sure and hard to stay positive.

[fishnfur]

  

I used to think the old guys were crazy passing up all those early days of the season.       Now I get it.   

[Skyvalhunter]

They were

[Sundance]

I hunted 3 hours opening weekend, one day the second weekend, then the last three days of the season. The first two days were checking cameras and sitting in stands over newer areas. The last three days I hit it hard. I’d be curious to see the data from WDFW of percentage harvested the last week of season vs the first half. I’d also be curious to see the data of average antler points taken the first half vs the second half of the season.