2020 Blacktail rut/pre-rut and post rut thread

[Skyvalhunter]

Thank You

[Forestskunk72]

Great information.  Thanks to everyone.  There is still time to fill the quality tag and then the late season. Gonna work it hard. You all are a wealth of knowledge. 

[Dysfunctional Vet]

GMU 663 (Cap Peak) has been eerily quiet during the rut. I've got a quality deer permit in hand for the unit and have hunted hard and deep for 6 days now, 3 days last week, the weekend, and today, dawn till late afternoon. The days have run the gamut on weather. I've sat on the edges of cuts far behind gates at first light for hours, busted brush and dark timber, tried calling and rattling from time to time, and only seen a couple of does. For real. That's it. I've seen plenty of fresh scrapes too but yet to see a single buck. I wonder if the extra use the outdoors are seeing this year is contributing to the lack of deer I am seeing. Maybe they've gone extra deep or are staying mostly nocturnal. Dunno? I've been reading this forum and see others are having a weird year. It's not just you. I created my account to share that I've had a tough go of it too, even with a nice permit in hand. There is still time to punch my tag, and I hope to get out another day or two, but I sure thought I might be seeing some more action with a quality deer permit.   

FWIW, thanks everyone for sharing their stories, successful and not. I learn a lot here and hope to contribute more when I have more to contribute.

I saw some deer porn in Capitol forest on Sunday. A 2x3 mounted a doe and 3 spikes were harassing another doe. Watched them for over an hour until I got bored. They were all on a south facing slope at 9am.

[SeatoSummit88]

I want to play this scenario out, so I can get all of you BT Veterans to chime in and put your advice on it.... What do you do if the Doe's in the area are all done with their breeding window?  Are there still going to be lurker young bucks around trying to find one; So I might have a chance at catching one scent checking beds, trails, walking in around in general etc? Or will the Bucks know its over and be done acting rutty, if the girls in the area are done as well...And I'll have to go find their bedroom within the thick stuff/old timber?  I have no idea what to expect in the area I'm going to, this season. All I know is that there was a 2 point in there about 2 seasons ago, and I believe he has not been harvested. I don't have an idea where there are active beds/rubs and trails, but the hunting pressure will be extremely limited/ potentially none, as I'll be going in 3-5 miles behind the gate and dropping into the timber/creek bottoms after I glass some cuts... My thought was that if there were no active Doe's in the bottom of this one cut I'll be glassing, and nothing coming in (buck or doe) to calls/rattles...Then I'll just have to punch into the thick and go try to sneak in on their sleeping areas.

I'll have my ground blind set up above the landing road within the christmas trees, over looking the cut....with estrus scent around me on the landing road and strips tied to my sides/roof...

I do have a hang on stand that has not been set up yet, with some tree spike screws (which seem like a quieter option than hooking up a ladder)....I was thinking that the evening before I could go out and set this thing up in a "Hail Mary" tree/location....As the idea progressed in my head that if my walking/stalking/landing glassing didnt work, I could hop in this thing and just give it the good old fashioned wait...

[7mmfan]

Bucks will stay active for some time cruising through checking does. Even if all those does are bred, bucks will continually cover ground looking for those that haven't. That happens through about the end of the month, with decreasing activity after about the 20th in my opinion. If there are does in that cut, I'd camp on them. If there is good sign in that cut, I'd camp on it. If you sit there a whole day and nothing shows, then I'd consider heading down into the creek bottom and checking out what's going on down there.

[SeatoSummit88]

Appreciate that 7MM.  This year I'll have a few different tools and will work on being a lot more patient. I have a tripod for my binos and a spotting scope with tripod, along with those, I have a phone mount for camera display, so I can attach to either glass. Im going to work on scanning the surrounding area a lot slower and in pieces. But my thought is the same, if I'm not seeing any movement or Does the first day or at least the first half of the day, I am going to jump down into the creek/timber and look for trails.  Will also be trying out: Fawn in Distress & Buck Grunt Calls, and some rattling.

[fishnfur]

Timing was right on.  After two days of no deer at all on apples, yesterday afternoon and last night the forkie buck missing one side, another forkie that I've never seen before, a 3 x 2, and the 5 X 3 all made appearances.  I hadn't seen the five point since August - go figure!

The three point and forkie chased doe around off and on all night long.  All of them partook in the apples at some point. 

 

[fishnfur]

I thought this was a pretty cool vid so.....here you go:

[fishnfur]

Bucks will stay active for some time cruising through checking does. Even if all those does are bred, bucks will continually cover ground looking for those that haven't. That happens through about the end of the month, with decreasing activity after about the 20th in my opinion. If there are does in that cut, I'd camp on them. If there is good sign in that cut, I'd camp on it. If you sit there a whole day and nothing shows, then I'd consider heading down into the creek bottom and checking out what's going on down there.

Completely agree with that.  If you see doe in the cut, I'd just sit on them and watch as long as possible. A buck can show up at any time, even if they have all been bred. If there was a timbered edge with substantial timber above the cut you're on, I'd go up there to hunt if the cut was vacant.   

For the most part, deer head uphill after eating unless there is no higher ground.  The first hundred yards above the edge is where the doe settle in to bed.  Bucks scent checking the area during the daylight hours may be moving horizontally across the hill above them, allowing the thermals to carry doe scent up to them.  If one is smelling like she's close to estrus, a bucks will be with them shortly.  If there is no timber above the cut, I would suspect that they move laterally into the timber on the sides after feeding. 

I don't explore creek bottoms often though the doe certainly go down there to feed too.  If it is a splashy noisy creek, then they use it less.  Alder bottoms are famous for good BT hunting - but you stand out like a sore thumb if you're up walking around with no cover around you.  It is very very hard to stay quiet while under alder too  - twigs and branches on the ground, popping as you go guarantees you will probably not see deer. As Jakeland says - you've got to move slug-slow and feel for any twigs that might snap before you put your weight on that foot.  Hold that position long enough to slowly visualize everything around you (without moving quickly or too much) then take another careful step and repeat.  Your goal is that you look absolutely still to any animal observing you - think 50 to 100 yards per hour speed.   If they don't see you move (or smell you) they often will not know you're there.  I can't tell you how many times I've been busted lifting my binocs to glass - many!  I rarely glass close in when I still hunt now.  I just use them once I'm sure there's no deer close.  Anyways, still hunting well is hard work!   

Working edges of alder and staying in the darker timber hides you as you hunt and makes life a lot easier.  Calling from there might be productive too - but hide before you do it and expect that any approaching buck will likely come around to your downwind side to scent check you before you see him.  Positioning yourself where you can see well for 50 yards or so downwind before you rattle/grunt gives you an opportunity to catch him coming in before he catches you wind.

Lastly, if you see a doe with her tail sticking straight out while she is just standing, then she is likely hot.  They know how to use thermals and prevailing winds to carry their scent as far and wide as possible.  That increases the odds of finding a great source of genetic material vs. the local horny spike.   Doe tails do stick straight out as the bend their necks to feed, so you have to observe for a while to understand just what is going on.  If she is hot and there's a breeze working, there are enough bucks in the CF to put a buck with her in short order.

Have fun!  Good luck.

[SeatoSummit88]

Awesome video Fishnfur...And advice!  Appreciate everyones insights and opinions.

[JakeLand]

I’ll tell you this a good friend shot a dick dragger of a 4x4 and he was on a cut all day and never saw them until they got up from there beds right in the middle of the cut the does stood up first then within 10 minutes he watched the buck stand up right from where the Does were
So don’t rule out that a cut is empty too early

[fishnfur]

Like magic - they appear out of nowhere!

[JimmyHoffa]

Like magic - they appear out of nowhere!

might think I'm crazy for this (have to be crazy to enjoy BT hunting), but there are times I can smell that I'm near them.  Talking about close, within 20 yds.  I'll look all around and just can't seem to find them.  I can back track to where I first sniffed and there won't be any smell.  Usually there is a something about the location, like it is a corner of the reprod across from a different corner of different aged reprod.  Noticed over the years that they seem to like a good diagonal trail through whatever age cut/reprod/timber that seems to cross at the human intersections.   

[fishnfur]

I'd love to see a diagram of that 'cause I'm having trouble visualizing it.  I'm dead serious.

My wife has a nose that is probably 10X more sensitive than mine.  I can't smell jack after a lifetime of chronic sinusitis and a couple broken noses.  Hunters talk about smelling them this time of the season.....   I've never experienced it.

[JakeLand]

Sweet smell of Rutty buck !!