Blacktail Deer Question

[Onewhohikes]

Sometimes I think your better off sitting in an area if you have had deer on cam. Problem is if the pics are all nocturnal. I have a tough time sitting and waiting.

[brokentrail]

I really think if you can force yourself to sit, and sit all day,  you have a better chance of getting a deer, as long as there are deer using/in that area.  I see a lot of deer that are not within the 2 hour morning/evening time most folks are usually in the woods.

[Buzz2401]

I shoot a deer every year.  Usually small 2-3 points.  I typically start out driving from clear cut to clear cut glassing.  If I am not seeing anything in the cuts I will move to still hunting the timber.  I personally have had horrible luck still hunting unless I get some good cover weather(wind, snow, fog, rain).  If its calm and sunny it can be incredibly hard to sneak up on deer in the thick western Washington woods.  Not an expert by any means but it works well for me and has for 25+ years.

[JakeLand]

My opinion skip road hunting as it’s not hunting
99% of my hunting is done steep and deep where no one else wants to go
Rain and wind is your friend I prefer hunting steep ground with small benches or small older cuts along timberlines once you 6+ miles in is where you start to not see anyone

[cooltimber]

I really think if you can force yourself to sit, and sit all day,  you have a better chance of getting a deer, as long as there are deer using/in that area.  I see a lot of deer that are not within the 2 hour morning/evening time most folks are usually in the woods.

You r right ,im better between 10-3;30.

[JakeLand]

I’ve never shot a mid day buck, always crack of dawn or last minute till dark and a vast majority are in the rain

[brokentrail]

I’ve never shot a mid day buck, always crack of dawn or last minute till dark and a vast majority are in the rain

Really @jakeland ?  I never would have assumed that with how far in you go and I assume you are in there daylight to dark?  I have killed deer in the early morning, mid-day and last light but all of my deer combined probably don't score what one of yours does    The biggest blacktail I've ever shot was a crab claw 3, everything else has been forks.  Granted, first legal deer I get a chance at, I'm taking it.

[fishnfur]

Hey All,

I have heard that the normal rate of success in Washington for Blacktail is one every 5 years. Being that I am new to hunting, and haven't had success yet. Still hoping I may get a chance during archery but modern rifle was a bust too many people kind of ruined it. That being said, the more I talk to locals the more I hear the statement that people are more successful specifically with blacktail by driving around looking for them. I am wondering if this is just situational, or if others seem to have the same experience? I thought originally people road hunted because they got older and hiking in to the woods etc. But now I am wondering if it's just a common thing because people have had better success that way.

The success that road hunters have is based on several factors 1) luck that a buck jumps out in front of you, 2) covering a lot of ground by glassing many cuts during a single day rather than just one, or 3) by having several hunters in the rig looking into and under the forest for deer as they drive slowly down the road. That one in 5 years is an average based on all hunters.  Some kill bucks every year (Jakeland and others), some never kill bucks but just like getting out of the house and trying.  The first years are the toughest.  Once you get a shot off on one, your confidence level goes way up and you have the patience to suffer the bad weather and long sits (or bike rides - Jakeland again!) because you now really know that there is such a thing as a BT buck.  They are no longer a myth. 
 
As far as archery hunting in the late season, I've had no luck myself, though I've often lost the fire for hunting after modern firearm.  I continue to hear stories by other hunters that have managed to rattle in big bucks near clearcuts/reprod all the way into late December.  I would definitely make rattling a significant portion of your strategy post-rut, and probably make it vigorous loud rattling that might get a local buck off his butt to go investigate. 
   
The bucks are not actively cruising anywhere near the level they were previously.  As the weather gets colder, deer metabolism slows down so they don't need as many calories input to stay alive during the winter starvation period.  That presumably means less and less movement.  If a local doe is still unbred and cycling through estrus periods, there are bucks still interested in taking care of her needs.  The next 10 days or so should be the best of the remaining season -BT studies showed that 99+ percent of the doe population has conceived by the first few days of December.  That doesn't mean the bucks have totally lost interest, but their odds of finding a hot doe are very small, so presumably, they are back to doing things that ensure their winter survival.   

I may be wrong but the way I see it, to find a buck in the late season, you need to do one of three things - 1) them in their beds, 2) assault them as they come and go to feed (which is now very close to where they bed since the best browse is long gone), or finally - 3) lure them in by making them think they have a chance to breed another doe.  Good luck!

[fishnfur]

I just posted this on a different BT thread, which differs from my response above: 
--------------------------------------------------------
I just went back through my old messages and found this short statement by PolarBear who is a very good hunter:

"If I was hunting late season I would still do a drag line but sit in a spot and watch the edges of the timber or saddles where they cross to feed.  I usually don't call or rattle after the middle of November.  The bucks are not as interested in does and are now in the feed before it gets really cold mode. You could try some light rattling or doe bleats just don't go overboard with it.  I have seen bucks come back into rut at the end of December.  I helped an old timer kill a HUGE 5x5 on New Year's Eve a few years back that was pushing a doe really hard.  It was the one and only time I have seen a blacktail buck in full rut that late in the year."

I added after his comments:
My first instinct would be to rattle loudly hoping to get noticed by every buck within earshot.  Perhaps his way first, then louder later.  Keep moving periodically to areas outside the sound range of the last location.  The quasi-biologist in me thinks that bucks don't come and go in and out of rut, they just continue to respond to an estrus doe until they loose their antlers.  The buck may have been focused on eating previously, but if a hot doe is close, food is quickly forgotten and all he wants to do is breed.   

[slowhand]

My opinion skip road hunting as it’s not hunting
99% of my hunting is done steep and deep where no one else wants to go
Rain and wind is your friend I prefer hunting steep ground with small benches or small older cuts along timberlines once you 6+ miles in is where you start to not see anyone

Tell Me this doesn't sound exactly like Deerburger.
Jake Knows His Sh-t and has had great success harvesting mature blacktail. I have followed him on here for a long time. When He talks I listen. also 3nails is the man.
You are doing things right Zack. We just had the covid muti season sellout, pope resorces, no access deerburger gate, and mexican mafia year from hell. Spend your time setting up a bait station and camera at that rub line we found. Its by far the most rubs I have ever seen in one location.
Also Your buddy slowhand knows his stuff. LOL
Loosing My two best areas to pope resorces made it tough.

[Skyvalhunter]

lets see those rubs