Seeking Help

[Mister Fudd]

Hey all, I'm going into my 3rd year hunting solo. Have killed one blacktail in my life but the shot was sort of setup by a close friend of mine in Oregon. Basically he dropped me off in one area and then he pushed a buck right to me.

Past two years I've hunted the snoqualmie tree farm ( Campbell group) in GMU 460.  I know for certain I'm in an area that holds deer. Jumped a couple doe last season and just yesterday saw a doe and her fawn in a scouting trip. I'm seeing tons of deer tracks and scat. Have also found a potential bear den (8 piles of bear scat in a 20 ft radius)

But haven't seen a single buck! And don't know what is the best technique.

I assume there are bucks in the area given my sightings of does. Is this logical?

What technique should I be using in season? Glass clear cuts? Or get into a spot that I know holds deer and just sit from sunrise to sunset?

[fishnfur]

There are no easy answers.  Sitting on five year old reprod and glassing all day is never a waste of time. If you're not in the glass then you're not hunting well.  It's hard work but it pays off for many, many hunters.

If you haven't read (memorized) Iverson's " Blacktail Trophy Tactics II "or Haugen's "Trophy Blacktails; The Science of the Hunt" then you are liokely flailing about and grasping at straws.  Check Amazon for used copies if time allows.  Just as good, or perhaps better, Steve Ishdal's How to Hunt/Blacktail Hunting App available on iPhone and Android has really good vids that get you up to speed quickly while providing little known tidbits that the books never touch.  3 or 4 bucks a month subscription will save you hundreds of dollars on gas and time wasted. 

I hunt areas both south or west of you.  I've never heard great success reports from Snoqualamie though everyone agrees there's a lot of deer there.  If it was me, I'd head North to Stilly/Skagit or West across the Sound.  All said, I'd read at least one of the books and pay for the app.  Hit the woods and try to make sense of what you've read and hear. Ask questions after that.  Good luck!

[MAVsled]

I hunted 460 back in the Weyerhauser days, when only a day or two was available for hunting in my schedule.
When access was FREE!

High country near Lake Hancock was my favorite. Glassing the fresh, 1-4 year old clear cut edges.
My dad and I took many nice blacktail bucks from that area.

Last hunted it 2012 under Hancock pass/permit a few years ago. Mostly late November, December archery season.
Saw 4 mountain lions, 1 bobcat, and I discovered 2 WDFW cage traps baited with dead, road kill does. These steel-wire rectangular traps were 20' long, 5' height, 6'wide.
My hikes & hunts along clear cut edges, next to 2nd reprod growth, found 2 dead bucks, dirt-leaves-branches piled over what remained of their bodies/meat.

just too many big cats in that country these days...and probably worse 9 years later.

I used to alternate between wetside and dryside for deer hunting, my dad too. Always depended on available time to hunt. We'd hunt for a week in the Okanogan/Methow and if not successful the western WA late buck 4 day November season.

Since 2013, it's all 100% eastside muleys for my choice.

[MAVsled]

But just before or around Halloween, the rut may start. That and wet or snowy weather, finding does along the clear cut edges was always the key for my dad & I.

I think the 4 day November buck season, usually Thursday-Friday-Saturday-Sunday was eliminated in GMU-460 and now restricted to only a special permit draw.
Too bad, that was always an nice late November hunt for big bucks with swollen necks.

[Twispriver]

There are a lot of better blacktail hunters than me on this site but my advise is to hunt the last week of the general season all day every day in the places where you are seeing does. The closer you get to the end of October the more the bucks are moving around locating does.

[Turner89]

It's tough on the west side hunting in September unless your hunting residential or farms. Like others have said you have better luck in October. 
 I would be there before daylight and glass all day.

[pd]

There are a lot of better blacktail hunters than me on this site but my advise is to hunt the last week of the general season all day every day in the places where you are seeing does. The closer you get to the end of October the more the bucks are moving around locating does.

Fish & Fur above is a friend, and I would follow his advice.  But if you want an even easier lesson in BT hunting, remember this quote above.  Exactly that.

[predatorG]

FishnFur knows his stuff for sure. I've only ever hunted archery, so I got used to the dates. Everyone is right when they say that late Oct is the best time during general season to find a mature buck. However, I've seen plenty of swollen bucks on thanksgiving openers before. My dad shot a buck in a late December snowstorm that was chasing a doe hard, nose right up her butt all over the trail. If I remember right does go into heat a second time (15 days after??) getting unsuccessfully bred during the first heat. I recommend time in the woods same as everyone else says. After rut ends, bucks will need to find cover and food. They have been barely eating for a month and now are almost in the heart of winter. Look for reprod or a clear cut close to some thick timber. Lots of different terrain types mixed in with some varied elevation should provide big bucks with cover and food as they attempt to pack on the calories.