new blacktail hunter (another one!)

[fishnfur]

Look who'b back - the mentoree!   I'm sitting here (jealously) thinking of your hunt last year. I'll bet you $10 you can't beat the green score on that buck this year.....     Hopefully we get some good Blacktail topics/threads going this season.  Perhaps we should rework the Benchleg Blacktail debate just for fun (?)

For that very reason I put in for and drew a whitetail rut tag, I need to take a season off blacktail hunting. That being said I may hit an alpine spot this week for bear and if a stud buck were to walk out...

Would it work to use a fawn in distress call to call in does which would then lay a scent trail for cruising bucks to follow?  Or would the does get spooked after a while and scare off any bucks that might be following her?

I've only ever had success with the fawn bawl on Kodiak and POW for Sitka Blacktail. Typically I would see a doe coming across a hillside or a muskeg towing a buck. Down here it's so thick where I hunt I fear that a doe or buck may come to investigate and then hang up at 50 yards to survey the situation and wind/see me before I know they are there. Think of it as coming into your own house and ready for a fight if the door was ajar and the front window smashed, all your senses are on high alert.

I would opt to use doe bleats, buck grunts, rattling, and scent trails early in the fall (October 15-25th) to attempt sucking in a cruising buck. I really like the figure 8 scent trail set below a treestand- length of the 8 @ 100-200 yards, placed 20-30 yard infront of the stand on a bench or trail transition.

I like that suggestion though I'm a bit more than squeemish about using doe urine on the ground anymore.  I've no problem hanging a scent wick out in the breeze but the quesions regarding prions in deer urine causing deer wasting disease have made me shy away from the drag rag tactic (that, and it never once worked for me  )

A great place to use a fawn in distress call is when hunting a clearcut from above with a rifle.  Scream like a pig on that call.  If there are deer in the area, they will often stand up to see what's happening.  I've tried the call in the woods and had not luck.  Hide well before calling if you're using this tactic.

[Spuddieselwwu]

 I have always hunted clear cuts and still hunted timber and have had great success, but a tactic I picked up last year (in addition to everything that's been listed) was I think from Fishnfur was to find a stretch of overgrown or rarely used logging road that has 6-10 year old reprod on either side and sit on it.  Sit on the high side with a 200-300 yard lane and just sit it waiting for deer to cross back and forth.  I was out hunting last year in late October mid day and figured I'd try it out after reading about it on here the night before.   I walked a string of estrus down the road and sat in a camp chair with a shooting stick and within 30 minutes there were 6 deer that crossed the road, 2 being bucks.  I will try that tactic a bit this year as well - I was surprised at how well it worked.  Just something to keep in your arsenal if you get tired of beating the brush and want a more relaxing hunt.

[fishnfur]

I got that general idea/tactic from RadSav.  He loves those edges with differing forest types across a road from each other.  You thought up the idea of using Doe in Estrus scent across that spot on your own.  Good thinking.  Stay flexible in how you hunt.  Glad to hear that worked for you.  (I take no credit in your success though).  Let us know if that works again this year.  Dependable tactics are hard to come by when Blacktail hunting.

[Spuddieselwwu]

I got that general idea/tactic from RadSav.  He loves those edges with differing forest types across a road from each other.  You thought up the idea of using Doe in Estrus scent across that spot on your own.  Good thinking.  Stay flexible in how you hunt.  Glad to hear that worked for you.  (I take no credit in your success though).  Let us know if that works again this year.  Dependable tactics are hard to come by when Blacktail hunting.

That's right, it was RadSav.  Yeah, I walked that estrus on my own accord.  Both the bucks walked across the road, stopped dead in their tracks right in the middle of the road where I dragged that estrus with their nose on the ground.