Blacktail hunting GMU 568

[Tegan2000]

Looking to get out this year for blacktail for the first time by myself. I am gonna be hunting in GMU 568 and was wondering if anyone had any tips or pointers for hunting blacktail in this unit.

[fishnfur]

Blacktail hunting, in general, is pretty much the same wherever you go in Washington.  Glassing clearcuts, still hunting timber, and spot and stalk techniques (for more advanced hunters) all work.  Elevation, local habitat, time of the season, age of a given buck amongst other things, may change their behavior in a specific area.  If you're new to hunting and not sure how to proceed, I'd recommend that you do as much reading as you have time for on hunting tactics for BT deer on this website (since time is so short).  The search function at the top of the page allows you to find topics/threads specific to BT hunting.  There are likely at least a few threads on Washougal GMU as well.  Seems like I remember reading a couple of posts on that area that suggested specific areas or DNR roads.  For many beginning hunters, focusing efforts on hunting clearcuts is the easiest to understand and learn. - you can find plenty tor read about that topic as well.  Perhaps after the season has passed and you have some time, you pick up a book or two on BT hunt.  Google Boyd Iverson then try to find a copy of BT Trophy Tactics II.

Get put there and enjoy your time in the woods as you try to piece the Blacktail puzzle together.

Good luck!

[HunterofWA]

Hey Tegan! I've been hunting that area for a few years now and have taken 2 bucks. The first was a spike and the second was a nice forkie. Spike was seen walking quietly through a cut on a foggy morning during the late season, and the second was also taken on a foggy morning during the late season.

Some things I've learned while hunting there: Be prepared to walk. Get frustrated. Just about lose your sanity... and possibly get a nice buck. I've had to put in a lot of days to get a deer out there, but if you're persistent and hunt stealthily, you can find them. They are more spread out though given that there are so many cuts in the area. Feel free to DM me for more info.

[fishnfur]

Good info.   A lot of cuts in a small area that are in the 3 - 10-year-old range equals many more deer than areas with few or no cuts during the same period of time.  Every clearcut produces improved feeding opportunities for doe (and the herd in general), making them healthier and more likely to birth two, or even (on occasion), three fawns per season. For an area with only a single cut, multiple generations of increasing animal numbers occur only for the first 6 -8 years +/- (wild ass guess), until the cuts age reaches the age that food/browse start to become shaded out by reprod and become less available for browse.

A small geographic area with numerous clearcuts in that 3 - 10 year-old range often produce exponential growth of the deer herd (during the early years of the cuts regrowing trees) due to the numerous opportunities for feeding on optimal browse that a single clearcut cannot provide.  As the cuts age, food becomes more scarce, breeding success/fecundity diminishes as the food source disappears.  That's why National Forests are now a lousy place to expect good odds for deer hunting.  If the trees are never cut or burned, there is no substantial food supply for a large herd of deer. 

In summary, Google Earth is your friend.  Locating areas with at least one, and preferably numerous cuts in the 3 - 10 year old range make that area worthy of closer inspection and consideration for hunting.

In summary, when pre-scouting by Google Earth or other satellite photos, concentrating on relatively small areas that have experienced a lot of cutting over a long period of time tend should  be expected to produce better hunting opportunities than areas with few or no logging/burn activity in the recent past. 

[HunterofWA]

Tegan2000 and I are heading out this afternoon hoping that the rain coming in tonight will have deer out early prepping. Wish us luck!

[fishnfur]

Tegan2000 and I are heading out this afternoon hoping that the rain coming in tonight will have deer out early prepping. Wish us luck!

Good luck guys!  I don't know if that low pressure system out over the Pacific will move onshore here in the next day or two, but if so, the drop in barometric pressure just as in comes in often gets the animals up feeding for one last meal before the conditions turn ugly.

[etacker13]

Hunterofwa tried to send you a PM but it says your inbox is full.

[pianoman9701]

Good luck, guys. Knock one down. Watch out for the pickers.

[HunterofWA]

Hunterofwa tried to send you a PM but it says your inbox is full.

Thanks for the heads up! It's cleared now. I got the one about the coordinates though - was there a different message?

[HunterofWA]

Good luck, guys. Knock one down. Watch out for the pickers.

Didn't end up with one - but I helped a first-timer find his spike buck. Took us an hour to finally find him 20 feet from where he was shot.  He was hidden beneath a little Christmas tree.