First Blacktail

[highside74]

Daily for apples

[WapitiTalk1]

How consistent do blacktails seem to get on bait?

Salt/mineral blocks?  More popular with the does earlier in the year, me thinks when they’re expecting a visit/visits from the stork. Apples/Sweet Cob?  IME, it’s crack for deer sir and they’ll snarf it down with great greed mostly all year long  . Placement is important….

[Feathernfurr]

That’s been the battle I’ve been fighting, hunt the general firearm with a bow for the rut, or bait non stop and hunt the archery tag for more time.

[WapitiTalk1]

That’s been the battle I’ve been fighting, hunt the general firearm with a bow for the rut, or bait non stop and hunt the archery tag for more time.

I hear you. If u really want to target BT with a bow, you’re really talking tree standing and a TON of research, scouting, bating or not baiting (targeting high traffic trail areas).  One thing I deduced growing up in the Big Sky State, if you want the best odds to shoot a buck…. hunt during the rut. For BT’s, you’re talking  that last week in OCT and those 4 days they give us around Turkey Day.

[metlhead]

September 1st, between the azaleas and the blueberries. This guy will do.

[Feathernfurr]

Good news is I’ve got thirty years of tree stand hunting under my belt. 25ft up a tree is one of my favorite places to be. I’m inclined to believe I’ll stick with the rut plan. Only foreseeable I swap the tag last minute is if I out out bait and get some bucks on camera daily. As of right now I have a couple bucks on camera relatively consistent. Most smaller, and two pretty decent. In a perfect world the biggest one slips up looking for does on Halloween evening.

[PNWheckle]

In my experience if targeting the biggest buck in the area they usually won’t even bother to show up until middle of October. I like to see a lot of resident does on my camera in the summer to fall transition period


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[addicted1]

If you’ve done a lot WT tree stands then I think you’ll do just fine on filling a tag. But, really depends on the area you hunt in that will dictate the class of buck to go after. As someone else mentioned any legal BT is a good one for you first one, and that’s probably not a stretch. One of my areas shows very little for bucks until the rut, then they materialize out of no where. I just locate the does and wait for buck activity, shoot what ever gets me excited.

[Feathernfurr]

I’ve got about 50/50 of bucks and does on cameras right now. Bucks are definitely less frequent than does, and most of the does have fawns. I’ll be interested in seeing how that changes as hunting pressure increases and the rut nears. Did get my first hard horned buck this morning, a little sooner than expected.

[tluns]

There are forkies and two points. In some areas they don't get more points just bigger and thicker.