public land blacktail traditional archer

[Jeremyfromjtown]

    I am starting to research hunting public land in Washington for a trip I am planning to make in September. I am from Arkansas and only hunt whitetails in the Ozarks and the Mississippi delta region.
                        Requesting info and 
  insight about this. Thanks. Also I have never been on any type of "forum"

[addicted1]

I’d recommend hunting in Modern Season using a trad bow if you are targeting a buck, target closer to Halloween if you can. Set the bar low, really low and if you see a deer any deer then consider that success. Blacktail are pretty similar to WT, thick cover and edge habitat. Old spur roads are a good start.

Good luck. I know everyone thinks they hunt the hardest animal, but trad hunting out of state BT will be a challenge for any hunter. Hunt by sign, not by animals seen. They are crafty.

[Kingofthemountain83]

Do a lot of research on the WDFW site to see which gmu is best for you for access, success rates, and deer numbers/densities... And cross reference on OnX... Huntstand isn't very good here, I got a free trial with some game cams and was frustrated using it and went back to OnX... WDFW mostly bases blacktail numbers off of harvest statistics... There are more gmu's that have any deer legal vs any buck and one 3 point min gmu for archery... There is a lot of private timberland that is pay to play with some having better blackie hunting than others... You have to purchase access earlier in the year via a website to the timberlands...  There's also some public land with good/ok/bad blackie hunting... Hunting in a gmu with low deer numbers can still be very productive if you find the area where most the deer are and want to be... I've shot 6 blackie I can recall 40 yards or under with a rifle or muzzy... Again looking up potential gmu's on the WDFW page will give you a great starting point to see if they interest you...

[raydog]

I’d recommend hunting in Modern Season using a trad bow if you are targeting a buck, target closer to Halloween if you can. Set the bar low, really low and if you see a deer any deer then consider that success. Blacktail are pretty similar to WT, thick cover and edge habitat. Old spur roads are a good start.

Good luck. I know everyone thinks they hunt the hardest animal, but trad hunting out of state BT will be a challenge for any hunter. Hunt by sign, not by animals seen. They are crafty.

   I hunted archery seasons only, for the first 5 years I began hunting. Killed a few does as a teenager. Never did get a buck with my bow. Then switched to rifle and proceeded to kill bucks almost every year. The kicker is that most of these bucks were within bow range   

[kodiak06]

Go big, Jason Bunch on Kodiak Island. It would be way more fun guaranteed.
https://www.facebook.com/huntkodiak

[kodiak06]

Be aware, before the 2025 season baiting was legal in WA and guides did have clients hunting bait so keep in that in mind when you see kill pics from different guide pages, it's a different ballgame for them now.

[pd]

@Jeremyfromjtown

Do not come in September.  Hunt the rain during the last week of October.  The broad leaf maples will have released their leaves by then, the rain will have softened the leaves (making your stalk very quiet).  Hunt the fern bottoms.  Hunt the rut, the bucks will be cruising.  Spot and stalk, no need for tree stands.

20-yard shots are definitely possible.

Thickly covered national forests are a waste of time.  You want open canopy (older growth), with ferns. 

If you are serious, keep up this thread.  There are a lot of very successful bow hunters on this site.  After a while they might release a bit of intel.

By the way, that time frame is rifle season.  If you chose your area poorly, they will be a sea of bobbing pumpkins.

[Sundance]

Be aware, before the 2025 season baiting was legal in WA and guides did have clients hunting bait so keep in that in mind when you see kill pics from different guide pages, it's a different ballgame for them now.

I'd be curious to know how many fewer blacktail bucks were taken since the baiting ban. Likewise, what would that number fall to if cell cameras were also restricted. Not saying I support either, but I would imagine a drastic reduction, especially for mature bucks.

[kodiak06]

Be aware, before the 2025 season baiting was legal in WA and guides did have clients hunting bait so keep in that in mind when you see kill pics from different guide pages, it's a different ballgame for them now.

I'd be curious to know how many fewer blacktail bucks were taken since the baiting ban. Likewise, what would that number fall to if cell cameras were also restricted. Not saying I support either, but I would imagine a drastic reduction, especially for mature bucks.

Most people putting out cell cams aren't running in and killing deer. We all know that most hunters are run and gun types on the coast and it's typically great scouting or dumb luck on mature der.... Hunters pushing cell cam bans being implemented are pretty much taking over the role of anti hunters. Baiting was banned and welcomed by some and not others but what it did was take away the joy of hunting for some, especially some disabled hunters.

[addicted1]

 

Cell cameras are fun, they don’t kill deer.

[pd]

@Jeremyfromjtown

Do not come in September.  Hunt the rain during the last week of October.  The broad leaf maples will have released their leaves by then, the rain will have softened the leaves (making your stalk very quiet).  Hunt the fern bottoms.  Hunt the rut, the bucks will be cruising.  Spot and stalk, no need for tree stands.

20-yard shots are definitely possible.

Thickly covered national forests are a waste of time.  You want open canopy (older growth), with ferns. 

If you are serious, keep up this thread.  There are a lot of very successful bow hunters on this site.  After a while they might release a bit of intel.

By the way, that time frame is rifle season.  If you chose your area poorly, there will be a sea of bobbing pumpkins.