Big Blacktails, tips, tricks helpful hints

[Holg3107]

This thread is great, I have been hunting whitetails and Mulys all my life and am getting really excited for the late archery season to try and hook up with a blacktail. I have a few spots scouted out and since they dont allow rifles in these particular areas I am going to continue to scout these areas thru October. Just wanted to say that some of these tips are going to be Incorporated and that write up Bow4Elk did was great. Keep the pointers coming, it really amazes me how different these deer act. Is it worth packing a doe bleat during November or do you guys think that should stay at home and only go out for whitetails?

[rasbo]

I followed some old bear sign into a no good rotten steep pos area..In there I found three deer beds,that nobody could even come near without the buck escaping unnoticed..They are the true demon deer,unless the rut is on..This is close to the location I found two 5 point thick sheds

[the1rod]

a couple things that i would add is keep looking behind you. like many people have said, they will wait for you to go by and then sneak out. also if a doe busts you and runs out, look the other way, if a buck was with her he is likely going to sneak out the other way hoping that your paying attention to the doe. this is exactly how i got mine last year, he stepped right out in front of me after the doe went running. and when hunting the thick stuff that you can barley see through (which is what you need to do) use your hunting partner to your advantage. if he is cutting through the brush just get a vantage point and watch around him, you may be able to see a buck sneaking off that he never knew was there. and if your the one going through the brush, be ready for a fast close shot, so make sure your scope is on the lowest power or use open sights in the thick. heres my 08 buck, this one was just luck, i walked around a corner and he happened to be feeding in the open, this was on Halloween, so im sure he had been busy.

[bow4elk]

I followed some old bear sign into a no good rotten steep pos area..In there I found three deer beds,that nobody could even come near without the buck escaping unnoticed..They are the true demon deer,unless the rut is on..This is close to the location I found two 5 point thick sheds

I have stood in beds just like those, in spots just like those...and I cussed out loud because those bucks are not killable in those areas.  Post those sheds again, please...finish painting the picture 

[Dmanmastertracker]

This one was all luck. One of those days when it payed off to be in the woods. He never even saw me.

 This one as well, though I think it helped to be over 3 miles behind locked gates. Nice buck 7mag.

[bow4elk]

Here we go!  Nice bucks guys - be sure to tell a blurb on how you came to tie on your tag.

[Dmanmastertracker]

Here we go!  Nice bucks guys - be sure to tell a blurb on how you came to tie on your tag.

 That is my '07 buck and best blacktail and the hardest earned. I hiked in that AM behind locked gates approx. 3 miles around a clear-cut bowl, saw some fresh buck track's heading over the other side of the ridge, so I backtracked a mile and hiked down the the end of a spur on the other side of the ridge, from there I hiked down a trail going out into a big cut, going very slowly and glassing the canyon's above and below me for another 1/3 of a mile or so. Finally, at the end of the trail, I glass down in the last big canyon and there he was with his head down, eating. Right away I could not get over his size, he boned out later at 110lbs of meat. I was able to drop him with one shot, though he did run about 75 yards down-hill into a thicket. He was downed at around 10AM and I got the last load out of two trips out right at dark, around 6pm. I lost over 8lbs in water weight that day.

[7mag.]

A little story to go with my pic. It was the last day of late buck, windy and raining. I was about a mile behind the gate, when I stepped on to the road. I had been still hunting the timber and reprod for about 2 hours. I had seen a few does and a smaller buck. I stepped onto the road about 50 yards from a corner. He came trotting around the corner with his nose to the ground, and immediately stepped off the road into the thick brush. He never saw me standing in the middle of the road. I hustled over to the edge of the brush, knowing that my chances of ever seeing him again were slim. There was one opening about 100 yards out, and he stepped into it, stopped broadside, looking the other way with his nose in the air. That's where he fell. I didn't see one other hunter out of his truck that day, and I am convinced, that was a key factor. Let's see some more mature blacktails.

[inmysights]

2004 "benchleg" for rifle hunting if at all possible hunt right at or just below snow level. This buck was with 12 does. My best advice is to get away from folks and hunt big timber slowly. I have jumped more than I have shot for sure. On the same trip after hiking my ars off, I saw a monster 3 point just as wide and tall about 200 yards from the truck. Have hunted the same area for years and seems to me the nastier weather the better. Now I have made the transition to archery and have not made contact with a monster, although I have seen more than ever.

[blackveltbowhunter]

2007 buck, archery buck on last day of season. Put in 7-8 miles in the snow, saw alot of deer nothing that got me to pumped up. Was 300 yards from the truck and spotted this guy and a group of 8 does feeding in the open through big timber. With good wind made a move and closed to within 50 yards quickly, the group fed towards me and he gave me a quartering away shot at 32 yards. He ran less than 50 and died on his feet. After all those miles it was kinda cool dragging him a couple hundred yards back to the truck.

[blackveltbowhunter]

Wow!!! just reviewed my last post I like the pic of the buck, but man I look HAPPY!!! HaHa. Heres another pic a little less serious, with my chica.

[AKBowman]

Damn Blackvelt that is an awesome looking buck! What part of the state did that guy come from I havent really seen one with the face that looks like that.

Here's a question for all you experienced BT hunters:


         How many days in the woods do you usually hunt to kill an average sized buck (3 point or smaller): please denote rifle or archery.

[blackveltbowhunter]

Thanks for the kudos AK. The buck was killed in Skookumchuck unit 667. As far as time spent in the woods goes thats difficult to judge. Late archery is usually my last tag and my " fun " hunt, so Im not in a huge hurry to fill it. I often pass alot of legal deer with trying to get Mr. Big, then end up shooting a smaller buck or doe later. I would say 7 - 10 days average to legit opportunity on a buck, not including spikes or does. Last year had a shot at a forkhorn 3 hrs into opener and passed him as well as 2 others later. This was on private land and I took a doe on the last day to secure my permission for this year. And she was soooo good!

[AKBowman]

I've never hunted the Skook, I've hunted the Skok 636 for 2 years. Shot a small spike last year Dec 17th in 454, like your doe it tasted great.

It seems almost impossible to kill them from the ground. I have always stand hunted them but the problem I had with that is that I do all my scouting ending in August/September and by the time Thanksgiving rolls around they have changed their patterns and my stand is hung. I sit for half a day then give up on it with ni fresh track on the trail I am sitting. I killed a doe 2 years ago in 636 sitting on the top of a huge original growth stump.

This year I am going to hunt higher and keep my fingers crossed it snows before Dec 7th!

Really nice deer though. Do you know what he scores. 110" or so?

[7mag.]

Blackvelvet, that buck is really cool looking, I like it.

AKBowman, I usually rifle hunt, and hunt hard all season. I see very few nice bucks until late October, or November. Last year I had a multi-season deer tag, and missed a real nice 3x3 on Labor Day. In late September, the more mature bucks seem to be harder to find all of a sudden, until the pre rut starts.