Big Blacktails, tips, tricks helpful hints

[elkslayer069]

Have a good set of binos and glass the clearcuts hard. Ive killed my biggest bucks in clearcuts that people travel by all day and they just lay down and watch them walk by.

[blackveltbowhunter]

That buck  grossed 105 3/8 if I remember right. He is still at the taxis but that is a different subject altogether. The funny thing is back in 2001 I shot a buck in early season with similar antler configuration, a 3 pt, but alot junkier with a couple of stickers and good eyeguards. He grossed exactly the same but this guy netted a little more with less deductions.

Until last year the majority of my hunting was on foot, last year I planted my butt in a stand and had alot more opportunity. I agree alot changes from September to mid November. Between nocturnal behavior and hunting pressure its hard to determine if a buck you saw in velvet is even alive come late archery. I like to scout inseason and  January for a bucks bedding area, I may not actually see the buck but should get a pretty good idea of where he is living this time of year. In summer I spend time near that area to locate the buck, then I can start to put the pieces together as he is probably not to far from his core area just spending more time in the open during daylight hours. I try to keep tabs on what gets shot in the area Im planning to hunt, if a certain buck I may be after has been killed hopefully I hear about it. If theres no indication that a certain buck has bit the bullet I will start my search just prior to the season in the same area. My experience is that throughout the rut the buck may have moved in search of does or in response to hunting pressure or both, leading me to believe he's been killed when actually he is just working his way back home. With the skewed buck to doe ratios typical of westside, he may not be back in his core area till around christmas. Guess I should buy a couple trailcams and try to take the guesswork out of it huh. What fun would that be! LOL

[Dmanmastertracker]

  Last season I believe I got a fork on day six or seven. I would have to say on average I get an opportunity within the first 5-7 days of hunting blackies.
 The buck on the right is also a 667 buck. Nice bow buck blackvelt.

[croix]

man, why did i have to find this thread while i'm stuck at work waiting to leave for the thick & nasty blacktail woods. there are some GREAT blacktail in this thread. dman - i don't think i've seen a more roman nose. blackvelt - that is a TRUE western, deep woods blacktail and i love the color on that rack.

i'll throw mine in for fun.

some of my navy buddies hadn't hunted western wa. and didn't know where to go, so i took them out on 30 Oct 05 to an area that has a decent BT population and holds some bears. i had no intention of shooting a deer because i was scheduled to go NE for late season whitetail in about a week, but i figured i could keep an eye out for bear while they learned what it's like to hunt BT  i hadn't scouted or hunted a single day yet, but i knew it was a good time of year for BT.

i dropped each of them off as we headed up the hill and gave them general areas and direction to hunt. i went to the end and walked about a mile past the gate to an area where a friend had missed a bear on the edge of a gulley the year before. as i walked in the dark, a doe came onto the road and RIGHT AT ME. if i hadn't waved my flashlight and made pssst noises she would have run me over, but she turned and headed the other way. 30 seconds later a little fork horn came out, turned away from me and followed her trail. his nose was to the ground and he never knew i was there.

i sat down about 15 minutes before legal shooting light in a spot where i could overlook the bear gulley. 30 minutes later this guy walked over a little knob about 100 yds from me and i knew instantly that i would not be making whitetail camp. he was facing me with his head straight up and i center punched him. he did a little spin around dance on his back feet and took off - right towards the gulley. it is a steep nasty gulley and i REALLY didn't want to go in after him so i took a couple of running shots, the last of which took out his shoulder and heart and he piled up. when the raucous of my shooting several time had died down, i heard an old guy on the other side of the gulley yell "Well did you get him?" 

anyway, a grand total of 30 minutes in the woods for the year and this is what  i had to show for it.

BTW - GMU 627

[blackveltbowhunter]

SsssTUD! Great Buck Croix he's a stunner for sure. Love the width and mass.

[AKBowman]

thats a pretty unique BT as well...points coming off the main beams looks like a traditional WT rack. Damn fine specimen!

The problem I have had in the past 2 yrs is I have to spend the first week of late season hunting elk and my elk hunting and deer hunting areas area about 100 miles apart on the westside. I am going to stand hunt elk this year so I might get lucky and get a chance at a buck at the same time.

I really want one of those ONP border bucks though. I've seen some with GIGANTIC bodies. Check out this thread...

http://www.gunandgame.com/forums/powder-keg/70284-another-big-blacktail-deer-archery-during-rut.html

[Dmanmastertracker]

 I think I remember Croix's buck from F&H News, great buck.

[J Snow73]

i see more deer moving when its stormy out. the rain and wind also help when walking because it covers up any noise you make.  when its nice and sunny out, i usually end up fishing for the coho's because the deer bed down all day

I went out last weekend just scouting around and saw 10 deer in the pouring rain on the roads were usually maybe see 1 or none on a nice day. Stormy out usually means less people/traffic etc. and thats ok with me. Rain gear and a towel for when i get back is all i need

[7mag.]

That's a heck of a nice buck Croix. Dman, those are a couple of nice bucks on your wall too. I just love this thread.

[bucklucky]

Whats a Blacktail ? A deer 

[bow4elk]

Whats a Blacktail ? A deer 

Funny...repost some of your bucks! 

[bow4elk]

I haven't yet posted my lunar analysis yet but this year is sort of rare.  The autumn equinox occurred on 9/22 at 11:13 AM (EST) and it was the first time since 1991, the harvest moon was full in the early hours of Sept. 23. A full harvest moon so close to the autumnal equinox is the “traditional definition” of a harvest moon.

An autumnal equinox occurs when the sun sets due west and rises due east. It marks the change of the season and also when day and night fall into balance, lasting for roughly the same equal lengths. After the autumnal equinox, the days become notably shorter. The harvest moon refers to the autumnal moon at its brightest, when farmers worked to bring in their crops by its light. This year, these two events coincided in the wee hours of Sept. 23 in the northern hemisphere. This event will not occur again until 2029.

The second full moon after the autumn equinox falls on December 21st this year, when last year, it fell on November 2.  All the research by Alsheimer and LaRoche point to (my words here) an increased activity level by does and bucks within several days of this event, so you can see how that would be a boon for rut hunting last year.  This year, it will be interesting to see how the rut plays out.

Personally, I'm finding a lot of good rubs but not seeing the "chasing phase" heat up as it did this time last year.  By this day last year, I was seeing lots of fork-horn bucks chasing does daily, even while driving around.  I've only captured one decent 3x3 buck on five trailcams since September.  It's like a ghost town out there in my traditionally good spots.

We'll see...

I'm still planning to hunt the last week of October with my bow (rifle tag) because all else aside, this is traditionally a magical time in the blacktail woods!

[7mag.]

Thanks for the information, Bow4elk. That is very interesting.

[bow4elk]

I should have mentioned that the second full most post autumn equinox is called the "rutting moon".  According to Alsheimer and LaRoche's data (you can Google it if you're interested), the rut phases in the northern hemisphere, north of the 35th latitude, generally break down like this:

Seeking Phase = 10/31 - 11/8
Chasing Phase = 11/7 - 11/15
Breeding Phase = 11/11 - 11/25

Peak "seeking" phase spans 3-4 days before and after the rutting moon
Chasing phase - 3-4 days after the rutting moon, into the breeding phase
Breeding phase - ~7 dayas after the rutting moon, lasts about 14 days.  70-80% of does are bred during this time.

Any blacktails that are not bred during the peak breeding phase will come back into estrous ~28 days later, which is why the "second rut" in December can be an excellent time to kill a mature buck.  I've rattled in a few in late December.

And while I'm at it, here's the best buck I've found thus far and a couple decent rubs than have been made in the past week.  Notice the rub in the background.  Blacktails seek out willows for their sign post rubs during the pre-rut and rut.  Tip: If you find willows and they are not rubbed, you're not in a traditional rutting area.

[7mag.]

Wow, this is great. I'm learning a lot from this thread.