I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.

[h2ofowlr]

I love them.  Lots of places to hunt them.  You don't see orange everywhere.  And you hunt them close unless you get a good clearcut with activity.  They teach you to be a good hunter, instead of sitting on top of a clear cut throwing a box of bullets at them.
I usually get my blacktail every year.  This year I went easy and shot a mule deer.

[bowtech721]

I am beggining to transition from hate to love... the thought of putting an arrow through a dark horned p&y class blacktail is fueling my fire the last couple years.   

[Buckwheat]

U guys give up so easy on these deer. Yeah it took me two weeks and a day to get mine it was a 5x7 blacktail i was hunting in the same spot until the end of the general didnt see one buck until opening morning of the late hunt. The buck was already out in the field eating apples off the tree and i had him on the ground within 5 mins. Thats when i show my dad whats up becuz he never takin a blacktail buck before so i think he got jealous but glad that i got my first blacktail.

[Pacific Ghost]

I've been hunting these things for twenty years and still don't have a trophy.  I've killed quite a few with archery as well as rifle, but I'm still looking for the one, and have been passing up smaller bucks for several years now.  It was pretty tough out there last weekend. Hiked into an area Saturday in the rain and tried several approaches.  Sat, still hunted, pushed brush & timber.  Never saw another hunter, or a single deer.  The next day I checked the trail cam at one of my other areas, and a nice buck came through around 10:30 in the morning.


Last year, after passing smaller bucks and glassing until my arms fell off, I finally spotted a mature buck.  I had crawled up to the edge of a cut and spotted him motionless in some thick stuff at 300 yards.  All I could see was the head and a basket full of points.  I set down the binos and grabbed the gun and then never saw him again.  Tried to back door him and still hunted right through where he was to no avail.  This was the same area I watched a 6x4 a few years prior.  Eventually it's going to happen.

A couple years ago, I went Whitetail hunting for the first time ever, and shot a 5x4.

[croix]

They can drive you insane but they also get under your skin.  I love them above all other deer.  

  I think I keep going after them out of sheer stubbornness.

[grundy53]

I love hunting them. I've killed all three main species and the blacktail is my favorite.

[grundy53]

I killed this guy last Monday.

[Dadbear]

Gotta love 'em. The most challenging and elusive deer to hunt. Blacktails can truly push hunters to their extreme. I killed this one in '07 after watching him for over two years.

[KimberRich]

I've killed some really nice Whitetails and Mule Deer in a few different states and I'm by far the most proud of the small Blacktails I've shot in Western Wa.

I worked harder, hunted deeper, hiked further, for all my blacktails.  Killing a nice 3x3 or 4x4 Blacktail is a true trophy in my opinion.

[GlennGTR]

Blacktails are a mist, an apparition. Grey as smoke and as hard to find a trophy as any mythological creature. They are nocturnal and make a whitetail look like its mentaly handicaped. As paranoid as any cocaine addict and as elusive as Osama BinLaden. You have to be better than good to consistantly harvest mature Blacktail bucks, I happen to fall into that category. Its all about patience, woodsmanship, marksmanship and confidence in your abbilities. If you dont believe in your heart that you will find your buck, you wont.

[CMG]

+1 - Mature black tails are by most experienced hunters the hardest to bring down consistently! Key word CONSISTENTLY. When I see someone posting a nice mature Blackie I am humbled. These are true trophies in my book! here is a pic of a mature blackie taken opening weekend by a relative. I tried to put this bucks brother (4x4 W/Drop tines) down this weekend, but was unsuccessful, maybe late season. If I do get the opportunity to have the stars align, He will be honored!


   

[PacificNWhunter]

jmx- that buck is awesome. I agree a trophy blacktail will haunt me forever. I've taken several small sized and a few decent bucks but never anything big. I've given up for a few years to hunt mulies. I'll be back though.

[jason4429]

I just flat love Blacktails.

[rasbo]

my first was a 5x5,never got any better than that one..Im hunting an area that I found two thick 5 point sheds,and I cant find the deer..Its frustrating but knowing it just might be this day keeps me going,,

[YoterHunter]

you gust have to be smarter then they are ive killed a deer every year for 22 years learn what they bed in and what they feed in.