Blacktail help

[Shank]

So here is my problem. We are buying a house and it closes on the 24th, Im usually eastbound for whitetails day after turkey day. obviously that aint going to happen this year, however im going to slide out of the house in the early hours and head out around stossel creek (seeing as its only a mile from the new house.) Ive never really hunted blackies so my question is what is a good way to hunt them with a smokepole? Can I rattle/call them in, sit in a clear cut and wait, drink beer and drive around hoping one will walk in front of the truck? What has worked best for all you guys?

[Hangfire]

Hunt blacktail with a muzzle loader like you would with a modern gun, only keep your shots to the distance you are accurate, and keep your powder dry.

The most exciting hunt I have ever had was taking a 3 point blacktail with my TC New Englander. The buck had broke his left antler clear off and broke all the points off the right side. What made it exciting was I crept through the woods like a cougar would, quite and slow. I shot the buck at less than 10 yards. It never knew I was there until I shot.

I have had no success rattling or calling blacktail. My wife has used a kamerdeer (sp) call and has found that the deer that were on alert as she moved through the woods, calmed down.

I used to, when I lived on the wet side, hunt where there was good sign or sightings, move slow and stop, set, and watch frequently. The best blacktail hunter I know moves slow, finds a rub line, sets as long as he can watching the rub line, then moves to the next rub.

If your thinking of driving around and drinking beer, stay home.

Good luck.