11th hour blacktail

[AKBowman]

I'm not an expert on blacktails by any stretch

Congrats on the nice buck! I'm hoping to try some rattling on Thursday (first day of late muzzleloader.)

 

If you're not than who is!!?   I'm heading out tomorrow morning for a full day I'll have the rattle bag with me, you said you had better luck with doe bleats...I have a primo's can do you think that would work OK on BT's? Also have an alaskan style reed which I can make sound like real soft fawn bleats.


I will post and let you know how it turns out. Two days of deer then off to SW WA for three more days of elk or elk/deer if I dont connect wed or thurs

[bow4elk]

I'm not an expert on blacktails by any stretch

Congrats on the nice buck! I'm hoping to try some rattling on Thursday (first day of late muzzleloader.)

There are guys here who have garages full of nice racks and I'm not one of them.  I have tagged a lot of them, I'll give you that but I've also had to earn every single one  

So, let me throw a tip your way now since you're about to hit it again.  Make sure you use bleat calls frequently and do scent drags where you can set up and watch your back trail.  I had a run in with a really nice 3x3 nosing the ground on a fast trot coming right to me on the trail as I was dragging out my buck.  Funny thing is he was following my scent trail from 6:00 in the morning, which by 3PM was covered in snow.  He busted me dragging that buck and turned inside out running.  I bleated loudly with my voice and locked him up at 20 yards.  Two more soft bleats and he took a few steps to take a better look.  I pretended to draw my bow to see if I’d have had a shot.  No brainer – 25 yards broadside.  He just stood there looking and I was totally busted dragging a deer when he saw me!  And he didn’t move again until I picked up that bucks antlers and started dragging him again.  He couldn’t resist taking another look and it would have cost him had I not tagged out.  He was much bigger than my buck and I just had to laugh.  Maybe next year…

And this is what got me a shot opportunity on my 2008 buck.  He walked right up to my blind and I drew on him at 3 yards.  He turned to bolt and I gave him a loud bleat with my voice.  When he stopped, I drilled him at 25 yards.  And while I was field dressing that buck in the dark, I had two bucks fighting over near my scent drag.  It was December 3rd (late bow season).

[840dc]

I read that blog a while ago then saved it in my favorites. Once the season opened after a few days of hunting, I came back and read it again. I can honestly say I used some of the tactics and it payed off. The funny thing is I kept telling my buddies about these tips and tactics and they kept saying "its all luck man". Needless to say they were surprised when they got a cell pic of my buck on the 30th. HAHA .   Good luck Bobcat.

[bow4elk]

I'm not an expert on blacktails by any stretch

Congrats on the nice buck! I'm hoping to try some rattling on Thursday (first day of late muzzleloader.)

 

If you're not than who is!!?   I'm heading out tomorrow morning for a full day I'll have the rattle bag with me, you said you had better luck with doe bleats...I have a primo's can do you think that would work OK on BT's? Also have an alaskan style reed which I can make sound like real soft fawn bleats.


I will post and let you know how it turns out. Two days of deer then off to SW WA for three more days of elk or elk/deer if I dont connect wed or thurs

I have never had the Primos can (estrous bleat) do anything productive.  I've used it on bucks looking at me and they don't react either way.  A soft bleat from a Jones Grunt call or any other quality call produces more results, in my experience.  The key is it must be soft and not a loud "blat!"  I often modify the reed board to get very soft sounds.  I had two bucks come in grunting and if they weren't inside 15 yards, I'd have hardly heard it.  Blacktails don't tend to create the loud grunts of whitetails.  I've heard whitetails sounds like feral hogs!

[bow4elk]

I read that blog a while ago then saved it in my favorites. Once the season opened after a few days of hunting, I came back and read it again. I can honestly say I used some of the tactics and it payed off. The funny thing is I kept telling my buddies about these tips and tactics and they kept saying "its all luck man". Needless to say they were surprised when they got a cell pic of my buck on the 30th. HAHA .   Good luck Bobcat.

Glad it helped you - that is the whole purpose!  Luck does factor into blacktail hunting, no doubt.  But I only get a few days per year to hunt so I need more than luck on my side.  That's why I make it a year-round quest to learn.  I'll take luck any day it wants to come my way (which is seldom) but in the meantime, I need to do my part in order to fill tags.

The best part of my season was hunting one evening with my 8 year old daughter in the Double Bull blind where she rattled in a bigger fork that the one I tagged.  She did the whole thing and like a dummy, I was too excited about it to get my bow ready.  He was 15 yards in front of us.  The window of opportunity closed and my daughter said, "OK Dad? The next buck that comes in, you just focus on drawing your bow and let me worry about the calling".  Smart kid 

[840dc]

HA HA thats good stuff!

[ser300wsm]

Congrats to you, very nice buck... 

[BigD]

Your opening statement was very well put!
Nice buck.

[MLBowhunting]

That is a good buck and for you to call him in is awesome.  good job maybe call me one in sometime 

[billythekidrock]

The best part now is the weather - dang thing is nearly frozen solid!  Might have to thaw him in the garage today so I can begin processing tonight.

Way to go Tom!

If you need a hand let me know.

[Hawk I]

That's how to get it done.

[bucklucky]

Nice job Tom, starting my blacktail hunt tomorrow! 

[SW Blacktail]

Nice job Tom!

[cooneyes]

Nicely done Bow4elk. That's a nice buck. You're a true sportsman for hunting with your bow when you could've used a rifle. I tried bowhunting back in the 80's. I found it to be pretty tough. Judging distance and closing the gap is challenging. Way to go!

[inkfish86]

EXCELLENT, congratulations!