Crawling Blacktail Bucks

[tjgerm]

I have a friend who works a tower in a prison with a large population of Blacktails in the area he said one year during the rut he watched a huge buck belly crawling while chasing does it would never stand just belly crawl thru the tall grass. I believe this happened infront of me tonight. Has anyone ever heard of this?

[MuleySniper]

I assume you're referring to McNiel??
MS

[tjgerm]

No Clallam Bay

[Stilly bay]

I have seen this numerous times. I have seen them cross a road while crouching. they are sneaky SOB's

[tjgerm]

I didn't believe him until I watched it go down tonight but could only hear him not see him.

[mrgoodwrench]

My dad shot one years ago that was crawling...trying to sneak away from him in a swampy bottom.  That's the only one I've heard of.

[deerslyr]

I jumped a nice buck in a clear cut one time. He ran and disapeared and then I saw some brush movin and he was belly crawlin through the clear cut

[the1rod]

Dang, i have never heard of that, thats crazy stuff right there! i would like to see a buck smart enough to do that, haha, i just shoot the ones stupid enough to stand up straight!

[tjgerm]

Tonight about 45 min before dark i'm sitting on a clearcut older about 7 year old clearcut and I hear sticks braking in the timber. About 10 minutes goes by and it sounded like a herd of elk lining out. Then two does appear hauling ace into and thru the unit. I set up where they came out and after a few minutes nothing. So I start glassing I see another doe around where they came out and a spike not to far off moving at a steady pace. Then a begin to hear sticks braking closer to me and can hear the brush moving but cannot see anything. Ran out of light.

[3dsheetmetal]

Yeah had that happen to me once.Was standing on a small knoll looking down into some small scrub brush that wasn't over 2 feet tall when I noticed a set of horns moving through it. Figured it was a deer without legs or was belly crawling. I was about 4o yds. away and watched it crawl for about 60 feet then it got into some thicker brush and disappeared.

[ArrowH]

About 15 years ago I watched a BT doe belly crawl about 10 yards in front of me and then crawl into a small hole at the base of some blackberry bushes. Until that time I would have thought it was a coon that had made the tunnel in the blackberries. I know the blackberries were solid for about 50 feet until they opened up again next to a creek.

[wt]

I saw that once after reading about it. It was the night before Christmas.. no that's not it, it was the night before Halloween last year. I was biking out of my area kind of deflated because I wasn't going to hunt again until late season. It was dark so I had my head lamp on, and I saw some eye balls about 10 feet down the embankment so I dismounted to take look. It was a doe, but then I saw a two by one with real long points side hilling, crawling, slow and low. I could just feel his anxiety, as I stared at him. and off I went.

[Sneekee23]

Welcome to blacktail hunting in the Northwest.... I love it when you have a deer that is moving through knee high Oregon grape or ferns and they have their head down or are slithering through it like a snake.  Word of advice good glass and keep looking for that flicker of an ear just something that is out of place.

[PolarBear]

Fairly common.

[sirmissalot]

When I was younger we used to spotlight a lot for coons and coyotes, we watched a huge buck crawl away from us. He ran through the clearcut we first spotted him in then as soon as he hit the timber he started crawling through the salal, pretty amazing to watch he was one of the biggest blacktails I have ever seen in my life too. Whitetails do it too we had it happen with one in Montana, also one of the biggest bucks I have seen in my life.