Eating Tag-Soup again 3rd Year. Mentor needed.

[Helix]

For my third year in a row I've hunted black tails.  For my third year in a row I've been out matched by my prey.  For the third year in a row I'm eating Tag-Soup.  Skunked.  Not even any oportunites for a shot.  It seems I get closer to taking deer with my bumper driving to and from my hunts than I do while I'm out hunting.  I think I need a blacktail hunting mentor. Even with all that disappointment I'm not really complaining.  I hunt hard,  I put a lot of miles on my boots I climb and wade and have a great time and a lot of adventure. I feel blessed to get to be out in God's creation enjoying nature and testing my limits.  So far hunting has just been short of a payoff for me.  My wife is starting to look at me like why are we buying you tags to go hunt?  You can just as easily go tromp through the forest for free as with tags in your pocket 

[1morebuck]

Really you are getting the best out of the outdoors. Simply getting out there is medicine for the soul. As for getting a buck, you are finding out how the Grey Ghost (or any deer) works and what not to do. There are deer in your area, I am sure of that. Take some time starting now to scout throughout the year. Invest in a trail camera and go out now to see what the deer are doing and find the areas where bucks are chasing doe. Then take some time and find them in late winter, spring and summer. That will give you a general idea of where, and what they are doing.

Sent control, hunting the wind and food are keys in my eyes. Get off the road and take your time.

Good luck!

[robodad]

For the third year in a row I'm eating Tag-Soup.  Skunked.

From where I stand the best 4 days of blacktail season is still to come !! Don't give up now !!

[lokidog]

You're not out yet, still have late season.  If you are seeing deer on your way to your hunting spot, maybe try to get permission to hunt those areas if possible.

Good luck.

[Helix]

No late season where I've been hunting,  I'd have to start from scratch and do some major driving to get to an open GMU.  I'm in Snohomish.   

[Buckmark]

Seasons not over yeat, just on hold for 2.5weeks, any blacktail hunter will tell you that the 4 days in november can be alot better than the 17 days in oct.
Less leaves, crappier weather (which you want), possible snow, deer are grouping up, less people on thursday and friday, more bucks moved in during the rut.
Get were i am going with this??
It's safe to say almost as many blacktail bucks hit the dirt in those 4 days as do during the general season.
Other than that get a bow and hunt them during rifle season in places were firearms are restricted.

[Glockster]

I think the internet 'success' stories might make it seem like everyone else is getting them but you.  But you gotta keep in mind that for every kill story on blacktail you read here, there are at least 20 guys just like you who are in the same boat.   Not very many people will post about lack of "success" unless they can blame it on Indians and wolves.  LOL  It's all about time in the woods and trying to think like them. 

These are the toughest deer to hunt in the country.  There was an OR Dept of F&W blacktail study story in NW Sportsman this month that shows 92% of a B.tail buck's activity occurs at night.  That's why you don't see too many TV shows on blacktail.  They are just too tough for your average Hollywood Hunter. 

Keep at it!  There is an excellent book by Boyd Iverson called Blacktail Tactics...very good reading to get you pointed in the right direction.  These are definitely the most frustrating deer to hunt (unless you have private property on an island and a big apple orchard to sit on).

[JohnVH]

Dont feel bad, I have no deer luck either, Ive never shot a buck.

[Heredoggydoggy]

That's why It's called "Hunting".  If it's just meat you want, go to Safeway.  Only the anti-hunters think we just walk out into the woods and the animals are waiting to be shot.  If I had a dollar for every time I got back to the truck with the same amount of ammo I left with, I could have retired a rich man!

And, the day you go into the woods without a tag, is the day you'll be trampled to death by 5 big bucks! 

[Bean Counter]

My first several years of hunting I never killed I think. Most of my tags in recent years have gone filled. There is a learning curve and if you're good at evaluating what you did and learning from it, you'll get better. Don't give up.

[wence5]

Helix, you are after one of the toughest game animals to hunt in North America. Don't fell bad, use the last three years experiences to gain more knowledge of your prey, do more home work during the off season with scouting and researching the habits of the Black Tail with a trail camera. Oh, and you aren't skunked yet for this year, the best four days are yet to come during the late buck season. 

[Helix]

And, the day you go into the woods without a tag, is the day you'll be trampled to death by 5 big bucks! 

True,  whenever I go out for a hike in the spring I seem to get run over by bears and all manner of woodland creature. 

I tell my wife that is why they call it "hunting" not "finding."  I figure if it was easy everyone would be doing it. 

[bobcat]

Don't feel bad and as others said, try to hunt the 4-day late season if you can. I hunted every day of the rifle season, except for one. I had five trail cameras out for the last 6 months to try to pattern them. I hunted out of tree stands, ground blinds, over piles of apples that deer had been coming to every night, as the trail cameras showed. I hiked 2 1/2 miles on a gated road to a clearcut that holds a lot of deer. I used a doe bleat call, rattled antlers, and used doe in heat scent. Never saw a buck in all that time, except for maybe a tail running away through the brush. Finally yesterday morning, my brother and I are sitting in the truck at a gate, waiting for just a little more light, and a buck walks out of the brush 20 feet in front of us. That's what it took for me to get a buck. Just nothing but luck and being in the right place at the right time. The one thing I learned from this experience is that the truck can make a great blind. 
 
 

[3nails]

Don't feel bad and as others said, try to hunt the 4-day late season if you can. I hunted every day of the rifle season, except for one. I had five trail cameras out for the last 6 months to try to pattern them. I hunted out of tree stands, ground blinds, over piles of apples that deer had been coming to every night, as the trail cameras showed. I hiked 2 1/2 miles on a gated road to a clearcut that holds a lot of deer. I used a doe bleat call, rattled antlers, and used doe in heat scent. Never saw a buck in all that time, except for maybe a tail running away through the brush. Finally yesterday morning, my brother and I are sitting in the truck at a gate, waiting for just a little more light, and a buck walks out of the brush 20 feet in front of us. That's what it took for me to get a buck. Just nothing but luck and being in the right place at the right time. The one thing I learned from this experience is that the truck can make a great blind. 

Did you post it?

[bobcat]

Well, of course I forgot the camera, as it seems I always do when I have a need for it. So all I had was the cell phone camera. This is the best picture I got, not good, but better than nothing: