Post by: JeffRaines on July 20, 2015, 03:29:46 PM
For a little more background on myself, this will be my first year chasing deer. I live on the wet side, so I know my only options close to home are BT. However, if the hunt for mule or whitetail deer is easier I'd be willing to spend time driving out to where these deer are. I'm all over a higher chance to harvest, because I'm certain that even the 'easiest' is still going to be a challenge for someone inexperienced(like myself).
Thanks!
Post by: Tbar on July 20, 2015, 03:51:44 PM
I have successfully hunted all three species. None are easy, but by far the easiest for me is blacktail. I pass many small bucks during the season with hopes of an opportunity at a mature animal come the end of the month (October). The closer to Halloween the better for any age class of buck. Go slow, I mean real slow. I also hunt an older age class is reprod, one that seems impenetrable, shots often come at close range and quick. The other point of focus (I'm talking blacktail) is big timber bordering any age of clearcut.
Hope this helps. Good luck and be safe.
P.s. Stay positive! Always know that opportunity is there and will eventually present itself. My two biggest attributes are dumb luck and persistence, if you have the latter the dumb luck will find you.
Post by: superdown on July 20, 2015, 03:56:08 PM
Post by: vandeman17 on July 20, 2015, 03:56:59 PM
Post by: The scout on July 20, 2015, 04:01:17 PM
Post by: h20hunter on July 20, 2015, 04:01:51 PM
Here is how I take your post......right or wrong:
WT vs BT vs Mulies: Which do I have the best chance of getting a shot on my first year.
My :twocents:, either a BT doe or Muley doe. Being on this side you should be able to find some area to hunt and would have good odds if you have a unit that is any deer. For eastside muleys....if you are looking to simply notch a tag and make some meat, muley doe is your go to.
Looking forward to the
Best of luck this year and hope you notch a few tags.
Post by: superdown on July 20, 2015, 04:02:34 PM
I understand your question but want to spin it a different way for something to think about. If I were in your position, I wouldn't be looking for easiest but instead I would be looking for a style of hunt I enjoy and the terrain in which I hunt. For me, I enjoy mulie hunting the best for a few reasons, including that I like glassing and hiking versus sitting in a stand for whitetails. I also enjoy the high open mountains or rolling hills for mulies instead of the cat hair thick rain forests that blacktails seem to call home. Once you figure out what style and location you enjoy, focus on that and the hunting will become easier because you will gain knowledge and experience. :twocents::yeah: That is good advise i have hunted and gotten a blacktail and my father has gotten many so i understand the difficulty in pursuing them.I personally hate hunting the west side that is why i don't hunt them. :tup:
Post by: JeffRaines on July 20, 2015, 04:38:48 PM
I understand your question but want to spin it a different way for something to think about. If I were in your position, I wouldn't be looking for easiest but instead I would be looking for a style of hunt I enjoy and the terrain in which I hunt. For me, I enjoy mulie hunting the best for a few reasons, including that I like glassing and hiking versus sitting in a stand for whitetails. I also enjoy the high open mountains or rolling hills for mulies instead of the cat hair thick rain forests that blacktails seem to call home. Once you figure out what style and location you enjoy, focus on that and the hunting will become easier because you will gain knowledge and experience. :twocents:
This is a double edge sword, in that I do quite enjoy hiking. I think the eastern slope of the cascades is a gorgeous area. However, it would be a bit far for me to travel during the season. While I could make a weekend or two of it, and hit the areas on my days off as far as scouting goes, that would be the extent. I wouldn't be able to go before work during the week(I work 230-11 most days).
This could get intersting real quick!
Here is how I take your post......right or wrong:
WT vs BT vs Mulies: Which do I have the best chance of getting a shot on my first year.
My :twocents:, either a BT doe or Muley doe. Being on this side you should be able to find some area to hunt and would have good odds if you have a unit that is any deer. For eastside muleys....if you are looking to simply notch a tag and make some meat, muley doe is your go to.
Looking forward to theargumentdebate that you have (will have) stirred up.
Best of luck this year and hope you notch a few tags.
I should've mentioned that I would be hunting modern firearm. There are no any deer GMUs for mule deer during MF.
I do hope that doesn't turn into any arguments. I actually would like to hear from people and their experiences and whatnot. You'll be amazed at what you can learn by just simply listening to stories!
Thanks.
Post by: vandeman17 on July 20, 2015, 04:40:40 PM
I understand your question but want to spin it a different way for something to think about. If I were in your position, I wouldn't be looking for easiest but instead I would be looking for a style of hunt I enjoy and the terrain in which I hunt. For me, I enjoy mulie hunting the best for a few reasons, including that I like glassing and hiking versus sitting in a stand for whitetails. I also enjoy the high open mountains or rolling hills for mulies instead of the cat hair thick rain forests that blacktails seem to call home. Once you figure out what style and location you enjoy, focus on that and the hunting will become easier because you will gain knowledge and experience. :twocents:
This is a double edge sword, in that I do quite enjoy hiking. I think the eastern slope of the cascades is a gorgeous area. However, it would be a bit far for me to travel during the season. While I could make a weekend or two of it, and hit the areas on my days off as far as scouting goes, that would be the extent. I wouldn't be able to go before work during the week(I work 230-11 most days).This could get intersting real quick!
Here is how I take your post......right or wrong:
WT vs BT vs Mulies: Which do I have the best chance of getting a shot on my first year.
My :twocents:, either a BT doe or Muley doe. Being on this side you should be able to find some area to hunt and would have good odds if you have a unit that is any deer. For eastside muleys....if you are looking to simply notch a tag and make some meat, muley doe is your go to.
Looking forward to theargumentdebate that you have (will have) stirred up.
Best of luck this year and hope you notch a few tags.
I should've mentioned that I would be hunting modern firearm. There are no any deer GMUs for mule deer during MF.
I do hope that doesn't turn into any arguments. I actually would like to hear from people and their experiences and whatnot. You'll be amazed at what you can learn by just simply listening to stories!
Thanks.
If travel time and finding time to hunt is a stretch then my advice is to hunt BT close to home and just become proficient at that. Many skills you learn will translate into hunting the other species as well. Good luck
Post by: JeffRaines on July 20, 2015, 04:49:27 PM
I understand your question but want to spin it a different way for something to think about. If I were in your position, I wouldn't be looking for easiest but instead I would be looking for a style of hunt I enjoy and the terrain in which I hunt. For me, I enjoy mulie hunting the best for a few reasons, including that I like glassing and hiking versus sitting in a stand for whitetails. I also enjoy the high open mountains or rolling hills for mulies instead of the cat hair thick rain forests that blacktails seem to call home. Once you figure out what style and location you enjoy, focus on that and the hunting will become easier because you will gain knowledge and experience. :twocents:
This is a double edge sword, in that I do quite enjoy hiking. I think the eastern slope of the cascades is a gorgeous area. However, it would be a bit far for me to travel during the season. While I could make a weekend or two of it, and hit the areas on my days off as far as scouting goes, that would be the extent. I wouldn't be able to go before work during the week(I work 230-11 most days).This could get intersting real quick!
Here is how I take your post......right or wrong:
WT vs BT vs Mulies: Which do I have the best chance of getting a shot on my first year.
My :twocents:, either a BT doe or Muley doe. Being on this side you should be able to find some area to hunt and would have good odds if you have a unit that is any deer. For eastside muleys....if you are looking to simply notch a tag and make some meat, muley doe is your go to.
Looking forward to theargumentdebate that you have (will have) stirred up.
Best of luck this year and hope you notch a few tags.
I should've mentioned that I would be hunting modern firearm. There are no any deer GMUs for mule deer during MF.
I do hope that doesn't turn into any arguments. I actually would like to hear from people and their experiences and whatnot. You'll be amazed at what you can learn by just simply listening to stories!
Thanks.
If travel time and finding time to hunt is a stretch then my advice is to hunt BT close to home and just become proficient at that. Many skills you learn will translate into hunting the other species as well. Good luck
Thank you!
Post by: Firedogg on July 20, 2015, 04:55:13 PM
Post by: bobcat on July 20, 2015, 05:02:57 PM
Post by: JeffRaines on July 20, 2015, 05:15:02 PM
If you aren't real fussy and would be willing to shoot a young buck all three are pretty easy.
Being that its my first season deer hunting, I'm not going to be fussy at all. If its legal, seasons over.
For me blacktails are easier to hunt, they hang out in my front yard..
Must be nice!
Hunt both mule deer and blacktails. For mulies you only get 9 days. So hunt that season and then hunt blacktails until October 31st, and again in November during the 4 day late season. That's what I would do, except for this year I bought a Weyerhaeuser permit so I'll spend all my time hunting blacktails.
This is what I was thinking of after reading the regs some more. Vail tree farm?
Post by: bobcat on July 20, 2015, 05:17:30 PM
Post by: SGTDuffman on July 20, 2015, 05:19:55 PM
Post by: JeffRaines on July 20, 2015, 06:03:05 PM
Vail tree farm requires a Weyerhaeuser access permit. But there are a few sections of state land in 667 you can hunt, along with land that is owned by other timber companies. It will require a lot of researching and scouting to find those areas though.
I was asking if you had a Vail permit, since you mentioned you got a Weyerhauser permit
The way seasons are staggered, there really isn't any reason you couldn't hunt all of them, and decide for yourself which is hardest. I hunt blacktail, primarily because they just happen to be where I hunt elk. I don't so much intentionally hunt them, as I do take targets of opportunity. That said, if you stick to the west side, hiking into a logging area, where it is legal to hunt, you'd do well to check the shaded areas of spurs on north facing slopes that have been clear cut before about 9am. Once the shade leaves the spurs, so do the deer. I haven't had a problem finding deer yet.
Thanks for the advice!
Post by: RightPlace-RightTime on July 20, 2015, 06:16:37 PM
Mule deel.
Post by: huntnnw on July 20, 2015, 06:37:42 PM
Post by: 3nails on July 20, 2015, 07:23:39 PM
There is no answer to this.. You would be narrow minded to choose one. They all have vulnerabilities. Hell just hunting one particular Muley buck could be the toughest animal you ever chased while another guy goes out first day no idea what he's doing and shoots a 200" buck . Terrain can play a role for each, weather ,weapon choice,OTC versus limited entry .I agree with this. The only thing that may make a blacktail a little harder to hunt is that they don't quite lose their minds during the rut as much as the other two.
Post by: pd on July 20, 2015, 09:53:07 PM
I know tons of hunters who do this.
Post by: JeffRaines on July 20, 2015, 11:06:43 PM
Jeff, as much as the residents in Eastern WA hate to hear this, one tried-and-true strategy (BobCat mentioned this) is to hunt opening week on the dry side, and finish the longer season close to home. Take 4 or 5 days (say, Saturday to Tuesday) and go after grain fed WT, and then hit the wet woods close to home around Halloween, during the BT peak rut.
I know tons of hunters who do this.
That sounds like a good strategy... My question is, how Far East are we talking? My thing, as mentioned previously, is time off work and scouting. Is a lot of scouting typically necessary for this?
Post by: wildweeds on July 20, 2015, 11:48:53 PM
Post by: 3nails on July 21, 2015, 05:01:00 AM
This same type of poll came up about 10 years ago down in the tuccannon at the Wooten range managers house,we had a blind taste test of all three deer,all steaks were prepared the same way by a single cook.Care to guess as to which deer subtype won the taste test 9 to 1? I'm going out on a limb and going to give y'all a bunch of credit,I'm betting it will be a hands down winner vote as well.I would say whitetail.
Post by: tgomez on July 21, 2015, 05:04:53 AM
Post by: huntnnw on July 21, 2015, 06:24:09 AM
This same type of poll came up about 10 years ago down in the tuccannon at the Wooten range managers house,we had a blind taste test of all three deer,all steaks were prepared the same way by a single cook.Care to guess as to which deer subtype won the taste test 9 to 1? I'm going out on a limb and going to give y'all a bunch of credit,I'm betting it will be a hands down winner vote as well.
Prolly whitetail...but theres more to that than just the specie... time of year is a huge difference, what they eat,age and how was it taken care of and was it killed quickly.
I have eaten a couple of whitetail bucks that were harvested in early sept and they were right up there as some of the best wild game I have ever eaten in my life and one particular buck was unreal good. Not even close to a November/December deer
Post by: Dhoey07 on July 21, 2015, 07:03:59 AM
IMHO, most of the time blacktails will stare you down or run off a ways and look back. Mulies aren't very skiddish and they don't really seem to care if you are around. But if you bust a whitetail it won't stop till it hits the county line.
Post by: OutHouse on July 23, 2015, 01:24:55 PM
My :twocents:
Post by: MountainWalk on July 23, 2015, 01:38:55 PM
Post by: SkookumHntr on July 23, 2015, 02:10:14 PM
Post by: JimmyHoffa on July 23, 2015, 03:13:36 PM
Ambushing a trail, waiting until they stop bounding, a multiperson drive in reprod, etc.
Post by: 2labs on July 23, 2015, 03:23:50 PM
Post by: JimmyHoffa on July 23, 2015, 03:30:24 PM
Blacktail the hardest, just because where they live. Mulies the easiest because when spooked they have a bad habit of doing the hippity hop for a couple hundred yards then turning broadside to what spooked them.A couple guys I used to go with called it: Hop, Stop and Drop. The muley would start hopping up hill until at least a hundred yards above them, then it would stop to turn and stare at them; that's when they'd drop it.
Post by: grundy53 on July 23, 2015, 03:38:10 PM
Post by: JeffRaines on July 23, 2015, 05:20:37 PM
They each have there difficulties. I would say the easiest would be mulies. However then you factor in their lower population numbers, high hunting pressure and the inability to hunt them during the rut makes it difficult to kill a good buck. Second would be whitetails mainly because the rut makes them so vulnerable and they are easier to pattern. A good blacktail is the hardest mainly because of their habitat and it's tough to pattern them. As far as wariness I would give that to a whitetail hands down. My dad and I call them paranoid schizophrenics. They will jump out of their skin if a leaf falls. :chuckle:. If you take the rut out of the equation I would say a good whitetail buck is the toughest to kill.
With this being my first year hunting them, I'm not so much concerned with a trophy as much as I am with something that's legal. The trophies will come with time.
Post by: grundy53 on July 23, 2015, 05:24:33 PM
Post by: bobcat on July 23, 2015, 06:51:44 PM
Post by: grundy53 on July 23, 2015, 07:07:33 PM
It might be easier to get a blacktail just because there is no 3 point minimum.I was actually thinking about that. I think you're right. Imagine if blacktail went three point or better. I bet the success rate would drop 80-90%. :chuckle:
Post by: JeffRaines on July 23, 2015, 08:45:20 PM
It might be easier to get a blacktail just because there is no 3 point minimum.I was actually thinking about that. I think you're right. Imagine if blacktail went three point or better. I bet the success rate would drop 80-90%. :chuckle:
I'm thinking I'm going to chase mulies as I've taken the time off, then if I get nothing I'll go after BT
Post by: 2labs on July 23, 2015, 08:58:28 PM
I posted earlier that blackies are tough, but once you learn them, not so much!
Quite hunting blacktail because of taste. A grain fed mulie or whitetail is the bomb.
Post by: Smoke on July 24, 2015, 12:23:52 PM
Post by: hrd2fnd on July 24, 2015, 12:38:48 PM
Hunt both mule deer and blacktails. For mulies you only get 9 days. So hunt that season and then hunt blacktails until October 31st, and again in November during the 4 day late season.:yeah: