Hunting Washington Forum
Big Game Hunting => Deer Hunting => Topic started by: kglacken on June 14, 2016, 06:21:11 PM
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Now that the majority of my tags in the west have come back with the oh so familiar 'Not successful', its time to start focusing and planning for the fall OTC hunts. Im looking to spend some time really chasing blacktail. I always go every weekend I can during the season, but have never really committed to finding a mature buck. Ive killed several 2 points but I'm hoping to wrap my tag around a good mature buck this season. I hunt in an area that has some access, but is not incredibly pressured like some units. I know there are big bucks around, because a few get killed in the area every year, but majority of them are just pure luck.
However, there seems to be guys on here who pull decent blacktail from the nasty wet hillsides each year. Im looking to spark a conversation on how others like to do it. I tend to spend a lot of time covering a ton of ground and doing a lot of sitting and glassing. Whether it be constant hiking, or moving from landing to landing in the pickup and glassing, I have had good luck finding bucks, but haven't been able to find a real masher yet. Ill be 100% honest, I'm not much of a patient hunter. I like to move and "run and gun" so to speak, but I can change tactics if needed. Im curious on opinions. Do you like the high country? Thick reprod on steep hillsides? Sit and glass? Run and gun? Still hunt the timber? Do your tactics differ based on whether?
Im very confident in my abilities to find a legal buck, but this year I'm hoping to put a nice mature blacktail on the ground. I consider myself to be a decent hunter, but I'm always willing to listen and learn. I think there are so many hunters out there who are afraid to ask and admit that they are not experts! I plan to commit more to scouting and hanging cameras in my areas this year in hopes to find a mature buck and concentrate on that area. Hopefully we can get a good thread going on finding one of the most elusive animals in the U.S! Thanks in advance everyone! :tup:
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For me there are about 3 days worth hunting, and you better be out there from daylight til dark. Use your binos. Hiking is not hunting... mature bucks use use Clearcuts and openings, beyond popular belief. "Boyd Iverson" RIP. Those 3 days aren't in late buck. HINT
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You need to have patience....although it's nice to get trail cam pics of big bucks its not necessary....all of my big bucks I have harvested were the first time I've seen then is when I shot them...find the does....find a good area that holds alot of does....it will create competition and bring in the big bucks....I sit and wait and glass, sun up to sun down....11-1 is the key hrs for these big bucks...do NOT go in for lunch...they will chase all night and bed down about first light then get back up around 10-11 am to chase again when the does get up to feed....the last few days of season is the best if you ask me...I have the last 5 days off and will live in the woods during those 5 days...you can run and gun but I think you will just spook more game that way....still hunting can be very successful if you take your sweet time and go very slow and know the area...I always hunt clearcuts in the 5-7 yr old range...the ones I like to glass are old enough and have enough cover the deer are comfy enough to stay in it all day and have feed and big timber/reprod around it for a quick escape if they need to
Here's a couple pictures of the type of units I hunt...the first 2 pics have a deer in them
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi799.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fyy275%2Fdeerhunter_98520%2FIMG_20151122_105933349_HDR_zpsu5khoc0u.jpg&hash=25310c81bdff7e48216a9d5a905319ec2dc59189) (http://s799.photobucket.com/user/deerhunter_98520/media/IMG_20151122_105933349_HDR_zpsu5khoc0u.jpg.html)
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi799.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fyy275%2Fdeerhunter_98520%2FIMG_20151122_105747695_HDR_zpsnkkgiek2.jpg&hash=6992c40c96215350cbb0f38e4a416714292b0122) (http://s799.photobucket.com/user/deerhunter_98520/media/IMG_20151122_105747695_HDR_zpsnkkgiek2.jpg.html)
And this one is an ideal unit I like to hunt
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi799.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fyy275%2Fdeerhunter_98520%2FIMG_20151024_160301419_zpsatxil4bb.jpg&hash=bb06de756d54df8e6b74d4ad339273a976a0328a) (http://s799.photobucket.com/user/deerhunter_98520/media/IMG_20151024_160301419_zpsatxil4bb.jpg.html)
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Find out when the rut tends to peak around your area. Depending on area it could varry a decent amount. I have seen areas with heavy necked bucks chasing does the last week of Oct and in a different area the same year we didnt see any heavy rutting activity until the late modern season in Nov. My favorite time is the dismal misty days. The days where its not raining in the traditional sense, it just feels like an exteremely heavy fog coming down. Where it stays grey all day long. On these days I love to stay up under the reprod. The age that is just big enough you can walk under but young enough that it is dark and tight under it with little vegitation. This makes for easy quiet walking. MOVE SLOWLY!!! and stop often to look for anything that could be a sign. a flick of an ear, a grey face staring at you (cause 99.9% of the time they still see you first but they will watch you from time to time and slip around you) a horizontal line among the tree trunks, this may be a back or a belly of a deer. Under this kind of reprod there is often draws of young alder and other leafy brush where small springs run through. These tend to be key areas I find animals. Also, any benches or level areas within the reprod that are not part of the normal slope of the hillside. And any part of this kind of reprod that boarders other timber or a clear cut. My best results have been areas under this thick reprod within 1/4 mile of a good clear cut. Or the first 200 yards of some of this thick reprod just in from a thick older clear cut. Where the trees in the cut have grown so thick with other brush and such that you cant even walk through it. The kind of clear cuts that you would have to belly crawl through if that. Well, where the reprod boarders that is a key edge that seem to pull a lot of deer because the cut is so intensely thick they are protected from ever being detected and then they can pull into the more open reprod to move around more freely and still feel protected. Besides under the reprod the next best key area I have hunted is under bigger timber in the draws where some of the big timber have fallen over time and more light gets to the ground. So in the draw it is crazy thick vine maple type brush among all the fallen trees and such. The best of these areas are within the big timber and not along the edge of the timber or along a road. Get in the big timber out of sight of the road and find one super thick draw. Play the wind right and sit and haunt the bottom end of these thick draws. A treestand in the bigger timber 50 yards off of the draw (line of sight permitting) is a great plan. Find and check out these areas before season. See if you can find a key entry or exit of the draw. The exit is often at the bottom of the draw. Like I said, these draws are thick and in bigger timber that is open enough to see a ways and the big timber that has just ferns and an occasional vine maple under them but otherwise clear. Then you get to the draw and it is SOLID brush and fallen trees. I have pushed through one of these that was only 15-25 yards wide and 100 yards long. I had to belly crawl many times to get through it. Had others sitting in the big timber watching from both sides. As I headed to the bottom of the draw to work up it, I didnt circle far enough away, a big buck busted me and took off out of the bottom of the draw before I had a chance to do anything. Then I headed up from the bottom through it. I could hear very little because to move in there I was making too much noise. My buddies were able to see 6 other deer in there that I never knew were there. They would move a little away from me, hunker down, I would pass, then they would slip out the bottom of the draw. Most were does and they said there was at least 2 small for horns or big spikes. Like I said, this draw was not large, it was just a key area with how it was set up. Closest road was 1/4 mile away and it was deep in the big timber.
Hope this helps a little. And I hope to see some other advice on here, chasing mature blacktails is one of those things you can not stop learning about.
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Some great advice so far. Whatever you are doing do it slower.
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How many can spot the deer? ;)
I did. :tup:
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How many can spot the deer? ;)
I did. :tup:
I was asked how the hell i spotted both of them from guys standing next to me :chuckle:
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Tagging
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How many can spot the deer? ;)
I did. :tup:
I was asked how the hell i spotted both of them from guys standing next to me :chuckle:
I found the one in the first pic, not the second one though :chuckle:
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Most mature blacktails are almost completely nocturnal. Notching a tag on one during early season can be REAL tuff or REAL lucky. If you are a rifle guy I would spend the early season finding the does. You will see the smaller bucks mixed in with the does towards the end of early season waiting for one to go into heat. Come late season the big boys move in and kick the smaller bucks out. Hunt those same areas and you should see some big boys.
I also hunt clearcuts that you can only see into from great distances like 500-800 yards. Any closer and you cannot see over the growth. Those are my favorite places to hunt, and most hunters don't even try or don't spend the time seriously glassing.
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I think I spotted both deer but need confirmation
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I think I spotted both deer but need confirmation
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The first pic has a doe sitting above the white log center pic.
The second pic has a doe sitting below the stump middle pic at about five o'clock looking straight at the spotter. :tup:
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Once again, , the last few days of general deer, all day long... the bucks in lewis and Thurston county's will be searching for does.... period
Mature bucks chase before immature bucks.... hint
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No no no I'm lying, late buck is the best!! Grin
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First pic was pretty easy. Still not understanding your explanation on the second but I think we are looking at the same deer, although I thought it looked like it was facing to the left with its rear toward the spotter
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I agree with all of what's said. Hunt last 4 days of general season and do not stop hunting all day. Don't shoot a small one. And a little bit of luck never hurts.
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Once again, , the last few days of general deer, all day long... the bucks in lewis and Thurston county's will be searching for does.... period
Mature bucks chase before immature bucks.... hint
:yeah:
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First one is easy
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi799.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fyy275%2Fdeerhunter_98520%2FIMG_20160614_203109_zps2elbnvvl.jpg&hash=fb12ceef490bc893881ab10c2c2fb271a8361ecb) (http://s799.photobucket.com/user/deerhunter_98520/media/IMG_20160614_203109_zps2elbnvvl.jpg.html)
Second one the doe is laying down with her head laying on her side...that's her right ear sticking up and her hind qtr to the right...it was about 500yds away
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi799.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fyy275%2Fdeerhunter_98520%2FIMG_20160614_203032_zpsao35a33w.jpg&hash=08afa65b194f9a9bc9bcc15dbb29b3cf59946a36) (http://s799.photobucket.com/user/deerhunter_98520/media/IMG_20160614_203032_zpsao35a33w.jpg.html)
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... mature bucks use use Clearcuts and openings, beyond popular belief.
:yeah: The largest blacktail I have seen so far came out of the timber walked a few hundred yards straight down a forest road, then into a clear cut. From my experience hunting blacktails and whitetails, I have no hesitation in hunting open areas, old roads, etc. Ive seeen it while Im out there and it a lot in sign. They simply walk straight down the road. Seen it a lot even when there is little resistance along side the road(open fields, thin brush, etc.) ... they'll walk right down the road. Im sure they hunker down in thick brush though too. But I stick primarily to hunting edges. Tend to find the most concentrated sign there.
I personally try to hunt all day as well. That is usually a mix of sitting and still hunting to get off my ass. If I want to nap Ill just sleep on the ground for a bit and then keep going. Building a tarp similar to the Kifaru Sheep Tarp so I can get out of the rain a bit on my all day hunts. I think this is one of the bigger misses by a lot of people. After I got my deer this year I started scouting a new area. I had more deer, including nice bucks, on my camera between 10am-2pm than I had at night deep into December. Probably 4 to 1. Now I dont know if it exactly changed or since I moved my camera that I just picked up one of their night routes, but late December after I moved the camera it switch 1-4 day to night.
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Outside the prime time days of last few days of pre -rut in late Oct. and the four post-rut days in late buck, you'll likely have your best chance of seeing a big buck by being in place in the woods, ready to hunt well before first light. Similarly, the last few minutes of legal light are the second best time to hunt. You shouldn't be just heading into the woods at first light nor walking to your rig the last few minutes of legal light. You should be in that place where you expect to see that big buck heading back to bed after a night of feeding or just heading out to go feed for the evening. Get a headlamp and take a walk in the woods the dark in the early mornings. Be prepared to walk out in the dark at night.
Big BT bucks are almost exclusively nocturnal and always secretive outside the rut. During this time, you have to be very good or very lucky to see a trophy buck in the middle of the day. That doesn't mean you shouldn't hunt the middle of the day though. They still stand up to pee and occasionally get a drink or eat a bit in the middle of the day. They just (normally) won't be traveling during the day unless there are hot does around. If you know where they live, you might just see one get up.
This is all a Boyd Iverson paraphrase.
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Hunt the last of October, hunt late, I mean till dark, dont head to your rig because its getting dark. Use your eyes and ears, use your EYES. Hunt with a lever action rifle for fast follow up shots, Love the rain, embrace the rain.Ware wool.10-11 o'clock in the am is a good time for buck in less pressured areas.Hunt alone.Dont walk erect when hunting the timber,bend @ the waist and look under, met several mature Blackies that way.Hunt the terrian I learned that from an old retired game warden.
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Tagging along!
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Hunt the last of October, hunt late, I mean till dark, dont head to your rig because its getting dark. Use your eyes and ears, use your EYES. Hunt with a lever action rifle for fast follow up shots, Love the rain, embrace the rain.Ware wool.10-11 o'clock in the am is a good time for buck in less pressured areas.Hunt alone.Dont walk erect when hunting the timber,bend @ the waist and look under, met several mature Blackies that way.Hunt the terrian I learned that from an old retired game warden.
Solid advice from a man that has killed some giant bucks!! Thanks Jeff, and luck this season. Jud
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This thread is AWESOME! Thanks for all the input! I feel like I go out and make things way more difficult than they need to be. This helps !!
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Fun thread to read. I agree with everything said. I will also vouch for going slow! Glass, glass, glass..pick everything apart!
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Awesome advice everyone! That is one thing that I feel like I am doing right, glassing. if there is one skill I consider myself to be "advanced" at its my glassing skills. Looking for any little patch, flat back, ear twitch is noticed. Everyone wants to look for an animal, not a piece of an animal.
Sort of off subject, but I did a mule deer hunt in Arizona and our guides told us at the end of the hunt that they have hunted with a ton of guys in the hunting industry, celebrities, top "professional" hunters and people from all over the world and they have never met anyone who could glass and spot animals like us. They were shocked at some of the deer we picked out of the canyons from a long ways away and ones that were very hidden. I think thats from training the eyes to find blacktail! :tup:
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For me there are about 3 days worth hunting, and you better be out there from daylight til dark. Use your binos. Hiking is not hunting... mature bucks use use Clearcuts and openings, beyond popular belief. "Boyd Iverson" RIP. Those 3 days aren't in late buck. HINT
:yeah:
I love it when the last 3 days of October start on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. If it's raining those last 3 days it's even better.
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I'm sure it depends on where you hunt, how much hunting pressure exists, etc. But based on my rookie experience, I have to agree with Boyd. I spent too many years glassing open areas until I went cross-eyed. When I saw deer in open areas, it was usually a few does at first light nibbling their last few snacks in secluded bowls. Then I started concentrating on travel routes between areas where I had seen deer in the off season. I concentrated my efforts on trails that passed through the lowest elevation between large feeding areas, trails that follow drainage down from a saddle. Such trails may offer good tree stand terrain and you can expect deer to travel through when the wind blows parallel to the trail (deer will almost always travel with the wind blowing behind their direction of travel).
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Tag
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deep dark and nasty,I stay away from clear cuts,thats where I see everyone else..I love to rattle in the dark thick timber, where its dark in the daylight..
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Yessss. I absolutely love these threads. Tons of great advice here. I agree with everything said. Look for water too. I've seen three deer standing in the middle of a clearcut mid day because there was a pond there. There were also massive bear prints in the area so whatever you're looking for it'll be there. Look for scrapes and benches. The area I hunt is flat and about sea level so I don't get to deal with the great terrain yall do. But just make sure to move slow and PAY ATTENTION. I know personally I'm not patient enough.
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How many can spot the deer? ;)
I did. :tup:
First one was pretty easy. Not sure about the 2nd one. Looked at the "ear" but maybe my eyes are getting bad.
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Tagging
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- Apple or pear trees, especially "forgotten" orchards or lone trees that are good producers - I don't know about this year when apples started dropping in July, but in a normal year they are gold
- Comfortable tree stands and blinds that you can spend many hours in (pay attention to this, warm feet are not feet that are moving around giving you away)
- Rub lines & scrapes
- Travel routes
- Good 7x42, 8x42, 7x50 or 8x56 binocular when in a stand.
- Rain & generally rotten weather days
- Move slowly as you think you can possibly move and then move half that fast when you still hunt. I use a 6x32 Vortex Viper binocular (discontinued, but you can still find them if you really look) when still hunting to keep bulk to a minimum. I am pretty bulky in my own right so I need all the help I can get there. The Leupold 6x30 Yosemite Porro is another dandy little binocular w/great depth of field and wide FOV, it is pretty inexpensive, waterproof & durable.
- Get up early and go to bed late - mid afternoons are good too. I used to nap from noon -> about 3:00 PM. I don't do that no mo. Bucks get up and move around about then.
- I reread Boyd Iverson's book every year about this time and sometimes reread Haugan, Terkla and Hanes books too, but I always reread Iverson's book about this time of year to remind myself of what I need to pay attention to
- Primos Can Call, I have never cold called a buck in w/one, but I will use one to get a buck to take a step toward me and give me a shot. Wait until they are looking away from you and then tip it a couple times. I suppose you could cold call a buck in w/one, I never have tried though.
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If you're watching a trail from a stand during archery season, you may need to get a buck to stop briefly. A little deer waz on the ground may achieve the desired result. I don't like to walk on the trail I hope he'll be using, so I don't set up wicks. I just climb the tree, open the bottle and squeeze out a big parabolic pee arc into the desired location. I also practice voicing a doe bleat when shooting arrows. It's surprisingly distracting but if you practice this you can manage at full draw (harder with a trad bow). I like to alternate between a traditional draw cycle, "snap shooting", and voicing doe bleats while holding full draw for at least four counts. When I can do all of these things well at a given yardage, I feel confident in hunting that distance. Mixing these elements into archery practice keeps it interesting.
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Get yourself some top quality optics, and sit on 5-7 year old reprod. Glass, glass, glass. How I Hunt you are as good as your OPTICS!
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Get a mule.
Pack in 10 miles.
Deer act like they once did.
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Get yourself some top quality optics, and sit on 5-7 year old reprod. Glass, glass, glass. How I Hunt you are as good as your OPTICS!
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:yeah:
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How would you hunt a spot like this? Area can be accessed by any direction.(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fuploads.tapatalk-cdn.com%2F20160803%2F30ac31bdac9fd96b3395d35999fbff99.png&hash=c6744345fbbe87ebaf8757aec8138475461ee82f)
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Hey! That's my spot!!!
Seriously, a thousand hunters would give you a couple thousand answers to that question. It depends on how you like to hunt, how agile you are, what kind of shape you are in....etc.
If it were me, I'd try to determine the direction of the prevailing winds so that on any given day, you have a good chance of being able to enter your spot from down wind. Have back-up plans for entering from different areas if the wind is abnormal.
In the pre-season, I'd walk as much of the perimeter as possible, just inside the cut, to determine the areas that deer are using and where they are accessing the cut from. Alternatively, you can just glass from the top to find where the most deer congregate Walking the perimeter will be really difficult considering the terrain, so you may just want to focus on the south or southwest facing areas, where you would normally expect the deer to be in the fall.
Once you determine the areas with the most sign, you develop a plan based on whether you want to sit up high and glass for bucks then spot and stalk or shoot from distance, or still hunt the timber inside the edges.
Personally, I like the draws on the left side of the ridge that were not cut, and which appear to originate from a saddle in the ridge. There may be groups of does bedding in the upper regions of those draws which should have the bucks cruising through searching for hot does in the fall. Taking a stand above an intersection of trails in one of these draws might be productive. You might also consider working your way up/down through the draws looking for rub lines from last year. That would give you an excellent idea on where you should expect to find cruising bucks. :twocents:
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Strip timber between the cuts on the left side of the clear cut ridge. Deer will use those fingers to go up and down the mountain.scout the area and look for cross trails and vertical trails just inside the trees and look for benches that would be my game plan :tup:
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Hey! That's my spot!!!
Seriously, a thousand hunters would give you a couple thousand answers to that question. It depends on how you like to hunt, how agile you are, what kind of shape you are in....etc.
If it were me, I'd try to determine the direction of the prevailing winds so that on any given day, you have a good chance of being able to enter your spot from down wind. Have back-up plans for entering from different areas if the wind is abnormal.
In the pre-season, I'd walk as much of the perimeter as possible, just inside the cut, to determine the areas that deer are using and where they are accessing the cut from. Alternatively, you can just glass from the top to find where the most deer congregate Walking the perimeter will be really difficult considering the terrain, so you may just want to focus on the south or southwest facing areas, where you would normally expect the deer to be in the fall.
Once you determine the areas with the most sign, you develop a plan based on whether you want to sit up high and glass for bucks then spot and stalk or shoot from distance, or still hunt the timber inside the edges.
Personally, I like the draws on the left side of the ridge that were not cut, and which appear to originate from a saddle in the ridge. There may be groups of does bedding in the upper regions of those draws which should have the bucks cruising through searching for hot does in the fall. Taking a stand above an intersection of trails in one of these draws might be productive. You might also consider working your way up/down through the draws looking for rub lines from last year. That would give you an excellent idea on where you should expect to find cruising bucks. :twocents:
Well I've only got 3 seasons of blacktail hunting under my belt, so 2000 answers couldn't hurt. I prefer archery but this season I'm gonna go with the modern tag. Broke my right heel bone at the end of May and have only been free of immobilizing devices for 2 weeks. I gotta do my body justice and let it heal, no September hills this year. I may not have a chance to pre-scout either.
The approach I'm considering is to access from the bottom of the screenshot, moving up the main drainage on day #1, near the creek bottom cool thermals should still be moving downstream. I will look for trails coming off the hillside below the cut and if I find good sign, wait for a buck headed to water after chasing does in the cut. I won't move too far in on day 1. I plan to bivouac so I'll camp near the creek.
Day #2, I would like to be between the cut edge and the creek moving slowly up the drainage toward those uncut draws. Working towards the head of the drainage. Camp near the creek again.
Day #3, I would like to focus on the dark timber SW facing ridge opposite of the uncut draws. Still hunting through the timber.
Day #4, return to whichever zone where I found the most sign.
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I would expect that every decent size deer in the area will be in the areas I have circled.... but the thing about black tails is they are always doing something I don't expect
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From an airplane.
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If you're hunting in late-October, the deer will likely not be making daily trips to the creek for water like they do in August - Sept., before the rains start. Complicating matters, those water runs are made at night.
Blacktail can get nearly all the water they need from soft browse during the wet season - especially so if there are hunters in the woods. On average, the first heavy rains begin somewhere around the 10th of October. During a dry fall, you may find them still having to supplement their water at the creek bottoms or in the drainages, but betting your limited time in the woods on finding them traveling for water is probably a crap shoot. :twocents: (that's four cents now).
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I like those circled areas too, but my gut says hunt the dark timber across the creek. Trying to think like a cagey, older buck who knows to leave the cut before daylight and head to cover. Try and intercept between feeding/breeding areas and steep,dark bedding areas.
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The last couple days of October I would be on those strips of timber that's where those bucks will be guaranteed
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The last couple days of October I would be on those strips of timber that's where those bucks will be guaranteed
You said it twice, I'll take your advice!
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For bucks W of I-5, at an elevation of 1200 ft or less, how large of an area would they occupy throughout the year? How many square miles? If I found a buck tomorrow, do you think he'd travel farther than 5 miles in any direction from that spot to his "rut zone"?
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For bucks W of I-5, at an elevation of 1200 ft or less, how large of an area would they occupy throughout the year? How many square miles? If I found a buck tomorrow, do you think he'd travel farther than 5 miles in any direction from that spot to his "rut zone"?
<1 sq mile , if you find him now he will be close by.
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For bucks W of I-5, at an elevation of 1200 ft or less, how large of an area would they occupy throughout the year? How many square miles? If I found a buck tomorrow, do you think he'd travel farther than 5 miles in any direction from that spot to his "rut zone"?
<1 sq mile , if you find him now he will be close by.
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Wow that's not far at all. I would've thought a buck would cruise further than that looking for receptive does.
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For bucks W of I-5, at an elevation of 1200 ft or less, how large of an area would they occupy throughout the year? How many square miles? If I found a buck tomorrow, do you think he'd travel farther than 5 miles in any direction from that spot to his "rut zone"?
<1 sq mile , if you find him now he will be close by.
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Wow that's not far at all. I would've thought a buck would cruise further than that looking for receptive does.
The bucks will remain solitary in their core area (about 1 square mile) until the rut kicks in during the last week of October or so. Up until that point, you won't see them out in the open during the day very much. You will have to hunt them in the timber along the trails they frequently use. Once rut kicks in, they will be on the move and may go miles searching for does. If you're bow hunting the early season, you won't find bucks cruising for does. That won't be a strategy you want to rely on.
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For bucks W of I-5, at an elevation of 1200 ft or less, how large of an area would they occupy throughout the year? How many square miles? If I found a buck tomorrow, do you think he'd travel farther than 5 miles in any direction from that spot to his "rut zone"?
<1 sq mile , if you find him now he will be close by.
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Wow that's not far at all. I would've thought a buck would cruise further than that looking for receptive does.
Your question referred to their home range throughout the year, and was answered correctly - there are (probably) zero migratory deer west of I-5 below 1200 feet. 1- 2 sq. miles is generally considered to be the average home range of non-migratory BT bucks. Every buck is different.
There are virtually no BT studies on how far they travel (during the rut) in search of does (excursions). There are many eye witness accounts of hunters seeing BT bucks several miles (up to ten or so) from where they were found just a day before. These reports must be viewed with a bit of skepticism because, as we all know, it is hard to tell one deer from another, even with unusual antler configurations. Genetic flow of antler characteristics in bucks allows for, and often results in, similar unusual antler and body configurations in separate deer populations that stemmed from a common ancestor several generations removed from the current individual.
Once you've choked that last sentence down, you can be confident in knowing that if you saw a buck several times in an area outside the period of the rut, he will likely spend the majority of his time in that same home range area during the rut. If you have your heart set on killing just that one buck, then you should hunt close to where you saw him. If you're less discerning about which buck you harvest, then locating the groups of does in an area and then hunting those trails (Oct 26 - end of late buck season) that bucks use to cruise from one group of does to the next should, in theory, give you the best opportunity to see several different bucks as they make the rounds in search of hot does. Figure out where the pinch points/funnels are and you're in good shape.
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I was talking with a biologist who told me that 200-250 BT/square mile in the best western WA habitat. Something like 40% antlered and 30% of those three point or better. So that means ~ twenty or twenty-five three point or better bucks/square mile. If a third of those are nice bucks then that means ~ six or eight nice bucks per section. And that would put one or two real trophy bucks on each section in the very best black tail habitat.
That lines absolutely spot on w/my observations over the years.
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DaveMonti and fishnfur, thanks for the info!! Looks like I will put all my effort into the last 4 days of modern. Definitely will be focusing on terrain features that could be used as travel corridors between cuts and older stands of timber.
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I was talking with a biologist who told me that 200-250 BT/square mile in the best western WA habitat. Something like 40% antlered and 30% of those three point or better. So that means ~ twenty or twenty-five three point or better bucks/square mile. If a third of those are nice bucks then that means ~ six or eight nice bucks per section. And that would put one or two real trophy bucks on each section in the very best black tail habitat.
That lines absolutely spot on w/my observations over the years.
Statistically those are some good numbers, a buck to doe ratio of 1:2.5 seems very healthy. Would you mind schooling me on blacktail habitat W of I-5?
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Two more spots to discuss:
- Upper left saddle where deer likely cross the ridge to travel between the two drainages. This one occurs in big timber and may have bucks moving through it at any time of the day during the rut. This may be a killer spot to take a stand.
- Depending on the steepness, the drainage in the lower portion of the picture may hold does in the upper portion that feed in the alder during mid-day and travel their way up that in the clear cut at night. The timbered points on that finger are promising bedding areas for bucks, allowing good vision for predators from below, easy escape from danger above, and similarly, provide relatively easy access to the great groceries up in the cut.
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I was talking with a biologist who told me that 200-250 BT/square mile in the best western WA habitat. Something like 40% antlered and 30% of those three point or better. So that means ~ twenty or twenty-five three point or better bucks/square mile. If a third of those are nice bucks then that means ~ six or eight nice bucks per section. And that would put one or two real trophy bucks on each section in the very best black tail habitat.
That lines absolutely spot on w/my observations over the years.
Statistically those are some good numbers, a buck to doe ratio of 1:2.5 seems very healthy. Would you mind schooling me on blacktail habitat W of I-5?
Google those exact words!
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Two more spots to discuss:
- Upper left saddle where deer likely cross the ridge to travel between the two drainages. This one occurs in big timber and may have bucks moving through it at any time of the day during the rut. This may be a killer spot to take a stand.
- Depending on the steepness, the drainage in the lower portion of the picture may hold does in the upper portion that feed in the alder during mid-day and travel their way up that in the clear cut at night. The timbered points on that finger are promising bedding areas for bucks, allowing good vision for predators from below, easy escape from danger above, and similarly, provide relatively easy access to the great groceries up in the cut.
Well I'm at least feeling more confident in my Google Earth scouting! I've looked at those two spots from just about every angle. The timbered ridge appears to have some nice looking areas where the terrain breaks the steepness, areas where ridgelines, saddles, and hips & valleys all converge. The area you circled in the lower portion I like but I'm concerned about it being mostly deciduous trees and every spot I've been in like that has been way too loud, even when wet. My thought would be to bivy just below that area and slip within a couple hundred yards of the cut before daylight, settle in and hope to intercept.
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deciduous trees, that's where I'd go. Especially if vine maple or alder, if there's big ferns around beneath, even better.
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deciduous trees, that's where I'd go. Especially if vine maple or alder, if there's big ferns around beneath, even better.
I have not had a chance to "ground truth" the area, but I am assuming those species do occur there. I would have to camp right in it though because I do not want to navigate far in the dark in an area I've never been in. I think being near the cut edge in that forest type could really pay off.
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There ya go. That's at least a thousand answers, the deer will be where they want to be. You can only guess. I think your plan is very reasonable. You may have bucks filtering back to bed down that seam in cut in the early am, maybe not. There are deer (does for sure) in the alder, but you will likely be heard or seen trying to hunt them (if you're moving). The alder/fir edge (you in the fir) should provide more coverage for you . Nothing left to do but go out and find them. (Um...did I mention rattling in that deep dark timber?) Don't forget your doe bleat can call.
Where's RadSav when you need him?
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There ya go. That's at least a thousand answers, the deer will be where they want to be. You can only guess. I think your plan is very reasonable. You may have bucks filtering back to bed down that seam in cut in the early am, maybe not. There are deer (does for sure) in the alder, but you will likely be heard or seen trying to hunt them (if you're moving). The alder/fir edge (you in the fir) should provide more coverage for you . Nothing left to do but go out and find them. (Um...did I mention rattling in that deep dark timber?) Don't forget your doe bleat can call.
Where's RadSav when you need him?
Doe bleat can call :tup:
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Much appreciated!!
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Hunting in late October ,how high in elevation is too high?
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Hunting in late October ,how high in elevation is too high?
Since it is rut time then, the does determine that imo. More than a couple inches of snow for a couple days and they take the fawns down below the snowline. Bucks follow the does, if it wasn't rut the bucks would stay even if it was a foot of snow.
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Everybody especially you bail tag holders post your spots there are no secrets!!! The folks that paid for the permit are entitled!!!0
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Everybody especially you bail tag holders post your spots there are no secrets!!! The folks that paid for the permit are entitled!!!0
You 1st :chuckle: