Post by: Ghunt on September 30, 2016, 01:04:26 PM
Post by: Skyvalhunter on September 30, 2016, 01:15:15 PM
Post by: Ghunt on September 30, 2016, 02:15:05 PM
Best bet unless you have a special permit is Halloween weekend
Yeah that's what I was thinking :tup:
Post by: Old Man Yager on October 07, 2016, 12:46:04 PM
Post by: jackmaster on October 07, 2016, 01:22:52 PM
Last week of October, be in the woods as much as possible!! I got the week off.youll need most of that week just to target practice old man.. :chuckle:
Post by: JDHasty on October 07, 2016, 01:26:41 PM
Best bet unless you have a special permit is Halloween weekend
True that! And if it is raining sideways.... so much the better for me. YMMV though. Some of my buddies don't like to hunt when it is storming, but I do.
Post by: fishnfur on October 07, 2016, 04:24:39 PM
What time do blacktails start to rut? I'm planning to go out Oct 15-16 and 29-30...
Between 9:30 - 10:00 AM. Plan for one hour earlier once we go back to Standard Time. ;)
Post by: jackmaster on October 07, 2016, 05:12:46 PM
:chuckle: :chuckle:What time do blacktails start to rut? I'm planning to go out Oct 15-16 and 29-30...
Between 9:30 - 10:00 AM. Plan for one hour earlier once we go back to Standard Time. ;)
Post by: xwizard50 on October 07, 2016, 07:35:56 PM
Post by: JDHasty on October 07, 2016, 08:41:17 PM
:chuckle: :chuckle:What time do blacktails start to rut? I'm planning to go out Oct 15-16 and 29-30...
Between 9:30 - 10:00 AM. Plan for one hour earlier once we go back to Standard Time. ;)
Not for this buckaroo.
Give me the last ten minutes of shooting light in the worst storm after a week of good weather and I will spot you my stands for the other 23 hours and fifty minutes. Again YMMV, but that's just me.
For some perverse reason I love the time after the does and small bucks come in five minutes after sundown and sit and watch them come and go before the big bucks have made up their mind it is perfectly safe to come out and get shot.
Not that the other guys don't score, they do. I guess that it may just be that I don't want anyone sitting around warm and dry when there is a deer to get the hide off and hung up in a driving rainstorm after the sun has gone down. I'm kinda funny that way.
All kidding aside... the mature bucks are out there (a biologist assured me that 40% of blacktails in any herd are bucks and 30% of those are mature bucks), just inside the cover, watching EVERY evening. And one of them just might (probably will) show before the 30 minutes after official sundown when it is still legal to take him. Just hope it is the one you wanted.
Big blacktail bucks do show at other times, but they most often show just before shooting light has gone away.
Or just after... don't ask me how I know this, it's still burning me up twice this year. Once the rut plays in though (like Halloween), they will come out just a few minutes earlier, just to be there first.
That's what I keep telling myself anyway after I passed on what would have been my personal best archery buck during archery season this year twice. Still kicking myself while simultaneously congratulating myself.
But I am done shooting 4 1/2 year old bucks that will have mass to go with their height next year as fully developed mature bucks. For me it is either a big buck or it will be a doe or a two point on the last five minutes of the last day of late season on my General Tag.
I will take a doe on my second tag next weekend and with that and the elk we have in the freezer from last year it is either going to cost us a grand for a shoulder mount or there are going to be a lot of lucky does and two points up until the last five minutes of the last day of Late Season.
Post by: Ghunt on October 07, 2016, 11:12:11 PM
Post by: JDHasty on October 08, 2016, 08:58:41 AM
Thanks for all the info, hoping to get a buck this year. :tup:
You will get there. I started hunting for bucks and it hurt to pass on does and spikes and now I am after mature bucks and this year passed on a three point that had every thing except mass. Probably a 4 1/2 year old that if he makes it through will be a great blacktail trophy next season.
I also had two good ones come in just a little too late during archery season. Got a big goose egg last week during ML season hunting with my bow and that is when the second guessing my decision to let that three point walk really kicked in. But, I am OK with that.
All we need for meat is one deer and I will take care of that on my second tag and hold my General Season tag until the bitter end if I don't get a big buck.
I'm thinking I may continue with the bow right through the end of the season, but that may change and I may go with a slug gun or crossbow if I have something out there that I really want badly.
I have a MS tag this year.
Post by: washingtonhunter121 on October 08, 2016, 09:02:37 AM
Post by: Ghunt on October 08, 2016, 11:47:58 AM
Thanks for all the info, hoping to get a buck this year. :tup:
You will get there. I started hunting for bucks and it hurt to pass on does and spikes and now I am after mature bucks and this year passed on a three point that had every thing except mass. Probably a 4 1/2 year old that if he makes it through will be a great blacktail trophy next season.
I also had two good ones come in just a little too late during archery season. Got a big goose egg last week during ML season hunting with my bow and that is when the second guessing my decision to let that three point walk really kicked in. But, I am OK with that.
All we need for meat is one deer and I will take care of that on my second tag and hold my General Season tag until the bitter end if I don't get a big buck.
I'm thinking I may continue with the bow right through the end of the season, but that may change and I may go with a slug gun or crossbow if I have something out there that I really want badly.
I have a MS tag this year.
Yeah its my first time ever hunting. Don't care to much if I have to take a doe but a nice mature buck would be wonderful.
Post by: jackmaster on October 08, 2016, 04:36:28 PM
Post by: HUNTINCOUPLE on October 11, 2016, 11:06:17 AM
Best bet unless you have a special permit is Halloween weekend
:yeah: We've killed a few this weekend through the years.
Post by: fishnfur on October 11, 2016, 01:52:18 PM
Best bet unless you have a special permit is Halloween weekend
:yeah: We've killed a few this weekend through the years.
......... but don't forget, nearly 50% of the deer harvest occurs during the four-day late season in November (according to the State).
Post by: PolarBear on October 11, 2016, 02:07:10 PM
Post by: nickrj11 on October 11, 2016, 02:26:55 PM
My daughter drew the Skookumchuck Nov 1 - 16 buck tag. Should be full on rut and a fun one for her. She is not allowed to shoot anything under a big 3 point until she can use her tag and that is going to be tough for her since we already have 6, 2 point or better and a couple nice 3+ point bucks located. :chuckle:I also drew that tag. Good luck to her! I will be the Black Ram 1500 cruising around up there.