Hunting Washington Forum

Big Game Hunting => Deer Hunting => Topic started by: DoubleJ on October 30, 2010, 07:56:32 PM

Title: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: DoubleJ on October 30, 2010, 07:56:32 PM: >:(

I hate this animal. Give me a nice 350 yard shot across a canyon at a mulie any day.
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: Smokepole on October 30, 2010, 08:01:24 PM: Me too. I feel your pain, brother. Go ahead and let it all out...

You need a hug, man?
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: runamuk on October 30, 2010, 08:06:16 PM: Oh I hate these deer they suck.....damn rhings are in my yard all night eating apples in my trees but go to the woods where they belong...nothing.......

Bleh
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: DoubleJ on October 30, 2010, 08:08:52 PM: Quote from: runamuk on October 30, 2010, 08:06:16 PM
Oh I hate these deer they suck.....damn rhings are in my yard all night eating apples in my trees but go to the woods where they belong...nothing.......

Bleh

This *censored* right here

I can't get them where I need them!!!
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: lokidog on October 30, 2010, 08:12:43 PM: You mean these guys? :chuckle:

Just have to be in the right place at the right time.... :rolleyes:
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: stumprat on October 30, 2010, 08:12:54 PM: Even the "SAFE" deer in my yard have been nocturnal since the beginning of September.
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: Jamieb on October 30, 2010, 08:14:49 PM: I scouted a area a bunch this summer, was seeing around 50 deer a day and some of them were nice bucks.
There no where to be found now.
I ended up shooting this little guy just so I wouldn't eat another deer tag.
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv376%2Felkhunter%2F101_2654.jpg&hash=f4e65721b4573ad3d1caeff4a8f333d8c5a8c1a3)
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: mulehunter on October 30, 2010, 08:19:39 PM: Passed 4 BEAUITFUL Ghost Blackies this Fall! :dunno: Last thursday 5x5 DARK RED horns, He rutting HARD on Doe and it was like 20" wide. No lie! ;) I didnt buy any Tags this year. I am saving it till Next year. Way too Busy!

Next year for sure....

Mulehunter :)
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: Hunterman on October 30, 2010, 08:21:39 PM: One of these days I just might score..

Hunterman(Tony)
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: actionshooter on October 30, 2010, 08:23:05 PM: Blacktail is the hardest of the deer in this state to kill a trophy, hands down........... (now let the pissin match start :hello:)
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: bow4elk on October 30, 2010, 08:23:53 PM: They can drive you insane but they also get under your skin. I love them above all other deer. :bash:
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: DoubleJ on October 30, 2010, 08:24:31 PM: Quote from: lokidog on October 30, 2010, 08:12:43 PM
You mean these guys? :chuckle:

Just have to be in the right place at the right time.... :rolleyes:

Can I come to your house next year?
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: dirty24d on October 30, 2010, 08:28:24 PM: they are next to impossible to pattern. i tried and tried but couldnt. i got mine anyways but not because of any pattern. Love the challenge when you pull it off but despise them when you eat the tag.
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: mulehunter on October 30, 2010, 08:31:04 PM: How about this Pic making you feel better... :chuckle:

Mulehunter :)
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: mulehunter on October 30, 2010, 08:32:31 PM: How about other Pic. Does it help you feel better.

Mulehunter ;)
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: mulehunter on October 30, 2010, 08:37:36 PM: Went to Snoq Hancock right before GATE! I am Blackie tracker! ;) I dont have GOOD Camera like Bone!!! :bash:

Mulehunter :)
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: Dmanmastertracker on October 30, 2010, 08:56:34 PM: Great buck, you say Snohomish Hancock? Didn't know they had anything up that way.
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: mulehunter on October 30, 2010, 09:14:34 PM: Quote from: Dmanmastertracker on October 30, 2010, 08:56:34 PM
Great buck, you say Snohomish Hancock? Didn't know they had anything up that way.

Enjoy up there. Need to be membership to get key access gates. Its fun. Enjoy... one more day. Better hurry.... :chuckle:

Mulehunter. ;)
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: sporked horn on October 30, 2010, 09:26:24 PM: I've killed 5 mulies in 5 years, but start hunting these Blacktails that are rumored to exist and you never see the dang things. Killed my first one in my back yard today, so as not to have an empty freezer for the year.
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: hendog on October 30, 2010, 09:37:10 PM: I think Blackies are the hardest to tag. I've bag Whitetails (you can pattern) & Mulies (dumb) but Blackies just disappear during early season.
Late season is a differant story.
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: uncoolperson on October 30, 2010, 10:27:53 PM: I think I might give up on this hunting thing after this season until I move somewhere where the animals are less confusing.
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: Huntbear on October 31, 2010, 08:22:01 AM: Blacktails are tough. However, if you persevere, you will succeed in figuring them out. Took me almost 15 yrs of shooting forkies and such, before I actually figured out where the big boys go and hang. Oh, and once it starts storming, head to the thick alder/vine maple bottoms, they WILL be there.

But then, I am a buck magnet. Even if I do not want to shoot one, they will step out in front of me and make me shoot.
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: MuleySniper on October 31, 2010, 08:27:16 AM: My buddy showed me a pic of a hog 5x5 he took a picture of yesterday. Too bad there was a house and a school in the background! Those big suckers are smart.
MS
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: Bigshooter on October 31, 2010, 08:34:48 AM: My motto is: "A bad day of mule deer hunting, beats a good day of blacktail hunting."
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: banannaclip on October 31, 2010, 09:29:16 AM: Blacktails ae a differnt hunt thats foresure the second week should be better. i would hunt 437 or 448 ,both areas hold nice bucks but ya gotta get up early and hike in,never had one just jump out and commit suicide :chuckle:
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: Three_Oh_Eight on October 31, 2010, 09:51:47 AM: One thing I notice is that folks who stick to glassing clearcuts on timber company land seem to go home empty handed more often than not. You kind of have to find that inner predator in you and go after these deer in the timber. You might not be able to pattern a particular buck, but you can find areas that have good characteristics.

I'll find clearcuts where reprod is 4 to 10 feet tall. Its a bonus if the clearcut is surrounded by old clearcuts that are overgrown to 30 feet tall. Find yourself an old skid road that is overgrown into that taller reprod and you've likely found yourself easy way to get in and move around without making a ton of noise. I really like the roads that have been bull-dozed so full-sized vehicles can't be driven down.

Then, slink around as quiet as you can in the timber. Stay about 100 yards deep from the timberline to the clearcut or if you're walking an overgrown road, glass through holes on both sides of the road and anything that looks suspicious. Most bucks will let you walk right by and play the "you can't see me" game with you. But, if you have a suspicion that there is something in a spot, stay there and make it uncomfortable and you might get him to move. They are quiet, so unless its really dry, you probably won't hear them and they've probably already heard you coming and have melted away. They don't call them ghosts for nothing.

When I used to live on the east side, I loved to hunt mulies in the breaks or in steppe/coulee land. Now that I live on the west side and its harder to scout my old spots and hunt them, I have to make due and I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. But, I'm probably only seeing 5 to 10% of the bucks that I'm getting close to.
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: Jellymon on October 31, 2010, 10:33:27 AM: Quote from: actionshooter on October 30, 2010, 08:23:05 PM
Blacktail is the hardest of the deer in this state to kill a trophy, hands down........... (now let the pissin match start :hello:)

Wa state? Maybe the world! :bash: Love hunting em though!
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: Huntbear on October 31, 2010, 10:44:45 AM: Quote from: Jellymon on October 31, 2010, 10:33:27 AM
Quote from: actionshooter on October 30, 2010, 08:23:05 PM
Blacktail is the hardest of the deer in this state to kill a trophy, hands down........... (now let the pissin match start :hello:)

Wa state? Maybe the world! :bash: Love hunting em though!

There is a reason, you do not see any hunting shows depicting blacktail hunts in the PNW. Just to tough a hunt. I love it!
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: jmx369 on October 31, 2010, 09:26:52 PM: Here is a Blacktail that I got a few years ago. I hate them too but I am can't stop hunting the wiley little *censored*s.
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: trophyhunt on October 31, 2010, 10:17:10 PM: Nice buck! Add me to the list of hateing this deer, I've been telling my buddies for years how much I hate blacktails.... but I'm still going after them. By far the toughest animal to hunt, period- as far as trophy blacktail's go.
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: h2ofowlr on October 31, 2010, 10:32:57 PM: I love them. Lots of places to hunt them. You don't see orange everywhere. And you hunt them close unless you get a good clearcut with activity. They teach you to be a good hunter, instead of sitting on top of a clear cut throwing a box of bullets at them.
I usually get my blacktail every year. This year I went easy and shot a mule deer. :chuckle:
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: bowtech721 on October 31, 2010, 10:40:00 PM: I am beggining to transition from hate to love... the thought of putting an arrow through a dark horned p&y class blacktail is fueling my fire the last couple years. :drool:
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: Buckwheat on November 01, 2010, 10:52:15 AM: U guys give up so easy on these deer. Yeah it took me two weeks and a day to get mine it was a 5x7 blacktail i was hunting in the same spot until the end of the general didnt see one buck until opening morning of the late hunt. The buck was already out in the field eating apples off the tree and i had him on the ground within 5 mins. Thats when i show my dad whats up becuz he never takin a blacktail buck before so i think he got jealous but glad that i got my first blacktail.
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: Pacific Ghost on November 01, 2010, 12:22:57 PM: I've been hunting these things for twenty years and still don't have a trophy. I've killed quite a few with archery as well as rifle, but I'm still looking for the one, and have been passing up smaller bucks for several years now. It was pretty tough out there last weekend. Hiked into an area Saturday in the rain and tried several approaches. Sat, still hunted, pushed brush & timber. Never saw another hunter, or a single deer. The next day I checked the trail cam at one of my other areas, and a nice buck came through around 10:30 in the morning. :dunno:

Last year, after passing smaller bucks and glassing until my arms fell off, I finally spotted a mature buck. I had crawled up to the edge of a cut and spotted him motionless in some thick stuff at 300 yards. All I could see was the head and a basket full of points. I set down the binos and grabbed the gun and then never saw him again. Tried to back door him and still hunted right through where he was to no avail. This was the same area I watched a 6x4 a few years prior. Eventually it's going to happen.

A couple years ago, I went Whitetail hunting for the first time ever, and shot a 5x4. :dunno:
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: croix on November 01, 2010, 12:45:03 PM: Quote from: bow4elk on October 30, 2010, 08:23:53 PM
They can drive you insane but they also get under your skin. I love them above all other deer. :bash:

:yeah: I think I keep going after them out of sheer stubbornness.
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: grundy53 on November 01, 2010, 12:48:36 PM: I love hunting them. I've killed all three main species and the blacktail is my favorite.
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: grundy53 on November 01, 2010, 12:53:32 PM: I killed this guy last Monday.
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: Dadbear on November 01, 2010, 01:02:25 PM: Gotta love 'em. The most challenging and elusive deer to hunt. Blacktails can truly push hunters to their extreme. I killed this one in '07 after watching him for over two years.
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: KimberRich on November 01, 2010, 01:03:16 PM: I've killed some really nice Whitetails and Mule Deer in a few different states and I'm by far the most proud of the small Blacktails I've shot in Western Wa.

I worked harder, hunted deeper, hiked further, for all my blacktails. Killing a nice 3x3 or 4x4 Blacktail is a true trophy in my opinion.
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: GlennGTR on November 01, 2010, 03:14:12 PM: Blacktails are a mist, an apparition. Grey as smoke and as hard to find a trophy as any mythological creature. They are nocturnal and make a whitetail look like its mentaly handicaped. As paranoid as any cocaine addict and as elusive as Osama BinLaden. You have to be better than good to consistantly harvest mature Blacktail bucks, I happen to fall into that category. Its all about patience, woodsmanship, marksmanship and confidence in your abbilities. If you dont believe in your heart that you will find your buck, you wont.
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: CMG on November 01, 2010, 03:39:31 PM: +1 - Mature black tails are by most experienced hunters the hardest to bring down consistently! Key word CONSISTENTLY. When I see someone posting a nice mature Blackie I am humbled. These are true trophies in my book! here is a pic of a mature blackie taken opening weekend by a relative. I tried to put this bucks brother (4x4 W/Drop tines) down this weekend, but was unsuccessful, maybe late season. If I do get the opportunity to have the stars align, He will be honored!
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: PacificNWhunter on November 01, 2010, 04:27:27 PM: jmx- that buck is awesome. I agree a trophy blacktail will haunt me forever. I've taken several small sized and a few decent bucks but never anything big. I've given up for a few years to hunt mulies. I'll be back though.
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: jason4429 on November 01, 2010, 04:44:47 PM: I just flat love Blacktails.
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: rasbo on November 01, 2010, 05:08:09 PM: my first was a 5x5,never got any better than that one..Im hunting an area that I found two thick 5 point sheds,and I cant find the deer..Its frustrating but knowing it just might be this day keeps me going,,
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: YoterHunter on November 01, 2010, 06:28:07 PM: you gust have to be smarter then they are ive killed a deer every year for 22 years learn what they bed in and what they feed in.
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: ser300wsm on November 01, 2010, 06:40:12 PM: You just have to love these guys. They are as mysterious & elusive of an animal to harvest by far. Love em to death :hunter:
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: Houndhunter on November 01, 2010, 06:53:50 PM: for me most the early season i wont see anything big unless im in wilderness, its all about late buck for these guys
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: singleshot12 on November 01, 2010, 07:05:51 PM: It's definitely kind of a love-hate relationship. I really do believe at times that they are inter-dimentional creatures that can just vanish. You can have all the skill and knowledge in the world but if you don't have alot of luck you're going to eat tag soup. Most people give up on ever getting one. People that harvest one most every year put in their time and earn them.
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: walt on November 01, 2010, 07:18:53 PM: Dang, and I hear you westsiders think coyotes are tough find and kill too! :peep:

only kidding guys. :chuckle:
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: Axle on November 01, 2010, 07:30:34 PM: My heart goes out for the blacktail. So do my taste buds :IBCOOL:
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: rasbo on November 01, 2010, 07:40:43 PM: Quote from: walt on November 01, 2010, 07:18:53 PM
Dang, and I hear you westsiders think coyotes are tough find and kill too! :peep:

only kidding guys. :chuckle:
:P :chuckle:
Title: Re: I hate blacktails. Never hunting them again.
Post by: billythekidrock on November 01, 2010, 08:41:42 PM: I love them, but then I don't really have anything to compare them to. Been hunting them over thirty years and have been very successful, and incredibly lucky at times. Some private land bucks and some public land bucks. Sometimes I can see a few different bucks a season and at other times the one I kill is the only one I ever saw. Sometimes it is the first couple minutes of the season and one time it was the last ten minutes of the last day of late buck. You just have to believe that you will find one. When I buy my tag in the spring I don't hope to kill a buck in the fall. Even if I don't know where I will be hunting I expect to fill my tag.

Here is one of my best blacktails. Like I said, incredibly lucky at times. :chuckle:

(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hunt101.com%2Fdata%2F500%2Fmedium%2FIMG_2891.jpg&hash=4f563c634dbc4af308e20ee258f929ca695ee2e8)