Best late season Blacktail tactics

[Tbob]

Okay HW masters... Let's hear your best late season Blacktail tactics.. My brother and I will be trying to seal the deal on our first Blacktails, Westside late season archery hunts. We'll be hunting the SW coast starting the Friday after thanksgiving.. We have an area we liked from last year, so we're heading back this late season. We've been 0/4 the last 4 seasons, but we sure have a good time trying! Let's hear what you guys got...

[Boss .300 winmag]

Did you see deer, fresh sign of them, others getting any deer?

[Southpole]

Tag

[Tbob]

It doesn't have the best harvest reports, but I've been told that's partly because not a lot of people hunt this area. I saw a couple does in there last year for the late season. Lots of deer/elk sign everywhere you go..

[JDHasty]

Tree stands are blacktail hunters friend.  Other than that - get up early and go to bed late and stay in the field all day.  If I had more specifics I could possibly have more suggestions. 

[PolarBear]

I'm still a big fan of cruising the timber, especially in nice weather.  A treestand can work great if you set up in the timber 30- 50 yards in next to a clear cut or reprod.  Find a well used trail inside the timber, set up on it but as far away as you can comfortably shoot and wait them out.  Other hunters will push the deer back to you.  DO NOT set up directly on top of a trail!   

[JDHasty]

I'm still a big fan of cruising the timber, especially in nice weather.  A treestand can work great if you set up in the timber 30- 50 yards in next to a clear cut or reprod.  Find a well used trail inside the timber, set up on it but as far away as you can comfortably shoot and wait them out.  Other hunters will push the deer back to you.  DO NOT set up directly on top of a trail!   

I agree.

If you can find an apple tree or even an abandoned orchard and set up on the access trails they still have hanging fruit on them around here. 

[pd]

T-Bob, I don't nearly qualify as a HW Master, so take this with 5 grains of salt.  Question to you: You said SW WA coast for the late season; this implies "any buck" areas, correct?  Or, are you in an "any deer" area?  Your strategy, given the season, will vary greatly depending on your answer.

As JDHasty said, one of the best strategies in western WA in the late season is to find apple trees.  Even if those trees only have a few apples left, even if those apples are rotten, the deer will still cruise by once in a while, because they remember the dinner plate there.  If you can find a 1- or 2-mile course, going from apple tree to apple tree, cruise that (because that is what the deer will be doing).  If you can hunt does, you might see a few during the daytime. If you are limited to bucks only, first/last light will be most productive.

We cruise during the daytime, stay away from the main trails (but close enough to watch the trails).  Stay in the dark of the timber, avoid the open as much as possible.  Good luck, to both of us 

[BABackcountryBwhntr]

if you are bowhunting and want a shot at a nice buck, I would suggest stands or blinds... I enjoy hunting over well placed baits along trails going from feeding to bedding areas. I also use trail cams to scout all year in the areas I plan on hunting. Still hunting is hard enough with a rifle, much more so with a bow...  stand hunting IMO is the best way to consistently kill mature animals, if you just want a slick head or small buck that is another deal.

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

Great points being made! Even pack in apples to put on the ground around the trees works. Good luck!

[JakeLand]

I would suggest pinch point trails just inside timber coming to and from 3 to 5 year cuts IMO at least up here they will be going from cuts to timber in the day when the weather is good if it is total crap out they will be out in those cuts move slug slow and hope to stick one in there bed or as they stand up usually will be a quick short distance shot

[JackOfAllTrades]

Forget the apples... Forget the trailcam... Cruise the woods. Find the does. Stay near. Get elevated. Use binoculars glued to your face. A good Blacktail will let you walk right by at 20yds if he feels he's bedded good. And he will be! Look for draws that have trails down and up the sides of ridges. BT's will bed out to the end of the ridgeline with at least three escape routes. Think of them as a criminal on the run from the law. He doesn't want to get caught. Some will have, but not all will have bread by then. They'll still be near or seeking the does.  Rattle some, or have your buddy rattle while you watch.  Think of a good BT as a pimp. Never in the same bed two nights in a row. So find beds above the draws but just over the edge. If you're near a swamp, there will be trails around it. Find the thick reap-rod and alders... He'll travel through there unnoticed. He'll pause at the edges of the alders before coming out to daylight. Be ready. Hunt DURING the rain! Hunt before the rain. Hunt after the rain.

-Steve

[BABackcountryBwhntr]

Forget the apples... Forget the trailcam... Cruise the woods. Find the does. Stay near. Get elevated. Use binoculars glued to your face. A good Blacktail will let you walk right by at 20yds if he feels he's bedded good. And he will be! Look for draws that have trails down and up the sides of ridges. BT's will bed out to the end of the ridgeline with at least three escape routes. Think of them as a criminal on the run from the law. He doesn't want to get caught. Some will have, but not all will have bread by then. They'll still be near or seeking the does.  Rattle some, or have your buddy rattle while you watch.  Think of a good BT as a pimp. Never in the same bed two nights in a row. So find beds above the draws but just over the edge. If you're near a swamp, there will be trails around it. Find the thick reap-rod and alders... He'll travel through there unnoticed. He'll pause at the edges of the alders before coming out to daylight. Be ready. Hunt DURING the rain! Hunt before the rain. Hunt after the rain.

-Steve


great advice, and it works great with a rifle, much less with a bow... I am not saying you cant kill big bucks from the ground.. you can for sure.. but the very best consistent BT hunters with archery do it from stands/blinds.... scouting is a invaluable tool.. i forgot to mention doe bleats and rattling... they will work if you have hot does which can be hit or miss during the late archery seasons as they are now.

[JackOfAllTrades]

I've taken several BT with iron sighted pistol at archery and less, ranges.  Does don't need to be near to rattle a buck in. Although I don't hunt late archery season, for me, the tactics don't change that much. There are tree-stand hunters and foot hunters. Both can be very successful. I agree, scouting is invaluable. Find some routes and set up, elevated if possible. Late season BT can be funny... Knowing what phase they're in is huge. A pistol hunter likely has the advantage for a buck that's say... come down off Mount Adams after the second or third big snow has hit. Once that buck has bread multiple times in a few days or more... He'll want to rest. Not quite the case with those of us that git some more than one month a year.  He'll bed down... And if a storm is hitting the coast, he may bed even longer. But, if he's rested, he'll be feeding day and night. So, there are times that you need to bust the brush, as in, if you're not seeing anything move, not even does, then bust the brush. The pistol hunter has the advantage of a quick shot when busting an animal that's bedded.  If you're seeing movement, stay put, set up a blind or stand on traveled routes. Out toward the coast, (I have family near LaBam and in Westport), The ridges of the Willipa hills seldom get significant snowfall. There's only one reason to bring those boys to the *censored*tonk... Girls. Find the girls.


-Steve

[Tbob]

Wow!! Some seriously great advise here! Thanks so much! So at the moment I don't have a treestand so I'm totally fine making a small make-shift blind on the ground. And yes, this unit is an "any buck unit". So for you guys with the apple tree scenarios, do you typically find old Apple orchards or trees on the private timber company lands?