Free: Contests & Raffles.
If trailing blackberry (or the larger Evergreen and Himalayan) is present, make note of it's locations as well, as it generally makes up about 60% or so of a BTs diet, if available.
Notes: The maple are either Big Leaf Maple (BLM) or Vine Maple in western WA. There are no other native species. From my observation, the deer love BLM leaves in the summer and will eat the fallen yellow leaves in the fall. They browse Vine Maple more lightly than young BLM in the summer, and it is an important source of winter woody browse wherever it is available. The bucks like to bed under vine maple in areas where it has grown tall enough to fall over and provide a arched hiding spot for them. Never fail to glass under vine maples when hunting.
Find clear cuts, walk the clear cuts looking for poop. If no poop then I suggest moving onto a different cut. Once you find a cut with sign, walk around the edges to look for the trails out.
Basically you should try more sitting than walking/hiking, unless you're walking a ridge line and glassing down the slopes for animals bedded, moving, or feeding.I think those BT can see and hear you miles away, so unless you're good and sneaking super slow, making no noise, and glassing the bucks before they see you, then you're best best is to catch one moving. That is my game plan this year. I tend to confuse arch elk w/modern blacktails LOL, that is moving until I find them.
Quote from: wooltie on September 18, 2017, 06:14:38 AMFind clear cuts, walk the clear cuts looking for poop. If no poop then I suggest moving onto a different cut. Once you find a cut with sign, walk around the edges to look for the trails out.That's another weird thing. Before I started hunting this year, I'd always assumed that deer scat was the easiest way to tell that a deer had been there. But I've seen hardly any this season, even in places that are filled with deer browse. Can't quite figure that out.Quote from: wooltie on September 18, 2017, 06:14:38 AMBasically you should try more sitting than walking/hiking, unless you're walking a ridge line and glassing down the slopes for animals bedded, moving, or feeding.I think those BT can see and hear you miles away, so unless you're good and sneaking super slow, making no noise, and glassing the bucks before they see you, then you're best best is to catch one moving. That is my game plan this year. I tend to confuse arch elk w/modern blacktails LOL, that is moving until I find them.Funny, that I'd come to the opposite conclusion yesterday. I've tried quite a lot of sitting, and haven't spotted anything. (Maybe because the winds were weird?) I finally spotted my one doe yesterday when I was hiking the trails at night instead of just sitting. The good news with the rain is that walking quietly (at least on trails) becomes possible. And the winds finally settled down too - a good, steady south wind seems to come in with these storms, which means you can actually get downwind of a deer instead of just having the wind blow your scent every which way around the forest.I'll keep that in mind, though...
Regarding the lack of poo, I'd guess that even though you're seeing browsed plants, that area is probably a secondary feeding area, and a less attractive spot to hunt. I'd go find some poo ( not just any poo, deer poo ) and focus my attention in that area.