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What method has been most successful for you Blacktail hunting Archery/ muzzle loader?

Tree stand / saddle
6 (9.2%)
Spot stalk
13 (20%)
Still hunt
19 (29.2%)
Ground Blind
3 (4.6%)
combination of a few of these
24 (36.9%)

Total Members Voted: 65

Author Topic: What method has been most successful for you Blacktail hunting Archery / ML?  (Read 7133 times)

Offline blackveltbowhunter

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Re: What method has been most successful for you Blacktail hunting Archery / ML?
« Reply #15 on: September 01, 2019, 01:05:36 PM »
Are you talking rifle season in firearm restricted area, or Muzzy/Archery seasons? I have had the best luck still hunting or tracking in quiet woods late seasons or in snow. This is due nearly 100 percent to time managment and when I spend it. I love winter caped bucks and spend my time focusing on them later.  I beleive the best time to kill one is right now.

Offline brew

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Re: What method has been most successful for you Blacktail hunting Archery / ML?
« Reply #16 on: September 01, 2019, 01:26:19 PM »
I am kind of getting the sense that few people attempt to archery hunt blacktail on archery opener. How many folks are going out today?
there are more people out there than you think.  took my son's father in law out last year opening day and took him until 9:30 to kill one.  He tagged out this morning at 8:23.  saw a couple yotes but couldn't get a shot at them.  jumped 2 grouse walking in to recover his deer.  It's not that hard if you are not particular.  Back home recharging the batteries and will head out in a couple hours for the evening shoot
beer---it's whats for dinner

Offline ljsommer

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Re: What method has been most successful for you Blacktail hunting Archery / ML?
« Reply #17 on: September 02, 2019, 08:21:58 PM »
I am impressed. I have no idea how to make this work. I drove half the day and saw one doe. Incredible clearcuts and amazing habitat, just no deer.

Offline ljsommer

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Re: What method has been most successful for you Blacktail hunting Archery / ML?
« Reply #18 on: September 09, 2019, 09:04:03 AM »
Spent some time elk hunting this weekend and saw no elk but counted 19 deer, all does and fawns. Are the bucks just nocturnal at this time of the year? I was shocked that I didn't see a single buck.

Offline npaull

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Re: What method has been most successful for you Blacktail hunting Archery / ML?
« Reply #19 on: September 09, 2019, 10:26:09 AM »
Seeing a branched blacktail buck in the September archery season is only slightly more likely than seeing bigfoot. I hunt the early season with my bow every year. I could LITERALLY count on one hand the number of branched bucks I've seen during hunting hours in September over 15+ seasons. Literally.

When it's crunchy still hunting is almost futile, but I'll still walk old roads slowly. I've stumbled on more than a few does and small bucks who were being stupid just long enough to get a shot off with my recurve before they bolt.

Once it starts raining and the ground is wet I still hunt clearcuts super, super slowly. Remember - it's STILL hunting. The goal isn't to move towards the deer. It's to be in a spot where the deer will move towards YOU. A lot of guys get this wrong and think still hunting means walking around until you bump one. Rarely works except for those "got lucky" scenarios I just described.

Tree stands are very effective but it can be hard to find a place that's a reliable producer day after day like you can with whitetail. There's food everywhere. There's water everywhere. There's cover everywhere. Hard to pattern an animal that has that kind of habitat.

Best advice for bow season: Find a closed road that runs between a 4-8 yo cut on one side and a 10-15 yo cut on the other. Be on that road before dawn when it's raining, and walk it slowly and as quietly as you can. If you can manage to only have neoprene booties on your feet you can be super stealthy. You'll encounter deer moving from one side to the other as day breaks. Reverse pattern as the sun sets. It can be super deadly.

Offline ljsommer

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Re: What method has been most successful for you Blacktail hunting Archery / ML?
« Reply #20 on: September 09, 2019, 11:20:03 AM »
Ok thank you for confirming my observations! I thought it was crazy that none of these does seem to have any concern for their personal safety, yet the bucks are entirely nocturnal!

Offline fishnfur

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Re: What method has been most successful for you Blacktail hunting Archery / ML?
« Reply #21 on: September 14, 2019, 09:02:39 PM »
Seeing a branched blacktail buck in the September archery season is only slightly more likely than seeing bigfoot. I hunt the early season with my bow every year. I could LITERALLY count on one hand the number of branched bucks I've seen during hunting hours in September over 15+ seasons. Literally.

When it's crunchy still hunting is almost futile, but I'll still walk old roads slowly. I've stumbled on more than a few does and small bucks who were being stupid just long enough to get a shot off with my recurve before they bolt.

Once it starts raining and the ground is wet I still hunt clearcuts super, super slowly. Remember - it's STILL hunting. The goal isn't to move towards the deer. It's to be in a spot where the deer will move towards YOU. A lot of guys get this wrong and think still hunting means walking around until you bump one. Rarely works except for those "got lucky" scenarios I just described.

Tree stands are very effective but it can be hard to find a place that's a reliable producer day after day like you can with whitetail. There's food everywhere. There's water everywhere. There's cover everywhere. Hard to pattern an animal that has that kind of habitat.

Best advice for bow season: Find a closed road that runs between a 4-8 yo cut on one side and a 10-15 yo cut on the other. Be on that road before dawn when it's raining, and walk it slowly and as quietly as you can. If you can manage to only have neoprene booties on your feet you can be super stealthy. You'll encounter deer moving from one side to the other as day breaks. Reverse pattern as the sun sets. It can be super deadly.

That's a ton of good advice in just a few words.  Well done npaull!

If you haven't already done so, re/re-read the Hunter's Bible (Iverson).  He well describes the nature of the mature Blactail buck.  In the early season, any close by non-deer noise will put them on instant alert.  Multiple occurrences of non-deer noises may cause them to leave the area immediately.  They don't hang around and wonder what is making the noise.  They just go, and you never knew they were there (at all).  Older, well hidden bucks are also well known for holding tight to cover and letting you  just walk by, completely unaware that they are there. 

You're eyes should be working any low cover below the two foot level.  Try sitting the the sword ferns sometime - in spots you can be totally hidden, even sitting upright.  Deer are bedded down most of the day and typically hidden in foliage (sword fern, Vine Maple, etc) or behind some other obscuring item (tree, log, etc.) and that is where you should be looking as you slowly inch your way through the woods.  Examine every possible hiding spots for anything that might be a small part of a bigger deer (antler tips, flick of an ear, horizontal line of the back)  You'll likely only see a small part of the animal.  Your brain must try to identify that small bit as possibly being part of a bigger animal.  You'll be amazed the first time that it works out for you and suddenly, there is an animal right there that moments before you couldn't see at all.  Talk about an Ah Ha moment!  Later in the season, the bucks will be up moving more during the day and it gets a bit easier.

Closer to the rut,
“When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car.”  - Will Rogers

Offline fishnfur

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Re: What method has been most successful for you Blacktail hunting Archery / ML?
« Reply #22 on: September 14, 2019, 09:12:59 PM »
I am kind of getting the sense that few people attempt to archery hunt blacktail on archery opener. How many folks are going out today?
there are more people out there than you think.  took my son's father in law out last year opening day and took him until 9:30 to kill one.  He tagged out this morning at 8:23.  saw a couple yotes but couldn't get a shot at them.  jumped 2 grouse walking in to recover his deer.  It's not that hard if you are not particular.  Back home recharging the batteries and will head out in a couple hours for the evening shoot

I agree with that comment about not being that hard, with the caveat being that the deer population is robust in the area you're hunting, and that you have a good guide (like Brew) to put you in a spot where you're likely to see deer.  Going out as a novice and unguided in Ryderwood from the Columbia River side - you might disagree with sentiment pretty strongly after a couple of days of seeing nothing.
“When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car.”  - Will Rogers

Offline ljsommer

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Re: What method has been most successful for you Blacktail hunting Archery / ML?
« Reply #23 on: September 14, 2019, 09:45:14 PM »
I heard that this time of year in ravine heavy areas the bucks are low, as opposed to high on ridges. Any confirmation? I am thinking of doing some steep hikes to check it out myself.

Offline TriggerMike

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Re: What method has been most successful for you Blacktail hunting Archery / ML?
« Reply #24 on: September 15, 2019, 02:30:51 PM »
Road hunting is actually pretty effective for blacktails. Especially on really rainy days.

Offline ljsommer

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Re: What method has been most successful for you Blacktail hunting Archery / ML?
« Reply #25 on: September 15, 2019, 03:02:02 PM »
Someone should tell that to those deer down in Aberdeen....

Offline WSU

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Re: What method has been most successful for you Blacktail hunting Archery / ML?
« Reply #26 on: September 15, 2019, 03:37:43 PM »
Deer in the Olympia area were up and moving around today after the hawks game. Probably the break in the rain.

Offline Turner89

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Re: What method has been most successful for you Blacktail hunting Archery / ML?
« Reply #27 on: September 16, 2019, 11:04:10 PM »
I usually find a cleacut where I can get up high and glass. I'll concentrate on finding a doe first. Then I keep track of them. They will let you know if anything else is in the cut or coming in. They also give you confidence that you haven't been detected yet.
" if your a 20 year old and not a liberal, you don't have a heart. If your a 40 year old and not a conservative,  you don't have a brain"

 


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