Newbie blacktail hunter: any general advice for Longview area

[kjdammerman]

My Old Man lives over in Idaho and we chase whitetail every fall, but I'm not sure how many years he's got left in him. Before my trip to Idaho, I decided to try blacktail hunting by myself this year. I went out a couple years ago on public lands here near Vancouver with a bow, and got some really good advice from everyone about blacktail hunting and things to be aware of when hunting in the Yacolt Burn. Now that I'm rifle hunting and feeling pretty comfortable with my gun, I got a weyerhauser walk-in permit and just plan on putting in lots of miles in the longview-st helens unit.

Most of my knowledge of this area comes from some hikes and a little research we've done on the Toutle. Any general advice for a newbie heading to this area? Places to avoid or be aware of due to heavy usage or lots of logging activity? Any good locally owner places that I should stop in for a pint after a long day of trekking through the woods? All advice appreciated. Thanks all! Excited to get boots on the ground!

[Wolfdog2314]

Deer are all over the St. Helens tree farm permit. Find some nice spots and sit for as long as you can. Focus your efforts the last week of the season if you have to pick and choose when you hunt. Take a comfy chair, snacks, all the right clothes and be prepared to sit all day long. It works! I sit pretty much in the same spot all day every day the entire season, and have success.  If you knew you’d shoot a buck doing that, would ya?! It does work!! It does get boring, but I play games on my phone and have good eats out there. Even take naps.

[kjdammerman]

Deer are all over the St. Helens tree farm permit. Find some nice spots and sit for as long as you can. Focus your efforts the last week of the season if you have to pick and choose when you hunt. Take a comfy chair, snacks, all the right clothes and be prepared to sit all day long. It works! I sit pretty much in the same spot all day every day the entire season, and have success.  If you knew you’d shoot a buck doing that, would ya?! It does work!! It does get boring, but I play games on my phone and have good eats out there. Even take naps.

Thank you for the advice. Took a walk out there today in a couple spots and saw four deer. Can see how sitting in a good spot works. Will see how this fall goes Appreciate the advice!

[slowhand]

Another option
Still hunting
It’s much more difficult but if you can’t sit still and need to move around this tactic can be deadly.

[kjdammerman]

Another option
Still hunting
It’s much more difficult but if you can’t sit still and need to move around this tactic can be deadly.

Might be trying this too. Thanks for the advice

[predatorG]

Another option
Still hunting
It’s much more difficult but if you can’t sit still and need to move around this tactic can be deadly.

Might be trying this too. Thanks for the advice

With a rifle you should get plenty of good opportunities. Find the steepest crap you can and look over a cut very early and late. The big trees next to the cuts are where the big bucks will be up until Halloween. If I were you I'd just go find some crappy, wet miserable days to hunker down during. If you're using a rifle you might as well take advantage of it and find a spot with a large field of view. Alder stands can be great too, I shot a recent buck out of one. I personally like super varied terrain with lots of steepness and variations in tree age. Find a solid mix of Clearcuts, Reprod and Big old growth.

[slowhand]

Another "huge" blacktail tip for you.
The windy and rainy days are by far the very best days to hunt for them.
On a bright sunny day You would swear there are no deer in the woods. same locations when the wind is ripping and the rain is hard and the deer will be everywhere. 

[bow4elk]

I have posted some information on my site that you may find useful.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[kjdammerman]

Excellent. Thanks to all of you for the advice. Pretty excited to get out on a crappy day and see what I can find 

[PointBlank]

I will second what slowhand said! Very true