UPDATED SUCCESS!! Help target a blacktail buck I caught on Cam

[Special T]

Boyd Iversons Blacktail Trophy tactics2, or the original. The book is getting hard to find.

IMO I would look for a good place to put up a tree stand at the edge of the brush line where the firs meet the elder patch. Hopefully near an entrance  to the trees. Did a good tree or 2  NOW, and any branches that may be in your way. I think after the season is over I would scout out 3 trees and cut branches to make longer clear shooting lanes. This is best accomplished with 2 people. You in the stand and one with a pole limber. Private property and that unit is worth an investment in time.

[fishnfur]

All in all, iit sounds like you're well on your way to a successful hunt.  Seems like you're thinking about possibilities or options, which is good.  Being flexible while hunting and changing tactics as the situation dictates is important.  Don't get stuck doing the same thing in the same spot day after day.  The deer know you were there hours after you've left.  Invade their space too often and they will minimize their daylight activities and movement in order to remain safe.

My thoughts on clearing trails - best done in summer in a normal situation.  On Whidbey/Camano, the deer are very accustomed to humans living close by and smelling humans often.  You can probably get away with more intrusion that would normally be the case out in the big forests. That being said, you need to decide whether clearing brush is really a good idea.  The more open a spot is, the less a buck will use it.  As Special T said, clearing a couple shooting lanes is preferable to going hog wild and really opeining things up.   

If you're hunting the big timber with ferns everywhere, move very little and very slowly.  Deer love to bed in the ferns 'cause they hide the deer incredibly well.  Glass everywhere when you're hidden.  Look at every possible hiding area for an idication a deer is close.  Fiinding white face patches, horizontal back lines, round rumps, twitching ears etc. can magically make a whole deer appear where moments before you would have sworn there was none.  Also, assuming those "sticker" bushes are blackberries, then they are likely one of these deer's favorite places to eat.  They eat blackberries probably more than any other browse if they are available (or they are at least, among their most favorite foods)  Hanging close to these spots will likely attract doe(and  presumably the bucks following them in late Oct.)  Obvious signs of heavy browsing should already be easy to find if they're using them frequently.

Any and all of the edges (forest/brush, brush/opening etc.) are likely places to encounter a deer  You might want to refrain from getting into that brush if it's too thick.  Making a lot of noise as you hunt is no good.  You've got vid. confirmation that the deer are crossing back and forth across the old road.  Often times it's better to sit tight and wait for something to happen.  As late October gets closer, the deer will (hopefully) be moving a lot more than now.  The last week or so of October should hopefully have some bucks chasing doe around.     Those last 3 - 5 days of that month are when you should spend every opportunity in the woods.  Your chances of scoring go way up.  Keep dad throwing the apples out for as long as he will put up with it.  That should help too. 

Good luck!

[Skyvalhunter]

Give him a few years to grow, he might get old and stupid then.

[IslandHunter]

Damn. Got to the property late yesterday evening. Had about 15 minutes of shooting light. Found a large doe, smaller doe, and a fawn munching on some peach leaves on some branches I trimmed the other day. Got within 40 yards of the large doe. Decided to not take a shot because I felt too rushed and was right at the brink of it being too dark. I know I made the right choice waiting but Damn it was close. I won’t be able to hunt the property for a few weeks so I have my sights set on the pre rut and possibly using my shotgun instead of the bow.

Planning on putting out some more cams to get a better idea where and when the deer are moving. Thinking about trying a mineral lick to see if that attracts anything to a good shooting area, and I might mess with some estrus urine and calls during the pre rut.

I see this all as an investment. The property isn’t going anywhere and either are the deer. I am wanting to fill the freezer so hopefully I will have some luck during mf season.

 

[Alchase]

Boyd Iversons Blacktail Trophy tactics2, or the original.

 

Best book I have ever read on hunting Blacktails, especially in thick cover.

[JakeLand]

Be patient and wait , skip the Does until the last day as there’s a late modern at Thanksgiving, ive shot a lot of nice bucks on the islands at that time and I f you’re are hunting the end of October try rattling you might be surprised

[fishnfur]

Be patient and wait , skip the Does until the last day as there’s a late modern at Thanksgiving, ive shot a lot of nice bucks on the islands at that time and I f you’re are hunting the end of October try rattling you might be surprised

I second that notion.  Rattling and/or grunting on occasion create unepected action. 

[Special T]

Now that bow is over a and you likely what to wait for rifle... you need to hunt trees. I would take a  climber or ladder and go check out potential spots. Use an Arial pic or 2. Find one with and without leaves. Half the time with tree stands the hard part is finding the right tree

[GASoline71]

I live on Whidbey Island and the big bucks here are very nocturnal and stay in the thickest jungle they can find.  They don't get big on this island for being stupid. 

On the island it's all a waiting game.  You'll probably have to be in a position near darkness just before legal shooting light is over.  All the decent bucks I have killed on this island over the last 30 years have all be in the waning hours of light just before legal shooting hours end.

I've taken bucks during the day and in the mornings.  But the big mo-fo's come out at night. You just have to hope one screws up and hits his nightly routine a tad earlier than normal.

Good luck!

Gary

[Boss .300 winmag]

I live on Whidbey Island and the big bucks here are very nocturnal and stay in the thickest jungle they can find.  They don't get big on this island for being stupid. 

On the island it's all a waiting game.  You'll probably have to be in a position near darkness just before legal shooting light is over.  All the decent bucks I have killed on this island over the last 30 years have all be in the waning hours of light just before legal shooting hours end.

I've taken bucks during the day and in the mornings.  But the big mo-fo's come out at night. You just have to hope one screws up and hits his nightly routine a tad earlier than normal.

Good luck!

Gary

Push them out of their beds with hunters on escape routes.😉

[GASoline71]

I live on Whidbey Island and the big bucks here are very nocturnal and stay in the thickest jungle they can find.  They don't get big on this island for being stupid. 

On the island it's all a waiting game.  You'll probably have to be in a position near darkness just before legal shooting light is over.  All the decent bucks I have killed on this island over the last 30 years have all be in the waning hours of light just before legal shooting hours end.

I've taken bucks during the day and in the mornings.  But the big mo-fo's come out at night. You just have to hope one screws up and hits his nightly routine a tad earlier than normal.

Good luck!

Gary

Push them out of their beds with hunters on escape routes.😉

We've done that with limited success.  Lots and lots of private land and no access.  Shotguns only during modern season, so you need to anchor them where they stand (neck shot) so they don't run on to private you can't access.  Lots of non-hunting types on the island that will refuse you access to a downed animal.

Gary

[IslandHunter]

I live on Whidbey Island and the big bucks here are very nocturnal and stay in the thickest jungle they can find.  They don't get big on this island for being stupid. 

On the island it's all a waiting game.  You'll probably have to be in a position near darkness just before legal shooting light is over.  All the decent bucks I have killed on this island over the last 30 years have all be in the waning hours of light just before legal shooting hours end.

I've taken bucks during the day and in the mornings.  But the big mo-fo's come out at night. You just have to hope one screws up and hits his nightly routine a tad earlier than normal.

Good luck!

Gary

Thanks for the advice Gary. I have such a hard time seeing through my bow sight in low light. The area I hunt is in a valley surrounded with dense forest so I feel like it gets dark a half hour or so earlier then areas outside of the valley. Ill be hunting with the shot gun during mf season so it will be a little easier in low light situations. Its so frustrating driving around the island and seeing deer left and right, then when I get into the woods they disappear.....

[Special T]

I did not think anyone ws producing this book anymore but found this. Not  horrible price.

http://stoneydale.com/product_info.php?products_id=289

[Sundance]

I had a big lowland buck I was hunting about 10 years ago. I chased him for 4 years and never did get him, fairly certain he died of old age. Outside of the rut their home range is very small, I had him pegged to feeding areas (nighttime only), a bedding area (alder thicket), and a rut zone he’d visit October 25th thru October 30th. After the 30th he was a ghost that wouldn’t see until the following spring.

One spring I went into the bedding area and set a treestand and cleared two trails for access depending on the wind, then cleared some shooting lanes from the stand. I didn’t go back until the rifle opener and hunted that stand every third day from 9am until 2pm for two weeks. I saw a lot of deer and some nice bucks, but one day on the way in I bumped a bedded buck 30 yards from my stand. Still am convinced that was the buck and that particular year he was a dandy.

I’ve never nailed down how to kill a targeted mature blacktail in his bedding area. They live there their entire life and know every tree, bush and stump. For me it’s the pinnacle of my hunting to harvest a mature targeted blacktail in his bedding area outside of the rut.

[fishnfur]

Hey P_M_clean -  what are you shooting in that shotgun?  Hopefully not buckshot....