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Author Topic: What am I doing wrong?  (Read 4855 times)

Offline Platensek-po

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Re: What am I doing wrong?
« Reply #15 on: October 27, 2021, 11:03:52 AM »
2 things your doing wrong.

#1 Your blacktail hunting :chuckle:

#2 Your expecting to see something. 35 year's chasing blacktail, 34 deer and I will tell you ...you will kill most blacktail when you least expect it .. your energy is a huge part of success.  :twocents:

This. Don’t expect to see them. Always be looking! If they aren’t there then they are somewhere else. A friend once told me you can’t catch fish if you aren’t fishing. I think this applies to blacktail  hunting more than anything else. If you aren’t hunting you have 0 chance of getting one. The more time you put in the woods the higher your chances are.
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Offline Curly

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Re: What am I doing wrong?
« Reply #16 on: October 27, 2021, 11:44:20 AM »
I had a 3 point buck in my yard a couple days ago chasing the does around.  So, they are starting into the rut and should be the best time to hunt blacktails for the next few days.  Keep at it.
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Offline MeepDog

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Re: What am I doing wrong?
« Reply #17 on: October 27, 2021, 01:45:29 PM »
I've heard blacktails really like apples. If you're having a hard time seeing deer, find a spot with sign and set up a bait site. Or try to get deer near town. I have this saying, "first shoot yard deer, then shoot hard deer."

Offline IFunk

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Re: What am I doing wrong?
« Reply #18 on: October 27, 2021, 04:43:40 PM »
Man, having a heck of a time getting eyes on anything at all. Been out early every day since season opened and I've seen one doe! I've tried stalking, blind, tree stand - can't seem to find anything. I'm hunting mostly the state land in 660. Tried grunt calls and bleat can but haven't tried scent yet. Been out before sunrise and out after dusk, nothing!

Any pointers or is this just the name of the game? It's my first year hunting, so I'm sure I'm making some mistakes.

Thanks in advance!

If at first you don't succeed, try and try again.  If it makes you feel any better, I'm an adult onset hunter on year 3 hunting blacktails and making my fair share of mistakes.  Hoping to get my first harvest this year, but have been plenty humbled by them and know better than to get my hopes up.  I think it comes with the territory.  I typically hunt a pretty tough unit though(460). 

Yesterday and Sunday I spent all day creeping around in the wild, wet, windy weather hoping an Oregon maple didn't decide to fall down on me.  I've heard bad weather can be a perfect storm for getting them moving and perhaps catching one on the go, but I've never experienced this despite getting drenched hunting for them countless times. 

To put things in perspective - I pulled 2 SD cards on Sunday which had been soaking for a month.  I got one nice buck and one great buck on camera within 10 minutes of each other on 2 separate cams about a half mile apart.  They both showed up (last Sunday at 1am) on the day I pulled the cards.  There were no other pictures of them or any other bucks for the entire time I've been running them (almost 3 months).  It could be low buck density or the wild weather on Sunday morning that got them moving.  Or maybe the pre-rut or maybe I'll never know because they are blacktails.  :dunno:

Offline boneaddict

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Re: What am I doing wrong?
« Reply #19 on: October 27, 2021, 05:02:24 PM »
Without knowing  you, I'd say the number one mistake most hunters make is they arent patient enough.   I was explaining to my new hunter this year,  wildlife isnt like man.  They dont have any place to be.  They need food, water and to avoid being eatin' and a couple weeks of the year, to get laid.   Most get killed at that time because they forget to aboid being eatin'.   

The other big mistake is understanding just how good they are at avoiding being eatin', their only tools are their senses.   Now I dont know if you have ever watched a cat or a wolf, but they can move through the woods pretty darn quietly.   Try to imagine what the deer has to do to survuve these cagey predators, or a man at 500 yards with his scoped rifle, and you will better understand them. 

Deer populations are down in many places.  Dont get discouraged when you see some success pics or someone like me posting lots of pics.  There are thousands of folks out there not notching their tags.   In the old days, it was driving by a popular campground that discouraged you, seeing all the deer hanging from the meatpoles.  Now its even worse when you log in to social media.   

Offline KFhunter

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Re: What am I doing wrong?
« Reply #20 on: October 27, 2021, 05:47:04 PM »
prolly moving too much and not giving enough focus to the wind and thermals

Offline FFCharlieP

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Re: What am I doing wrong?
« Reply #21 on: October 27, 2021, 06:36:09 PM »
You're all right - I'm sure I've been impatient at times. Made a point today to sit and wait quietly, mind the wind, scan repeatedly and remember my chance will come.

On a happy note, on the way out of the woods today, I crossed paths with a porcupine. He's in the stew pot right now!

Thanks everyone for the encouragement. And yeah, social media will kill your enthusiasm haha.
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Offline fishnfur

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Re: What am I doing wrong?
« Reply #22 on: October 27, 2021, 10:11:34 PM »
You're all right - I'm sure I've been impatient at times. Made a point today to sit and wait quietly, mind the wind, scan repeatedly and remember my chance will come.

On a happy note, on the way out of the woods today, I crossed paths with a porcupine. He's in the stew pot right now!

Thanks everyone for the encouragement. And yeah, social media will kill your enthusiasm haha.

There's a ton of good information here from a lot of seasoned hunters.  To a new hunter, it's hard to interpret the intent of the words even though the author and anybody who has been hunting for a few seasons the message is easily understood   Not knowing how and where you're hunting, it's hard to offer specific advice, but as been said several times previously, slow down.  IF you're hunting reprod, stay in the glass more than half the time.  Deer appear in the middle of a cut like magic.  One moment nothing, the next moment - you find a doe standing where there was none before.  Put down you binocs and try to find her.  Often, you cannot.   You have to glass to see what is going on.  You're just wasting time if you're just using eyes to hunt a cut.

If you're in the woods (not reprod), find fresh sign and hunt it so slow that you might only move 100 yards an hour.  Fresh hoof prints are sharp edged when fresh.  The edges break down as they age and are rained on.  Freshly browsed foliage typically has single leaves bit off.  The older the sign of browsing, the more black the stems appear where the leaf was bitten off.   Look at everything. Glassing can give you away if a deer is close.  It's hard to move binocs to your eyes without significant movement. I've been busted in this motion several times.  In tight cover, use eyes before glass.  Many time,s glassing the thick stuff will reveal deer that you cannot identify with the naked eye. 

Move very little.  Deer see movement (and smell incredibly well).  If you're in fairly heavey vegetation and appear to be standing still with brush or foliage behind you, a deer will stare straight through you without seeing you.   If you move, you're recognized as a human immediately. If you get busted by a deer and it's looking straight at you but hasn't bolted, avert your eyes as though you don't see it.  Act like a tourist that intends no harm.  Acting like a predator will send them running. Peripheral vision is a great way to observe them without alarming them. 

For both hunting woods and reprod:  Bucks generally have a fair amount of white hair on their faces, more so as they grow older.  Look for white patches in the foliage thati seem out of place.  Horizontal lines created by back and abdomen against Nature's vertical lines of forests stand out if you're looking for them.  Glass and look for any movement when opportunity allows.  Learn the shape of BT antlers.  They stand out if they are visible any you understand what they look like.  In a cut, deer often bed below a tree, stump, rock, obstruction, less often above it.  In the forest, deer are bedded much of the day.  Focus on 18 inches or so above ground level.  You might find one standing, but more often they are bedded.

If you see a doe this week, watch from afar and expect that some buck might be close by or will be close by in the near future.  A doe standing still in the woods with a tail sticking straight out is very likely ready to breed.  There is either a buck with her (though you may not have seen it yet) or one will be along in the not too distant future.  Watch their ears and eyes.  They can easily hear a buck coming that you have no hope of hearing.  The direction the ears are facing indicate where the buck is coming from.  Be ready to shoot before you even see him.

BT hunting is not easily learned nor practiced.  You'll likely make many mistakes along the way.  Try to make sense of why the sign you're seeing in the woods is there.  Interpreting what you see in the woods takes time.  You can't rush it.  In the mean time, enjoy the ups and downs of experiencing the outdoors in the fall, both good and bad.  The season will be over too soon.  Don't give up - hunt till last light every day.  Enjoy your time in the woods. 

Have fun.  Good luck!
“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 Duckslayer89

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Re: What am I doing wrong?
« Reply #23 on: October 27, 2021, 10:46:46 PM »
Man, having a heck of a time getting eyes on anything at all. Been out early every day since season opened and I've seen one doe! I've tried stalking, blind, tree stand - can't seem to find anything. I'm hunting mostly the state land in 660. Tried grunt calls and bleat can but haven't tried scent yet. Been out before sunrise and out after dusk, nothing!

Any pointers or is this just the name of the game? It's my first year hunting, so I'm sure I'm making some mistakes.

Thanks in advance!

I would say use all that enthusiasm and hard work at better times maybe, like later in October and like others said during the late hunt. I feel your pain with these blacktails.

Offline Wendego716

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Re: What am I doing wrong?
« Reply #24 on: October 28, 2021, 08:30:08 AM »

I would say use all that enthusiasm and hard work at better times maybe, like later in October and like others said during the late hunt. I feel your pain with these blacktails.

This will be my first year hunting the late blacktail season, what makes it better?

Offline bobcat

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Re: What am I doing wrong?
« Reply #25 on: October 28, 2021, 09:00:37 AM »

I would say use all that enthusiasm and hard work at better times maybe, like later in October and like others said during the late hunt. I feel your pain with these blacktails.

This will be my first year hunting the late blacktail season, what makes it better?

In my opinion, mostly because of much better visibility due to less leaves on the trees.

Others will say it's due to the rut, but rut activity is pretty much over by about November 14th in my experience, and the late season doesn't start until November 18th.

Offline npaull

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Re: What am I doing wrong?
« Reply #26 on: October 28, 2021, 09:17:41 AM »
While still-hunting blacktails, if at any given time you notice you are moving, then you need to slow down.

Offline Griiz

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Re: What am I doing wrong?
« Reply #27 on: October 28, 2021, 09:37:20 AM »
Without knowing  you, I'd say the number one mistake most hunters make is they arent patient enough.   I was explaining to my new hunter this year,  wildlife isnt like man.  They dont have any place to be.  They need food, water and to avoid being eatin' and a couple weeks of the year, to get laid.   Most get killed at that time because they forget to aboid being eatin'.   

The other big mistake is understanding just how good they are at avoiding being eatin', their only tools are their senses.   Now I dont know if you have ever watched a cat or a wolf, but they can move through the woods pretty darn quietly.   Try to imagine what the deer has to do to survuve these cagey predators, or a man at 500 yards with his scoped rifle, and you will better understand them. 

Deer populations are down in many places.  Dont get discouraged when you see some success pics or someone like me posting lots of pics.  There are thousands of folks out there not notching their tags.   In the old days, it was driving by a popular campground that discouraged you, seeing all the deer hanging from the meatpoles.  Now its even worse when you log in to social media.

Good Advice and puts nature into perspective.

Offline wooltie

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Re: What am I doing wrong?
« Reply #28 on: October 28, 2021, 10:58:11 AM »
I think it's called "still hunting" because everyone (myself included) start moving too fast, too soon and too often, forgetting that they are still hunting.

If you haven't found a trail with tracks on it, or sign like poop or rubs, then I'm gonna go out on a limb and say there's no deer in that area, or at least not any does.

This has been my limited experience.  Where there's does - I see them, and I see clear evidence that they're around.  No evidence, no deer.  Move to a different spot.

In the timber, act as if a deer is hiding 20-40 yards away from you, laying down in the brush, the ferns or under a pile of impenetrable crap that you'd dare not walk through.  Glass, then take a step and stop, then glass, then repeat.

Offline Buzzsaw461

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Re: What am I doing wrong?
« Reply #29 on: October 28, 2021, 01:04:18 PM »
I know people say the rut is ending before the late buck hunt starts but I totally disagree. The biggest bucks I have  killed were in full blown rut when I took them. My biggest buck  was running off another smaller 3 point who had his nose on a does backside when I shot him. In fact I have seen a buck cruising through my hunting area for the last I can’t remember how many late hunts looking for does. Find a good spot along a clear cut edge or just inside the timber or still hunt a old logging road and you should have some success as long as you’re seeing some good sign.
« Last Edit: October 28, 2021, 02:03:23 PM by Buzzsaw461 »

 


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