Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Scouting Blacktails

Here’s a peek at the type of country I normally hunt.
The bucks I’d scouted come from the left side and made their way to the top of that knob.
If they stayed on my side of the hill, the shot would be 250 yards on the short to 325 on the long.
Four bucks showed at the far top left edge of the knob - one is an easy Boone’r. That’s 325 yards.
Before I could kill him, they started playing grab ass.....or whatever deer call it when they chase each other around.
No shot that day. I let a easy shot on a small three point go later in the week. Same location.
The other side of that knob is an unholy mess of brush, oaks and poison oak. It’s also their day beds and I stay out.
All those bucks were easy to see while growing their antlers. All became much harder to find after stripping their velvet - a few disappeared altogether. But you know there somewhere close by.
I had to have a procedure done on my right hand right before the last week of the season - so when an unscheduled appearance by a young four point came my way I finally shot one.
There were several other guys hunting the same area and a few deer killed, but nothing big and I never saw anyone else in the holes I was working. I hiked into the site in the photo before daylight by head lamp.
All that said, the NW country is a whole nuther ball game. It’s super thick.
But it can be hunted exactly the same way. The deer there don’t move around as much and are more likely to stay in the same basins or clear cut edges. I’ve hunted there several times and don’t plan on ever doing that again!