When I was young we hunted blacktail deer on Georgia Pacific timberland on deer opener every year. Since it was private timberland and they wanted everyone out at the end of the day they checked hunters in and out at the gate. For those not familiar GP land is was vast, we're not talking about a few hunnert acres here, we're talking hundreds of miles of roads.
As a by-product of this check-in, they tracked deer kills, both size and numbers. Opening day saw a fair number of 4x4 (mature) blacktails taken, proportionate with the smaller bucks. But by mid day Sunday, day 2, the mature bucks had it figured out and for the remainder of the season almost none of the larger bucks went through the check point, while smaller bucks continued to get killed all season long.
When people say they don't go out opening day, "too crowded", I go back to my youth remembering those cardboard stat sheets at the checkout station. You gotta be out there for the first weekend if'n you wanna catch a bruiser buck unawares.
I recently was able to access an area that had been closed for the fires for a couple months. A lack of traffic was obvious as game was out moving around peacefully. I'm convinced opening weekend and the last week are the best times by far to hunt blacktail deer.
