Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Scouting Blacktails

Now take that and put em in a coastal rain forest where visabilty is measured in feet rather than yards. No big private ranches, no ankle high grass, yep pretty much the same. 👍

I've hunted both terrains on both public and private. . A bit easier imo on private ranches further south. Some rolling oak country but some some real brushy country too. Hot temps are the norm.

Killed my first buck on this ranch, near San Antoine Junction. The hunting did get much easier in Sept when the rut kicks in for that region.


Further north in Mendocino the season is in Oct, public land hunts are tougher ime.

Wherebouts did ya hunt up here mtnhtr?

I was referring to the northern coastal mtns of CA. Dense timber and foggy, far different from central CA blacktail hunting.

Gotcha

Have been fortunate enough to harvest a few lunker bucks over the past decades. I'll concur with those wise souls that have already stated that the mature bucks go full nocturnal with the exception of the rut. In general, coastal BT's are territorial and don't wander far from home unless hunting pressure pushes them. One would be prudent to find quiet enclaves where pressured deer will be resident after opening w/e and/or remote, unpressured drainages. Pre-season scouting is important to locate bedding areas with use of trail cams to confirm local possibilities. One doesn't want to wander around stinking up bedding areas just before or during the season or they'll likely blow out for the duration. Bonus points for wild apple trees or other favorable food and water sources that will attract does as buck bait. If you can find pockets where they are happy, set up a stand or stealthily shadow doe(s) along the edges of natural features like steep drainages and saddles, all the while being wary of cruising bucks looking for love. First light is prime as is early afternoon when the does have bedded to chew their cud and then get up to stretch and browse a bit. I have passed on countless spikes, forks and treys for many years and have been rewarded by successful but rare/brief opportunities after they then mature into heavy 4 and 5 points. Nothing stirs the senses like glimpsing a bulky buck in the growing morning light, flemming hard in the company of estrous does. The night's rain softly dripping off cedar boughs....

Look for hornin too. I hunted this spot the evening before, no hornin, next morning he had close to 20 jack firs horned. Don’t fall for the “only little bucks horn little trees” either, seen mature bucks horn little jack fir/alder/maple a lot.
motivational poems for her


The last clump of maples there gets horned every year. Also pay attention to trails, late October you start noticing big tracks, that’s when ya know they’re cruising. Stay out ALL day when ya start seeing “sign”..

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!

That's the kind of stuff I've hunted for the last 20-odd years. I'd stick my arm in a fry vat to hunt in a place like the one in your picture.


Okie John

Yeah you guys should be so lucky to hunt the ankle high grass like on my ranch.

Ankle high grass for miles!! 😂😂


California is known for its sword ferns, waist high sala, briars and devil club..

Hey Jud
Would that bear be big enough for a coat?

Tank top maybe??😂
betta fish bowl size

He looks bigger than that. I have never seen a black bear in person so hard for me to tell. Thanks for the info. For my fat self I would have to kill 2 or 3 for a coat.😉

Ya think the average in Washington is 125-150lbs, they get a fair amount bigger out on the coast. Had a hammer on trail cam couple years ago but never got a chance to kill him. No pics of him this year. I kill em for the sake of saving a few fawns/elk calves.