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Anybody here ever go Blacktail deer hunting?
-Yes, I have hunted them off and on for over 50 years.

How did you like it?
_ I like it very much. I consider it the most difficult of our available species to hunt by far. Until I hunted whitetails a bit I had the impression that they were. I no longer believe that to be the case.

Were you successful and would you go again?
-Yes I was successful, especially when I lived in an area where I could scout regularly. Even then, getting a mature blacktail was difficult. A smaller buck is acheivable on public land if you put in some time. At this point in time populations are pretty depressed.I have been hunting Eastern Oregon lately fo that very reason.

Eating; Blacktail tends to vary widely in flavor. If they are eating nettles they will taste like it. They can be delicious if feeding on oak or filbert nuts.

The blacktails I've eaten from here in SW WA don't vary much in taste, unless you count the ones killed in late summer or September...so I've heard. Where I hunt there are no filberts that the squirrels and Stellar Jays don't get and there are no oak trees. We have vine maple, alder, brush, devil's club, more brush, and did I mention vine maple...all bitter. We've got lots of sword ferns, too. I don't know how ferns taste, but I've had them in my mouth, eyes, ears and used them for toilet paper---not so much with nettles.

To me the challenge of central-western Oregon blackmail hunting on public land is the combination of low deer numbers, the nocturnal aspect of the beasts, and the fact that you can't see chit. Terrain can also be difficult, sometimes absurdly so in coast range. Steep and slippery.

But mostly it's that there's just not many deer, and you can't usually glass anywhere that they are likely at ALL to be. Talking bucks here. It's tough to work your butt off and not see an animal for days on end.

The deer numbers can be higher on the lower-elevation private lands and they might also be managed for more openings.

If I were the OP and coming all the way to Oregon I'd go to Alaska instead <grin>. From the sound of it- from what guys like Calvin, SH, Paul etc report- at least in parts of SE AK the hunting is fantastic- albeit with difficult access.

If he does come to Oregon I think he'd be wise to hook up a private-land hunt.

If he hunts public land here then I'd advise posting up on trails between bed and food at dusk, and watching young cuts at dawn, and still-hunting edges in between.

I do have some spots I'll share.

Also, Boyd Iverson's book "Blacktail Trophy Tactics" is a good one. He's mostly hunting private land these days.

As to comparing difficulty of blacktails vs. other deer species, I can't, but I do personally know several guys who just sit out deer season the years they don't get eastern-Oregon mulie tags... from their perspective anyway the mulie hunt is a far superior experience. Just parroting what I've heard them say, it's that st least when mulie hunting, they'll see deer over the course of a day.

Is it true that blacktails get dumber the farther north you get?

Nah, the hunters get smarter.

Dunno, I just know those guys whack 'em and stack 'em up there. Last time I looked the statewide success rate for a blacktail tag is over 60% up there. And you get 6 tags.

I knew it were a different game when Calvin talked about taking a friend out meat hunting and he (the friend) killed 3 bucks in an afternoon
And Calvin talks of passing on smaller bucks many times a season.

If I were to make a trip to hunt blacktails, I'd be sending Calvin and other AK hunters a PM. Wouldn't search any further...

Of course you don't see all the time spent, and I had 5 months to hunt blacktails in Alaska.

I pretty much took the last 3 weeks of October and the first week of November off every year, along with weekends and hunting everyday, cuzz I lived where I hunted.

Lots of time spent for those blacktails.

That makes sense. The guys who spend the time get the deer---all else being equal.

My son and his first buck.

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This past season with a few good pards.

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Bucks like this one my dad killed are more typical.

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A decent one a few years ago.

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My cousin with a good one.

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A fun week at camp.

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Rogue,

Those are nice blacktails!! We get some decent bucks farther north if you know what you're doing or luck into one but Southern Oregon is the place to be. Applegate muzzleloader is in my future for this year.

There are always some nice ones taken every year but the success rate shows that not everyone wins. All those bucks where killed way off roads, way down in nasty, brushy hell holes. If your willing to go for it you'll have a chance. I you want a mature blacktail the late muzzle loader hunts are the way to go. Though I've/we've killed good ones through out the season, the last week is the go hard time.

Here are a few more Oregon blacktails.

Those are impressive aheider!

I've never hunted blacktail, but it looks like its a lot like hunting east texas woodland deer. East texas woodland whitetail are largely nocturnal, few in number, and live in the thickest briar patches/bottomland/cutover.

I enjoyed two USAF assignments to northern California. I found coastal deer hunting within Napa and Sonoma Counties to be challenging but rewarding. These two bucks were knocked down within moments of each other during a late August hunt.
My brother is shown with his dandy forked horn buck.



Sierra mule deer req'd back-packing in rough country for many miles but worth the effort.

TR

I never really payed much attention to black tails. They look like a small Mule Deer. How big are they weight wise? I hear they are tough to hunt.

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I really dig mature fork horns. Some family and friends have taken them but I never have. My Granddad's wood shed has a bunch of them. When I finally do schulsh one I'll probably do a nice head mount.

Ditto that!

One of the most memorable blacktails I've seen was an outstanding mature fork horn in heavy timber while I was hunting elk just after deer season ended. A buck that old and obviously mature and only a fork horn tells you something about antler formation in Western WA. He had a massive body, heavy dark antlers with a remarkably deep fork for a WA blacktail, and his neck was swollen thick. He was feeding in a protected hollow while winds roared over a ridge above us. I spotted his antler tips bobbing as he fed nervously about 30 yards from me. Watched him less than a minute, wind in my favor, but he sensed something wrong. He never even looked my way but he got nervous, did the blacktail freeze for a bit and then sneaked into much thicker cover.