The blacktails have been working me over the last few years. Would appreciate any advice on effective scouting techniques and strategy to get away from the flood of people.

What state ya in?

Down in NW Oregon

Wait for the rut to kick in.

Mind wind, move very slowly, glass a lot on edges and in timber, be quiet, watch the does near the rut, sit still, get away from the car and into the woods, etc.

Lotta good bucks in nw Oregon, or western Oregon period

Hunt the last (5) days of season, scout doe groups, scout (reds) ie; July August, I can’t stress enough, as I’ve killed most my big bucks of all species, from 10-2, deeper/steeper ain’t always better, get high, glass and glass... nw Oregon, western wa blacktails are by far and away the toughest of deer species to collect.. period. No if ands buts about it... once you unlock the lock, your there..

Awesome thank you for the help

It’s not like huntin Muleys, blacktail are tough sumbitches, can’t stress enough, time afield, during late October/early November

Blacktails can be hard to figure out.

Spent my whole life hunting and culling them. Probably have taken 200 or so although since I lived on the central Ca coast the above guys will probably tell you I wasn't hunting blacktails, oh well.
Scout when they are in velvet. Their horns are tender so they will be out in the open more and not in the thick stuff. Once their horns harden, they go in the thickest, nastiest stuff around and mostly go nocturnal until the rut. Hunt as close as you can to the rut. For the Cal. coastal season that ended in late Sept, that meant the best hunting was the last week of the season because the bucks were starting to get stupid.
On my ranch we would suddenly see deer during the last week that we hadn't seen all season . They had been there all along but stayed out of sight until their hormones got the best of them.
Man I miss hunting them.

A few years back I had a spike camp in the Trinity Wilderness and a kid (to me) came in and introduced himself and inquired about borrowing my freighter pack. Of course, borrow the pack, but isn't it easier to get your buck down to the trail and drag him down here, the trail is steep and it should be an easy drag? Kid: well he is in a bad place and I think I'll just break him down and haul him on your pack. Curious now, nothing would do but me helping the kid. That buck was in a place that defies description. A near vertical granite wall, with a bench not much bigger than a card table. The 150 feet of parachute cord on my pack came in handy that afternoon. In a half century of blacktail hunting, I have never seen a deer in such a horrible place. By the way, the kid was a credit to his generation, he peeled out a tenderloin for my supper that evening.

Scouting and getting away from people are two different things.

NW Oregon means tree farms, so you need to look for land that doesn't allow motorized access. In western Washington, anything within 1-2 miles of the road gets picked over by poachers and road hunters. Get 3-5 miles in, set up camp, then hunt deeper from there. A mountain bike is an excellent investment in your future as a blacktail hunter. If the land does offer motorized access, you have to get a lot farther from the road to find anything.

I've noodled them out of the brush and shot them with a revolver, but I'm starting to believe that just drives the good ones deeper and deeper. When I was hunting Roosevelts a couple of years ago, we found a hillside, set up with big glasses, and waited to see what moved. We saw a couple of really nice blacktail bucks but didn't go after them because they were out of season.

There used to be a pretty good forum called Blacktailforum.com but it's long gone. Look around for others like it.


Okie John

I like to hunt them well before the season starts. Most folks call that scouting...
I try to find an area(s) that won't be too heavily hunted - remote clearcuts, south facing slopes that offer a view, secluded water holes.

" "Do this while the bucks are growing their antlers." "
They'll be in the open a lot at that time of year. Now you know where they are.

As soon as they shed their velvet, they'll become more timber oriented and a lot harder to find - but they're still in that area. Cameras at water holes can reveal a lot - who and when.

If your close to the road, you'll have competition.
Plan on hiking in before daylight, by headlamp. Bring a lunch and good glass and spend your time looking. Be patient.....glass some more.....repeat

If you don't kill in the the first few days, don't sweat it. The last week is by far the best time to hunt them. You'll have less competition, cooler weather and the approach of the rut.

Because your hunting a harder to get to location, bring a packboard that you can use to carry your buck out on. Watch a video or two on how to dress game the gutless way. Bringing out only the meat and head, that will save you a ton of labor - and your going to toss all that bone and hair anyway - do it first.

Good luck!

The terrain is so different it’s not even comparable.nothing personal, bout like sayin Texas whitetail and coues deer are the same...

If you can track down a copy of the book "Blacktail Trophy Tactics" by Boyd Iverson, you'll be rewarded with the some of the best info in print out there. That book is pretty much considered the bible of blacktail hunting.

Excellent book.


Okie John

I do not rely on same-year scouting. The deer behavior changes pretty drastically near the start of deer season so summer intel is nearly useless where I hunt. If the particular year stays warm and dry well into deer season then knowledge of water holes can be useful. Once the rain starts, not so much. I will usually make a single pass through the areas I plan to hunt in early September to assess the water and see which of the 4 types of oaks we have here have the best acorn crop .. varies year to year. Most of my scouting amounts to re-applying what I've seen in past years' hunting season. It takes years, sometimes decades, to work out a new area. I expect it to take 4-5-6 years before I start punching tags in a new place unless it happens to be a near-exact copy of a familiar location. That means I'm very secretive about my spots because I have a huge investment of time put into them .. it only takes one blabbermouth "friend" to waste years, sometimes decades, of learning by sharing it with the wrong people.

So far as getting away from people there are 3 approaches. First, consider one of the limited entry "trespass permits" that some of the timber companies sell. Not cheap. Some people object to them. But they are an option. Second, hunt wilderness .. hike in farther than you think anyone in their right mind will go. Get off-trail. Third, study road systems and look for "[bleep]-of-creation" spots with intimidating brush, bluffs, or canyons which sane people will drive right by. Google Earth can be a worthy tool for the latter two.

Tom

You don't need a book...this is all you need to know.

Ha! Funny how I said almost the exact same thing as Blacktail53.
The terrain might be different but the deer act the same.

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.