Backtail Help!!!

[nwwoodsman]

I've been hunting blacktails in NW Oregon, mostly in Columbia County, for a few years now with 0 luck. Either I'm the worlds worst hunter or I just don't know what the heck I'm doing. I was never shown how to hunt, and the old farts I hunt with now mostly like to road hunt or only go out for about 2 hours a day. Without a little advice I feel like I'm doomed to be skunked again this year.
Can anyone please post best hunting advice, websites with GOOD info, tips, prayers, or anything else that might help a guy fill his tag this year?

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[Dan-Dee Sales Inc]

Big light? just kidding. Deer are pretty thin around here lately.

 

[orduckhunter]

if you can't find guys in your neck of the woods to give you some advice, maybe you can find some info on this website - it's devoted to blacktail hunting

http://www.blacktailcountry.com

good luck - they're not the easiest game to hunt, but it's rewarding when it all comes together!

(also, you should be able to get some info from the ODFW biologists in your area)

 

[SDR]

I can help you...
Tell me what your routine is....Your tactics from start to finish ....Type of weather...Elevation...Do you use Camo...Do you decent...Do you use the wind...Are you a patient person...Can you sit...Can you use a Deer call...

Road hunting can be affective,But only in the right place and the right times...Trails , Creek bottoms,Dark timber is the home for most black tails...My family does real well on killing Black Tails....My 13 Yr old daughter has taken many Black Tail and one very nice Black Tail Buck ....I have been chasing these critters for 33 Yrs, I don't claim to know it all,But I fill tags every year ... My wife and my two daughters do also....My Boys did until they learned about girls...

This is my thirteen year old daughters Buck that I'm very proud of....


Same girl with her first Elk...


The hole behind her is our Elk spot....second or third day of opening season the Elk run in and we drag them out....Thank You to the guy that invented Chainsaw winches

 

[Grizzly_A]

Wow! That's like blacktail-zilla! Nice buck!

 

[orduckhunter]

very impressive!
beautiful buck!

 

[SDR]

Wow! That's like blacktail-zilla! Nice buck!

Thanks,
I'm very proud of that one,I did not shoot it...We had seen him for a couple years and new he existed...We just needed to pattern him enough to have a face to face... The picture just does not do this Buck justice ...

 

[SDR]

very impressive!
beautiful buck!

Thanks !........
These guys are out there... They did not get this big being dumb...

 

[gallogiro]

wow, look how massive the bases are. I hope you mounted that one.

Hey Tomsburton, do you even see any deer? Does are usually not as shy as the bucks. Later in the season, the bucks will be around the does. You won't see them, but they are close by.

I have found that the bucks also hide in dense vegetation, specially reprod above 6-7 ft high. We do drives/pushes through this stuff (walk in formation through a section from one end to the other, usually out to a clear cut where someone can see the clear cut and facing in a safe direction to make a shot). Some of the wiser bucks will sit still while we walk through. Guys have shot deer inside the brush like this as well. Short lever actions work good for doing this. You will end up soaking wet, tired and bruised.

I do this when hunting by myself and it has worked for me. There is the most movement during dawn and dusk. Set up on the edge of a clear cut early in the morning before sunrise. Be aware of what way the wind is blowing, wait for daylight and keep your eyes open. A lot of time wind will change direction when the sunrises. Same process at sun down. The rest of the time you can still-hunt, I've gotten as close as 10 yards to some does from still-hunting.

I'm a pretty new hunter, 7 years exp. under the belt. I haven't shot a deer every year but most from our party do. I'm sure my tacticts are pretty crude but I feel I improve every year.

SDR, I'm sure you know way more than I do and I would love to pick your brain too. Any other useful tips for us rookies? Your daughter is lucky to have a great teacher.

 

[nwwoodsman]

Your daughter is lucky to have a great teacher.

I have to agree. It's too bad more people don't start their kids, especially daughters, hunting as soon as possible. I wish I had someone like that growing up. However my 7 year old son has been with me in the woods quite a few times. Mostly watching clear cuts while he kicks the ground and plays with sticks, but at least it's a start.

 

[majcl5]

Hunt Muleys much more fun . you see more game and they get a lot bigger.

 

[SDR]

wow, look how massive the bases are. I hope you mounted that one.

Hey Tomsburton, do you even see any deer? Does are usually not as shy as the bucks. Later in the season, the bucks will be around the does. You won't see them, but they are close by.

I have found that the bucks also hide in dense vegetation, specially reprod above 6-7 ft high. We do drives/pushes through this stuff (walk in formation through a section from one end to the other, usually out to a clear cut where someone can see the clear cut and facing in a safe direction to make a shot). Some of the wiser bucks will sit still while we walk through. Guys have shot deer inside the brush like this as well. Short lever actions work good for doing this. You will end up soaking wet, tired and bruised.

I do this when hunting by myself and it has worked for me. There is the most movement during dawn and dusk. Set up on the edge of a clear cut early in the morning before sunrise. Be aware of what way the wind is blowing, wait for daylight and keep your eyes open. A lot of time wind will change direction when the sunrises. Same process at sun down. The rest of the time you can still-hunt, I've gotten as close as 10 yards to some does from still-hunting.

I'm a pretty new hunter, 7 years exp. under the belt. I haven't shot a deer every year but most from our party do. I'm sure my tacticts are pretty crude but I feel I improve every year.

SDR, I'm sure you know way more than I do and I would love to pick your brain too. Any other useful tips for us rookies? Your daughter is lucky to have a great teacher.

It is being mounted , Not to far from you....My Taxidermist is in Meadow brook... This one will put her in the record book...

I have no problem helping out with what I know....I could punch keys all day long on tactics and situations...It would be much easier to help if I knew what kind of hunter I was helping and how they did things...Hunting farm Lands , Foot Hills , High Country....For me it is knowing the property your hunting , You are in their home...Knowing your query , their tendencies and routs for food bed and water.... Warm weather they need water...Cold they need feed and move more for warmth...Wind,Rain they like to be just out of or in the middle of it .... Seriously,Last year we hunted in that monsoon we had last year Mid season...We binocular ed everything in attempt to get a location of a Deer...My youngest daughter found five deer on a hillside bedded in waist high grass in torrential rain and wind... Why? because they could see from all direction...the wind took out hearing...The rain weakened sight and smell...These animals had to have a good leader...We belly crawled through the grass to close the four hundred yard distance between us and My Daughter Nicole took a Nice three by four ....After the shot the Deer just stood up not knowing what direction to run in...If we had another tag in our family we would have taken another beautiful awesome Buck,But we had to let him go...That is ok,I hope to be showing his picture sometime in October ... We never leave human scent in our hot area's NONE...We never gut or leave any Deer parts in the area....If accompanying Deer don't leave immediately we wait for them to leave as not to spook them anymore or to prove our presence...I'm not sure if this is all necessary,But we do it and we hunt the same area's every year...We see people moving through now and then...The most common remarks are- Seen any Deer? Or Don't worry about hunting these parts I have been all over this area and not a Deer to be found or something like that... Hunt it for yourself and don't take another s word for it...Hunting is not a race,Slow quiet and easy....Bino every nook and cranny and under vegetation that is bushy and hangs...People can cruise right by a bedded Deer,These Black Tails are so cagey they will watch you walk right by...
Like I mentioned I will offer any help I can...I got my knowledge from questions and the school of hard knocks...I learn something every year...A person should get something out of every season...A plan for next year...A not what to do next time... Another thing that helped me a lot and to me this is a big deal...I used to be all upset if I did not fill a tag...Money wasted,Time wasted...All for nothing...I was coming home with a guy that I was helping...He was all pissed off and ranting a raving all the way home...first off he smoked...He cleared his throat A Lot...I smelt after shave lingering...We rode up in his truck that really stunk of dogs....Did you catch all this ?... I started thinking if this pisses you off this much because you did not kill a Deer maybe you should pick a differen't sport... Be out there because you like it...A Deer is a bonus...Remove that stress of having to get one and you will enjoy it more and have more time to really pay attention...
I hope some of this helps somebody.........

 

[SDR]

Hunt Muleys much more fun . you see more game and they get a lot bigger.

Mule Deer are a great hunt...Easy but a great hunt...In my opinion Black Tail eat much better... A person that goes out and gets a Black Tail every year on public land and hunts it one on one in my opinion can go anyplace and harvest a animal...

 

[SDR]

I have to agree. It's too bad more people don't start their kids, especially daughters, hunting as soon as possible. I wish I had someone like that growing up. However my 7 year old son has been with me in the woods quite a few times. Mostly watching clear cuts while he kicks the ground and plays with sticks, but at least it's a start.

It is really important they enjoy the time in the woods....I was hard on my kids in the beginning as my teachers were hard on me...I remembered what I hated about hunting and decided to break that cycle... I preach love what your doing or quite doing it... The pressure of having to kill a Deer can ruin a experience of just being in the woods...
Get those kids out there!...Be safe!..Make sure they enjoy it too...

 

[Rugerbub]

Brother I am in the same boat. When i see deer i am never in a place where i can shoot or Its when deer are not in season. When I hunted in Oklahoma i never had a problem filling my tags. Since i have been on oregon i have killed 1 buck. He was what yall call a forked horn but what i call a 4 point. I decided to hunt with different friends this year. We will see what happens. By the way why the heck do u guys in this part of the country only caunt one side of the rack?

 

[SDR]

Brother I am in the same boat. When i see deer i am never in a place where i can shoot or Its when deer are not in season. When I hunted in Oklahoma i never had a problem filling my tags. Since i have been on oregon i have killed 1 buck. He was what yall call a forked horn but what i call a 4 point. I decided to hunt with different friends this year. We will see what happens. By the way why the heck do u guys in this part of the country only caunt one side of the rack?

That is the age old question....I have herd many reason and I just don't have a answer that makes sense...If you are hunting out of Madras you are in Mule Deer country...If you did not draw I would assume your heading west to hunt...What area are you hunting in...Maybe I know something of it...

 

[wawaverider]

awesome job, kudos to both you and your daughter that's a beauty!!

 

[sprice37]

Blacktail are trickey and like the thick stuff which makes it even harder. It is a matter of luck with a little skill.

 

[SDR]

Blacktail are trickey and like the thick stuff which makes it even harder. It is a matter of luck with a little skill.

+1... Until you know a area and the animal characteristics and what they will do under certain conditions as in Weather, Hunting Pressure and pattering food bed and water is a must... You put this puzzle together you will not wonder if you will fill a tag, Only when and how big will it be......

My buddies challenged me to go to a new area and harvest a Black Tail, The area is one they have chosen... They have turned this into a competition...
My only goal is to have the rack taller than the Ears and wider than the ears and we have a harvest able Buck...

 

[salmonriverjohn]

If your able to pull it off,, hunt the last five days of the season. This will allow you to catch them starting the rut. Use the wind, USE YOUR OPTICS! And by optics, I'm not talking about your scope. I have seen far to many hunters out in the woods that are not carrying anything other than their scoped rifle,, there's your sign, danger Will Robinson!
Still hunting Blacktails is perhaps more challenging than still hunting elk, they are far more alert as mature bucks tend to be solitary animals that depend upon their own senses to survive rather than the entire herd. Deer have proportionally larger ears with less hair in them than Elk and their ability to smell is at least as keen.