Nocturnal Blacktail

Evan B

Evan B

Bobber Downey Jr.
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I have my cam set up on my friend's 30 acre property that butts up against a whole lot of otherwise pretty inaccessible state land. His property has a nice big meadow and is really the only such place in a pretty heavily-wooded, steep and rocky surrounding area.

I have one week left of deer season and been getting this guy on cam every other day or so. But I've never once got him on cam outside of the hours of 10pm to 2:30am. It's tough for me to get motivated to go out for a sit knowing he isn't likely to expose himself to the meadow until dark.

I've had thoughts about going to the back of the property where the deer/elk/bear enter the meadow and following the trail to find a place and set up where they may be more comfortable back in the woods to see if I can maybe call him and have him come out somewhere back there, but I just don't have a ton of experience in situations like this.

What would the people smarter than me do in this situation?

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When you describe the state land as inaccessible, does that mean via vehicle or by foot? That big boy's habits are what's keeping him alive. As a last resort, you could try getting on his tracks and perhaps jump him off his day bed. The coastal blacktails around here aren't really hanging with does quite yet so I am not sure how receptive he might be to calling. I have had some success with tracking though I haven't hunted deer in years. I will look forward to other's input and good luck!
 
RRSmith said:
When you describe the state land as inaccessible, does that mean via vehicle or by foot? That big boy's habits are what's keeping him alive. As a last resort, you could try getting on his tracks and perhaps jump him off his day bed. The coastal blacktails around here aren't really hanging with does quite yet so I am not sure how receptive he might be to calling. I have had some success with tracking though I haven't hunted deer in years. I will look forward to other's input and good luck!
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It's about a 8-9mi, very rugged hike to get to the general area he's at unless you have the private access. Not a hike I think many if any people are doing to find a blacktail. Not to say someone isn't getting back in there somehow, but they'd be very dedicated. My friend who lives there said he's never heard hunting season shots coming from anywhere within a few miles in his 30yrs of living there.
 
If he came out at 8 pm, or 4 am, maybe you would have a chance. But you have to know what you are seeing when a deer runs a 10-2 program.
 
If you can get back into the timbered area, try stillhunting that during mid day. Deer get up & move a little then & bucks moreso during the rut. The rut should be ramping up about now. Find the does.
 
Jim F. said:
If you can get back into the timbered area, try stillhunting that during mid day. Deer get up & move a little then & bucks moreso during the rut. The rut should be ramping up about now. Find the does.
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THIS^^^ I have no experience with Blacktails, but I know that with whitetails, the bucks become nocturnal at a certain point and the only time they come out in daylight is during the rut. This guy looks like he's getting that swollen neck they get when they start rutting. He's got some scrapes somewhere around there. Find his scrapes and rubs, hunker down in a good spot, and rattle.
 
I've explored the woods a bit back there and it's not an easy hunt by any means in those trees. It's very thick brush. May need to spend the offseason acquiring a 30-30 with iron sights since my shots would probably be at max about 20yd back in there if I did happen upon him or another one.
 
downriver79 said:
THIS^^^ I have no experience with Blacktails, but I know that with whitetails, the bucks become nocturnal at a certain point and the only time they come out in daylight is during the rut. This guy looks like he's getting that swollen neck they get when they start rutting. He's got some scrapes somewhere around there. Find his scrapes and rubs, hunker down in a good spot, and rattle.
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Blacktails don't make scrapes. They do rub.
 
You may be able to rattle him in. The blacktails at this point in the season are fighting.
 
Scott Haugen has a pretty good tutorial on how to rattle in blacktails on the youtubes.
 
The elks a little easier IMO - you can always rip a bugle to see if they'll respond and give away direction (and distance).
Throw a few bugles at them an hour after dark (or hour before sunrise) and see what you get.
 
Blacktail bucks DO make scrapes, but they can be difficult to locate due to the dense cover they favor. I found scrapes when I hunted the Klickitat. They don't seem to scrape as frequently as Whitetails however. Scrapes, rubs & marked low-hanging tree branches are the way they attract does during the rut.
 
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