Blacktail patterns, strategy and chat

Santiam said:
So this year, I'm doing the "still hunting" thing in the woods. We'll see.
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whats funny is the last few years Ive been focusing on deep woods dark timber bucks. Its a different game in there, pre season scouting is essential to learn how to get in out on the game trails silently, then find a spot with "shooting lanes" or a small area of dark timber with a view into it. Ive seen them back in there but its really tough to sit all day in one spot watching one spot, you have to know they are in there or the pattern of the buck you want. Ive had them sneak around me, but havent tagged one like that in dark timber.
 
2Tone said:
Koda I think you have answered your own ?. You need to see them before they see you, I have often wondered how many bucks have crawled out under cover and I never saw them 🤷‍♂️I’m guessing a lot!! Not all clear cuts are created equal, sometimes there is no easy way to get into them without them seeing you. All I can say is find ones that have a lot of activity then figure out ways to get in there unnoticed even if it means in the dark. Years ago I had access to probably the best deer clearcut with small reprod I have ever seen and it was small but loaded with deer! We would sneak in thru reprod to a good vantage point just before daylight sit and start glassing it was amazing how many deer were in it. One morning we killed 2-Nice 4 point bucks 300 yards apart in less than 5 minutes of each other🤣🤣 of course end of season during RUT! Almost did it again the next season except my dad missed his. All I’m saying figure out how to sneak in or find good vantage point from a distance or maybe a tree climbing stand on edge of clear cut and be in there and up a tree before daylight or just before dark! 🍻✌️
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Ive seen them crawl before and its really weird to watch. This one, I didnt see the brush moving or I woulda tracked him in the scope, then he just reappeared near the timberline and a split second of appearance was back in the woods.

Yeah, I told my partner "lessons learned here", we need to see them first. I just havent identified a solution. I think Im going to start glassing farther out but I only have a 10 binoculars and no decent spotting scope. I think one trick is to glass farther, then plan a stalk. Need to buy a compact spotter and tripod.
The photo is an example of a spot we worked to from inside the woods, nice spot but we didnt see anything that sit, I think I need to sit farther back behind the trees and brush.
I know of another smaller clearcut in the area with tall reprod you reminded me of, I might take a look next weekend.
 
Gday koda
Koda said:
Was sharing my weekend in the Daily Hunt thread and thought this might be a strategy learning opportunity.
A quick recap, more than once I was busted by deer from afar trying to glass them. Ranges were around 1-200yds open clearcut near the edges of timber. I would approach the cuts view slowly while glassing slowing moving into more view to glass more areas. Any number of minutes would go by glassing when the deer would make their break for it and bolt to the timberline. Not enough time to ID or ethical or practical to take such a running shot, they move fast. I need to glass them before they see me, in the rain I wanted to set up under a small sil-tarp but that would just stand out so we tried hiding more and just got soaked. Im thinking of trying to find a farther out vantage point to glass from with the tarp then find a way to stalk withing rifle range once I spot them. Not certain how far is still too close.

What do blacktail hunters here use for strategies when glassing clearcuts?

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I’ve finally worked out what your calling clearcut now gotcha 👍


Don’t know if this is relevant to those black tail 🤷‍♂️but what we done on those clear cuts 😉 started way back before the season scouting & drive those logging roads find the clear cuts ( I’m warming to that lol ) then mark them on topographic maps go back home & study those maps working out where I could get vantage points to look @ them & 1k @ least was my preference

Next stage was to search all those clear cuts for sign then leave well alone for a month on the ones with sign concentration going to the vantage spot for which I would clear lanes if needed or just sit & watch ( I used to longrange shoot but refuse to now @ those distances for own reasons & get more thrill closing the gap anyway )

This above produced a extremely high % of take on season opening morning or late arvo depending on animal’s routine & other hunters pressures

Now the harder one was when we went into a area blind & not scouting just hunting & the best way we found was to study those topographical maps again first & look for the most likely routes from bedded areas to the clearcuts ( man you guys have it so easy with google earth these days but not taking away from your challenges today either) then look @ the feeder gullies to & from them
Then would stay roughly 50 yard inside of the uncut timber( still liked to see across the clearcut as much as I could) & circumnavigate the perimeter until sign was found & back out immediately ( once again mark on map ) then you would go around the other direction till sign was found again ( working in pairs we would separate from the beginning)mark this on a map & back out again ( if game trail it’s easy & watch deer foot directions as gives a idea of animal habits dung is also a good one to watch along with browsing nature)
Then just find our best possible vantage point & sit till around 10 as by that time nearly everything was bedded ( pressure aside ) then the fun began with the method we call “walk them up “ go back to that sign spot & once again great in pairs as attack this from ea side & also get deer sneaking off from the other hunter ( wind dependent of course) & just go about your hunting as if no one was there but taking notice of a mates direction & not fire that way if couldn’t even see them
My personal preference on walking them up is once sign found every 3to 5steps do the basic road crossing technique I had drummed into me as a kid ( look left right then left again before proceeding)
& first without the binos then with the binos & just keep on going until you find them if your lucky

Samba it was a great system & fallow in our high country were around some of the hardest to walk up as man our wallaby also had a habit of busting you & those buggers are everywhere

Don’t know how relevant to your game but I was always told if your getting busted more often than you spotting the deer your sneaking is still to quick & slow down more
Took me ages to learn that & I’ve spooked plenty of game

Glad to see your seeing deer that’s a good sign the best will be you showing a picture of a successful hunt & that I hope is not far away

No proof read
Cheers
 
@Farleg your whole post is golden to me and what this thread is about. It took me a minute but I figured out what you mean by "walk them up"... Im going to talk to my hunting partner this week and see if we can implement this. Keep in mind the terrain here in the North Coast range (Oregon) is super tough to navigate off trail, but Ive been making this my habit for a long time now and know how to get around in this "pacific rainforest "jungle".
I have a spot (pictured previously above) where we found off trail. This particular clearcut is popular to hunt, so if theres a truck at the gate we leave and my strategy has been to hunt the timber about 50yds inside like your suggesting (and let the other clearcut hunters keep the deer inside the timber). So we drive around and bushwhack to that spot and sit and glass mornings and evenings.

this "walk them up" is a different strategy for me as it focuses on after 10am when they should be bedded. Im at a disadvantage because I havent scouted pre-season this particular clearcut this year but we had several encounters along one edge this weekend so if Im lucky I can "walk them up" along that side if the terrain allows navigating in there. It all depends on the terrain and vegetation...............

Side note, to give everyone here an idea of what Im up against if I head off trail in the wrong area in the north coast range. Its literally a jungle here. North aspects above 2000' elev you can find "dark timber" with open (what I call) "fern bowls" where you can navigate waste deep sword ferns and fairly well and get shots out to 75ish yards or so. But pick the wrong aspect or get stuck in a creek bottom and its like this...
1697423006036.jpeg
(caption: if you look closely you can see a deer trail running up the middle. Notice the moss knocked off the overhanging vine-maple tree trunk by body or antlers. Visibility in here is about 10 feet at best. I hate when I get stuck in spots like this...)
 
@Koda shows the joys of the coast range. 🤣. This is why the clear cuts are most popular.

I prefer the Southern Cascades and Northern Sierras having grown up there. Even there the Clear cuts and burn scars are more productive although the hay and alfalfa fields have some terrific bucks.
 
Modoc said:
@Koda shows the joys of the coast range. 🤣. This is why the clear cuts are most popular.
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They are and one reason why Ive focused a lot on off trail timber adjacent to cuts. On any given weekend most clearcuts here have at least one party parked and glassing it... there's even an unwritten etiquette here about hunting cuts over another hunter (that some still dont get). In some places the logging company owns, the trucks line up at the gate hours before daylight, when the company unlocks it, its like a race to the best cuts to glass...
not my cup of tea.

Ive learned to lurk in the fringes of the dark timber on public lands, But there are a few less popular cuts Ive also hunted over.
 
Koda said:
@Farleg your whole post is golden to me and what this thread is about. It took me a minute but I figured out what you mean by "walk them up"... Im going to talk to my hunting partner this week and see if we can implement this. Keep in mind the terrain here in the North Coast range (Oregon) is super tough to navigate off trail, but Ive been making this my habit for a long time now and know how to get around in this "pacific rainforest "jungle".
I have a spot (pictured previously above) where we found off trail. This particular clearcut is popular to hunt, so if theres a truck at the gate we leave and my strategy has been to hunt the timber about 50yds inside like your suggesting (and let the other clearcut hunters keep the deer inside the timber). So we drive around and bushwhack to that spot and sit and glass mornings and evenings.

this "walk them up" is a different strategy for me as it focuses on after 10am when they should be bedded. Im at a disadvantage because I havent scouted pre-season this particular clearcut this year but we had several encounters along one edge this weekend so if Im lucky I can "walk them up" along that side if the terrain allows navigating in there. It all depends on the terrain and vegetation...............

Side note, to give everyone here an idea of what Im up against if I head off trail in the wrong area in the north coast range. Its literally a jungle here. North aspects above 2000' elev you can find "dark timber" with open (what I call) "fern bowls" where you can navigate waste deep sword ferns and fairly well and get shots out to 75ish yards or so. But pick the wrong aspect or get stuck in a creek bottom and its like this...
View attachment 3466
(caption: if you look closely you can see a deer trail running up the middle. Notice the moss knocked off the overhanging vine-maple tree trunk by body or antlers. Visibility in here is about 10 feet at best. I hate when I get stuck in spots like this...)
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Definitely not my choice of firearm for that situation LOL!

Preferred choice!

 
HARPERC said:
Definitely not my choice of firearm for that situation LOL!

Preferred choice!

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yes, but doesnt actually "hunt" in this situation your making too much noise getting thru... When I get that tangled up the only thing Im working on is getting out of there.

that said, I find the deer beds in there. It would take a whole new strategy in there in which case a simple pistol would be the ideal weapon of choice. A few cases Ive flushed deer and elk in there and drew my 10mm pistol but if they flushed its too late.

(I took that pic yesterday trying to get around the backside of the clearcut. We did, but I wont be taking that route again, ever.)
 
I have been finding more clear cuts (burn scars) the last couple of years and it has changed my hunting practices. The 30-30 has been traded for a 300 yard plus cartridge rifle with more glassing and long stalks since the sub hundred yard shots have become very rare thanks to the Mega Fires.
 
Modoc said:
I have been finding more clear cuts (burn scars) the last couple of years and it has changed my hunting practices. The 30-30 has been traded for a 300 yard plus cartridge rifle with more glassing and long stalks since the sub hundred yard shots have become very rare thanks to the Mega Fires.
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I love my 30-30 but its so limited. My gunsmith has been building my 25-06ai but it wasnt ready in time for this season. Im using my Grendel this year to get more range in clearcuts but I cant wait to get back to my quarterbore...
 
My shots have been moderated by a memorable buck seen down out of Chico CA. We were on a road on one side of a canyon, the buck was about 300 yards away on the opposite rim. In between was a drop of 500 feet plus filled with chaparral and near vertical sides. We glassed him for about half an hour before he moved off. During that time, several other parties joined us, located him, looked at the canyon, and moved on. We estimated that it would take about five hours to get to him after the shot because of the terrain. Ever since then, I take terrain into account When deciding on the shot. More so since my multiple orthopedic surgeries.
 
Modoc said:
My shots have been moderated by a memorable buck seen down out of Chico CA. We were on a road on one side of a canyon, the buck was about 300 yards away on the opposite rim. In between was a drop of 500 feet plus filled with chaparral and near vertical sides. We glassed him for about half an hour before he moved off. During that time, several other parties joined us, located him, looked at the canyon, and moved on. We estimated that it would take about five hours to get to him after the shot because of the terrain. Ever since then, I take terrain into account When deciding on the shot. More so since my multiple orthopedic surgeries.
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When I was young and foolish (now old and foolish sometimes), I shot an elk across a canyon. It would have taken climbing gear to get across. It was a 23 mile drive around to the other side and a 3 mile walk in to get to the elk. Since then, I have taken the time to think! It was a successful recovery.
 
@Farleg I love it walking them up! Yes good stuff like usual! I am now going to use that term from here on out.

So for me walking them out is find a old road behind gate,old skid road thru timber walk a few steps glass walk a few more glass and I mean slow left right in front behind cover every thing over and over and over again looking for sign of deer travel find where there going and coming from. Most of my bucks have come this way, it’s just hard finding roads like that any more that are not so over grown or loaded with people. I find this works well even if you’re driving thru a thick timbered area stop glass hard into timber drive a few feet glass some more, deer around here feel very safe if they are in brush 100 yards off the road they will stand there until the sun goes down trying not to give up there location.
Seems lazy but sometimes you’re driving to different areas mid morning late day it can pay off big time!
Most cuts around here are to busy for me to concentrate on, although finding that perfect edge to watch right at dark or daylight can make for a good day.
 
les said:
When I was young and foolish (now old and foolish sometimes), I shot an elk across a canyon. It would have taken climbing gear to get across. It was a 23 mile drive around to the other side and a 3 mile walk in to get to the elk. Since then, I have taken the time to think! It was a successful recovery.
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When was young, I used to belly crawl into the thick stuff-fortunate not to get snake bit while acting like one. If they didn't come out, go in after them. These days half mile shots would be out barring a recovery team LOL!
 
That is a major rub! You sure it isn't an elk? From the picture it looks a little too high on the tree for a blacktail. We are finally getting the weather we need in southern Idaho this week to move deer. I'm not going to say more as I don't want to hijack the thread.
 
les said:
That is a major rub! You sure it isn't an elk?
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Its a deer. It does look higher, must be the angle of the camera but that rub is only about 12in tall and about 3ish feet off the ground. There are 3 more nearby that are closer to the ground.
Theres a huge buck in this spot, i got him on trailcam last year only 1 pic. Was a huge 3pt then. I think this rub is his.

Theres a bull in the same area, his rub marks extend about 7ft up the tree he chose.
 
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