Blacktail Elevation

[BigFoote]

I'm new to blacktail hunting and reading 'Trophy Blacktails'. It mentions migratory and resident deer and bases this behavior on altitude. My question is, what is high altitude in this scenario? What other signs are you looking for to determine what type of population is in the area?

 

[cboom]

6000 plus feet in some areas.

 

[roosiebull]

I'm new to blacktail hunting and reading 'Trophy Blacktails'. It mentions migratory and resident deer and bases this behavior on altitude. My question is, what is high altitude in this scenario? What other signs are you looking for to determine what type of population is in the area?

what region? blacktail habitat greatly varies in different regions

 

[BigFoote]

what region? blacktail habitat greatly varies in different regions

I'm out of western Oregon, Eugene area.

 

[roosiebull]

I'm out of western Oregon, Eugene area.

are you planning to hunt east or west of Eugene? west, the deer don't migrate, it's not until you start getting into the cascades that blacktail migrate (in the general region you are talking about)

if you are hunting west of you, those deer will mainly be very home bodied, not going far their whole life, and besides the rut, will usually stick to a very small area.

spend a lot of mornings in July/early August glassing, find those bigger bucks while they are in velvet and visible and you will know you are hunting in the right spot.... doesn't mean they'll be easy to kill during season, but you know where they will live.... they will not be far during hunting season. when hunting him, keeping your presence low impact is key, then waiting for that buck to make a mistake (like being in the open during season on a rainy day, or catching him feeding first/last light)

when glassing in july, pay attention to those little pockets that stay in the shade all morning with some cover around. i have killed some really good bucks late morning in high sun bedded in cuts... they are hard to pick out, but don't write it off. the last 3 years i have killed bucks between 10-noon sunny days, in cuts where they aren't supposed to be.... very mature bucks. conventional wisdom doesn't always apply.....

find those bucks in the summer while in velvet, and build a strategy for season. knowing there are nice bucks where you are hunting helps the moral when you haven't seen a buck in several days during season.

 

[NWBLKTAIL]

@roosiebull well said, pretty much nailed it.

 

[orelkaddict]

Roosiebull gave great details for blacktail!!! If on the east side you start getting higher up before migration happens. Say up around Gold lake or Abernathy lake kind of elevation to start seeing migration for deer. I'll still see lots of bucks up in the Windigo pass area even once the snow starts stacking up. Plenty of variables for high elevation bucks!!

 

[Hoodie]

I hunt the Cascades a little north of you. I hunt fairly high up for all the seasons, so Iḿ not sure about foothill deer, but I imagine they´re more similar to coast range deer habit-wise. I find migratory bucks showing up in the higher elevations (around timberline on the volcanos) pretty much as soon as the snowpack melts out. Usually early to mid July on the west slope. On the eastside of the crest they can show up a little early because the snow melts sooner.

In my area they hang out high (6k ft or so) until the first snows or mid-October, whichever comes first. Last year there was a big snowfall on opening day of rifle season (Sep 28). I cut several sets of buck tracks moving down from places where 18 inches or more was piled up. If thereś no snow they will often stay up high until mid-October when they start moving down into the rutting areas. Rutting areas in my general region seem to be around 2 to 3k, but I´m sure this varies throughout the range and wouldn´t apply to the coast at all.

Some bucks don´t follow the pattern. Some stay on winter range all year. Others hang in the middle elevations all summer. In my area the bulk of the deer seem to do the traditional migration. Iḿ only just recently getting into blacktails in a serious way but this is what I´ve picked up from scouting.

 

[TripleJ]

I hunt the Cascades a little north of you. I hunt fairly high up for all the seasons, so Iḿ not sure about foothill deer, but I imagine they´re more similar to coast range deer habit-wise. I find migratory bucks showing up in the higher elevations (around timberline on the volcanos) pretty much as soon as the snowpack melts out. Usually early to mid July on the west slope. On the eastside of the crest they can show up a little early because the snow melts sooner.

In my area they hang out high (6k ft or so) until the first snows or mid-October, whichever comes first. Last year there was a big snowfall on opening day of rifle season (Sep 28). I cut several sets of buck tracks moving down from places where 18 inches or more was piled up. If thereś no snow they will often stay up high until mid-October when they start moving down into the rutting areas. Rutting areas in my general region seem to be around 2 to 3k, but I´m sure this varies throughout the range and wouldn´t apply to the coast at all.

Some bucks don´t follow the pattern. Some stay on winter range all year. Others hang in the middle elevations all summer. In my area the bulk of the deer seem to do the traditional migration. Iḿ only just recently getting into blacktails in a serious way but this is what I´ve picked up from scouting.

This is spot on for the ground I hunt east of the valley.