CA BLACKTAIL

Jfjfrye

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Oct 21, 2020
I’m curious what everyone’s go to successful tactics are for hunting these illusive nocturnal Ca blacktail. Hoping to learn to be a better hunter and put the odds in my favor of crossing paths with a mature buck one of these days.
 
I’m curious what everyone’s go to successful tactics are for hunting these illusive nocturnal Ca blacktail. Hoping to learn to be a better hunter and put the odds in my favor of crossing paths with a mature buck one of these days.
Try to catch the start of Rut on them. Usually blacktail seasons run close to the Start of rut.
 
I’ve got a couple spots marked to check out this weekend. Been living on onX trying to put a game plan together. Thank you.
 
Scout. Scout. Scout. Scout…. Did I mention scout!

You want to kill a big buck- you got to find what areas big bucks want to be in and are at. Archery season is a good time to find more big bucks than rifle- late in the rifle season with the right conditions can be good to.

My experience comes from CA and in true blacktail country.
 
It might be dependent on the area, but after several years of hunting in my area I’ve learned that the terrain is just to loud to do any kind of still-hunting and too brushy and flat to do any kind of spot-and-stalk, so I start putting up my treestand next to game trails and have been able to get a lot more encounters. It’s still extremely difficult (I have yet to kill one in my area) but my encounters have gone way up.
 
Some of the most successful guys I know have infinitely more patience than me and sit, sit and sit. Like the post above, setting up on high traffic areas will get you more encounters
 
My go to is glassing! Glass for the first few hours in the morning. When I say glassing that's 90% of the time your eyes are behind the glass. Look at every thing. Then later in the day walk out some draws and canyons. The best go to is to learn and area and hunt it year after year. Learn their movements. Have several glassing points and stay consistent. A lot of people get burned out because they dont see deer in an area so they move to another area,.. If there are fresh track the deer are there.
 
Find the does. Once you find does, start hunting/glassing the thickest, steepest area close by. They all use the same suitable habitat but the bucks will only use the open terrain at first light, last light and night time. Be confidant that once you find the does the bucks aren’t far away even if it’s outside of the rut.
 
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