Help me pattern these blacktail does

[Blacktail.Tracker]

Hey all,

I’m having trouble patterning the blacktail on the property I’m hunting this fall. I drew an antlerless deer tag with a season that goes until February, so you’d think it’d be a cakewalk but these deer are seriously ghosting me!

I’m hunting a large orchard outside of Salem, OR with a fair amount of damage done to the younger trees (bark eaten by deer) but so far I’ve seen very little fresh sign. There is a small pond with a well established game trail leading uphill away from the water and through a large hole in the deer fence. Found fresh coyote scat/tracks so I know it’s currently in use but possibly not by deer. Or is it?

If there are indeed still does hanging out here, do you reckon they’ll be heading uphill away from the water near dusk, or downhill toward it? Should I try widening that trail to make it more attractive? Maybe drop a heap of overripe apples (there are tons here) somewhere along it? Maybe try some doe bleats? If so, what time of day? I’ve mainly been heading over there in the evenings after work.

I’m pretty stumped here, so any ideas you might have are worth entertaining.

 

[BobbyMac]

BT
Is this the 615 Willamette tag? If so...it's "any deer".

 

[rratzlaff1490]

I hunt black tails (bucks) in California in
orchards and there A LOT of factors at play here. First and foremost if you’re not seeing any sign, or periodic sign meaning it looks like there was deer in there for a night and they have moved on then your odds are pretty low even with the water source there.

Are there a lot of other orchards around? What type of orchard is if? I wouldn’t do anything to disturb their natural habitat other then putting up some game cams to get a sense of the deer population. One major issue with black tails is their nocturnal nature and that doesn’t change a lot in my experience regardless of the moon phase. But what I have found is that I can see more of the same amount of deer at 9-10 AM then I can I first or last light. Find there transitional areas between beds, find a comfy spot from a distance and sit and wait.

Best advice I can give without boots on the ground.

 

[Blacktail.Tracker]

BT
Is this the 615 Willamette tag? If so...it's "any deer".

It is, yeah. Which is why I was a little embarrassed to even be floating the question. Should be easy, right? For some reason it appears not to be in this case.

 

[Blacktail.Tracker]

I hunt black tails (bucks) in California in
orchards and there A LOT of factors at play here. First and foremost if you’re not seeing any sign, or periodic sign meaning it looks like there was deer in there for a night and they have moved on then your odds are pretty low even with the water source there.

Are there a lot of other orchards around? What type of orchard is if? I wouldn’t do anything to disturb their natural habitat other then putting up some game cams to get a sense of the deer population. One major issue with black tails is their nocturnal nature and that doesn’t change a lot in my experience regardless of the moon phase. But what I have found is that I can see more of the same amount of deer at 9-10 AM then I can I first or last light. Find there transitional areas between beds, find a comfy spot from a distance and sit and wait.

Best advice I can give without boots on the ground.

Thanks for this reply. It is the only orchard in a somewhat barren area and there is a TON of easy food (mostly apples and pears). If I were a local deer, this is where I’d want to be. Totally possible they’ve moved on though, for sure.

That’s a good thought—I’ll have a look around in that 9-10am window, see if anything changes.

 

[BobbyMac]

Were you able to hunt in that storm yesterday? Lots of deer movement during those types of weather events....I saw lots of deer yesterday but was holding out for mr big...tag soup for me!

 

[A.hol1]

I hunt a lot of black tail around Salem/Willamette Valley and almost every deer I have shot has been between 9:30-10:30am. My buddy and I call it the golden hour now.
Just my experience


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[FishDaddy10]

I hunt a lot of black tail around Salem/Willamette Valley and almost every deer I have shot has been between 9:30-10:30am. My buddy and I call it the golden hour now.
Just my experience


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That's funny, I just shot a deer in the Willamette Valley about 25 minutes south of Salem at 9:00 AM

 

[A.hol1]

That's funny, I just shot a deer in the Willamette Valley about 25 minutes south of Salem at 9:00 AM

Outside Albany?
With the change in weather the last couple days I’ve seen more deer out in the mornings, not quite as nocturnal as a few weeks ago


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[roosiebull]

Were you able to hunt in that storm yesterday? Lots of deer movement during those types of weather events....I saw lots of deer yesterday but was holding out for mr big...tag soup for me!

Especially with apples around, bad weather knocks apples down, deer will be there until they are gone

 

[dieselchessy]

I’m curious of the comments about “trail from pond” and “eaten bark” and lack of deer sign.

While deer will eat bark, I don’t see it often, and don’t ever recall seeing it when ripe fruit is present. Deer are browsers.

Maybe porcupine, nutria, some other type rodent.

Could you post pictures of this eaten bark?

Other than that, trail cameras are helpful for patterning deer.