Newer Hunter in Oregon

[masond1287]

I am fairly new to Oregon. (Only hunted 1 season)
Hunted Alsea/Stott last year for rifle black tail and came up unsuccessful. I also drew the spring bear tag for Alsea/Stott and didnt see a darn thing then either, even though my season was cut short due to my dad passing.

Archery elk is going to be a bust for me this year, as I have had some family things come up, but am looking forward to rifle elk/blacktail this fall.

Would anyone be able to point me in the right direction as far as some good land goes, or be willing to join up with me and buddy hunt for black tail?

We live in Beaverton Oregon, so we have fairly quick access to the coast, or the Hood area but honestly have no clue on where to go!

Wife wants meat in the freezer, and havent been able to tag anything in recent years, which is totally unlike me. I never had a problem filling 7+ white tail tags in Missouri when I lived in the Midwest. However, black tail is a totally different realm of hunting!

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks
Mason

 

[JasonWi]

Mason:

Welcome to Oregon and to RS! First thing to remember is blacktails are tough and you might hunt an entire season to get one shot!

I will be happy to give you specifics on what type of areas I look for on blacktails, I hunt them in the foothills of the cascades as it's closer to home but many of the principles are the same for the coast.

Jason

 

[NWHunter]

Blacktails are my absolute favorite animal to hunt. Especially in western Oregon. I've lived in and hunted the Alsea all my life. There are so many different ways to hunt them and you'll here a bunch of different answers. For the past 5 years I've switched from rifle to archery. But with 15 years rifle hunting I learned a thing or two. Most guys will tell you to wait till the last week of season and they bucks get stupid with the rut. This is true but the bucks don't magically appear once the rut starts. I never liked waiting till the end of the season for fear of not having meat in the freezer. My favorite time of day to hunt blacktails with a rifle is 11-4. And I hunt bedding areas. Typically bucks will bed on the top third of a ridge facing down the hill with the wind blowing up in their face. This allows them to smell, see and hear and disappear over the top before you ever know they are there. Sneaking in on them from the top seems to work very well for me. Blacktails also have a certain zone that if you're inside of they just freeze and hope you walk by especially if they are bedded. Learning to look for pieces of deer instead of the whole thing is very important to kill blacktails. The amount of cover in western Oregon is ridiculous.
The other key day to hunt rifle blacktails is the first rain. It doesn't matter what you have going on when the first rain happens get in the woods and stay there all day. The deer aren't use to it get and get up and get out in the clearcuts and openings. On numerous occasions my brother and I would both fill our tags on the first rainy day.
The other thing I thing people struggle with when it comes to western Oregon blacktail hunting is covering ground. So many people think if they cover lots of ground they will see lots of animals. Blacktails have a relatively small home range 1 square mile most studies say. Focus on finding and area that has and holds blacktails and learn how they use it. If you find an area that has good buck sign hunt it. Don't over look rattling either. I've rattled in multiple blacktails. Both during rifle season and late archery.

Hopefully the above helps. Again, it's just how I've had success over the years. I have hunting buddies who sit and glass big canyons and kill deer every year. I've sat in treestands and killed blacktails. That's the great thing you can hunt them so many different ways and just when you think you have them figured out they teach you something new.

Kent

 

[The John]

As said above, hunting blacktails is HARD (but rewarding none the same). Dont expect it to be easy, and be prepared to dedicate some time to it.

Ill PM you my contact info, as I will be hunting the wet side of the state for deer this year.

 

[MazeNBlu3]

I to am new to oregon and blacktail hunting. I hunt the saddle mountain area and I have a few good leads on some bull elk and blacktail bucks. I basically glass from a hill top and look at a topo map, once you see an animal you look at the topo and try to figure out where they bed and where they feed and water. Elk was a bust due to burn bans. I'll be going out again for late season deer and if you happen to find yourself up near Astoria I can show you what I know for what it's worth. At any rate good luck and stay safe.

 

[jtw]

A lot of good info in this thread. Only thing id add is glass even in the thick stuff. A lot of times antlers look like branches until you really check em out.

 

[gonhunting247]

I second what NWHunter posted. As far as the rain goes, use both ends of a system. The front end works well, but if you have rain consistently for a few days and there is a little break, the deer will pop out seemingly from nowhere to get a bite to eat, stretch out and dry out. I always try to get out at this time! Also during rainy weather you have the added benefit of dark nights that help keep the deer out a bit longer in the daylight. One more benefit to rain is that it helps soften up the ground, making for much improved still hunting, as well as, it helps masks your movement. Also as stated by others, use your binos and pick any bedding or feeding spot apart. Look for tail and ear flicks, as well as brush moving abnormally due to feeding. Two things that seem to catch my eye when gassing Blacktails in brush, is the sharp vertical leg line and the white/grey mask of an old buck peering through the vine maple. Blacktails can be tough to hunt, but watch out, they are very addictive. Good luck on your hunt.