Oregon Coast Range Blacktail Tips and Tricks?

[fisherman983]

What method would you use? I ask because that’s the region I hunt, eastern sides of the Siuslaw & Indigo units, and what I’m doing isn’t working. I’ve mostly been glassing clear cuts, with an occasional romp through the timber up some deer trails.

Glass cuts for an hour or more.. if you didn't see any deer there june-Aug, your probably not going to as long as you glassed it thoroughly.

Are you using a tripod? What kind of binos are you using?

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[FairWeatherFisher]

Glass cuts for an hour or more.. if you didn't see any deer there june-Aug, your probably not going to as long as you glassed it thoroughly.

Are you using a tripod? What kind of binos are you using?

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I have Vortex crossfire HD 10x42 binos, no tripod.

As far as I’ve been able to tell no access is permitted on the timberlands when the IFPL is 2 or higher, which is pretty much all summer, so I haven’t been able to get back there to do any scouting. Is that not correct?

 

[Twitch]

Tripod.
Good quality pan head that you can use to methodically grid across terrain in vertical and horizontal passes.
12x-15x binos on bigger cuts.
I use 15's, and carry a spotter if I really need to get a look at something. But I grid glass with the 15's the most.

Grid hillsides being hit by rising/setting sun.
Glass after any break in rain. Deer will often stand to shake off.
Glass edges of any rock outcroppings, large punky logs/stumps.
Glass edges of clearcuts where they meet bigger timber or older Re-prod.
Use satellite imagery to look for trails... yes you can zoom in and see them in clearcuts.

 

[duckhuntr]

Anything drastically different to the approach for blacktail on the units with a late bow season and after they've been harassed for a month by rifle season?

 

[duckhuntr]

They were pestered by the bow guys before rifle season too

But you have weather and the rut working in your favor. You might have some animals that are pretty jumpy, or they might hold tighter than any bird you have ever hunted. Hard to say

Haha, yeah I didnt mean for that to sound snarky or better than the rifle guys. I rifle hunt as well. It's just typically a much larger population of people out in the woods for rifle. I've never hunted BT, about to move to the coast range so that will change, but growing up in then midwest the whitetail were a different animal completely after gun season. And it was downright tough to see a mature buck in the daylight late season.

Thank you though. Sounds like it's still pretty doable. When is the peak rut for BT? So calling could still be an option end Nov early December?

 

[FairWeatherFisher]

Haha, yeah I didnt mean for that to sound snarky or better than the rifle guys. I rifle hunt as well. It's just typically a much larger population of people out in the woods for rifle. I've never hunted BT, about to move to the coast range so that will change, but growing up in then midwest the whitetail were a different animal completely after gun season. And it was downright tough to see a mature buck in the daylight late season.

Thank you though. Sounds like it's still pretty doable. When is the peak rut for BT? So calling could still be an option end Nov

Late-season Black-tailed Deer Hunting with Scott Haugen Blacktail Book BOGO: http://www.scotthaugen.com/shop/trophy-blacktails-the-science-of-the-hunt/... | By Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife | Facebook

Late-season Black-tailed Deer Hunting with Scott Haugen Blacktail Book BOGO: http://www.scotthaugen.com/shop/trophy-blacktails-the-science-of-the-hunt/...

fb.watch

Scott Haugen is a wealth of knowledge on hunting blacktails. This is a little old, but still great info for late season archery.

 

[duckhuntr]

Late-season Black-tailed Deer Hunting with Scott Haugen Blacktail Book BOGO: http://www.scotthaugen.com/shop/trophy-blacktails-the-science-of-the-hunt/... | By Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife | Facebook

Late-season Black-tailed Deer Hunting with Scott Haugen Blacktail Book BOGO: http://www.scotthaugen.com/shop/trophy-blacktails-the-science-of-the-hunt/...

fb.watch

Scott Haugen is a wealth of knowledge on hunting blacktails. This is a little old, but still great info for late season archery.

Thanks for sharing, I don't think I've watched that video yet. I do plan to buy the book and read it as well.

 

[FairWeatherFisher]

Thanks for sharing, I don't think I've watched that video yet. I do plan to buy the book and read it as well.

The book is good, though it has started to show its age in some areas. Still, loads of great tips in there.

 

[Oregon]

Grid hillsides being hit by rising/setting sun.
Glass after any break in rain. Deer will often stand to shake off.

Pro-tips for sure. I live close to my hunt areas. I check radar on crappy days looking for the break in rain forest type rain. Guaranteed once the down fall ends, they will stand and shake. I don't get out the truck until it stops. Then go look over the edge.
Also, with clearcuts. Look at every single place you can see from. Changing angles, is the key. I've spent up to 6 hours just picking apart a single cut from multiple spots.
My favorite story is watching 3 guys pick apart a cut for an hour off a landing. I was 700 yards to their left. About a half hour into it I find a buck bedded. 40 yards below them just staring up at landing. They left. I bailed off landing up wind and side hilled. I wish I can say I killed buck, but it took one bounce when we made eye contact and gone. Oh well

 

[Pdzoller]

Pro-tips for sure. I live close to my hunt areas. I check radar on crappy days looking for the break in rain forest type rain. Guaranteed once the down fall ends, they will stand and shake. I don't get out the truck until it stops. Then go look over the edge.
Also, with clearcuts. Look at every single place you can see from. Changing angles, is the key. I've spent up to 6 hours just picking apart a single cut from multiple spots.
My favorite story is watching 3 guys pick apart a cut for an hour off a landing. I was 700 yards to their left. About a half hour into it I find a buck bedded. 40 yards below them just staring up at landing. They left. I bailed off landing up wind and side hilled. I wish I can say I killed buck, but it took one bounce when we made eye contact and gone. Oh well

Last year I was watching a couple does across the canyon that were bedded above a landing. They were watching a couple hunters on the landing, that were watching another couple hunters that were throwing rocks off on a different landing. It was the last afternoon of rifle season. I know there was a buck with the does but never could get a visual.

Same area, my wife and I watched a thee point crawl on its belly to try and stay out of sight because it knew we were watching.

 

[Ehunter]

I have seen BT bucks crawl out of ferns before they can be sneaky

 

[garrett24]

This is a good thread! I’ve been hunting blacktail the past 2 years, no luck filling a tag so far. I’m in Eugene so I’ve been pretty much exclusively hunting the cascade foothills and the east side of the coast range. Just read Scott Haugen’s blacktail book, and I’m seeing a lot of what he said in there repeated/verified here.

That, and the late general season, have me hopeful for filling a tag this fall!

Question for you all. Is there a way to tell from OnX which gates are locked year round?

I don’t mind hiking a few miles up a mountain, but it sucks to do that all summer scouting, just for the gate to be unlocked in October and all that hard work wasted when everyone come driving through the area.

in response to your gate question especially during early archery I would assume all gates minus national forest will be locked, your best bet is to call timber companies along with going on there websites for fire info most of the private companies is walk in only, also look on odfw at the travel area management maps

 

[Koda_]

New here and was excited to see a thread dedicated to (Oregon) coastal blacktail.
Ive had them duck and crawl too, including this year. I learned not to skyline myself when glassing clearcuts so Im going to focus more on movement into a glassing position and camo. Ive been working a lot on heavy "dark" timber stands but thats even more complicated as just moving in there blows your cover. I still hunted a game trail in heavy timber by feeling the ground with my feet slow, and staying behind cover and keeping low in the brush in spots that exposed me more. On one hunt about an hour into all that only moved about 100yds was glassing the opposite side of the draw while hidden for a few minutes, I lowered my binos and about 10 yards in front of me were 2 does foraging. They didnt notice me until I brought my rifle up to the ready position in case there was a buck. Im convinced you cant move slow enough in the coast range in dark timber.

 

[garrett24]

New here and was excited to see a thread dedicated to (Oregon) coastal blacktail.
Ive had them duck and crawl too, including this year. I learned not to skyline myself when glassing clearcuts so Im going to focus more on movement into a glassing position and camo. Ive been working a lot on heavy "dark" timber stands but thats even more complicated as just moving in there blows your cover. I still hunted a game trail in heavy timber by feeling the ground with my feet slow, and staying behind cover and keeping low in the brush in spots that exposed me more. On one hunt about an hour into all that only moved about 100yds was glassing the opposite side of the draw while hidden for a few minutes, I lowered my binos and about 10 yards in front of me were 2 does foraging. They didnt notice me until I brought my rifle up to the ready position in case there was a buck. Im convinced you cant move slow enough in the coast range in dark timber.

Had a similar experience, you nailed it on the head w/ not being able to move slow enough, during the middle of the day we had a group of 4 and did some pushes and multiple times the 2 guys walking the brush would have deer run off behind them after walking past them within probabably 20 yards of the bedded deer.

 

[Koda_]

Had a similar experience, you nailed it on the head w/ not being able to move slow enough, during the middle of the day we had a group of 4 and did some pushes and multiple times the 2 guys walking the brush would have deer run off behind them after walking past them within probabably 20 yards of the bedded deer.

Im convinced most every day out there I get within 50yds of them and never know it. I listened to a podcast bowhunting Blacktails where the author described "still hunting" them as "feeling the ground with your feet" while looking... I tried it.... thats painfully slow but suddenly there was the two does so I will be working on this, next year of course.

 

[Ehunter]

I have watched a buck crawl though ferns. I have stood on brush piles and have had them explode from underneath me. I have thrown dirt clods at little bucks that freeze because they think you can't see them. They are are smart.

 

[repins05]

I have watched a buck crawl though ferns. I have stood on brush piles and have had them explode from underneath me. I have thrown dirt clods at little bucks that freeze because they think you can't see them. They are are smart.

I have seen bucks literally crawl as well. Not actually sure how they do it but I watched a forky that my dad blew out in a clear cut cross in front of me. Literally, it was no higher than 2 feet off the ground and its head just about touching the ground. And we are talking a young forky.

 

[duckhuntr]

What's the best way to find the bucks in the summer in areas you can't dump a pile of apples. Obviously cameras help, but any specific areas/habitat you focus on to go watch? still clear cuts? Bottoms? Blackberries?

 

[Dirtscoots]

I have had zero luck getting nice bucks on camera. Last year I put three cameras out in an area I’ve seen a nice buck, zero buck pictures hahahaha. Luckily I at least got to look at elk bear and bobcats

 

[Koda_]

What's the best way to find the bucks in the summer in areas you can't dump a pile of apples. Obviously cameras help, but any specific areas/habitat you focus on to go watch? still clear cuts? Bottoms? Blackberries?

Last years rubs.
Not just one rub, but several in one spot, is your buck in that area ( assuming he lived thru winter)