3 things I have learned this Blacktail Deer Season!
- Nate Bailey
- Dec 4, 2018
- 3 min read
To some the Blacktail Deer is the ultimate animal, there whole season revolves around this elusive creature. For me ... I am just happy to have a few encounters. If I am able to fool a wily old blacktail buck in the daylight its a huge win for me. This season I set out to film my adventure in the blacktail woods, and if I was lucky, show you all a mature buck. That 3 part video series will air tomorrow at 6:00 pm pacific standard time so if you haven't subscribed to my channel (linked below) hit subscribe and click the bell to be notified when new videos come out. Now that the shameless plug is out of the way, lets jump into the 3 things I learned about blacktails this season.
1. They are not Elk! A big ole buck and an big ole bull have nothing in common. Blacktail bucks make their living by not vocally advertizing themselves. Elk, on the other hand assert their dominance vocally. This is a huge frustration for seasoned elk hunters when they take to the blacktail woods. You might have literally 10-15 buck on camera at night, so you know they are there, but never see one in daylight. If it were a elk, you could at least call them in the bed. Knowing there are deer everywhere without seeing them is truly a humbling experience.
2. Blacktails aren't Elk. Elk can be crazy in the sense that they find hard places to live, but they aren't schizophrenic like these little deer. A big Blacktail buck is like a turkey with selective hearing, yet has a nose, so you have to hunt them as such. Patients is the key here. Those with ADD need not apply. If your a action, make it happen type of person...the Blacktails will drive you to the looney ward. The best way to see a big mature Blacktail is to sit in a blind or a tree stand and pray that they might move during the day. The only way to kill one with a Tradbow is the same as above, but with more Divine Blessing. Hunting mature Blacktails should improve your prayer life.
Finally #3. Blacktails aren't elk. Once a big ole buck gets juiced up and wants to assert his dominance he does so by leaving a few cute rubs and making muffled grunts to sweet talk the ladies...Elk???....When they get Juiced... The whole mountain can hear them demand their ladies. Mud can be found in unnatural places...like 20 ft up a tree from the goring of the nearest wallow received. Evergreens shudder at the thought of the elk rut. Every fir tree has seen the horror of their kinfolk being ripped to shreds. Elk are the Thor Haired, Viking Bearded warriors of the mountain...Blacktails wear skinny jeans and have man buns.
So there you have it! 3 things I've learned about Blacktails. If you can feel some hate directed towards this species please realize that its just because I have had my butt handed to me by more than one buck, and to hunt them with a Barebow touches on the human side of lunacy...this article is just an outpouring of that...with shock treatments, and time I will return to the right state of mind just in time for the spring bear season.
Remember, if you would like to see what brought me to this point, subscribe to my Youtube channel and click the bell to get notified when the videos come out (I have included the link above). Thanks for reading this, I have to run, Shock treatments wait for no one.