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Thread: Have I ruined an area by hunting it too hard?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
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    39

    Have I ruined an area by hunting it too hard?

    Hey folks,

    Newish hunter here and this is my first season chasing blacktails in region 2. My hunting experience till this season was limited to spot and stalk for mule deer in open country, which is pretty different from still hunting blacktails in the steep and thick of region 2. Thanks to a lot of research and walking, I've found an area with really thick sign (trails, fresh droppings, occasional sheds). I've hunted it five days over the last two and a half weeks, and shot a 2pt on my second day hunting there. I have one more tag and I've found some relatively new sheds (maybe last season) from a 4pt, so I've gone back a few more times to see if I can find a bigger buck.

    I'm worried about putting too much pressure on one area. The sign is concentrated in a couple of draws, and I've still hunted through the draws each time I've been there. I've seen two bucks (one of which I shot, didn't have a second tag in my pocket at the time) and a doe and fawn in the first two days of hunting, and nothing over the last three. It's really close to my home so I'm able to hunt it often, but I've tried to leave 5 days or so between trips to avoid spooking game. Is this enough time, or are BTs so skittish that I should be worried that I've pushed them out of the area by going back in over and over again and that's why I havent seen deer for a while? I'd like to hunt the rut there this season, but I'm worried that I've disturbed the area enough that they've moved out for the time being. Should I back out and wait for a few weeks or longer, or could I go back in sooner?

    Like I said, I'm new to BTs. I know it's normal to go a long time between coastal deer and that I got lucky to get one my first season out here. I just don't know how careful I should be about putting pressure on an area, and how often would be safe to hunt it without disrupting the deer too much.

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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    In the bush near a lake
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    7,198

    Re: Have I ruined an area by hunting it too hard?

    If you don’t want to burn an area out hunt it by ambush only blind/tree stand/sit under a tree especially in thick conditions. This also increases your odds of not spooking a big buck when that is your goal

    Also stick to days of perfect wind and wet conditions if you only plan on still hunting trying to limit pressure

    Is the spot burnt probably not, Could it use a break that depends on how much you disturbed the deer each hunt, Is a mature buck more likely to be pushed out yes but you have not seen one so is there one even there

    Too many factors I can’t answer. As for blacktail being skiddish yes very much so if they are under heavy pressure but if you are hunting a pocket that sees no pressure they can be dumb as a stump

    Sometimes with hunting you just have to roll the dice and try

    Switch it up go back sit and call it is the rut. Worth a shot

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Posts
    1,791

    Re: Have I ruined an area by hunting it too hard?

    Hunt the perimeter of the area in question if you think you’ve pushed it to hard ... you found the sign and already taken one out of there .... if rubs are also in the area ... you’d best hunt it .... are you finding any beds .... anyone else in there hunting also ..... all I can say is if you have rubs ... hunt it

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Posts
    39

    Re: Have I ruined an area by hunting it too hard?

    Quote Originally Posted by Wild one View Post
    If you don’t want to burn an area out hunt it by ambush only blind/tree stand/sit under a tree especially in thick conditions. This also increases your odds of not spooking a big buck when that is your goal

    Also stick to days of perfect wind and wet conditions if you only plan on still hunting trying to limit pressure

    Is the spot burnt probably not, Could it use a break that depends on how much you disturbed the deer each hunt, Is a mature buck more likely to be pushed out yes but you have not seen one so is there one even there

    Too many factors I can’t answer. As for blacktail being skiddish yes very much so if they are under heavy pressure but if you are hunting a pocket that sees no pressure they can be dumb as a stump

    Sometimes with hunting you just have to roll the dice and try

    Switch it up go back sit and call it is the rut. Worth a shot
    Thanks Wildone-- I'm really starting from zero with BTs so all of this is helpful. It's big timber so it's pretty open for the coast, and the ground is mostly sticks that are hard to walk quietly on. I've tried to pick perfect weather days but the last couple days I've been out there it's been drier than the forecast called for and I've been pretty noisy without the cover. I'll be more patient and just back out or ambush hunt only if the weather isnt good for covering me.

    I've been tipping a can call as I still hunt. Would you recommend continuing to use the estrus bleat or do you prefer other calls when you're ambush hunting?

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Posts
    39

    Re: Have I ruined an area by hunting it too hard?

    Quote Originally Posted by Ferenc View Post
    Hunt the perimeter of the area in question if you think you’ve pushed it to hard ... you found the sign and already taken one out of there .... if rubs are also in the area ... you’d best hunt it .... are you finding any beds .... anyone else in there hunting also ..... all I can say is if you have rubs ... hunt it
    Don't think anyone else is hunting it. Once I leave the car it's a couple hours of hiking before I'm in the spot and I havent seen a boot print or other kills or trash. I'm having a tough time identifying beds because it's such bare ground under the big timber mixed in with rocky outcroppings. I've assumed that the areas on ridgelines with piles of droppings on little outcrops are beds.

  7. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Kamloops Country just south of Heaven
    Posts
    23,994

    Re: Have I ruined an area by hunting it too hard?

    If your hiking in a couple hours from the car, you won't be wrecking a hunting spot.
    Jelly Black tail --> If you hike in like your doing, you are into hunting with no doubt ---> You have the hunting spirit in you < ---
    Last edited by Jelvis; 11-10-2018 at 05:37 PM. Reason: HBC sticks together and helps hunters

  8. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    In the bush near a lake
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    Re: Have I ruined an area by hunting it too hard?

    Quote Originally Posted by granola_eater View Post
    Thanks Wildone-- I'm really starting from zero with BTs so all of this is helpful. It's big timber so it's pretty open for the coast, and the ground is mostly sticks that are hard to walk quietly on. I've tried to pick perfect weather days but the last couple days I've been out there it's been drier than the forecast called for and I've been pretty noisy without the cover. I'll be more patient and just back out or ambush hunt only if the weather isnt good for covering me.

    I've been tipping a can call as I still hunt. Would you recommend continuing to use the estrus bleat or do you prefer other calls when you're ambush hunting?
    I like to add rattling but I have also used a grunt with luck on BT. Buddy hunting Chilliwack has been having success rattling over the last week.

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Posts
    39

    Re: Have I ruined an area by hunting it too hard?

    Quote Originally Posted by Jelvis View Post
    If your hiking in a couple hours from the car, you won't be wrecking a hunting spot.
    Jelly Black tail --> If you hike in like your doing, you are into hunting with no doubt ---> You have the hunting spirit in you < ---
    Thanks Jelly, definitely into it. The spots I get to explore are beautiful, guns are fun and the meat is good.

  10. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Posts
    39

    Re: Have I ruined an area by hunting it too hard?

    Quote Originally Posted by Wild one View Post
    I like to add rattling but I have also used a grunt with luck on BT. Buddy hunting Chilliwack has been having success rattling over the last week.
    Right on, thank you. I was actually rattling a bit right before I killed my buck. Did a sequence, sat for 20 mins, then started moving and bumped into the two bucks about 50m down the ridgeline I was on. Looking back it seems obvious that the rattling might have moved them, but they looked to be heading the opposite direction when I spotted them so I wasn't sure if rattling had done anything.

  11. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Posts
    3,626

    Re: Have I ruined an area by hunting it too hard?

    Blacktails live there whole lives in a pretty small area. I would not worry that you are ruining the area by hitting it too hard. It is the rut,if its a good spot,hit it hard.

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