Have I ruined an area by hunting it too hard?

[granola_eater]

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.

[Wild one]

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

[Ferenc]

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

[granola_eater]

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?

[granola_eater]

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.

[Jelvis]

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 < ---

[Wild one]

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.

[granola_eater]

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.

[granola_eater]

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.

[quadrakid]

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.

[granola_eater]

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.

Thanks man, appreciate the input.

[blu-nsr]

I hunted the same whitetail in the same ‘gully’ for five years and he didn’t leave because I never got him. Deer live where they’re safe. Every once in awhile one gets picked off and even that doesn’t bother them. Ive watched deer walk right past a gut pile of their buddy the next day.

Hit ‘em hard. They’re not going anywhere.

[Taurusguy]

Yeah.. on the deer dont care approach. Seems true.. I went to a spot i always go to but slept in and someone shot a 3pt like 15mins walk from my camp (gun shot woke us all up) .. they were at where I had planned but got there b4 me and when I headed that way to investigate I seen buddy had his deer so I offered a hand with it then he said he had seen a buncha deer there and they trotted off over that way *points* I'm like ok thx... so I walk 10mins up the trail past where buddys gutting his deer and theres the deer! .. standing around eatin something in this little open spot.. being all like "o well . Billy's dead .. but hey guys check out this patch of food here!"..... boom I shot my buck and got a 150lb spiker standing in the patch of grass just a skip away from where the 3pt got shot.... they forget I'm sure.... year after that shot a deer one day... and the next day another buck was standing at the gut pile... shot that one too. We were like whoah why would they come stand on the gut pile?... so we make a habit of always checkin gut piles the next day... I love it when they come back for a funeral. :p