Scouting for Blacktails

[Sconhunt]

This will be my first season hunting big game and would love some tips for scouting for blacktails (I'm located in Squamish area).
So far I've been driving up logging roads and parking the truck, then hiking to some clear cuts and generally looking for sign (pretty much walking with my head down scanning for tracks)

One area had some deer tracks (I think probably a doe but I'm still new to this so not 100% sure) and a tonne of Black bear shit.
Should I just continue doing this and hope the bucks will be there come september?
Should I focus on that one area that I saw tracks?

I know that I'm a complete begginer and I'm fully prepared to get skunked on my first season or two but any tips that help the learning curve would be greatly appreciated!

[VLD43]

Buy a good set of binoculars and go out and glass, glass glass. You will see more deer moving around less and spending more time looking. Best of luck

[ccrcc]

this time of year yer looking for where the deer will be in the fall.
look for established game trails and pick a few areas or draws and learn them inside and out.
learn where they bed down at the tops of cuts so you can glass em up from the bottem when the time comes.
learn where you can get to quietly, up creeks, through open bush, old roads, and stuff like that where you will still hunt in the fall.
you may see a few deer now, but things change bigtime.
good that you're prepared to be skunked, but be prepared not to if yer cards are played right.

[caddisguy]

Virtually every mountain, every valley and every drainage holds deer. It's finding those sneaky blacktails that is the hard part.

And sometimes you will be onto a pocket all summer, only to have them disappear in the last few days of August (I got skunked several years because of this... I was still convinced this small area was crawling with deer and I had to be more sneaky)

Trails that are cut out in mossy timber and through tall vegetation are particularly obvious and easy to look for. Beds are another obvious one. Rubs are another. Those things all stand out like a sore thumb. I would look for as many areas as I could find with one or more of these findings, then hit all those areas repeatedly. Don't do what I did and focus on one area even if it has lots of sign. Only get selective with spots when they actually produce.

You might consider a trailcam and some salt lick. Deer will lick at the salt until late August / early September. It's not going to help you kill a blacktail, but it's fun and might provide inspiration.

That's all I really have. I've only just recently scratched the surface on successful deer hunts. There are

[caddisguy]

^^^^ I keep trying to edit my last post but keep getting an error.

Just wanted to add that there are some threads on here you can search down where some of the best BT hunters (proguide66, Wild One and many others) give a lot of good advice. If you can search down those threads, they contain a lot of golden nuggets.

[brian]

Virtually every mountain, every valley and every drainage holds deer. It's finding those sneaky blacktails that is the hard part
I agree with this in principal, however the important thing to remember is that the deer will not use every part of a mountain drainage and valley equally. Some areas are their core habitat that are used heavily and other areas can be virtual deserts. Of course the areas and times at which the deer are using them can all shift seasonally, with weather, or with hunting pressure both human and non human. On top of that, some mountains, drainages, or valleys are deer Mecca… whereas others not so much. To begin scouting don’t see it as a weekend project. Learning the land and how animals use it can take years. You’ve taken the first step of a long journey. Start from where you see sign and follow it to more sign. Come back here with specific questions that you have earned while scouting and then take another step in your journey.

[Takla]

As others have noted,previous yrs signs are very important ,find where the local bucks have been rutting in previous years is the key,look for old rubs at the end of logging spur roads in remote areas,then through experience you can hone in on peak time frames when your chance's are the best at harvest.The other part of the puzzle is weather conditions as the rut begins in earnest.Most of my area 2-8 bucks have been taken between the first and third weeks of November and on years when the local snow levels have dropped at least down to the 1000 ft levels of the local mountains which will drive the bigger bucks lower in search of love.Dont be afraid to us a rattle bag or a pair of old sheds ,ive brought in numerous BT rattleing,and most of my bucks were taken early in the morning pushing them out of beds with thier girlfriends.Best of luck finding your spot


takla

[caddisguy]

BT gurus starting to appear out from the shadows. I like where this thread is going

[Wentrot]

It’s a game of frustration. Finding an area with deer isn’t the hard part, finding the deer within that area is much harder. I think the key is not giving up, if you find a spot with sign, and rubs from years prior keep working it-the deer will be there at some point. My hunting partner and I knew of a buck that loved an old clear cut all summer long, he was there on select mornings in to archery season and we sat before first lite every day we could until I believe the 29th when he finally showed up again while we were there.Persistence pays off, as does having confidence-being a little insane will also be beneficial.

[rustybarrel]

It can be frustrating…..especially when the four biggest blacktails I have seen in last three years have practically been in my backyard of Port Moody/Burke. This past winter I was walking the dog on lower Burke, right by a construction area, and two gorgeous 4 points ( must have been identical twins) walked across the road in front of me…just at the end of the season- as if to flip me the finger.They we’re gorgeous though.
I’m not surprised we were over-run with cougars here last winter/spring.Saw them too…in my backyard.

[Camp Cook]

Best tips I can give for during the rut are ->

Be out all day not just morning or evening the bucks are moving around right now

look for rubs on trees then still hunt those areas