Game cams are a blacktails best tool for patterning hunters

Thankfully one of those big mature bucks made the one and only mistake of his life while I was in the neighborhood!

I hope we can figure out a way to clear out a few more of them next year!

Fish on...

Todd

Probably. Yeah....

Todd - we need to figure out better back doors into our stands. Going to require some trail blazing for certain, but we need some bat cave entrances somehow someway me thinks. Mull it over....

I truly appreciate your continued academic growth at BTU. Should one be paying attention in class, and given the stakes, deer and elk are incredibly gracious professors on campus. They spend their entire lives evading far more proficient predators than those of us seeking to "overwhelm them with superior technology" (ala Caddy Shack).

If I may, I proffer to you and the readers that you correctly stated that "their pattern is that they have no pattern." Accordingly, to best tip the odds in your favor, why eliminate the bulk of the legal shooting hours under the traditional mythos of a solely dawn/evening sit in your stand in the am/pm with a mid-day stroll? If you spend any time at all out among your quarry inhabiting your AO during non-hunting season months, you will discover which animals call it home, feeding patterns, travel routes and bedding areas (snow reveals all).

A brief story as illustration: I grew up in the company of those that focused on the am/pm hunting strategy. First year out of college and working at an engineering consulting firm, I met a co-worker who I still consider to be the best true hunter I'll ever know in my life. We shared our common love of bucks, pack horses and solitude in alpine environs and our respective families enjoyed many hunting seasons together until he sadly lost a race with cancer in his late 40's. His bride asked me to spread his ashes where he loved to roam....

So, first day hunting together, we trek over a tall ridge and into a beautiful drainage and go our separate ways. About 10am, I'm having a hard time from the lack of sleep in the preceding days to get to camp and head back down to catch a nap in the wall tent before exploring around camp in the evening of Day 1. I'm rousted from a wonderful slumber when my pard throws back the tent flaps with a dandy buck's head in one hand and blood on both. He states in a deadpan monotone, "You won't find any bucks in here." Since then, I'm generally hiking into alpine drainages well before daylight and don't get back into camp until well after dark. And to quote Robert Frost, that has made all the difference....

Continuing, ethereal bucks tend to go nocturnal as you cited and generally all will get up mid-dayish to stretch/browse a tad. More so when it's cold. You failed to cite the rut when most of the above goes out the window. Hormonally-addled bucks will ravenously pursue does. The latter will seek respite in open areas and the like where even a tad of hesitancy by the former will suffice. Bucks will travel miles seeking those in estrous and tending those that are there or close. Does in full estrous will pursue bucks, loving them up to seal the deal. I felt dirty watching.... Accordingly, I look for does and I *do not* still hunt to avoid stinking up my AO. Bucks get big by avoiding such obvious interlopers. The only exception is the last day dumpster dive into bedrooms. YMMV. My primary stand is *downwind* of a number of features that afford a front row seat to the desired sojourners that also removes their primary defenses and tilt the balance in my favor. I have never used trail cams. I know mature bucks exist in the surrounding habitat and those that aren't on home turf will likely pass through during the rut.

After glimpsing one such buck recently materialize and stop to inhale the sweet aroma where an estrous doe had squatted to pee, he lifted his head toward the heavens, flehming hard. That evening I had butterflied Rockies fried with a couple strips of bacon and topped with a dot of sauteed mushrooms and caramelized onions for an appetizer before a tenderloin dinner. I softly said "thank-you" again for such a truly wonderful gift...

Excellent! I should further clarify that I am basing my comments on one area in particular (our area) and the evidence from trail cams. Other user data and results may vary.

We have a camera at each stand and our mature bucks have not once shown themselves during the day during hunting season (excluding the dead ones shot at dawn and dusk). One did show himself, one time, midday during the rut in between general and late season. That was his one annual daytime mistake and it came when hunting was closed. All other pics of that nice buck have been at night. Cameras ARE cheating but dang - they really help cut to the chase so to speak.

I will say that nobody hunts around us, so that lack of pressure play a small factor. Moon phase is another of many, but I'm not 100% sold on some theories around moon phase activity. Such as when the moon is full, they feed all night so are most likely to move at noon. When the moon is new, they are more likely to move at dawn and dusk. I don't know about all that. I can see it I guess, but am not 100% sold as fact.

The pattern has no pattern...

All of the above is why I've fallen in love with BT hunting. It really is like nothing else.

Late Archery General Deer Seasons
Black-tailed
Deer
Nov. 22- Dec. 15 437, 466, 510 through 520, 524 Any deer
448, 460, 506a, 530ad, 560, 572, 601, 603 through 618, 638, 642,
681, 699d Any buck
Nov. 22 - Dec. 31 407, 410 through 417, 419 through 422, 454, 505, 564a*, 624, 627,
636, 648, 652, 654, 655, 660 through 672
Any deer

In the last few years I have shot more than a couple in our preferred zone...and missed two.

Hours of encounter, in no parparticular order;

Doe: 9am
Buck: noon
Buck: noon
Buck: noon
Doe: dusk
Doe: noon
Buck: dusk
Doe: dusk

I also jumped a buck this season at daybreak, and still not sure how he busted me, the odds were in my favor and he still got me. Bad luck is a thing, too.

All three of those noon bucks, and the noon doe, were within 1/2 mile of each other on one piece of property, all the dusk animals came from another piece of property, and so far over a handful of seasons, never the twain shall meet.

Our game cams, as Nick mentioned, caught only young bucks, two points or less, during shooting hours, from early on thru the rut and right thru late season...the big mature ones flat out don't venture, period...with two notable exceptions.

First exception is a single pic of one of our familiar foes at noon, once, in the height of the rut, and he was alone.

Second exception is the biggest blacktail I have ever harvested, who never appeared on a camera during shooting hours, not once, until making a mistake on an evening as hunting hours were expiring... I was there for the mistake, and that buck expired at the same time as the hunting hours did.

There will still be some stories and pics to add to this thread, sooner or later.

Fish on...

Todd

To freshen up this thread a tad....

Makers of those blades?

BTW - this style of zip knife blade is the greatest thing ever. Nobody in our camp will ever use a standard gut hook again. Thanks to Broodbuster for the awesome tip.

Also...check these out. Watch their skinning and gutless videos - kinda interesting concept especially for safety and speed. Not sure if their worth the $150 bucks though....

(L) Buck Kaala with added ivory micarta grip/red liners and Kydex necker sheath done by Dale Howe of Howe Mountain Knives. It's S30V steel with BOS heat treating. Wicked edge. The Kaala is long discontinued by Buck but you can occasionally find them on ebay. With the added grips/liners it's basically a dandy custom blade for around a C-note and a dainty drop point necker that I have used for everything but skinning, including holding it like a pencil to gingerly slice connective tissue when pulling a buck/bull's dick and bladder out of his pelvis.

(R) Bob Dozier K-19 Pro Skinner in D2 tool steel/black micarta grips. Much prefer S30V but my love gave it to me for a birthday present years ago (with a penny). Handily peels bucks and bulls and the grip shape keeps my slimy mitts solidly attached to the dull part. Really like Gene Ingram's #1 Semi Skinner but the Dozier will likely remain in my pack.

As evidenced by your links, there are a lot of gizmos in the hunting cutlery market place begging for your $$. I'll proffer that all one *really* needs is a pair similar to those above in S30V steel. Specifically, a nimble one like Ingram's Yellowjacket or Dozier's K-33 B&T for opening up and parting out bucks/bulls, grouse, trout, etc. and t'other for peeling hides. Having 2 in your pack also keeps Mother Murphy away should you lose/break one miles into a steep and deep drainage. Spend your cash once, enjoy them for all your splendid days afield and hand them down to your progeny. Savvy?

Have long preferred fixed blades to folding that get bloody for obvious reasons. I also keep a small ceramic sharpening rod in a 1/2" PVC pipe case in my pack to touch them up should I want. Both blades will easily do a complete elk without a touch up if one is smart enough to keep from running the blade on bone. I use the base of the blade for cutting tendons around joints and such to save the tip's edge. YMMV.

So, given your timetable above, we agree that cervids are crepuscular and get up mid-dayish to stretch/browse as I noted before. Lunar phase can also result in a mid-day breakfast after an all-nighter.

As to your getting busted, any number of things could have been the cause. First year chasing mulies in the late 70's, I thought I was being quiet as a mouse when I approached a saddle and peeked over only to see half dozen does that had missile lock on me. Surprising part was that they were at least 300 yards out on the opposite ridge. Modern detergents with "whiteners and brighteners" likely make one appear like a UV Casper to deer's eyes. If it is quiet in the forest, we are clumsily the most discordant note in that symphony. Clothing sounds or simply breathing through your schnoz may make a whistle that is inaudible to you but quite apparent to a deer's auditory defenses at 40 paces....

Given BT habitat and apparent lack of interest in the academic world, there isn't much in the way of BT studies. Extrapolating ubiquitous WT data is moderately helpful. As noted before, bucks have a home territory. Obviously, it will vary in size based upon a number of factors like adjacent territories, topography, food/water sources, etc.. These territories do not correspond to our property lines. Uncharacteristic human interlopers in that territory will make a savvy buck alter its movements within that territory. Heavy hunting pressure may push a savvy buck into adjacent territories. Further, a buck's movements due to the rut cycle rises and falls like a statistical bell curve from October-December hereabouts. At its apex, a bucks stomach contents may be next to nil as his singular focus is not on sustenance. Accordingly, horned-up bucks will travel constantly *within* that territory in search of love and students of data will see that the late hunt oft results half the season's harvest....

The reason I don't use trail cams or still hunt BT's where I have a stand is that I don't want to inadvertently alter that Booner buck's territorial wanderings at all. Particularly during the rut when he's most vulnerable. As noted earlier, bucks and bulls successfully elude far more proficient predators than our bumbling brethren on a regular basis.

Perspective is everything. Give it some consideration based upon your data cited above. What would you do if all of a sudden some total stranger stunk up your AO? Would you even stick around to see if he did it again and again, particularly when your very life may depend upon your choice? How will you alter your behavior afield? Have fun on the campus of BTU!

How do they like it if we stink up their zone?

I doubt they "like it"...but it also doesn't change the fact that in a new zone last late summer we went at a piece of woods with power equipment, cleared some trails, built a couple of trails, dropped a few trees, and raised a stand, and installed a new cam, all in one day...and four hours later we had shiny new pics of deer walking on our new trails and gallivanting around all night, including big mature bucks...and then everyone but the big mature bucks showing up there during the day.

That piece of land is the one where we took exactly one pic of a mature buck during shooting hours from July thru December, no day time walks for any if them.

Fish on...

Todd

Victoronix hunter.

That's the one! Flippin' sweet gut knife.

I just bought the Outdoor Edge version. Heavy fixed blade + sheath for $14 bucks on Amazon. Not bad for a specialized tool that will only be used a couple of times a year (hopefully). It would make for a great mushroom knife. Nice inside cutting angle and a blunt tip in case you trip and stumble. Hunter orange handle stands out on the ground.

We'll see how well it works next year. Or during spring Morel season.