A majestic hunt in the islands of Southeast Alaska hosting the highest density of Sitka Black Tail Deer in the world! J.Y. Tail — Blacktails have a much wider tail than other species, with significant black coloring, a white underside, and white fringe. They can be found in North America throughout Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and California. They are there, within the blink of an eye they have vanished, never to show their whereabouts again. For archery hunters, a secondary vantage point should be used in order to fine-tune your plans for a final stalk that will hopefully deliver you into bow range. Because blacktail deer are masters at hiding, keep in mind that you’re not just looking for deer that are 100 yards away; you’re also looking for deer that might be watching you pass by from a distance of 20 yards. Oak Stone Outfitters offers incomparable Blacktail deer hunting in central California. Across much of their range, but particularly in the north, blacktail deer are reliant on mixed old growth forests for wintering habitat. The Sitka blacktail deer often has a distinct advantage over the hunter in that it blends well in the dense cover and woods. It’s even better during periods of drizzle and heavy cloud cover, or in the wake of a heavy rain. The big, chocolate-colored boar was exactly the type of bear I’d dreamed of for years. Basically, a hunter will make a few calls from a likely position and then wait for a response. To hunt the elusive blacktail deer buck is typically a battle of wits, with the buck often coming out the reigning champion. Direct your travel so that you pass through likely feeding areas such as forest openings, small meadows, and, in the north, muskegs. Fawn bleats can be very effective for calling blacktail deer, particularly Sitka blacktails. Maximum 4 people. And because of the blacktail deer’s habit of becoming nocturnal during hunting season, these more distant portions of trails might not see any buck activity at all until well after dark. Here, the trick is to move slowly and silently along deer trails that show evidence of recent use, particularly in the form of fresh tracks and scat. Excellent and mild, one of the best big game species. The beds are about 2’ wide and 3’ long, sometimes consisting of little more than an area of matted ferns and mosses on finger ridges or just below the crests of primary ridges. Sitka Blacktail Deer hunts. This vessel based hunt on the extreme southern end of the island puts you in the most productive hunting grounds in the state. Your deer hunting license will cover fox hunting as well and there is no additional charge. Kodiak has world-class Sitka Blacktail hunting, most all of the record book bucks come off Kodiak Island. For the most part, does tend to stay close to the region they have chosen for their home range. We offer self-guided hunts for Sitka Blacktail Deer. You’ll either see the deer and make your shot, or you won’t see the deer and you’ll hunker in for the waiting game. Within a half mile we saw blacktails filtering away as we moved too eagerly across frosty ground. Antlers — A Sitka blacktail has shorter antlers that are noticeably smaller and denser than those of a mule deer. You will have the opportunity the hunt trophy sized Sitka Black Tail Deer, a variety of Sea Ducks, and all three types of our local fox (red, silver, and cross). As a final note, selecting the right hunting weapon when pursuing the blacktail is just as important as leveraging the right strategies. Blacktails crave tangles of grown-over hemlock and cedar and foggy ridges of old-growth fir. The best trails are those connecting bedding areas and feeding areas. Life and Death Because of low hunter success rates and relatively limited hunter interest (due in large part to the thick, wet environments frequented by blacktail deer) tags are fairly easy to acquire in those states that have blacktails. The camera should be positioned to waist height on the tree so it won’t be triggered if smaller game walks by. Sitka blacktails have a strong physical resemblance to whitetail deer, while Columbia blacktails have an appearance that seems more aligned with mule deer. Kodiak Island harbors some fantastic Sitka black tail deer hunting! Great DIY bear hunting value either spot & stalk or over a bait. Not only does an old growth canopy trap snow that would otherwise bury winter feed, it also lets through enough sunlight to enable the growth of a mixed and vibrant understory of edible plants. Habitat Here’s how to hunt the blacktail deer to increase your chances of going home victorious. At other times, the response from a deer can be dramatic and sudden. Local residents use methods like stalking, glassing, hunting from blinds and even road hunting. Hunting Methods Like everything else on Kodiak Island, they are much larger than most people see anywhere else. That is correct Chaz. Buck Hunt - Trophy hunt - Premier Ranches: limited-call for pricing What to Bring: Current hunting license Current A Zone deer tag .243 or bigger Lead free ammo; What It Includes: Up to two days of hunting by foot or truck/off road vehicle, field dressing of game and complimentary delivery to local butcher. Paul, Megan and I set forth, irrepressible to experience this mysterious place. These rainy forest wraiths are cousins of mule deer, but nothing except their forked antlers resemble their open-country kin. Blacktails tend to be loyal to their trail systems; unless they’re spooked, they will generally stick to the easy traveling. The smart ones emerge from hiding only in the last moments of shooting light and return to their haunts within minutes of daybreak. Keep in mind, too, that stand placement is crucial with blacktail deer, particularly for archery hunters. Blacktail deer are considered a subspecies of mule deer, which are common throughout much of the West. So, the likelihood that you will find one or two bucks in pursuit of does in the pre-rut phase is pretty high. My name is Mike Lee, I am passionate about pursuing blacktail deer and making your next hunt one to remember. Look for does in regions with lower elevation where you’ve previously found does during your scouting expeditions pre-season. Don’t necessarily worry about placing your stand where you can see the maximum amount of surrounding country. The rack on a Sitka blacktail tends to be a dark brownish or chocolate color. When passing through areas where noise is unavoidable, do so quickly and then hunker down to wait and watch before you begin moving again. And their rutting starts end of October-beginning of November. However, there is a particular time of the year when the most dominant of blacktail bucks lose the upper hand—rut season. Famed hunter and explorer Daniel Boone once killed 155 black bears in a single year. And remember, you’re not necessarily looking for a whole deer. Spot and stalk hunting for blacktail deer might sound like an impossible dream for hunters living in western Washington and Oregon, where thick timber, underbrush, and overgrown clearcuts rule out the possibility of seeing animals at any appreciable distance. Calling And when that verification does come, it should come in the form of a well-placed shot. If you locate a region with primary rub and scrape lines, you’re very close to your target. Participation in these programs helps us keep the site up, and to continue to help you find great products. Columbia blacktail deer are my favorite big game animal to hunt in North America. At greater distances from bedding areas, the trails often branch out and grow diffuse. While still-hunting, behave as though you’re actively stalking a deer rather than walking in the woods. Besides tracks and scat, look for narrow trails as well as rubs and beds. Rather, you’re looking at country comprised of open grasslands and agricultural areas interspersed with tight brushy draws and timbered slopes. They are also closely related to the white-tailed deer, well-known throughout the eastern and Midwestern U.S. Habitat: Blacktail deer are particularly common on the edges of forests where there is adequate shelter and ample meadowland. They are homebodies, and will often live their entire lives in an area of just a few square miles. Hug the edges of these openings rather than trudging right through the middle of them. When Sitka deer go nocturnal in peak hunting season, you may only be able to track their movements and habits with a trail camera. Steve has over 20 record class black tail bucks by both bow and rifle. The elusive Columbia Blacktail Deer of Southern Oregon.This area has long time been known as today's "hot spot" for hunting world class blacktail deer.Douglas County is one of the county's in the area producing the biggest bucks of all. Blacktail deer will hang around a particular spot for days on end if they’re undisturbed. There are deer in these places that have never laid eyes or ears on a human, and never will. By doing so, they stake their claim on certain territory letting other bucks and potential mates aware of their existence. ... Best black-tail deer hunting ranch. black-tailed deer habitat in the world."-Dr. A mature Sitka black-tailed buck weighs 150 to 200 pounds when field dressed and can sport an impressive set of antlers. Swap out your heavy hiking boots for softer-soled trail runners or stalking slippers to increase your level of stealth. In good country, you should seldom find yourself taking more than ten steps without raising your binoculars to study the surrounding areas. In Southeast Alaska, where the calls work especially well, there are literally hundreds of mountains—and even entire islands—that commonly go years or even decades without being visited by a hunter. For most hunters, pursuing the blacktail deer can feel like searching for the Holy Grail. Face — A blacktail’s face is dark and short, with smaller ears when compared with a mule deer. Ideally you’ll be looking down into areas of mixed timber and alpine muskeg and also up toward surrounding peaks and slopes with brushy avalanche slides and grassy basins. Telltale Sign But blacktail deer are not without vulnerability. When an animal is located, take the necessary time to identify a potential shooting positions where you can sneak into range without crowding the deer and alerting it. While a few blessed big game hunters have reported being able to snag a blacktail buck in the open during the early morning period, but these bucks are usually not fully matured. The average October live weight of adult Sitka black-tails is about 80 lbs (36 kg) for does and 120 lbs (54.5 kg) for bucks, although 200-lb bucks have been taken. The most important thing is to obey the wind. Oberlin • BLACK RIVER HUNTING CAMPS specializes in guided Alaska Grizzly Bear hunts in the Talkeetna Mountains of Interior Alaska; eastern shore Kodiak Brown Bear hunts; Kodiak Island Mountain Goat hunts and Sitka Black Tail Deer hunts; Dall Sheep hunts; and Black Bear hunts in some of Alaska's more rugged and beautiful country. For some avid deer hunters it is an opportunity to take a different species of deer. Trail cameras are efficient and dependable tools for scouting that you can use when hunting year-round. While, in which sunlight can no longer penetrate to the forest floor, understory growth is greatly inhibited. Kodiak has high numbers of deer with possibly spotting hundreds of deer daily during October, November and December. Particularly if you decide to use the trail camera on night mode, position your camera 20 feet at the most from the area where you anticipate the deer will activate the camera. Diet Glass beneath every tree, and into every little nook and cranny where you can see through the overhead canopy. Black-tailed deer make phantoms seem positively obvious. Because blacktail deer travel relatively short distances between their bedding and feeding areas, ideal ambush sites are quite close to bedding areas – sometimes just a hundred or so yards away. It is my understanding that WA state has Columbia blacktail, not Sitka blacktail. $ 1k $ 6.5k $ 12k $ 17.5k Metatarsal Glands — The Sitka blacktail has minute glands on the inner side of both rear legs which are much smaller than a mule deer’s. As it is with most animal calls, blacktail fawn bleats work best on deer that have not yet heard artificially produced calls. Another helpful tactic when blacktail deer hunting is to look for rubs and scrapes. Ambush hunting is not associated with blacktail deer in the minds of many hunters, but some of the best blacktail hunters in the country swear by it. Glassing Thank you for this article, very helpful and well written, good luck in your hunts. These, as with most all of our hunts, are a yacht based hunt. We have Columbian black-tailed deer here in WA. Still Hunting I’ve observed and participated in multiple tactics while hunting. Mature bucks make rub lines by rubbing their antlers on low hanging branches and small trees. Be particularly vigilant about glassing during the first and last minutes of daylight, as pressured blacktails are notorious for going nocturnal when faced with the extra disturbances that come with hunting season. Thanks to the reddish color of the deer’s hair at this time of year, the animals can be ridiculously easy to locate when feeding out in the open against a backdrop of knee-high, vibrant green vegetation. Hunting for blacktail isn’t so much about covering a lot of ground as it is setting up your hunting blind at a certain place at the correct point in time. The animal will be waiting and watching for a telltale noise or smell that says “human.” If you’re careful and a bit lucky, the deer will not get this verification until it’s too late. When faced with even the slightest hunting pressure, blacktail deer simply vanish into the thick coniferous rainforests of their coastal habitats. For others it is the opportunity to just hunt in Alaska! If nothing happens, he’ll move along quietly toward a new position a few hundred yards away and try again. In pre-rut, the bucks are always checking their scrapes for scent, searching for potential does going into estrus. The general rifle hunting season for Western Washington blacktail deer will start Saturday and run through the end of the month. Rather than charging directly toward a deer you’ve located, it’s smart to head to a secondary vantage point that lies downwind of the deer’s general location and within rifle range. You will stay nights aboard our luxurious 70 foot yacht, and during the day we will use multiple methods to hunt. For most hunters, pursuing the blacktail deer can feel like searching for the Holy Grail. Book a bow or rifle hunt with us for an exciting and rewarding experience. It’s better to pull back and try again the next day rather than bust into the deer’s home area and spook it out of the country. Obey the Wind Once you’ve verified the presence of deer through scouting, it’s best to hang back and watch for the animals from afar rather than disturb them by trying to violate their sanctuaries. Great stalks on Trophy Blacktail. During cold weather, the deer will stick to slopes that get sun; during hot weather, they’ll use shaded slopes. The Sitka Black-tailed deer is a smaller specimen next to all of its cousins. When you’ve identified the whereabouts of a blacktail buck, hunting for him should be a quiet, touch-and-go pursuit; the word “delicate” does not overemphasize the point. 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