Bullet Hole Bailey

What do you think the best way to track black tails is. And what time.

MOTOWNHONKEY

Follow the sign. 8:30 am

Bullet Hole Bailey

is there an easy way to tell how old the track is?

ILBOW

Blacktail?
excuse my ignorance

ILBOW

I've never been to california....How are you tracking?
post shot, or general patter, during rut?

KodiakArcher

??? Not really sure what you're asking. Are you talking about stalking Columbia blacktail in heavy wooded cover or are you talking about tracking a wounded Sitka blacktail after you've shot it? We need a bit more info.

ILBOW,
Columbia blacktailed deer inhabit the west coast from central California to British Columbia. Sitka blacktail inhabit SE Alaska, Prince William Sound and Kodiak.

ILBOW

sorry not to educated in foreign game, intersted though! Good to know thanks,

SharpStickHunter

Columbia Blacktails arethe only deerhere is Western WA. Stalking blacktail by tracking them,really isn't viable. It is extremely difficult to track them over long distances and very unlikely you would get close enough to see them before they bust. Determining the age of tracks can be useful in identifying travel patterns, but aging tracks is extremely difficult because of the wide variance in ground (clay vs. rock vs. gravel), underbrush, weather and other factors that influence how long the tracks remain visible.

ILBOW

now my curiosity is running wild,
what terrain do they inhabit? are they traveling in family groups,or heards=more than 18 deer? how far are their daily cycles? Is their vision monochromatical, or bichromal? so many questions.....

SharpStickHunter

Terrain is Mountainous, with heavy Evergeen Timber that is logged in large sections at a time.So any given area is logged, replanted,grows to maturity and logged again about every 50 years. This means large sections are logged each year, so choosing where to hunt must change based on the age of the forest in that particular year.

Heavy underbrush comprised of a variety of bushes from low growing (ankle high) brush to some brush that grows over 8 - 10 ft tall so thick you can't push your way through it. This includes Devil's Club. Look it up. It is NASTY. Looks like small saplings that are covered with very small thorns that break off when you grab them. Every year I spend hours digging Devils club thorns out of my hands several weeks after hunting season is over.

Most hunting occurs in the timber that is 15+ years old, or in the freshly cut areas less than 10 years old. Most rifle hunters seem to focus onthe clearcuts. The best archery hunting is in the timbered areas.

Vision is similar to Whitetails. They sometimes run in small groups not more than 6 - 8, but more typically no more than 2 - 3. Usually a doe anda yearling together. Bucks usually are alone or in groups of no more than 2 - 3, and those groups seldom contain a mature buck.