Blacktail Report - Stott/Alsea

WaterDog · 10-28-2001, 05:46 PM

Just thought I'd offer up some observations from the weekend. I would like to report I got a deer but I didn't. [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img] We did however see a few. Saturday with the weather just right we saw one at first light, couldn't ID it since we were in the timber and it was leaping at mach 1. The blurr looked big though. Mid day got a look at one but couldn't flush it out (love that coast range brush). Then the end of the day I saw the biggest fork I have ever seen, [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] too bad it was standing just off the highway not a 1/4 of a mile from the gravel road that accesses our hunting area. [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img]

Today(Sunday) we jumped two early but never saw them and saw nothing the rest of the day. Dang I hate the sun when I'm hunting!

The rut has begun in ernest as we are seeing lots of rubs. Leaves are still a problem. A week and half to go. I hope it pours and blows for the next week.

Good luck!

Tacklebuster · 10-30-2001, 03:11 PM

WaterDog,
We did pretty good over the weekend. We saw 2 does on Saturday morning but nothing for the rest of the day. We didn't go out Sunday but went out Monday with some great results. We were out for about an hour when a good Forked horn jumped from a pile of ferns and started hauling horns. Luckily I jumped him on a draw and got a shot when he was running up the other side. I hit him good and he rolled back to the bottom. I was really surprised to get a shot off. I came within 30 feet of him prior to flushing him out of the ferns. My only guess was he was trying to wait me out or in a deep sleep and didn't hear me coming. That is the first time that has ever happened to me. I guess that means I will have to do some sturgeon fishing this weekend [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] I might even have to take some of that squid along [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img] Of course that is the bait reserved for the people that don't know what they are talking about and only taking a guess [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[ 10-30-2001: Message edited by: Tacklebuster ]

WaterDog · 10-30-2001, 08:18 PM

Right on T! Good to see your having some success. Hope the old man and I can fill a tag this weekend. I'll be ready for the sturgeon thing too after the wife and I take a bit of a vacation over the Veteran's Day weekend. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

That squid thing cracks me up. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

WaterDog · 11-02-2001, 06:16 PM

Just an update, not that anyone really cares.

The old man bagged a fork this morning in the spot we saw a ton of rubs. Unfortunatly I had to work since we are short handed due to elk season and missed out on the trip. I didnt miss out on the skinning however since it turned out that I wasnt that busy and ended up leaving to help at noon. Guess I'll be busy boning and wrapping on Sunday.

:grin: I'd guess it to be about 85 lbs hanging weight(skinned, no head).

Tacklebuster · 11-02-2001, 07:07 PM

Tell your pops I said "way to go." Good luck if you are going out Saturday. It looks like dry weather and a big moon at night, yuck! Hurry up and get him cut and wrapped, maybe I will see you guys on the river Sunday

Bait O' Eggs · 11-04-2001, 04:59 PM

Rich - Glad the old man got a buck.

We found a forky this morning in a big clearcut. It would have been a 500 to 550 yd shot from where we spotted it. We could have ran out a ridge and cut it down to about 350 pretty easy. And if it would have been just my hunting partner and me I think we could have pretty easily gotten this buck by running down the ridge and shooting across.

Since my hunting partner has his 12 year old boy along this year we had to make some modifications to our plan. The boy isnt much of a shot and we had to cut the distance down even more. It took a while, but my partner and his boy got around and above the buck, and it would have been 100 to 150 yard shot when the buck came around the little ridge. I am confident he could have made this shot quite easy. In the process of getting into position we lost sight of the buck when he went thru a little patch of brush out in the middle of the clearcut. We waited about an hour expecting the buck to pop out. Finally I side hilled around to push the buck to the boy. It just never happened. :depressed: The replanted trees are not as big as christmas trees and it is pretty much all ferns and salmonberry. The unit is quite open and I am confused on how the buck gave us the slip. The little buck somehow got out of the clearcut unseen. He had at least 150 yards to go to get to big timber. Maybe next time. He was an elusive little bugger this time. :whazzup:

Snapset · 11-04-2001, 09:17 PM

BOE,
If there is a Blacktail story I have heard a thousand times, the one you have told is it. I have told it a couple of hundred times myself. I think there is some quantum principle here. I believe those little buggers actually pop in and out of existence. I have no other explanation.

One time, I looked for 3 hours for a little 3x4 that ran only 30 feet after I shot him. He was laying in a little skidder rut.

Snake9t9 · 11-04-2001, 10:58 PM

I have heard them called the "gray ghosts of the forest". I have had the same thing happen to me...? Who knows how they do it, but the thought that they could just vanish seem to fit my encounters to a tee... :depressed:

:tongue:

[ 11-04-2001: Message edited by: Snake9t9 ]</p>

WaterDog · 11-06-2001, 05:56 AM

Since we're telling stories........... :grin:

A few years back I was hunting a gated road in the trask unit. On either side of the road was typical coast range habitat. The old man and I split up going opposite directions to finish out the day. We had seen deer in the area so we knew they were around.

So off I go, take a few steps, stop and wait, listen, take a few more steps, slow and quite. I get down the road maybe 1/2 a mile. On one side is a cut bank maybe 10 high, think with alder's, 15 foot high firs and think under brush. As I scan the brush line, listening, all of the sudden a deer materailizes out of nowhere. It just side steps into view looking to see what I am. I raise my gun and all I can see is part of a chest, a leg, a nose, an eye, an ear, and the base of an antler. I cant see any points though a suspected it had plenty. So, there we stood, not 20 feet away from each other, in a staring contest.

I'd guess we stood there a good minute, niether of us moving. Finally, his ear moved so I knew his was about to go. In a flash, he turned and was gone. Never did see his antlers and I wasnt about to shoot without identifying it first.

periwinkle · 11-06-2001, 11:34 PM

One time years ago I climbed up a huge maple tree and stood in branch fork about 30-40 feet off of the ground. This tree was in the middle of about 3 acres of ferns. So here come two does and they start across the field. About half way across they dropped down on their bellies, because two hunters suddenly appeared behind them. Those buggers (deer) crawled the rest of the way across the field. All I could see was the ferns moving. The two hunters never saw me or those 2 deer. They should have heard me chuckling though.

Snapset · 11-07-2001, 10:41 PM

Well, I did it. I only went out 4 times this year, passed up 2 bucks on the first 2 hunts of the year, and didn't see a buck for the rest of the year. Looks like I'll be stretching those last 20 lbs of last years venison until my sons' Christmas wilson cow hunt.

In years past, I have felt a stronger sense of urgency to shoot a deer on the last day of the season but not this year. With the potato chip leaves and apparently a late rut, I decided to enjoy my hunts as walks in gorgeous county, which they were. No urgency whatsoever, and now no butchering either. I guess getting skunked ain't all bad. On the other hand, maybe I should just take up golf.