Blacktail Decline???

[Damien]

Just wanted to see if any of you fine ifish hunters are as frustrated as I am with the blacktail hunting here in the Valley. I got my first buck back in 94 (5X5) and am looking for my second. A couple of years I have been forturnate enough to draw eastern tags but you know if you don't draw a tag you still have to go hunting right. Anyway the last couple of years have seemed really bad. I have hunted multiple areas with no success. I don't except to get a buck every year but not seeing any game most of the time gets discouraging. Last year I hunted some private property and I thought my chances would be good but that didn't pan out either. Anyway it just seems like even back 5 years ago usually you could at least see a doe on every trip but now about 50% of the time my trips are dry?? Maybe I need to change my hunting styles or selection of areas. What is you opion?? By the way good luck to all of you bow hunters.

[Myles]

This will be my 5th year hunting, it seems some areas hold deer, some elk, they do tend to mix but my guess is that current logging practices favor elk. I now bowhunt, traffic jams on logging roads during rifle season convinced me to put away my rifle. I rarely see blacktail anymore it seems, even driving out after dark, so you're not alone. They are declining in numbers but hopefully they're getting smarter and will be around awhile. The biggest blacktail I've seen was on private property about 1 1/2 hours after dark.

So what am trying to say?
Fewer deer.
Less habitat.
Archery hunters in the woods for a month before you rifle guys!
A zoo of drunken hunters opening day.
Where would you be????
Besides I truelly believe they read the regs and know when to split
(at least it seems that way)

"Luke(Damien) use the force" Go whrere the deer are, not where you want them to be!!!
Thick brush, high ridges, beyond gates.
disclaimer: please note that I posted a help me find my lost herd of elk earlier this week so I obviously have no idea what I'm talking about!!

Frustrating?? if it were easy........blah, blah
Enjoy the moment, it is so cool to go home or into work and tell the stories of close calls, horizontal rain, a herd of elk stampedeing around you, they make great stories, but also are fun to relive and learn from.
Hair raising tales those that sit on the couch will never know.

You are Jerimiah Jonson, go rent the movie and get back on track!

"suffering to have a good time"

myles

[KingFisher85]

Well it may not be the same over there in oregon but over here in washington were i hunt its been killer. This year I have seen in my location of hunt two big 4x4 one 2x2 and three 1x1 and many more does and other bucks that I have not been able to figure out what they are. I have seen more deer this year then i have in the past 5 years. Maybe all the deer over in Oregon crossed the river and came over here. I have also taken a deer every years for a few years running.

[Washington Hunter]

Next year, hunt the areas that burned. I bet you'll see tons of deer. If I lived in Oregon, I'd be scouting those areas out as soon as this hunting season is over. I will agree that blacktails have declined, at least here in Washington. It's due to the decrease in logging. All the clearcuts that were logged 15 to 20 years ago are grown up so thick now that there is nothing there for deer to eat. We need either more logging or more fires, or both. Also the hair loss disease I think is having an effect on blacktails.

[TheRogue]

Washington Hunter....you're right on the money!!!

Grew up down the road from an old-time Rogue River settler, his family had homesteaded a prairie up the river. He always said that there really were NO deer on the Oregon coast, except for around the few open areas, prairies, rivers, etc. Logging caused a population explosion; Nothing more perfect for blacktail than an area of mixed new clearcuts with growing-up clearcuts around them!! Even the elk will "generally" do better in areas that have clearcutting ongoing, as they are grazers, and will eat grass, etc., in those areas before the trees and brush overgrow them.

So while we're saving fish, owls, moles, snails, and who knows what else, we ARE having an adverse effect on other things (besides humans).

kyle

[winterkill]

I am not sure about the valley, since I do most of my hunting in the coast range, but I have actually seen more deer lately. I have been going on hikes around my house on highway 47, and in the last week I went on 3 hikes and saw 12 deer. I think it all depends when and where you go. I have been going out to edges of clearings with like 1 1/2 hours of light left.
Just keep your eyes open and good luck.
Ian

[Chum King]

There is a disease that has been spreading in the deer between the coast and the valley. It is known as the deer hairloss syndrome. I won't go into a bunch of details, as there is a brief write-up in the ODFW big game synopsis. It is apparently nearly 100% fatal, although it may take up to two years to kill off some individuals.

The disease (actually linked to a parasitic infection) was first noticed in Washington and has been spreading quickly. It is already at least as far south as the Rogue River on the Oregon Coast. It appears to be limited to areas below about 2,000 ft, and has been noted in both blacktail and Columbian whitetail deer.

I would also have to agree with some of the other comments about changing habitat that is more beneficial to elk. There is no question that current timber management policies in the National Forests are not going to produce a bumper crop of deer. However, much of the coast range is in private timber ownership, and much has been clearcut, and should be holding lots of deer. Except when I've hunted those areas, I am seeing very little sign and only an occasional deer. Much reduced from what I've encountered in the past. IMHO there has been a marked decline in at least Oregon's central coastal blacktail population over the past 8 years. I can't really speak to the Cascade numbers since I rarely hunt there.

[fishlis 1]

i have had great success with western oregon deer like you i harvested my first buck in 94 a 4x4 it took me two years to bag another one. since then i have gotten a three point for the past six years all on private land. i have started hunting a lot differently now. i go to my spot and glass til dark and when i see an animal i remember where i saw it come out and set up there the next evening and wait. when on private land there are usually not to many other people with permission so the deer aren't pushed so they become like clock work and thats how i have got mine with consistancy. give it a try it can't hurt. isn't Albany in the willamette? if it is then you can hunt the late season when the deer are in or near the rut that would be a great time to hunt. good luck. be patient. and stick a big one.

[GutshotApe]

ChumKing is right about hair-loss syndrome being a factor. Around my place (east side Coast Range, 1000' elev) the deer are noticably decreased in number and about half of those I see have the syndrome .
Two other possible factors in the decline are the increase in cougars and new herbicides used on private timberland.
Studies show cougars kill a deer every 4 days or so, more often if they have kittens (cubs?) and there are a lot more cougs around than there used to be.
And, there are some new herbicides in use on private land that pretty much wipe out everything in a clearcut (total veg. control, its called) except the newly planted trees, sword ferns, and a few types of annual weeds, mostly unpalatable to deer :depressed: .

[Megabites]

I have hunted the Coast range for about 14 years now. Most of the time it is sort (weekend) trips due to my job. The biggest change I have noticed, other than land development, is what I call the "dumb deer rule". Nature is naturally changing how the deer behave. I have noticed fewer deer not in whole but fewer deer in the clear cuts and near roads. Also fewer deer just being dumb, meaning they are somewhere that is an easy target. The "smart" or sneaky deer are are living another year and raising there young with those attributes. Anyway I changed my hunting techniques and now have no problem finding a good deer each year. I actually watched a doe last year hide from me under a bunch of ferns. I was on a ridge above her and she sat down and layed her head straight back under the ferns. It was a strange sight. I even tossed a rock her way to see if she would move, actually I was hoping there was a buck near and they would both jump up. She just sat there and waited until I got bored with her.