Here is a fun little question.....

LIMIT LANDER · 06-18-2003, 07:20 PM

Ok guys sence i broke my hip in two place,s at work on Friday the 13th. and cant do anything but ask questions and read for approx 4-6 weeks. Give me your opinion on which Deer is more fun and harder to hunt Blacktail or Muledeer. (well just leave it at those two i dont htink we have a large enough Whitetail population to discuss them.}

ICHTHYDEMON · 06-18-2003, 07:42 PM

IMO Blacktail are harder to hunt. They usually live in wet,thick,nasty cover and are masters of staying out of site. Mule Deer are usually found in dryer more open terrain,and are not generally as spooky as Blacktails. It's funny how much habitat can really change the characteristics of deer. In Wa. the WDFW classifies them as the same animal.It just depends on which side of the state they're on. Wa. also has a ton of Whitetails,in the N.E. corner of the state they are really thick. Afew years back the WDFW was offering additional doe tags after you tagged a buck.

MountainLion84 · 06-18-2003, 09:14 PM

Blacktail are harder, Mulies are more fun!!!

maggot · 06-18-2003, 09:49 PM

being from Idaho originally, I find the blacktails are harder. They have more cover requiring us to get into close quarters with them. Mule deer , you just gotta go undetected from a distance.In most cases

hntngirl · 06-18-2003, 11:44 PM

Blacktail are harder, but still my favorite! :smile:

pdxkevin · 06-19-2003, 07:43 AM

Another vote for Blacktail.

Mullies run. Blacktails duck, crawl, and hide.

Mullie follow roughly the same routes times vary. Blacktails... well I don't think you can really pattern them. They stay relatively local but not predictable. Whitetails you can set your watch by.

As far as which is more fun.. depends on which you prefer the hunt or the shot. Plinking whitetails is fun for some. I enjoy the hunt, even if I don't fill a tag I had a great time in the forest.

Myles · 06-19-2003, 08:00 AM

Sorry to hear about your injuries, it must be tough with the weather getting better and being so limited on mobility.
I think blacktail are harder because they're in such impossible country to hunt. Mulies are much more fun, open country, long stalks.
While you're laid up get a copy of Dwight Schuh's "Hunting Open Country Mule Deer" ( I believe that's the title). It's very informative and a fun read.

myles

Don Becker · 06-19-2003, 12:44 PM

Real hunters hunt blacktails . . .

Firedog · 06-19-2003, 12:47 PM

Blacktails by a long ways. I enjoy that close in stalking,I laways tell my buddies who Dont like to hunt blacktails. "You have to be able to hunt to hunt blacktails, all you have to be able to do to hunt Mulies is shoot"

SCUTZ ZA · 06-19-2003, 11:29 PM

Blacktail require a great shot because if you have a bad shot and he runs you have a harder task. My buddy shot a BT doe and she made all kinds of noise but she only went 20 yards and hid, hoping we would go by her. Had I not seen her eye looking at me we would have passed her. They are so sneeky as for mullies they will run, and it is more open country. That's my two pennies.

sportsman_21 · 06-21-2003, 10:28 PM

Blacktails get my vote. Once I saw a big buck hit the deck and start to crawl when I raised my bow. After thinking he was gone I started to sneak after him. I walked 40 yards and kicked him out of the brush at 5 feet. Luckily I had my emergency toilet paper! :shocked:

sliverpicker · 06-22-2003, 06:19 AM

When hunting Blacktails, spend more time looking behind you then in the direction your traveling. I've shot numerous bucks who laid in thick cover and let me walk past before sneeking out the back door.

Never shot a Mule Deer, so Blacktails get my vote!

Tilla · 06-22-2003, 05:09 PM

I've seen Blacktails hit the dirt on an open hillside and do a bellycrawl. One time my wife and I were standing along a large fallen oak tree branch and the branch came alive, :shocked: a 3 point Blacktail flushed like a nervous Pheasant. It was too close and too sudden to get a safe shot.
Of course then there are those sneaky Blacktails who spy on you when your are stalking Steelhead like this little forkie yesterday.

Grantspastor · 06-23-2003, 04:31 PM

Blacktails...hands down. There are a number of reasons for that selection...their habitat which is usally steep and very brushy...their tendency to always stay in or close to cover...and their wariness. In my opinion a trophy Blacktail is a more difficult trophy to obtain than any other deer in the U.S.

Clack_Attack · 06-23-2003, 04:48 PM

Blacktails are harder, but just as fun.

Applegate · 06-23-2003, 06:13 PM

A mature blacktail buck is the probably the toughest trophy to aquire in N.America. $$ and time will get every thing else, Blacktails take alot of hard work and dedication. My personal favorite.

DAB · 06-23-2003, 07:34 PM

My self I think blacktails are harder to hunt cause of all the brush.. Mule deer are my favorite to hunt.
DAB

No Wishin Just Fishin · 06-25-2003, 04:09 PM

Hey Becker don't you mean Men that don't draw eastern tags hunt blacktails

BassAckwards · 07-05-2003, 11:11 PM

Well Lander.... hands down.... the hardest deer to hunt..... is..... drum roll please....... the Blacktail deer! since black tails live in shtuff that no self respecting person unless you live in the PNW as lots of hunters do, you wont see them untill they are just out of your range unless you have a Barret BMG 50.CAL sniper rifle with a 10x leupold scope coupled with a 20 power spotting scope. since you cant make that shot with out the sniper rifle... ya gotta get down and dirty and with out making a single sound, sneak up to about untill they run just on the suspicion you are there yards. unless they are sleeping and you some how got close enough to see a blacktail sleep "ive never heard of any one sneak up on a sleeping black tail."and if ya caught one sleeping you would shoot it because i would, then once inside of 400 yard you shoot it and it runs off into the distance. probly this runnoff sentance/paragraph makes so sence what so ever... in short blacktail are harder to get.

[ 07-06-2003, 12:12 AM: Message edited by: BassAckwards ]

BassAckwards · 07-05-2003, 11:17 PM

listen to sliverpicker its happend to me. he could of gored me in the hind quarter. made me mad. i went to shoot it and he snuck arround me. my dad watched it happen. yea ask claybear about it. [img]graemlins/stupid.gif[/img]

gottafish · 07-05-2003, 11:48 PM

I hunted sitka Blacktail on Kodiak Island, And I got to say Thats the tuff hunting. Don't get me wrong I shot 3 bucks And only got one. ......!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Let me clear somthing up if you shoot a deer on kodiak it is ringing a dinner bell to a brown bear they just run up and pick up the deer and thats it, its gone not to mention they follow you all over the place. Strang place that I will never go back to. [img]graemlins/berry.gif[/img]

biederboat · 07-06-2003, 08:48 AM

20 years of black tail hunting, nothing bigger than a forkie. 10 minutes of muley hunting and...blammo!...probably the biggest 4 pt. I'll ever get in my whole life. Consider me a convert!