Blacktail Deer hunters in Northern California

[HunterC]

How many Blacktail deer hunters do we have here in Northern California?

 

[Lou (Louis)]

I have.

 

[adoc65]

Well, I cut my teeth on blacktail in Northern California. Grew up hunting them in Trinity County. Killed a bunch in Humboldt

 

[HunterC]

I have.

Nice, any pictures?

 

[HunterC]

Well, I cut my teeth on blacktail in Northern California. Grew up hunting them in Trinity County. Killed a bunch in Humboldt

Me too, but in Mendocino county.

 

[NECALI]

Me too, but in Tehama and Mendocino counties. Live in Wyoming now though. So haven’t hunted blacktails for about 8 years. I miss hunting the Ishi wilderness.

 

[Lou (Louis)]

Nice, any pictures?

No, unfortunately.

 

[HunterC]

Me too, but in Tehama and Mendocino counties. Live in Wyoming now though. So haven’t hunted blacktails for about 8 years. I miss hunting the Ishi wilderness.

I hunting the Marbel Mountain wilderness and Snow Mountain wilderness when I had my horses. Beautiful country.

 

[NECALI]

I went into the Snow Mtn. Wilderness one time with horses. I’d heard good intel about some large bucks being seen up there in July of that year. Been about 15-20 years ago. We stayed for a couple days of the opener and never saw a deer. Heard several hunters say that during bow season they’re were bucks everywhere. Guess they pushed them out.

 

[HunterC]

I went into the Snow Mtn. Wilderness one time with horses. I’d heard good intel about some large bucks being seen up there in July of that year. Been about 15-20 years ago. We stayed for a couple days of the opener and never saw a deer. Heard several hunters say that during bow season they’re were bucks everywhere. Guess they pushed them out.

Too bad you didn't see any bucks at Snow Mountain. Heading up your way to Eagle Lake in May. Beautiful country up there.

 

[Perlodid]

I've never even been to California but I have this odd fascination with hunting there, especially blacktails. I'm hoping to make it down to hunt within the next few years. I'm always excited to see more blacktail discussion too, regardless of where they are located

 

[Moserkr]

Im more familiar with the benchlegs of inland CA. Blacktail and their crosses are far more challenging than another other deer species. Incredibly fun and rewarding, equally frustrating and difficult.

 

[HunterC]

Im more familiar with the benchlegs of inland CA. Blacktail and their crosses are far more challenging than another other deer species. Incredibly fun and rewarding, equally frustrating and difficult.

Where I'm located the deer here are the true Columbian Blacktail with no cross over breeding. I'm on the Mendocino county coastal range, 11 miles from the ocean.

 

[HunterC]

About 3 more month and our Archery season for Blacktail will open.

 

[Moserkr]

If I lived closer to the coast, Id hunt them more often. Last true blacktail hunt I went on was archery in July, inland towards berryessa. 105* by 8am, 30 ticks on me by 9am, and I never went back. Hunted a few times along the coast in Mendo and it was great. Steep mtns, thick brush full of poison oak, lots of deer and bear. No matter where in CA, its never an easy hunt.

I just happen to live in the sierra foothills, and hunt there on private or up in the high country because its convenient. Pure blacktails and their benchleg cousins tend to act the same, much different than pure mule deer, with tendencies like whitetail, and almost impossible to pattern.

Our biggest successes off of private come from using trail cams to find their favorite areas, and then spending time in the field to find which favorite area they are at while we are hunting. In a general area, they rotate their preferred spots based on food, weather, and external pressures. I mainly look for the herd, whether does or bucks, and if Im finding 5-10 animals a day, I stay and look for more. If I only see 0-2, I know the herd has moved to a different area on the mtn.

The trail cams show buck movement mainly at night, so we hunt them at dawn and dusk most successfully. The paths they use to traverse terrain is extremely important - setting up 100' off of their favorite routes is the difference between seeing 0 and 9 bucks - true story... I also run into the oldest bucks in the mid afternoon in areas where they are very comfortable, unbothered, deep in the woods, usually out for a quick bite to eat as they move to their afternoon beds.