OK, I've been a lurker on both the fishing and hunting boards for quite some time, and its time to come out of the closet. I live to hunt and fish (but unfortunately work and kid obligations interfere sometimes). Great boards with a wealth of information and some seemingly darn good people to boot. My real passion is hunting and now for my dilema, born and hunted in Montana (eastern) during my younger years...joined the Navy out of high school, submarine nuclear fleet, wound up here, met a gal, kids, divorce, yada, yada, yada. The last few years I've been chasing the elusive Western WA blacktail. I was lucky enough to score my first year with a 3x4 hunting private land, shotgun only. But it has been awfully scarce since then. Granted, with work and kid obligations I definitely do not put as much time in as I should but come on...it can't be that hard can it???? Since the private land access fell though, I've been hunting Lincoln, Capital Forest, Wynoochee and yes, I dare admit, Vail. I know the deer are out there but damn...they are sure elusive. Much more so than the big floppy-eared mule deer I hunted years ago, and stil do on occasion when lucky enough to draw an out-of-state MT tag and hunt with the Old Man. I've read the articles, have a decent knowledge of their habits (obviously lacking sufficient knowledge though) and have even managed to see a few doe's (and dead bucks (shot)) while hunting. I'm not asking for anyone's hotspot but from what may have been observed on opening weekend, does anyone have an opinion on an area that may harbor some of these mythical creatures? I usually get out 2 or 3 times during Oct. then take the 4 days of late buck off from work...not much time I know, but if I don't score, no big deal. I love the experience of the hunt. I'm just wondering if what I've experienced so far is real blacktail hunting...walk my arse off (I'm definitely not a road hunter), still hunting, lots of glassing, to only see 1 or 2 deer a day (if I'm lucky). Thanks guys (and gals).