If you've done your scouting, you might consider making the switch to black powder in order to take advantage of favorable seasons.

Archers get the first shot at blacktails in western Washington. Usually by midsummer, the most dedicated archers have done their scouting, found local families of deer and memorized their travel patterns.

The season for blacktails traditionally opens on Sept. 1, more than a month before muzzleloader season opens.

Archers can hunt in confined areas much more safely than muzzleloaders and modern-firearms hunters, a fact that lends some benefit when seeking permission to hunt on private lands.

If you can get permission from owners of small private woodlots, get out there and take the advantage.

Archers take some of the biggest blacktails each season. Bowhunters often find their trophies in the strips of wooded land that divide housing developments.

Hunters of all three tag choices enjoy either-sex hunting opportunities, some of which fall late in the season, just about the time the rut begins.

OLD AND GRAY
A blacktail deer's natural lifespan is only about seven years. Deer eventually succumb to hard winters, natural predators, hunters or disease.

But according to studies, suburban deer can live much longer than deer in the wild. A big local blacktail buck can stay on his feet 10 years or more before dying of old age.

That's why we're seeing older, bigger, gray-muzzled bucks with heavily built racks taken right in our backyards.

These deer aren't confused -- they're naturally adapting to our fence lines and settlements. In some cases, they're thriving.

Now is a great time to get out, do some scouting, and discover these deer. Good luck in your quest for a fine backyard trophy!