I have hunted mule deer (not blacktail) although just here in CO. I just spot and stalk hunt, the mulie rut is after the rifle season here and they are timid enough I don't think they respond to much.

There was some discussion about mulie tactics here.

Did any of the rattling, scents, or call work for you?

I have never tried it yet. All my hunting has been still hunting through tall timber or rolliing hills with oaks and i have done fairly well, it seems though every year its getting more and more difficult to locate deer. I read an article in California Game and Fish Magazine that said these tactics might work and to give them a try so I am gonna try this year and see what happens.

Good luck, if they are rutting (have no idea when they rut in CA) you may be in business. They just seem timid when/where I have hunted them.

If you have success, I'd like to know what works for you.

I found a place in the sierra nevadas where there was sign of bucks fighting. I made a stand there and saw some does. I was sure there was bucks around though they were surley comig into the small 50x50 clearing after dark. So i tried ratlling horns to try to intice them out early. I did raise some courosity from some mature does but no bucks. I only tried this one night though i am sure if i stuck with it i would have eventually seen a buck. It is just not my natural instinct to keep calling or rattling for deer as a blacktail hunter. If we get any cold weather next year during deer season i wil definately try again.

Ive hunted blacktail and tried rattling on a few occasions but had no luck. I have herd stories of a neighbor who took a nice buck by rattling. Good Luck!