Who got a pass?
 

Anyone give a pass to a deer and maybe now have second thoughts?

I let this buck pass 3 times throughout November. He’s a 4x4 frame but missing a brow tine.
He will be a nice buck in 2024 for sure.

I did take a different buck between my sightings of him.

TBark

I always pass multiple bucks, I have no issue not filling a tag, if I don't see the right buck.

Only had 4 days on stand so didn’t pass on too many bucks but I did pass on one first morning that I kinda like. He has good mass but nothing too special otherwise and weak brows. I don’t regret passing on him because I got one of my main target bucks in the end. He is nothing too special but I kinda like him

I hope to see him next year and curious on what his 2024 rack will be

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I passed up a mature 5x4 my guess a gross 150 buck probably a 4 year old. Also passed up a really nice 4x4 with great potential just spindly tines and a young deer that will be a giant if he gets some years on him. All in all a great season just didn’t cross paths with what I was looking for. Iam also a hunter that gets to hang his tag on the Christmas tree. I never regret passing on deer that have the potential to be something special. Just gotta hope to see them a few years from now and make it count.

Did you end up with a good one?

I shot a low 160" buck on my 2nd day this year and regret it abit as he was'nt maxed out but after 3 years of seeing nothing decent he sure looked good in the rifle scope....

saw a 4x4 alot like yours aswell and hoping he makes it but still might be a 2025 deer...unless its the last few days of the hunt next year im not pulling the trigger on nothing unless its tall and heavy like 170"+ minimum

That deer ain’t getting any bigger. Should have let the air out of him

I took a much larger drop tine buck and the other deer I was targeting were much larger bucks too. I had lots of good options scouted this is just one I past on

I passed on him mostly do to my other options not that I thought this buck would become much bigger. Honestly just want to see if he gains more mass as I doubt he will become much taller if at all

If that bucks lives the winter. I bet he’s the same size or smaller next year. Those big 4s rarely seem to change.

Big 4s one year can turn into big 5s the next year. So yeah he could get bigger next year no doubt about it.

I feel like all I saw this year was big, wide, heavy 3x3 mule bucks.
Didn't shoot any of them

I passed up a really tall 4x4 with long main beams that came almost to touching. Maybe a 150" buck. Absolutely gorgeous deer.

And then I passed a real heavy 4x4, kinda like the buck in Smoky's pic, but the one I passed had taller tines I would say.

I don't regret passing up either buck, but I really regret not getting good video of either.
I did video both bucks, but got screwed up by grass/brush that made the (both) deer blur out of image, when I tried to zoom on them.
Made me want to puke, when I found out about the screwed videos.

I had a few 5x5’s I didn’t pursue to see if they would grow into something next year. Here’s hoping they survived the season, I haven’t seen them on cam yet

No passes for me, I was once that fella but if we all do it in our household well our ribs would be sticking out come spring so I wack’em and my son passes them up.....team work:)

Passed up this one and a couple more about the same size. Decent size for a bush buck. I only hunt crown land so they don't get as big as those nice grain fed bucks do.

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Yeah bush bucks they are just runty inferior deer the can’t grow decent racks lol


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That's one husky whitetail. Good and fat.

I don't pass anything up, I take what God puts in front of me. I'm a meat hunter. Couldn't care less about horn. The only exception being this year I let some does go just because my goal was a buck for my daughter. I filled one buck tag this year myself. My daughter filled her 3 and I was happy with that.

LOL, Point taken :D

Nice deer.

GPS? LOL

There is many more beyond theses too. I am shifting around every year finding new ones in different pocket I am not running a magic honey hole. I hunt popular WMU’s that see lots of other hunters.

If you dig around in big bush country hard enough you will find big bucks. They just have better hiding spots and more ground they can move through without being seen compared to farm land deer. It’s all a matter of how hard you are willing to work to find them and they are often right under a ton of hunter’s noses

Hunting public land is not a disadvantage it just comes with different challenges and advantages than private land

Odds are there is big bucks where you hunt right now you just need to look in different spots

I agree with Smoky buck, as I too only hunt big bush country with a healthy wold population. I passed on 16 different bucks, with about a 150" being the biggest before filling my tag on the last day with the first buck that gives me a shot. I go into the season with the same mindset even year. Hunt hard for a big one, but the meat is too important to me, so on the last day, I change my mind set and am grateful for any buck that I can get. This year it was a wide, but short pointed 4X4 that was at least 3 1/2 years old.
The one frustration I have is that the biggest mature bucks are always targeted by the wolves after the rut, and many I never see the next year. Some we find just the skull on the ice of lakes, rivers and beaver ponds we sled over the Christmas break as we hunt wolves hard. Hopefully this years lack of snow will give the bucks a bit of a fighting chance.
As with Smoky buck, yes there are some big bucks in big bush, but you have to be adaptable to how you hunt them. My favourite spot is 15.5 km from the truck. Big bush can have miles of not a lot of deer, mixed with pockets of good numbers, but finding them is the challenge. That one thing we do when hunting wolves, as they show you where the deer are.

Yeah, I shoot based on body mass more than antler size.

I have nothing against shooting young ones, but I do like more meat in the freezer... :)

I passed on a very nice 10pt, 150ish I'd guess and a good size body to boot. He stood broadside at around 80yds for what seemed like forever but, I was looking for a moose at the time. I thought "you're going to regret that". Well it's almost time for lunch so I think I'll get myself a bowl of moose tag soup. :sign0176:

A friend of mine hunts like that in our area as he waits until its a buck with a massive body to shoot but does know horns too.

I debated even replying.

Why does everything on this forum become a peeing match. I made a tongue in cheek comment that still holds true, bush bucks are not as pentiful or common as farm land deer. I wasn't complaining about bush bucks being small or non existent. I hunt crown land at it is a wonderful privilege. That is my choice and I am happy with it.

I thought my first reply would have been seen in jest and taken at face value.

So to sum up. Great photos and great season to all. I am happy with the deer I did take (darn tiny spindly bush buck :P ) and also happy about the ones I did pass.

Cheers everyone.

The day i killed my big one, i passed up a tiny little 4x4 at about 50 yards and then passed up a nice 5x5 that would have been probably mid 140s. I had passed this buck up numerous times in November, hoping for a 160+ buck to come out. I whitetail hunt in wmu 152, and a 140-150 buck is pretty good in this area, but i wanted something bigger than i already had, so held out. As i was filming the decent 5x5 through the spotting scope, he snapped his head around and was watching the thicker brush, so i knew something else was coming out. Sure enough, an absolute giant non typical eased out of the brush and i took the biggest whitetail of my life. I had no idea he was in the area and had never seen him before.

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So are we going to see the buck, Sage, or what? Haha.

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Seriously though, time to post a pic!

Was not intended to make it a ****ing match

Only reason for my response is I meet many who feel they are at a disadvantage on public land and feel they need to get permission on farm land. My internet was only to show that one can enjoy hunting public land and still chase big bucks

The unfortunate thing with text on forums is the internet of the response is not always clear

Congrats to you on the non typical!...I noticed over the years you always take your son out hunting with you even when he looked pretty young,i tip my hat to you for that.

Its easy to pass on small bucks if you got your own farm land to hunt and you know he will get bigger for you next year . But if your bush hunting and don't have a camera set up whats in the area then no ,you shot whats in front of you

The truth is a lot of guys are posting pictures of deer and Elk with big horns that are really not getting hunted ,but just harvested off of private farm land.

I went on a 20 day campaign in the big bush this year. First time devoting a November to it for better than 10 years. Probably closer to 15. There was nothing big on my place, or the other private land I frequent, besides a really nice up and comer that I didn’t even want to chance running into.

My biggest WT has come from the forests that could hide an army. I had around 20 cameras out and was pleasantly surprised with a few of the pockets of deer located. I ended up having the scope on 25 bucks that were rattled in. Another 4 that came but would not reveal themselves. My mind tells me that these are always the largest(not necessarily the case). Despite having bigger bucks on camera, I failed in connecting with any of them. No surprise - I have not forgotten who I am pursuing. I passed a 165” or so mainframe 5x5 with a 6-7” drop tine at 60 yards. He would have tickled or broke the 170” mark. I really wanted to dump him but I have the 160-170” size range covered in spades already. So 1.75 of the 2lbs trigger pressure required was let down and he walked away. Roughly a week later, I rattled in my third buck of that day and it was a deer I had pictures of, but was not able to see any of his extras in the captures. He had a 150” type 5x6 main frame but twin scissor brows and an inline. Great mass and beams wrapped in hard. I had misjudged him by 15” or better off of the photos. He finished at 12 yards. Just a beautiful rattling set. But he is a younger buck. Let him walk off too. Im not sure how much merit there is to letting the bush bucks walk but, we will see how it pans out in years to come.

By complete fluke, two of my cams ended up in or very close to the core area of a typical 6x7 that would gross in the 190s. He snapped off 27-30” of tines quite early. Which made me sick with all the daylight photos I was getting. I’m sure I could have killed that buck, but I feel it would have been a sin with him being broken as he was. Another buck I had several pictures of, I had talked myself out of being on the list. Until I got a picture that really showcased him. Biggest blunder of the season. He was quite regular on two cams in daylight and I squandered all of that potential opportunity not hunting him. A friend of mine had pictures of him from 2020 and he was already big then, but we never made the connection until it was too late. Probably a gross 180” buck,likely 7.5 years old.

All in all, it was a great season. I hadn’t realized how much I had missed chasing them in the big bush. Much more to learn as well as remember things I have forgotten.