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.
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