Hunting bush bucks 2023 it never ends

[Smoky buck]

First off congrats on the buck

Second could I ask you guys to go to PM if there is any issues beyond this. No offense to you guys but I am not retyping my season if this gets locked. I type way to slow for that lol

Thanks guys

[Smokinyotes]

I have put a ton of time in so far this hunting season and sat in the blind for probably at least 40 hours. I’ve yet to see a buck that I would consider shooting but there are a lot of does and little bucks around. I would imagine there are big bucks in the area I’m hunting but they didn’t get that way by being stupid.

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by Smokinyotes

I have put a ton of time in so far this hunting season and sat in the blind for probably at least 40 hours. I’ve yet to see a buck that I would consider shooting but there are a lot of does and little bucks around. I would imagine there are big bucks in the area I’m hunting but they didn’t get that way by being stupid.

So after my season of scouting/hunting I would say with confidence that in my area that there was a partial die off. I have noticed a decrease in doe numbers in some pockets but noticed a big drop in mature bucks. I am talking about bucks that I know survived hunting season as last year I ran my cams into Dec and had photos of them after the season. In my opinion the late spring combined with the late green up played a role. I didn’t run cams till after our nasty fire season and wonder if that had an impact. I have also been plagued by wolves/cougars that likely have an impact too but I always deal with predator issues

It definitely hit mature bucks harder and I would say in some areas the loss was pretty high. This year I could only find a small portion of the bucks from last year compared to normal. It has been a strange year season but I am not someone relying on what I physically see during the season

Still healthy deer numbers and definitely decent mature buck numbers but not what it was the past two years

The weather this year has messed up movement too. Previous years our action has been all day with a lot of action between 10am-2pm. This year majority of our action has been first light till 11am with almost nothing for the rest of the day

One of the reasons I hunt the bush is the fact I see a way longer period of movement vs those hunting open areas. With how restricted our action has been in the bush I imagine it’s impacted those hunting open areas more

[aragor764]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

So after my season of scouting/hunting I would say with confidence that in my area that there was a partial die off. I have noticed a decrease in doe numbers in some pockets but noticed a big drop in mature bucks. I am talking about bucks that I know survived hunting season as last year I ran my cams into Dec and had photos of them after the season. In my opinion the late spring combined with the late green up played a role. I didn’t run cams till after our nasty fire season and wonder if that had an impact. I have also been plagued by wolves/cougars that likely have an impact too but I always deal with predator issues

It definitely hit mature bucks harder and I would say in some areas the loss was pretty high. This year I could only find a small portion of the bucks from last year compared to normal. It has been a strange year season but I am not someone relying on what I physically see during the season

Still healthy deer numbers and definitely decent mature buck numbers but not what it was the past two years

The weather this year has messed up movement too. Previous years our action has been all day with a lot of action between 10am-2pm. This year majority of our action has been first light till 11am with almost nothing for the rest of the day

One of the reasons I hunt the bush is the fact I see a way longer period of movement vs those hunting open areas. With how restricted our action has been in the bush I imagine it’s impacted those hunting open areas more

Same here, "weird" would be the adjective I would use for 2023 for me as well. Can't believe it's over already!

[Smoky buck]

So I can find it

[Smoky buck]

Well that was a fast turnaround but still awesome work

Picked up my 2023 buck from the Taxidermist today so thought I would add it to this thread


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[madcarpenter]

Beautiful mount! Who was the taxidermist if you don’t mind me asking?

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by madcarpenter

Beautiful mount! Who was the taxidermist if you don’t mind me asking?

Artistic taxidermy in Edmonton he did an awesome job but unfortunately he is planning on retiring soon

[fishnguy]

Nice mount, mate. And a great looking deer. Thanks for the “conclusion” pic

[whitetail Junkie]

Looks great! Big bucks with unique antlers are the best.

[wbl170]

That’s a good buck! Well done. And Brian does a great job.

[CDNOutdoorsman]

Thats a great mount of your very cool Non Typ.
Congrats again Smoky, I'm already looking forward to your stories and pics for this coming fall...

[Smoky buck]

Already have a ton of new potential areas scouted but won’t set cams till July. Unfortunately I have found that another hunter is very close to where I was on the tall tine buck. It appears we were coming in from different directions and he was set up just past where I was. Never knew because he was just past where I stopped. It now makes sense why that buck moved out shortly after the season started.

Odds are I will just back out of that area but might throw a note on his cam/built stand and see if it’s someone I can work with. I do have that Buck dialed in but don’t want to screw over another hunter to chase him. Really I have other options anyway

For humour incase this guy is on AO if you have had my wife and I wave at your stealth cam right next to your wooden stand this winter shoot me a PM. You are using a side x side heading in off the pipeline. Even if you have no interest in working out an option so we are not screwing each other over I can likely explain how to make your set up way more effective if you are open to it. Odds are you were busted a good number of times.

Either way the 2024 games will get rolling soon enough

[aragor764]

Looking forward for updates SB, it will be November in no time!

[Bigfeet]

That is a gorgeous deer. Love those dark antlered bush bucks. Thanks for sharing the picture of the finished mount.

[KGB]

Awesome looking mount! Do you mind telling me what was the cost of it? You can pm me if you don’t want to post here..

[JD848]

Excellent looking buck, very nicely done SB.

Cheers
JD

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by KGB

Awesome looking mount! Do you mind telling me what was the cost of it? You can pm me if you don’t want to post here..

Just shy of $1500 so pretty standard for quality taxidermy

I stick to euros unless it’s something I don’t think I will get another like it or limited opportunity. So I am concerned about quality over cost when I make that choice. If I have to consider if the cost is worth it or not odds are it’s an animal I will opt for a euro.

[MK2750]

Good looking mount and a great bush buck. Seldom mentioned is the quality of the cape. Not only is that cape darker than most you can tell it was properly cared for in both field dressing and processing. The white throat patch really jumps right out at you.

$1500 is where most of the good taxidermists are. We had a couple done from our group over the last few years and they were right there. I also looked at some cheaper ones and you could see the difference at a glance.

That's a mount you could be proud to have in any room of the house and when they are done right they look good for many years to come. I have some done 20 and 30 years ago that still look great.

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by MK2750

Good looking mount and a great bush buck. Seldom mentioned is the quality of the cape. Not only is that cape darker than most you can tell it was properly cared for in both field dressing and processing. The white throat patch really jumps right out at you.

$1500 is where most of the good taxidermists are. We had a couple done from our group over the last few years and they were right there. I also looked at some cheaper ones and you could see the difference at a glance.

That's a mount you could be proud to have in any room of the house and when they are done right they look good for many years to come. I have some done 20 and 30 years ago that still look great.

Thanks

This buck was in great condition both cape and rack wise so that helped to start with. But yeah taking extra care and a good taxidermist goes a long ways. He sits in my living room now and will be a good reminder of the time put into this hunt