Hunting bush bucks 2023 it never ends

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by burnme

Those two are worth that for sure

That buck on the left is still nice I agree and like his split brows. He comes by my stand I will definitely take a closer look

[Desert Eagle]

Pretty awesome bucks indeed!

Glad to hear on the elk. I think the biggest thing, is same as the deer, just need to spend time and learn them. The do travel a lot more than deer, which makes it tougher, but great to see none the less.

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by Desert Eagle

Pretty awesome bucks indeed!

Glad to hear on the elk. I think the biggest thing, is same as the deer, just need to spend time and learn them. The do travel a lot more than deer, which makes it tougher, but great to see none the less.

Elk are definitely a little different and seems they are just there then vanish in some areas. Just like last year the elk seem to have left the one area now. I think I might know where they go but not 100%.

I am curious if they will stick around in some of the new pockets I have found them but only time will tell

There is elk in the area but the numbers really are not that high so it’s tougher to figure them out especially when I lack elk experience. I think I would have to back off on the whitetails and put my main focus on elk to really dial them in. The problem is I have friends and family that always want to hunt whitetail with me to the point I almost have a waiting list.

It’s nice to share theses hunts with family and friends but it does come at a cost

So for now elk will be a slow developing side project

[Smoky buck]

Checked a few more cams and set some yesterday. The way things are going the wife and I have already started deciding on our personal stand locations. Still need to finalize one of my personal stands and guests stands. This year we are increasing to 10 stand’s total. I upgraded my personal stands because my back is getting pickier about what it will tolerate. So I am turning 2 of my old stands into guest stands which will help spread pressure but is creating more work lol

At the start of setting cams the wife and I both set cams in one location. We both liked the location so originally the deal was whoever picked the cam location with the most consistent big buck gets the spot. Of course it’s my cam that wins lol

Luckily for my wife my plans are going well on two of the bucks I want to target so I am going to give here the location

Tip for the guys scouting bush bucks always bet on the trail that uses the land contours to provide easy yet hidden travel

This buck is a solid 4x5 and between the sign in the area combined with how often he is around this is likely his core area. Worse case the area holds a good amount of big buck sign, a communal scrape and good doe numbers so other bucks will appear in November

There is a night pic in the first batch of pics posted but here he is in daylight


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[Smoky buck]

Checked all I am going to for this go around. Getting plagued by little bears spinning my cams around this year causing poor checks. The one little bugger came back to play with the cam for 4 nights

Still managed to find one more buck that might be good for company. The wife doesn’t want a stand on the ridge she has targeted the last 2 years so I am exploring the ravines near by for options because I know there is always decent bucks in the area




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[Athabasca1]

Great thread Smoky, following along. Lots of good info.

[Smoky buck]

I am keeping my posts simple but if anyone has any tactics questions I don’t mind

But anyone ask for GPS coordinates you will find they will lead you to Antarctica

[Smoky buck]

Ok boys and girls or whatever people choose to call themselves today. Checked a handful of cams this set off and here is a few bucks some new some are bucks I posted pics of earlier

First up is a picture from a cam I set where my brother hunted last year. There is a few bucks of this caliber around but the one on the far left is the biggest on cam for this spot so far this year

Next up is a spot I have had a cam in since the start of this thread. This area is holding high deer numbers with some respectable bucks





Next up is another spot I set a cam in from the start this year. Because the timber is so open it’s harder to really funnel them into the cam so I am not surprised bucks are a little inconsistent. I told the wife there has to be a big guy in this spot and it appears I was right

The way this year is starting out I am looking forward to November.


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[Smoky buck]

Now everyone repeat after me there is no big deer in the public land bush

There is insufficient food in the bush to grow nice bucks. Bush bucks lack the genetics to get big. They all get shot before they can mature because of all the hunting pressure. Let’s not forget all the predators

Never correct those who tell you theses things

[aragor764]

#bushbucksforever!


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[Who Da Fisherman]

That last one is beaut! Awesome thread as always!
WDF

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by Who Da Fisherman

That last one is beaut! Awesome thread as always!
WDF

He has been giving me crap pics for a few checks just the body and bits of antler. But this time he gave me multiple good pictures of his rack over 3 visits. You can see the one kicker a bit in that picture but he has another on the opposite side too

Yeah that buck helped me choose the final spot for my personal stands. I have had a good feeling about this spot since I first hiked in there. This buck may just disappear during the October shift but I like the area enough to risk it

[Demonical]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

Now everyone repeat after me there is no big deer in the public land bush

There is insufficient food in the bush to grow nice bucks. Bush bucks lack the genetics to get big. They all get shot before they can mature because of all the hunting pressure. Let’s not forget all the predators

Never correct those who tell you theses things

Don't want to hijack the thread Smoky but I completely agree! There are NO BIG DEER in the bush!


*Ahem*
I also hunt bush bucks exclusively (elusively more like)... anyway all the deer in the following pics were big bush, middle-of-nowhere bush bucks.


The 'infamous 'Newfie Buck'... shot by a crazy Newf who said "Ya can't eat the horns bye!"
And then he threw the head in the bush. A wiser man retrieved the antlers! WMU-351.
It's one of those racks that you have to hold to appreciate how big and massive it is. Stupidly thick mass on all the beams, points etc...



Bush buck from WMU-351.


WMU-349... middle of too far from anywhere.

So these last 6 pics are a buck that I called 'Twist' because he had split brow tines both sides and they corkscrewed around each other.
Long story on this buck, but I never hunted him because my oldest daughter died in fall of 2012, so I didn't hunt deer for 2 years, just collected trail cam memory cards. By the year 2014 when I finally went back out hunting this great buck was dead, killed by wolves almost certainly in the winter of 2013/2014.




^ 'Twist' in 2012.

'Twist' in 2013.

[fishnguy]

Great looking animals there, Smoky. Cheering for you here!

[gulo]

Great pics. We're lucky as hunters that whitetail are so successful, and cagey. It seems no matter where you put a cam a good buck is gonna show up. Out in the big woods it makes perfect sense there are plenty. With so many deer and so much space and the instincts these whitetail bucks have i'll bet there's a fair percentage of bucks live out their natural lives without ever getting shot at. For every buck that's got a trail that goes under a stand, how many are there that don't? Thanks for sharing.

[58thecat]

I thought these bucks only existed on youtube....

Great thread as usual.

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by gulo

Great pics. We're lucky as hunters that whitetail are so successful, and cagey. It seems no matter where you put a cam a good buck is gonna show up. Out in the big woods it makes perfect sense there are plenty. With so many deer and so much space and the instincts these whitetail bucks have i'll bet there's a fair percentage of bucks live out their natural lives without ever getting shot at. For every buck that's got a trail that goes under a stand, how many are there that don't? Thanks for sharing.

In my opinion there is far more animals big and small in the bush than most hunters realize. There is a ton of areas that see almost no hunters. You don’t even have to walk all that far either as majority of people stick to man made trails, pipelines, and roads unless it’s open terrain. There is also a ton of places no one even stops there truck and just buzz straight past

The bucks that were taken in my 2022 thread really varied when it came to the distance from the road. The farthest drag to the truck was a little over 3km and the shortest was 40yards

I may put a ton of miles on scouting but I focus on where the deer are not the distance from the road. Sometimes getting way off the beaten path is the ticket and other times it’s just a matter of looking where others don’t

The one thing that is for certain older Whitetail buck or doe are more than smart enough to realize what areas to avoid to stay out of sight from majority of hunters.

My style of hunting is about gaining knowledge and using strategy more than anything

[Demonical]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

Ok boys and girls ...

The way this year is starting out I am looking forward to November.


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If that buck has any spread at all he's a Booner

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by Demonical

If that buck has any spread at all he's a Booner

I don’t like to judge velvet and really not a score guy but he definitely is not little lol

Oh I can add pics of that for you

And I just got in from a cam check with way better pictures of one of the other big guys

[Smoky buck]

Not the best picture but gives you an idea of his spread. Not super wide


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[Smoky buck]

And now from today’s check


This guy has been a regular. I pulled this cam today in hopes of finding better options but may revisit it. Worst case it will be a back up ground location



This area was scouted as a ground location as it transitions into open mature poplar. This is a completely new location




And here is the other big guy I have been keeping an eye on. He showed up on one of my cams just outside of his main area and gave some great photos. I have pulled this cam as I have decided on the stand location to target him so it’s time to just set a stand and start limiting my presence in the area

Demonical this guy is no slouch either lol

Movement has been slow and a fair number of poor pics of bucks with potential


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[aragor764]

Beautiful bucks SB! Im headed down to my spot Friday, cannot wait!

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by aragor764

Beautiful bucks SB! Im headed down to my spot Friday, cannot wait!

Best of luck sir

Don’t forget to explore new areas too as it pays to have options if plans go sideways. I know for me at least 1/4 of my plans go to crap every season lol

[Smoky buck]

Because it keeps crashing doing a photo dump with min typing












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[Smoky buck]

I have been a bit busy and some areas are slowing which is normal for this time of year. Bears still being a plague this year spinning cams. I have set most of the stands but still have 3 to go. Will take set up pictures later. Only one personal stand to go

I am having a dilemma though on my last stand.

I did get a few visits from that really big tall tined buck but he has not shown in 3weeks. Because the area is fairly open it does make it tough to funnel deer into the cam though. That tall tined buck and the 3rd pic I just posted are the nicest on this cam. I see real potential in the area still and know there is lots that the camera is not showing. I could hunt theses area from the ground too but not as well as I can from the stand

Truth is if it wasn’t for that tall tined buck I would either set a stand for company or no stand and just ground hunt/scout for the year

The other spot has high numbers, consistent bucks, a communal scrape and a great pinch point but this also comes with my normal restricted visibility. I also believe this area has not shown its full potential because the area is very limited access large chunk of tough to hunt bush. They sign in this area is extremely good. 5 of the pictures I posted are bucks from this spot. The one is really wide too. I would say this is a higher odds spot. A tree stand would make a huge difference

Really it’s basically a buck factory and less of a gamble

[Smoky buck]

To make it so there is no confusion and to give comparison

The tall tine buck from the more open area. He is a tank but unreliable or he is skirting the cam because the area is open.




This is the wide buck from the other area that is more consistent with activity. Not as big but definitely not little. I am confident I had buck on cam near here at a different pinch two years ago as a 4x4 but he has grown. I am more confident he will give an opportunity during the rut




I think my next cam check I will have to make a tough call based on findings


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[Bushrat]

I like the wide one Smokey.

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by Bushrat

I like the wide one Smokey.

He definitely looks like he will meet my usual “is he outside his ears” requirement when I see a buck in the field

They both have really impressive features but very different deer. If I am lucky enough to put a tag on either I would be happy that is for sure.

[58thecat]

Hopefully they stick around come go time and ya get a poke at one.

[aragor764]

DDDaaaaummm that wide one!!