Ambush style bush bucks 2021

[Smoky buck]

Only hunted the afternoon myself because I had to help do some tracking in the morning. A friend got himself a little 8pt meat buck he called in off the ground. It’s no giant but his goal was a meat but so it’s a success

My afternoon also took an unexpected turn. I opted to hunt off the ground near a cam I have set instead of out of a stand. I was sitting under a tree calling in the thick stuff and called in a cougar to almost slapping distance of max 5yards. It didn’t run when I yelled at it so I put a shot in the dirt beside it. After that I packed up and checked out some other spots

I have called in cougars before but this is the first one that didn’t run just from yelling at it or moving. Starting next season I am carrying a cougar tag

The cougar did run towards my cam so I might have a pic of it even

I did have a chance at a decent 10pt yesterday but got busted lining up on him

Yesterday’s sighting

Brother 4 does

Wife 2 does

Myself 5 does and the 10pt

Let’s see what today brings

[Smoky buck]

Back on stand this morning where I I took my buck last year. Luckily it’s not too cold because I realized my brother stole my coat this morning. Good thing I still had two thin jackets in the truck

Today’s view




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[58thecat]

Your bro owes you big time

[Smoky buck]

Well my two buddies in town visiting have both tagged out on small 8pt meat bucks as of a 1/2hr ago. They are hunting scrapes calling sitting in the thick bush

Slow morning for me

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by 58thecat

Your bro owes you big time

He needs a kick in the arse

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

He needs a kick in the arse

Yup...one man one kit!

[Smoky buck]

So yesterday was interesting my brother has filled his tag and action is picking up. I passed on some bucks yesterday and I had a shooter pass through quickly without offering a shot. I am pretty confident it was the split brow buck à have been watching

Unfortunately my little brother clearly is still a meat hunter even though he asked me to scout out a good buck. After passing on a few bucks yesterday he broke down a shot a spiker of all things. He came to hunt for 2 weeks and could not make it past 5 days lol

But in the end he is happy and it’s his tag

So the meat hunters have tagged 3 bucks in the last 2 days2. all shot within 20yards





Mean while I passed on these 2 yesterday and 2 other 8pts of similar size



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[Smoky buck]

Yesterday’s sightings

Brother 5 does and 3 bucks. Decided to tag the smallest one

Wife 6 does and 2 small bucks

Me 3 8pts, 1 9pt, one shooter and 2 does

This morning I am starting out with a ground sit. This afternoon I plan to try and shoot a buck out of the stand I set for my brother just to bug him lol

I do have another buddy in town for the weekend too

[Smoky buck]

Oh forgot today’s view breakfast on the ground lol

Called in a small buck so far


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[58thecat]

And you got your jacket back too?


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[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by 58thecat

And you got your jacket back too?


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Yes he moved it because he realized it was not his and put it down. We have the same one

Still gave him a titty twister for it

[Bushrat]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

Oh forgot today’s view breakfast on the ground lol

Called in a small buck so far


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I heard that pineapple on a pizza in a deer stand is like bringing bananas on a fishing boat...hope I haven't jinxed your day lol.

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by Bushrat

I heard that pineapple on a pizza in a deer stand is like bringing bananas on a fishing boat...hope I haven't jinxed your day lol.

Good thing I am hunting from the ground and teaching some calling tricks to a friend today lol

[Demonical]

I always hunt solo, interpret that anyway you want, but not having to go along with what buddy(s) wants keeps me in the bush ALL DAY.

To me, the best time to be in the bush is noon hour, when most guys have walked out to their camp/truck to eat lunch.

Noon hour is guaranteed big buck travel/scrape running time.

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by Demonical

I always hunt solo, interpret that anyway you want, but not having to go along with what buddy(s) wants keeps me in the bush ALL DAY.

To me, the best time to be in the bush is noon hour, when most guys have walked out to their camp/truck to eat lunch.

Noon hour is guaranteed big buck travel/scrape running time.

We hunt solo unless someone is teaching one of the less experienced a new tactic. Today I was teaching a friend how I call whitetail

We hunt all day but do switch locations during the day if needed. I have had lots of success between 10am and 2pm. In my opinion the only guarantees with timing is if you are not out there hunting you won’t see the buck that comes through

Hunting with buddies for us means we see each other in the morning during coffee, sometimes driving to locations, if someone needs a hand and again at night. Bush hunting the way we do is a solo tactic

[Smoky buck]

Oh and Bushrat you hexed me after you mentioned the pineapple thing I only seen one more little buck all day

[Smoky buck]

Well another buck down. My buddy came up for the weekend for a little whitetail hunting and put one down this morning. I have had this buck on cam lots since early September



Helped him get it back to the truck and now it’s only the wife and I left

My quest for “Mr right” continues


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[Wiz]

Nice buck. Pics of the cougar?

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by Wiz

Nice buck. Pics of the cougar?

Nope it went passed the cam too fast just blank pics

[Smoky buck]

And I guess this guy decided to walk by my stand well I was helping drag my buddies deer out




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[58thecat]

He’ will be back for a slice of pizza!


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[Prairiekid]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

Well another buck down. My buddy came up for the weekend for a little whitetail hunting and put one down this morning. I have had this buck on cam lots since early September



Helped him get it back to the truck and now it’s only the wife and I left

My quest for “Mr right” continues


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I really like that buck, the coloring is nice. Smokey, do you use any windicators with your trail cameras so that you can learn that a buck is traveling past your camera on a certain wind? I have listened to a few podcasts featuring Troy Pottenger and it seems he considers it pretty important and his focus is hunting bush/mountain bucks out of tree stands.

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by Prairiekid

I really like that buck, the coloring is nice. Smokey, do you use any windicators with your trail cameras so that you can learn that a buck is traveling past your camera on a certain wind? I have listened to a few podcasts featuring Troy Pottenger and it seems he considers it pretty important and his focus is hunting bush/mountain bucks out of tree stands.

I don’t use any wind indicators and I have not notice wind dictating their movements except for high winds causing them to hunker down. Often the bigger issue is knowing what time the wind stops swirling in some locations.

They often have a preferred direction of travel through the ambush point and I play the wind according to this. It’s odd how often a buck only travels one direction on a trail

What I do find plays a big roll is weather and moon phase in regards to daylight movements of bucks that are very nocturnal. If it is raining, snowing or really windy all night and breaks the next day you will get mature bucks that are normally natural to move during daylight. I also hate full moons

Truthfully I don’t find mature bush bucks consistent enough to dictate what wind direction they come past the stand.

[Smoky buck]

It is so slow today I hate long weekends and warm weather

[Smoky buck]

The curse has been broken!!

This has been my wife’s 3rd season hunting whitetail and just has not been able to make it happen. She is often right by my side hiking through the bush scouting. She will go out and sit all day in even the nastiest weather putting in the effort day in day out

I will say without a doubt she has earned her moment

Today she went out first thing this morning to sit on stand and the wind was wrong so she had to change plans. She opted to do a ground sit in a location I set a stand for her last year but decided not to set up this year do to better options

Her location was sitting under an evergreen at the base of a small ridge the bucks travel and a main trail to her right. She decided to keep to minimal calling using a doe bleat

Her buck came out of the bush walking the ridge at 1:30pm. At 30yards she took her shot and he never made it 5ft

I was on stand a 10min drive when I got the text to come play pack mule. I was met with about a 3/4 km drag out

Her success is all due to her hard work and determination. I can say without hesitation I am proud of her accomplishment today

So another one down and a special first buck/first whitetail for my wife




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[Smoky buck]

So now I stand alone with a tag in my pocket still searching for “Mr right”

I now just have to see if I have built enough good karma to get my opportunity before the season ends

Oh for those trying to learn something about hunting bush bucks all these bucks were shot between 9:30am to 1:30am. This is why we sit all day not first and last light

[Wiz]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

So now I stand alone with a tag in my pocket still searching for “Mr right”

I now just have to see if I have built enough good karma to get my opportunity before the season ends

Oh for those trying to learn something about hunting bush bucks all these bucks were shot between 9:30am to 1:30am. This is why we sit all day not first and last light

Love it. Especially love the part about 9:30-1:30. All my Bush cams show action between those hours.... oh man that sounds dirty haha

[RoOkIe86]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

Yesterday’s sightings

Brother 5 does and 3 bucks. Decided to tag the smallest one

Wife 6 does and 2 small bucks

Me 3 8pts, 1 9pt, one shooter and 2 does

This morning I am starting out with a ground sit. This afternoon I plan to try and shoot a buck out of the stand I set for my brother just to bug him lol

I do have another buddy in town for the weekend too

Sounds like you've got a few good honey holes. Mind if I ask what region you go to? It's my first year and trying to figure things out

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by RoOkIe86

Sounds like you've got a few good honey holes. Might if I ask what region you go to? It's my first year and trying to figure things out

Oh I have way more then a few good pockets I hunt and I am always putting in effort to find new ones. It’s why I can adjust my location to the conditions and not over pressure my hunting spots too

It is less about the WMU’s I hunt and more about the time I spend learning the area I hunt. Also a good understanding of how bush bucks move/act. These bucks were taken out of 3 WMUs so I am fairly spread out too.

I am seeing hunters in my travels all the time that are complaining about seeing little to no deer in the same WMU’s I am hunting.

What I am getting at is focus on the tactics and apply them close to home where you can invest the effort/time to make them effective. It is much more important then the WMU

I can tell you this I had no issues killing deer west of Calgary when I lived there too.

[RoOkIe86]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

Oh I have way more then a few good pockets I hunt and I am always putting in effort to find new ones. It’s why I can adjust my location to the conditions and not over pressure my hunting spots too

It is less about the WMU’s I hunt and more about the time I spend learning the area I hunt. Also a good understanding of how bush bucks move/act. These bucks were taken out of 3 WMUs so I am fairly spread out too.

I am seeing hunters in my travels all the time that are complaining about seeing little to no deer in the same WMU’s I am hunting.

What I am getting at is focus on the tactics and apply them close to home where you can invest the effort/time to make them effective. It is much more important then the WMU

I can tell you this I had no issues killing deer west of Calgary when I lived there too.

Excellent thanks for the pointers il keep that in mind