Chasing bush bucks 2022

[fishnguy]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

This one looks like a pig on this photo. I vote for this one, lol.

Good luck, mate! Looks cold. No idea how you guys do it. The day before yesterday, I stood in one spot for almost an hour. Nearly died of boredom. Couldn’t wait for the 30 past sunset and took off with 15 minutes left on the clock (well, things didn’t look promising either).

[Smoky buck]

Kicker buck just came through but didn’t offer a good shot.

Hell of a morning so far

[270hunter]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

Kicker buck just came through but didn’t offer a good shot.

Hell of a morning so far

Awesome. Very excited to see what your season brings. After all the help you offer to this forum I think you deserve a good one! And judging by your efforts in the bush, I think that’s very likely.

[Smoky buck]

And another 8pt

To those reading go hunting they are moving today lol

[aragor764]

keep us posted!!!

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by aragor764

keep us posted!!!

Oh I am sitting here grinning like a little kid waiting for one of the bigger bucks to play nice today

[gray7mag]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

It will get better as it goes as I start keying in on my spots and the time of year improves

I have one area that looks amazing but have yet to find a pocket that is capable of being hunted. Did 7km worth of hiking in there yesterday and have invested at least 10km previously but it’s just tough bush to hunt. The deer sign is crazy and good elk sign too. Bumped a big 11pt in there yesterday

It may take many hours to find a pocket to hunt in there but I will grind it out till I do even if it’s not in time for this season. Dragged my buddy with me on the hike through there yesterday he says I am crazy but can’t believe how much sign is in there

I also dropped into the bottom of the trench to see if If I can find a better place to target that drop tine and possibly locate other nice bucks

The two pockets I helped my buddy set cams in are looking very promising too. Odds are I will share pics from those cams too

Love reading your bush buck posts yearly....

How do you select a pocket to hunt? Are you just looking for a clearing? Over a scrape or rub? Etc

Thank you I've learned a lot and changed my tactics from your posts! Good luck today fella

[Curtsyneil]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

Oh I am sitting here grinning like a little kid waiting for one of the bigger bucks to play nice today

That’s awesome to here your seeing lots of activity maybe there is something to that red moon after all! Cold weather, red moon, after a storm can’t get any better for harvesting !!!

[ZJHoban]

Do you find on cold mornings like today the deer start moving around a little more after the sun has warned things up a little? Say maybe more action an hour after sunrise as opposed to dawn?

Good luck out there! Your hard work will probably make its own luck

[koolaid39]

Just wanted to say, thanks for the great thread. I really enjoy reading it.

You're totally right in that time exploring and getting into those unknown areas can really pay off, and it's a lot of fun to do.

Love your 30-30 setup. Was thinking of going with a red dot on my .308 for when I am hunting in the bush and not going to be taking any long shots.

Best of luck in your hunting season this year!

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by Curtsyneil

That’s awesome to here your seeing lots of activity maybe there is something to that red moon after all! Cold weather, red moon, after a storm can’t get any better for harvesting !!!

Most of the big guys past my cam in the dark still lol. Still not sold on the red moon

Yesterday’s winds and snow with the weather breaking today is likely more of a factor. It’s a factor I have seen and posted about before

But it slowed right down. Had to come to town to sign some paperwork but will be out again for the afternoon

[MooseRiverTrapper]

Could you share some pics of big ones you’ve killed in the past?

[fishnguy]

^ Why?

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by gray7mag

Love reading your bush buck posts yearly....

How do you select a pocket to hunt? Are you just looking for a clearing? Over a scrape or rub? Etc

Thank you I've learned a lot and changed my tactics from your posts! Good luck today fella

It’s all about the sign combined with what I feel is a good ambush point. I am looking at rubs new and old, scrapes, trail wear, possible food, possible bedding, tree species, possible pressure, and a little bit of it just feels right

I grew up bush hunting/mountain hunting and had some very good mentors. I also operated a trapline at one point and this increased my understanding of sign/how animals move. Overtime I just kinda adapted my own way of hunting from attempting theories, failure, and adjustments

Somethings are hard to explain without someone being right there with me, explaining what I see and my theory on what could be happening. And sometimes I am flat out wrong lol

I have also become really good at looking where others don’t and those tricks I keep to myself lol

In the end you have to get out there put in your dues and make your best possible predictions based on what you find scouting. The key is learn from your seasons success or failure and adjust for the future

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by ZJHoban

Do you find on cold mornings like today the deer start moving around a little more after the sun has warned things up a little? Say maybe more action an hour after sunrise as opposed to dawn?

Good luck out there! Your hard work will probably make its own luck

A break after a storm of any kind is good

Yesterday was wind and snowing

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by MooseRiverTrapper

Could you share some pics of big ones you’ve killed in the past?

Killed more meh bucks then big bucks without a doubt and have more years of just shooting meat deer. Only as I am now back in Alberta I have put more focus on targeting larger whitetail. I have only been back in Alberta for now my 4th season and for the 10 years before that I lived in extremely poor whitetail hunting areas in BC where you work to find bucks in general

Most of my life has actually been spent living in parts of BC with low whitetail population where you work just to kill a buck. Originally I started hunting this way to target blacktail on the coast. I also have a portion of my life where I targeted moose, bear, and other species more so

If you can find a post anywhere on this forum where I have claimed to have killed a ton of monster whitetail I promise I never wrote it lol

Most of my old pics would not be impressive and many bucks were just eaten

[Smoky buck]

This thread is no more then a hunter showing how he chooses to hunt nothing more

Even my first bush buck thread I posted it’s not a quest for a giant it’s sharing my season and I shoot what I feel is right in the moment. Last year was a forky the smallest buck I seen all year after passing on many other bucks

So I will add a disclaimer now this is just a guy hunting and I will shoot what turns my crank when I see it not promising anything lol

[Smoky buck]

Ok I need to get back out there

[C&C Outdoors]

Great thread Smoky buck and good luck!

[aragor764]

As I have expressed to SB before, what I like about this thread is (in my opinion) there is not a whole lot of info out there (youtube, forums etc) about bush hunting for WT's. Most of the videos and thread you read are about bucks feeding on corn field and stuff, well there are no corn fields out in the bush where I hunt!

[CDNOutdoorsman]

Good luck tonight Smokey, heading out myself.
I hope that stand I traded you for the ground blind brings you good luck.
Take care and shoot straight...

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by CDNOutdoorsman

Good luck tonight Smokey, heading out myself.
I hope that stand I traded you for the ground blind brings you good luck.
Take care and shoot straight...

I was in that stand this morning

Oh and it’s more comfortable then my old stands


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[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by MooseRiverTrapper

Could you share some pics of big ones you’ve killed in the past?

Moose here is my buck from 2020 decent but no giant taken with these tactics and my 30-30 before upgraded
And trail cam pic of the same buck

2019 I ate my tag going for broke looking for something exceptional

That so you have my results from my first 3 seasons back in Alberta. Any other Alberta whitetail were taken by me in the early 2000’s and were mostly 8-10pts of similar caliber or small meat bucks mostly from around Calgary

I also hunted archery only from 2000-2015 part of the other reason I adapted to up close hunting

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[AB2506]

Who made the synthetic stock?

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by AB2506

Who made the synthetic stock?

If I remember right mine was made by champion

Unfortunately (unless it has changed since last year) all the synthetic stock options for a Marlin 336 were discontinued. Mine was actually old stock a shop in Ontario had

Not easy to find

[Smoky buck]

Dead slow this afternoon

I am definitely thinking the action this morning was do to the weather breaking

[MooseRiverTrapper]

Very nice!!

[Smoky buck]

Oh the dilemma

Looking at the weather we have another storm on the way tonight and break Saturday. This has me thinking on where to make my play today and tomorrow

I am only hunting the morning today because I need to by a new stove mine crapped out and the wifey wants one today

1) The original plan was today just to ground hunt a location I have be scouting but didn’t set a stand. Party to see if it’s had an increase in activity or quality as things are shifting

Then tomorrow hunt the trench and cross my fingers the bladed drop tine comes around. This area has very good daylight movement but not a lot of action buck wise on cam yet. It’s a good place to hide from the weekend traffic. The cam here is not the most reliable because there is too many main trails I cannot cover. I know there is more activity then is shown

2) Because of the weather I am having another thought

Hit the trench this morning

Saturday hit a spot I have been saving for later when daylight activity pics up. But this storm might give a temporary window. There is a buck that has been blowing up my cell cam a lot but just before or after legal light. I think the weather could get him to move in daylight on Saturday. All mature buck activity has been in the dark so far but I know in past years that changes in this spot

The original thought was to leave this area undisturbed till mid month so I don’t make the buck wary if he is still moving in the dark

Here is the buck in ?. I am pretty sure this is the buck I passed on because he busted a tine last year. My buddy has been giving me crap all year over it lol




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[58thecat]

Ohhh the dilemma eh, I know the feeling, rattled two bucks in yesterday morning, second one was shooter but little fella was on high alert as he cut my wind and was snorting, the other fella buggered off into thick timber....return this morning or?

Best of luck Smoky....hopefully that fandangled spaced aged rifle sight doesn’t crap out again

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by 58thecat

Ohhh the dilemma eh, I know the feeling, rattled two bucks in yesterday morning, second one was shooter but little fella was on high alert as he cut my wind and was snorting, the other fella buggered off into thick timber....return this morning or?

Best of luck Smoky....hopefully that fandangled spaced aged rifle sight doesn’t crap out again

I’m your situation if it’s a buck you know hangs around and you have a back up location let that spot rest. If it’s a random buck that may just pass through I would give it a shot to see if he is still around. If you are on the ground hunting natural cover I would sit in a slightly different position. I have had bucks peg my stand locations after busting me and look for me in the stand anytime they came back

It’s all a gamble either way and the deer will likely do everything but what we want them to lol

So far the fancy sight is all good again