Ambush style bush bucks 2021

[Smoky buck]

This year I have decided to share my process of ambush hunting bush bucks on public land. The wife and I will be the main ones hunting the locations I set up but will have my brother and 2 friends possibly join us for part of the season. This will not not be a quest for a 200 incher but instead me share how I enjoy to hunt and the process. This will share my methods as well as share what is hopefully a successful season

My method of hunting white tail involves scouting year round to set up a handful of ambush points in the bush to hunt during the rut. Even in the WMUs that open in September I won’t attempt a sit till the last week of October at the earliest. I choose to target the areas that most overlook or deem too thick to hunt. My starting point is always look for the pockets that I feel others are ignoring and if I feel others may hunt it I don’t even scout it. From my years of hunting this way I can tell you that even in the busiest places only a fraction of the bush is hunted. There is also way more deer then most hunters realize even in the areas you rarely see them.

I know there are others out there that hunt similar but it is less common. I am not say this is a better hunting method but it opens up the ability to hunt areas others don’t and bucks others don’t see in daylight. This is a good method for hunting close to home where you can invest time scouting but without scouting odds drop dramatically

I have recently set out 10 standard trail cams and 2 cell cams which are new to me. Already have decided these will be my last cell cams because most of my areas lack cell service. I will be cycling them around till I decide on my stand locations but I will keep looking for possible future locations even during the season

I will share some of my trail cam pics, some pics of the things I look for well scouting, how I pick my stand locations, and if all goes well some success pics

[Smoky buck]

Ok enough rambling for now lol

I have done my first cell cam check and lots of deer on cam so far in some locations. A lot of bucks that are early in antler growth stage. So far these are the two showing the most potential

The first buck is in a location I found last hunting season but I did not hunt it. It is one of those locations that it’s so stupid everyone drives past it lol. It was an extremely active scrape line last year. This area is looking promising

The second buck is in a location I found in march. This second location is thick mixed timber that was full of rubs and scrapes. This is an area where there is only small 40 yard openings where there are mature trees. A lot of the area is choked in do to younger growth and willow





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[roper1]

Gonna be an awesome thread SB, many thanks!!

[bucksnbears]

Looking forwards to the progress.

[Desert Eagle]

Awesome Smokey Buck!

I have found a handful of the same spots. Some so close and so overlooked. Pretty awesome things can be found if you put in the effort.

I hope you and your family have great success this year and will be looking forward to the updates.

[Smoky buck]

Hopefully at the minimum this thread will make people reconsider the bush near home that they ignore. I am a firm believer that you are better off investing time and money scouting close to home then traveling when it comes to white tail. A lot of people don’t realize what hides right under their noses

I originally grew up spot & stalk and still hunting in high pressure areas. The reason I adapted to this ambush style was to hunt deer living in bush that was too thick to still hunt or small areas. Basically I learned to hide like the deer do lol

Next time I am out I will take pics to help show how to identify and locate scrape lines from the past rut this time of year. It could be a helpful tool for someone still learning

Knowing my luck I will run this thread and get skunked

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

Hopefully at the minimum this thread will make people reconsider the bush near home that they ignore. I am a firm believer that you are better off investing time and money scouting close to home then traveling when it comes to white tail. A lot of people don’t realize what hides right under their noses

I originally grew up spot & stalk and still hunting in high pressure areas. The reason I adapted to this ambush style was to hunt deer living in bush that was too thick to still hunt or small areas. Basically I learned to hide like the deer do lol

Next time I am out I will take pics to help show how to identify and locate scrape lines from the past rut this time of year. It could be a helpful tool for someone still learning

Knowing my luck I will run this thread and get skunked

My traditional hunting grounds are within 10 minutes or less of my house .
I have bevef had an issue taking a deer out of that area since the late 70's
Cat

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

My traditional hunting grounds are within 10 minutes or less of my house .
I have bevef had an issue taking a deer out of that area since the late 70's
Cat

Sure pays to know your area and even nicer to be able to sleep in a little too

[58thecat]

Yup....thick bush and a few open areas....300 yards from my back door....shhh!

Good luck on the quest for mr. Right!

I use to say mr. Big but found out over the years a buck I know of and take later or just a neat buck and the time is right...passed on many that where shooters but i wasn’t feeling it.....odd eh!

It’s all gotta come together.....

[pikeslayer22]

Great thread....And if you have elk in the area the same thing applies.

[wildwoods]

Originally Posted by pikeslayer22

Great thread....And if you have elk in the area the same thing applies.

This^^^

Good thread OP. These are the very best

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by pikeslayer22

Great thread....And if you have elk in the area the same thing applies.

I have never shot an elk but I have not put in enough effort to target elk. I really should because I really enjoy calling

There is small herds of elk in the area I deer hunt but not a lot. I am keeping an eye on the sign and sightings to see if I can figure them out. This is only my 3rd season back in Alberta so it’s re learning time

[obsessed1]

Great thread.

[Smoky buck]

My goals for a buck are one I would be happy to put my tag on no magic number. A decent representative of what I have scouted or a character buck. I have done the set number game and found I don’t enjoy it.

So Mr right is a fair assessment

[Ackleyman]

Is your choice of weapon a lever, getting a quick bead on them thru the iron's ? Wondering......2nd pic looks like mighty thick cover.
Best of luck.

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by Ackleyman

Is your choice of weapon a lever, getting a quick bead on them thru the iron's ? Wondering......2nd pic looks like mighty thick cover.
Best of luck.

I will be using my 30/30 Marlin with a 2x7 scope set on 3 power most likely. Last year was my first season with this rifle and the compact size was so nice in the stand I am really liking it. I am considering up grading to a red dot sight

Over the years I have used bows, crossbow, shotgun, muzzle loader and bolt action rifles all work. I don’t brush cut but got good at picking holes in the bush

Also come November things open up a little when the leaves fall. Things also change from a tree stand. Hunting from the ground is not an option in most of my locations

This is down and dirty close range hunting 10-30 yards is common distance 50yards is a long shot

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

Sure pays to know your area and even nicer to be able to sleep in a little too

I don't use trail cams , but sure do like looking at all thee different pics of animals from the cameras of others. It is really cool to see as many as five or more different species of critters on a single camera!
Cat

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

I don't use trail cams , but sure do like looking at all thee different pics of animals from the cameras of others. It is really cool to see as many as five or more different species of critters on a single camera!
Cat

As you know trail cams are not needed to know your area. You can read sign you will learn your area. I value the knowledge of learning how to read sign and the bush I was taught more than cams hands down. They are no substitute of old school bush knowledge

I use the cams because I enjoy seeing the pics and it helps keep scouting interesting. Every location I find is do to reading the sign and I usually know there is a nice buck in the area long before I get a pic or see it

I actually look for good pockets of does combined with scrape/rubs more then I look for a mature buck when scouting. It’s nice to see pics of them but if there is no does to hold him in the area I know he will leave. But an area with old rut sign and lots of does will have bucks come November

The cams don’t make that much of a difference

[OL_JR]

Looking forward to seeing this thread as it progresses. Whitetails are such a great critter to chase. If I had to make a choice to hunt only one animal they would be it. Little bit of everything with whitetails, you can get a tag or three every year and most likely fill them if just looking for meat but if you want a challenge the pursuit gets exponentially harder as they age.

I do think that some areas of the province provide better odds of harvesting a mature buck if you can get familiar but there is absolutely good deer spread all over. Hopefully your hard work pays off, best of luck this season.

[fishnguy]

Solid thread, smoky! Will surely try to follow.

[sns2]

Great thread Smoky. Shoot me the gps coordinates, and I will do some reconnaissance for you. Gratis of course

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by sns2

Great thread Smoky. Shoot me the gps coordinates, and I will do some reconnaissance for you. Gratis of course

Me too....I got this little JM stamped 44 mag lever I could put to use in that type of country....promise to leave the bigger buck for you

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by sns2

Great thread Smoky. Shoot me the gps coordinates, and I will do some reconnaissance for you. Gratis of course

I am going to move some cams into the spot I call “the trench from hell” this morning if I send you there odds are you will never ask for GPS coordinates again

It’s one of those spots that I should invest more time in because I know there is some nice deer there but I also know I will hate every bit of life if I have to pack one out. I have not been brave enough to set up a tree stand in the bottom where I know I should

[Positrac]

Looking forward to the progress on this thread. Thanks for posting Smokey Buck!

I grew up still hunting Blacktails in big timber on the Island and that is how I've mostly hunted Whitetails since coming to Alberta. I've been successful each year in the Fort McMurray area but there's a lot of areas that hold deer where its thick and not real well suited to still hunting. A good friend has set up some ladder stands off the beaten path in pretty thick timber the last few years and he has also had really good success ambushing some pretty respectable bucks come November. I keep saying that I'm going to have to give it a try but its hard after 35 years of hunting deer to change up the way you do things, especially when it works for you.

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by Positrac

Looking forward to the progress on this thread. Thanks for posting Smokey Buck!

I grew up still hunting Blacktails in big timber on the Island and that is how I've mostly hunted Whitetails since coming to Alberta. I've been successful each year in the Fort McMurray area but there's a lot of areas that hold deer where its thick and not real well suited to still hunting. A good friend has set up some ladder stands off the beaten path in pretty thick timber the last few years and he has also had really good success ambushing some pretty respectable bucks come November. I keep saying that I'm going to have to give it a try but its hard after 35 years of hunting deer to change up the way you do things, especially when it works for you.

Growing up in BC I was also taught to still hunt and spot & stalk as my main hunting methods. I did not start getting into ambush style till I was in my mid 20s. I do still hunt if conditions call for it, I just want to and prefer it for some species. What I learned covering ground slowly still hunting seeing the different sign plays a huge roll in how I learned to ambush

I grew up hunting blacktail in the lower mainland and this is where I first started adapting my ambush style. I found so many pockets of black tails no one was hunting in bush too thick to still hunt it caused me to start trying new tactics. It made a huge difference in my success rate with black tail because of the ability to hunt areas that had basically zero pressure. Tree stands were such a foreign idea to most in the area at the time I had to order them in or build them

Anyone who thinks white tail are tough has not chased Colombia black tail the nocturnal bush ninjas of the deer family lol

If you’re considering giving tree stand hunting a trying stand hunting I recommend hang on stands because they are easier to hike in, hide, and set up. I only use ladders for part of my set ups because my wife is not comfortable with hang ons

[obsessed1]

Smokey, when doing all your scouting/ pre season work finding bedding areas and " home turf" spots for these bucks do you find they stick close to the same areas in Oct/ Nov that they frequent in june/ july? Or do they move around a lot more? I know deer tend to have much smaller " territory zones" than say elk, but is it reasonable to assume a huck doesnt change up his rub line much year to year? I haven't had much success hunting WT from tree stands other than over food plots on farmer fields, or hot spots found during season based on right now information...the tree sling is great for these opportunities. Locating dense bush locations in early season for stand locations is not something I have spent much time doing...any tips your willing to share in this respect?
My style has always been more tracking and still hunting. Have never really put the hard time in on tree stands to be consistently effective unless it's simple " the deer keep coming out in this corner of the field to feed before last light" scenarios.

[Smoky buck]

OK a couple scouting tips for finding scraps and rubs even right now in the summer

Finding rubs is from last rut is easier right now with the leaves. Bucks make lots of rubs often in the open, on pipelines, on oil leases and even the side of the road. Often they rub the side that is facing the bush because they make them coming out of the trial. Right now the long grass will often hide them

Right now they are easier to spot because the small tree often has no leaves. Not all rubs will be like this but a good portion will. This makes it easy to spot them from a distance when walking or driving

Scrapes are a little tougher and most will be found in the timber on heavy trail or tight seismic lines. Yes the can be founding more open areas and pipelines but I find this often younger bucks

I most cases I find they choose the base of evergreens majority of times. In mixed timber it becomes noticeable. In areas dominated by popular I have seen it many times that the few evergreens in the mix will be targeted for a scrape

Right now you can still see them because the vegetation is more sparse

To confirm you just need to look at the branches above it around 3-4 1/2. They will show wear from nibbling and antlers


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[Smoky buck]

Obsessed1

Bucks definitely return to the same scrape lines unless the area is disrupted too much. I have had bucks abandoned scrape lines during the rut in the past by applying too much pressure. For this reason I seek out scrape lines in areas I feel will not be disturbed

This is a big part of the reason I avoid other hunters and will even abandon locations and move. The deer may not vacate the area but they charge their paths or go nocturnal if there is too much pressure. This is also why I run multiple locations

I will get into tips on how I pick locations as this thread goes. It’s really a matter of identifying pinch points and what funnels them into a pocket. This is where thick bush can be your friend and where too much open timber can screw you over

As someone who still hunts think about the game trail you have followed and the areas that create major intersections or funneled the trails through one small area

Your home turf question in my opinion there is two kinds of bucks home bodies and ones that roam. If you find a spot with does and a mature buck you might have found a home body that will stick around a fair amount. If you find a mature buck with very little does around come the rut he is on the move. In my opinion all bucks have some what of a home range but it can be large

[Smoky buck]

Oh and before that guy comes a long I am sharing my opinions on bush bucks and what works for me

I would not be surprised for one second if someone has had different experiences because in the end deer do what they want and there is always exceptions

[RayL42]

For many years my best whitetail spot was a tree stand set up in dense bush in a area which has high hunting pressure. My stand was set up on a pinch point created by two swamps. I had maintained trail so I could access the stand quietly. Every year I hunted it I had at least one chance at a mature buck and shot my second largest ever from that spot.