218–235-9668

My Commitment:  I take your experience very seriously.  That’s why I am with you every step of the way — before, during and after your vacation.  Your food and gear is packed by me and not by a last minute replacement or inexperienced summer help.  If you are not satisfied, neither am I.   Dean Bushey, Owner & Wilderness Guide

Thank you so much for making our annual BWCA experience a reality.  Erin 2 2016I feel so incredibly lucky to have you doing what you are doing.  My experience this year with my two boys was priceless.  I appreciate all the preparation and thoughtfulness that goes into a trip of this nature — you do an amazing job and I am awed by the energy and enthusiasm with which you do it!

walleye, bwca, wilderness guideOf all of our travels, these are the trips I feel most at peace, connected to nature and my boys.  I really can’t thank you enough. It’s been so fun to watch them grow over the years through this experience.  I look forward to many more!  Sincerely and your fan, Erin

Erin, Minneapolis 2016

It’s hard to describe the fantastic time I enjoyed fishing and spending time with you. bwca, pike
You run an amazing business. It is obvious you love what you do!

Barry, an avid fisherman in southern Florida

Best fishing experience I have had to date. walleye, fishing guide, bwca, wildernessI have always recommended Bushey Guide Service for any guided fishing or hunting needs. Dean and his guides treat customers with the utmost respect and work hard from sun up to sun down to make sure their patrons have a great time.

My endorsement is based on ten years of hunting and fishing with Dean and I have never been disappointed .

Mike Carter, DDS, Fayetteville, Arkansas
August 2016

So big thank you to Dean and Nick of Bushey Guide Service. Dean is a complete professional and an excellent guide. We left out of Ely, MN to fish the boundary waters of the US and Canada. I just posted a bunch but not nearly all of the pictures that I took on this trip. I was (alone) catching 40-70 fish a day ranging from 1 lb to 10 lbs.

11838551_10204683359265328_4628053239705894075_oThe fish that we were catching were Small Mouth Bass, Northern Pike, and Walleye. All were delicious and amazing fun to catch and release on such light tackle. I have hunted/fished all over the world, and I can tell you that the purity and rugged wilderness of this trip were second to none. This is truly roughing it, and not for the very old/young/out of shape. I’m sure there are others who guide well in the area, but I will tell you that Dean knows these waters. If the fishing lulls, he will put you on fish in another spot immediately. I cannot compare this trip with many I’ve been on as it was more roughing it than we are used to, but I can tell you that we have already booked our next trip to the Boundary waters with Dean for next summer. Check out the photo album Boundary Waters in my pictures to see all of the pictures I uploaded. Excellent fishing, excellent people, priceless memories.  And thanks again, Dad cannot quit talking about it, and no words we say can come close to describing what a wonderful time we had.

Matt Huson, owner of Doe’s Eat Place, Fayetteville, Arkansas, July 2014

“The fishing we encountered on our family trip was nothing short of unbelievable.  Our family caught more fish than we had caught all year at home.  And that was just the first day!   Dean put us right on the fish and it was obvious from the beginning that we had picked the right guide.”

The Zickert family, central Wisconsin, July 2012

Dean Bushey: An Excellent Guide from the Ely Area

Monday, August 30th, 2010
submitted by: Bob Evans Earlier this summer my wife and I needed to take a particularly difficult trip to visit the last few pictograph sites about which we knew, and we had very little time to make the trip.  One of the pictograph sites, Swartman Lake, involved a long bushwhack trip along a route about which we knew little.  From there we would travel up the East Agnes River to Kawnipi to………..(click on link to continue reading)

Bob Evans author of Northwoods Pictographs Bulletin  (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)

Click here to view an article written by longtime repeat customer John Morford of Jacksonville, Florida.P6230037

John is an avid fly-fisherman and in addition to various flyfishing trips in North and South America, he makes annual trips to northern Maine and northern Minnesota.  He says that by far the best fly-fishing for smallmouth bass for both numbers and average size quality is in “Canoe Country” of northern MN and adjoining Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario.


Dave Carlson from Eau Claire, Wisconsin of the decades long popular TV shoutdoorow Northland Adventures hired me to guide him and his film crew.  The show was done in May of 2009 and Dave wrote the following article that you can click on to view about his trip.  “Very enjoyable trip and a wonderful guy to take fishing.”  Click here to view the article.

“Dean has gDSC00713smalluided me since 2008 for my annual BWCA camping and fishing trips. I highly recommend using Dean as your guide.  Dean’s trips are more than a fishing trip.  You will also experience gourmet meals, great camping, and enjoyable companionship.”  

Ron, southern Wisconsin