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South Dakota Deer hunting

Chickencoop96

Chickencoop96

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Has any of yuns ever bought a non resident Mule or whitetail bow tag out there? If so what is the cost? Been thinking about planning an out of state bow hunt for maybe next years season, would more than likely just be me, and would prefer to camp out. If yall have any tips or pointers id appreciate it!
 
Ive not hunted SD but I have been applying for tags (rifle) for a while now, 6 years.
Some recent changes for NR archery;
  • March 31st 2022 was the deadline for public land archery tags
  • Oct 1st is the public land season opener, I believe private opens Sept with all resident permits
  • The statewide NR archery tag is $286 plus a $25 habitat stamp plus application fees
 
AT Hiker said:
Ive not hunted SD but I have been applying for tags (rifle) for a while now, 6 years.
Some recent changes for NR archery;
  • March 31st 2022 was the deadline for public land archery tags
  • Oct 1st is the public land season opener, I believe private opens Sept with all resident permits
  • The statewide NR archery tag is $286 plus a $25 habitat stamp plus application fees
Click to expand...
Also just got my reminder of Wyoming preference point time to buy
 
Hduke86 said:
Also just got my reminder of Wyoming preference point time to buy
Click to expand...
Just like SD, WY has changed it up recently. I wonder how many people forget to buy a point in WY if the applied and struck out in the application process. Drives me nuts they changed that.
 
Does SD and archery in SD have the same system of Guide Permits that ND has? One of my BIL goes gun hunting during the rut in ND every year and he has no problem getting a license because he uses a Guide Service. In ND, Guides are provided with a given number of Permits each year.
 
BSK said:
Does SD and archery in SD have the same system of Guide Permits that ND has? One of my BIL goes gun hunting during the rut in ND every year and he has no problem getting a license because he uses a Guide Service. In ND, Guides are provided with a given number of Permits each year.
Click to expand...
No, SD is purely draw. NR Archery is basically guaranteed but you have a deadline now if you want to hunt public land. If your hunting private you can miss the draw deadline, residents also get first dibs on public land now (R start Sept 1 and NR start Oct 1).
Rifle tags are the hardest to draw. You have east river, west river, black hills, etc. Then you have mule deer/whitetail permits that are even harder to draw within the above regions/units.
Reservations are a different story, each one is different.
 
AT Hiker said:
No, SD is purely draw. NR Archery is basically guaranteed but you have a deadline now if you want to hunt public land. If your hunting private you can miss the draw deadline, residents also get first dibs on public land now (R start Sept 1 and NR start Oct 1).
Rifle tags are the hardest to draw. You have east river, west river, black hills, etc. Then you have mule deer/whitetail permits that are even harder to draw within the above regions/units.
Reservations are a different story, each one is different.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info AT
 
AT Hiker said:
Just like SD, WY has changed it up recently. I wonder how many people forget to buy a point in WY if the applied and struck out in the application process. Drives me nuts they changed that.
Click to expand...
Hopefully they pay attention to the email cause that's in bold lettering I believe that if you applied for a hunt and struck out that priority points are not automatic and you need to buy one. For the nonresident that is now resident automatically get a point. Nonresident have until midnight on October 31st I believe to buy in.
 
Got a brother that lives in Pierre and have bowhunted public with him along the MO River which is Corp of Eng land I think. SD also has a lot of "school land" that is public but in widely scattered blocks, OnX is your friend. Lots of Indian reservation land too but it'll cost you.

Have a rifle hunt booked on a private ranch in very NW corner of state this year. Located just 10-15 miles from ND & MT. Private rifle tags are good for either mule deer or whitetail. Had same hunt booked last year but rescheduled for this year due to drought. Drew tag last year with 2 points but turned back in & points reinstated. Drew this year with 3 which is a slam dunk for west river special buck. Buddy going with me drew with 1 & 33% chance.

SD has the most pro-active Game & Fish Dept than any other state I've ever dealt with. Last year due to drought & small EHD they offered tag refunds & pref point reinstatement to NR's which I took advantage of. Never had another state even come close to something like that. They also have a very aggressive bounty program on varmints in which a possum is worth $5.00!
 
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You can still buy a NR archery permit for private land. I hunted private land near Herrick, SD in 2020. If you're interested in the contact, PM me.

Two things surprised me. First, hunting from the ground with a bow. And second, rattling in bucks. To make a long story short, I believe I had deer within 20 yards every day. Many times within 10 yards. Within 75 yards was probably 25-50 per day. Mostly does and small bucks.

Being an eastern WT hunter, I've given up on rattling. Seen too many deer get spooked by it, and never had any come in that I thought were coming to the rattling. But in SD, I rattled in small bucks every day.

I posted a semi-live on MonsterMuley.com. I'll find the link and put it here.

Guy that hunted the week after me killed a nice one, in the area I had told him were some very nice rubs.
 
Here's the link.

South Dakota Semi Live | Whitetail Deer

Left Wyoming ahead of the snowstorm Wednesday and cruised through the fog, snow, and rain to Rapid City. Parked for the night and headed through the Badlands to an archery hunt. I'm sure the Badlands look bad'er when you can see more than a few hundred yards! Met the landowner Thursday, he...
www.monstermuleys.info www.monstermuleys.info
 
Just got back from spending some time in NW Missouri, Kansas and SD. I seen more deer and more big bucks in SD than anywhere I've been. This state has made me seriously question my ideas on what it takes to grow mature bucks. Very little cover, not many acorns but tons of grass. I talked to several locals and from what I could gather the state has relatively little hunting pressure. Turkey population was good too and the locals sure had a hatred for them and hawks.
 
East River (east of the Missouri) is pretty much whitetail only. There are some mulies along the east side of the river but not many, I would venture. West River is mixed whitetail and mulies. If you are gun hunting (which the OP is not) you should also look into an antelope tag. They are everywhere out there. I have hunted a lot around the Winner area and in the NW part of the state around the Cave Hills and north of there. It's been 25 years since I left SD (I grew up there) but I doubt a lot has changed in this regard.

East River is primarily crop farmland (with a ton of CRP probably). West river has crops, too, but is considered ranch land. The two halves of the state are very different in terms of terrain and cover.
 

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