Getting back to hunting

[TheYukiYama]

Hello all! New on rockslide, however I’ve come across and read forums years ago when I was hunting. I was born and raised in South Dakota and started hunting with my dad and grandpa. Hunted from age 12 for a decade which is when I finished college and moved to California for work. Been here a few years now and got busy with life and other hobbies so I haven’t been hunting, but now looking to get back into it. Fortunately, I continued buying preference points in SD so I have 9 for rifle antelope, 9 for west river deer, 4 for black hills deer, and 2 for west river special buck so should be good to go for tags for the next couple years. Tags seem to be getting more difficult in SD, particularly not that I’m a nonresident, so I’m looking at starting to get preference/bonus for deer, elk, and antelope in more western states (CO, MT, WY primarily, maybe a couple others all of which I have connections to lend a starting hand) so after I’ve completed these SD hunts I will have some opportunity in other states as well, and hopefully have got back some of my hunting edge by that time. I attached photos of some the animals I’ve been lucky enough to take over the years, and I plan to continue this thread with a post dedicated to each one.

 

[TheYukiYama]

#1 Bull elk 2019. Elk tags are pretty hard to draw in South Dakota. I had 10 preference points at the time and was very fortunate as it was my last year as a South Dakota resident that I drew. I had hunted cow elk before but this was my first bull. I was in college in CO at this time and made it a habit of coming home almost every weekend in August and September to get ready for this hunt. I had these elk pretty dialed in. Opening morning I was in the field at 2am as I needed to get to a good spot where the herd exits a large alfalfa field before any starting heading that way. I sat for hours listening to the almost non stop bugles of bulls from a herd around 120 head. At first shooting light this bull chased a rag horn out from his group of cows providing a broadside shot at 330yards. Hit him with my 7mm in the heart. He made it about 15 yards before dropping dead. Incredible hunt with my dad and grandpa, and one I’ll never forget as it was my first bull elk and the last with my grandpa who has since passed away. Filling a tag you waited over a decade to draw minutes into season opener was bittersweet for sure. Bull netted 306 and did a shoulder mount (which my parents gratuitously paid for as a birthday gift as I was broke college student at the time).

 

[TheYukiYama]

#2 public land whitetail deer. Most recent deer I have taken. Was late season but my first day out. Was on my birthday (which you’ll find seems to by a lucky day for me). I walked a forest road well before first light to get to the edge of a field I hoped to have deer exit. As I sit right as the sun begins to rise, I hear that familiar rumble of a truck who pulls up to the closest point the road gets (there are roads almost everywhere in SD so it can be difficult to get far from them). As the hunter bumbles out of his truck to the field he spoons about 15 deer off the field right to where I’m sitting. This buck stops just outside the field into brush not but 20 yards from me. Another tag filled less than 15minutes into hunting.

 

[TheYukiYama]

#3 prairie whitetail. On my great grandfathers ranch in NW SD. Lot of private land for miles. I was 13 years old and went up with my grandpa. We had hunted a few days and hadn’t seen much. CWD and winters had been rough on the deer in this area. After 5 days we saw this buck in the next property over early in the morning. He worked his way down a draw toward our property but bedded down about half mile before the property line. That evening we snuck to a ridge right at the property edge and waited. Sure enough, he worked his way down the draw and offered a perfect 75 yard shot. I double lunged him but he made it out of the draw and up over into the next. Blood was somewhat light and the color of the CRP made it difficult to follow. This was the first animal (my 6th at this time) that I didn’t see go down. I had only been looking for 20minutes but I was sick to my stomach. The feeling when my grandpa called me over and this guy was laying there was one of the bigger reliefs I can remember.

 

[TheYukiYama]

#4 public land archery whitetail. Another birthday buck. Was a cold day in the tree stand. Sat from sun up when the snow moved in, which often gets the deer moving throughout the day in this area. Was also during the rut (late Nov). This guy came right in. I was so cold after not moving while sitting in an exposed tree in blowing snow for 8 hours in 10F weather. When this guy came in I got a little too excited. He was my biggest archery deer at the time. I pulled my shot which was only around 18yards and hit him in the spine. He dropped but immediately started trying to run using his front two legs. Before I was able to get another arrow nocked he has made it behind a tree and I didn’t have a shot. I quickly climbed down from the tree. Adrenaline rushing I made a mistake. Instead of just putting another arrow through him and leaving him for a minute, I pulled out my knife and thought I’d easily cut his throat. Again, what a mistake. As I reached him and grabbed his antlers to finish him off, he spun around with such strength for a wounded deer with only two legs and nearly fired me. I realized my mistake and put another arrow through him at 10 yards. I watched him expire and for whatever reason this one really hit me in the gut. Looking him in the eye I felt the fear he had. The suffering I put him through. Hadn’t before felt this much empathy with my game. Nearly got myself hurt. A great buck with a slightly sour experience. Promised myself to be better going forward.

 

[TheYukiYama]

#5 walk in access mule deer. NW SD. Opening weekend this year we had a storm I hadn’t before experienced. It was a freezing rain slush that layered ice onto everything. Pieces for grass were as thick as a nickel with ice. Opening gates required chiseling ice off. It was windy and below zero that morning. While hunting a different property we spotted this buck about a mile away across open country laying just below a ridge on a plateau. The property was private but was opened up to walk in hunting from the public. We started off walking, making a large loop to put a nearby bluff between him and us to provide cover as we closed the distance. We climbed the adjacent bluff but as we got to the top, we realized it was basically at the same elevation as he was so even crouching we would be visible. We had to crawl on hands and knees 250 yards to get to my shooting range at this age (200 yards). When we reached that point I set up my shorting stick and hit him still lying in his bed, almost 2 hours after first spotting him. I ended up getting some frostbite on my cheeks and wrist where it wasn’t covered which blistered and turned black in the following weeks but was a great experience.

 

[TheYukiYama]

#6 section line whitetail. NW SD. In SD (not sure on laws elsewhere) but there are section lines between prices of private where hunting is legal. My dad and I were walking this section line to get access to a piece of BLM where we planned to hunt that evening but on our way in we came across this guy. It was the last day of our season and this was nothing but pure luck. He just stood up out of a thick bottom bed and gave us an easy 75 yard chip shot. After a long season of walking, this was quite the reward for those miles on the boots and hours behind glass.

 

[eddielasvegas]

As the self-appointed chairman of the welcoming committee, it is my privilege to extend a laurel, and hearty handshake (virtual, of course) to our new SD/CA member.


Eddie



P.S. You get two FNG 's for including lots and lots of really good pix with your intro.

 

[TheYukiYama]

#7 public land whitetail. After hunting almost everyday of the season and getting a few opportunities, I had begun to think it wasn’t going to happen for me this year. I was walking back to the truck after about 4 miles of hiking hoping to bump something, when I decided I needed to take a piss. I set my gun down, walk over to a tree and am about halfway through when I catch movement. This buck, with nose to the ground is charging through the draw. I get so excited I end up peeing on myself a bit as I scramble back to grab my gun. I turn back pants still unzipped with my manhood still out when this guy goes through an opening at 80 yards. I mimic my beat grunt noise to get him to stop and put him down. Not my proudest execution but hey, I take what I can get.

 

[TheYukiYama]

#8 private land whitetail. on my parents 10acre where they plan to build a new house in the Black Hills. Set up a tree stand and waited. After not seeing movement I decide to through out a grunt right before heading down. This guy can charging in. To this day still the only animal I have called in. Was quite exciting and hope to do more of it in the future.

#9 public land whitetail. Fairly uneventful hunt. I was riding the four wheeler along a forest road to get to my afternoon hunting spot when I see this guy. I pull out my rifle, load it, and he’s still standing there at 180yards. I fire and he seems to disappear. About 20 other deer get up out of beds and I can’t make out where he might be. As I searched around I began to think I might’ve missed. Finally turns out he had dropped in his tracks between a couple logs. Almost didn’t find him.

#10 private land whitetail. Another on my parents 10 acre piece in the Black Hills. I was sitting in a stand when this guy went on by. I had trail cam photos of a lot bigger deer but it seemed I was only seeing activity after dark. I think hunting pressure in the area was high this year. I took my shot which was decent but maybe slightly far back so I gave him some time. Came back after dark and started trailing. I was making progress but slow. That’s when I heard a coyote a couple hundred yards ahead of me. I immediately took off in the direction do the coyote and the way I had been tracking him. He had made it about 600 yards and I deed the coyote was on him but fortunately hadn’t really done any damage. Shot turned out to be double lung which sort of shocked me for how little blood I was seeing and that he was able to make it almost a half mile. Impressive animals.

 

[TheYukiYama]

As the self-appointed chairman of the welcoming committee, it is my privilege to extend a laurel, and hearty handshake (virtual, of course) to our new SD/CA member.


Eddie



P.S. You get two FNG 's for including lots and lots of really good pix with your intro.

Thanks Eddie. Hope to be able to contribute. If anyone has any questions about SD hunting, I have it pretty dialed in as far as understanding the application/point process and where the best areas are whether you’re wanting public or private and how long you’re willing to wait for a tag.

Here’s a couple more photos of a couple lions I’ve taken. Met a great guy out in the woods one day that runs hounds and was generous enough to take me out. The snowy hunt was in Wyoming and was about -10F. Brutal steep pack out but incredible hunt. The second was in Custer state park. I used to think these dog hunts were a bit of a joke, but they were some of the most fun I’ve been on. It was by no means easy and those dogs are truly impressive.

 

[LongWayAround]

I'm fairly confident this is the best "getting back into hunting" post I've ever seen on here.

Cheers!

I'm sitting here waiting for the sun to cool off, hoping for a whitetail myself.

 

[ProStaffSteve]

how can you be an FNG when you've already killed everything that walks the woods? get this man a new title