North Dakota or South Dakota Archery?

[Otto#14]

I guess I live here (ND) so it may be different but my buddy who moved from wisconsin and my buddy who have moved here last year from Kentucky have not had any issue getting permission. Large ranches when offered help fencing or if you have a lick of mechanical skills can also come in handy when offering to lend a hand!

 

[gberb18]

I've never had a tag in nodak but as a previous resident of sodak for 4 years I can say that while I love spending time west river chasing mule deer, now that I've been in other states to compare it to the quality of deer in south dakota, unfortunately south dakota has been at the bottom. There are still deer on public lands, but I never laid eyes on a truly mature mule deer buck until I was in Wyoming, that was after 4 years of hunting public land in south dakota both in september and november. It seems like atleast for deer quality, south dakota just doesn't have it, atleast on public.

 

[dirtytough]

I've never had a tag in nodak but as a previous resident of sodak for 4 years I can say that while I love spending time west river chasing mule deer, now that I've been in other states to compare it to the quality of deer in south dakota, unfortunately south dakota has been at the bottom. There are still deer on public lands, but I never laid eyes on a truly mature mule deer buck until I was in Wyoming, that was after 4 years of hunting public land in south dakota both in september and november. It seems like atleast for deer quality, south dakota just doesn't have it, atleast on public.

With a 4 month archery season. 2 week rifle season during the rut, and a muzzy season in December makes it tough for deer to get age on them. They just don’t have much escapement west river unless they live on private.

 

[Fatcamp]

With a 4 month archery season. 2 week rifle season during the rut, and a muzzy season in December makes it tough for deer to get age on them. They just don’t have much escapement west river unless they live on private.

And now people know that pockets away from the road can hold big deer, and are willing to put in the miles.

There are some big deer in SD, but it not common that's for sure.

 

[NDGuy]

We both got whacked with some dreadful Winters in 21' and 22' and also had EHD sweep through 2 years ago for whitetails. It will be a few years of good crop and winters before we get enough mature deer back.

 

[Dakota_Rookie]

There needs to be restructured season dates (for SD at least) before you see consistently old, mature bucks on public land. As stated above, way too much pressure on limited public lands with long bow seasons, bust mostly rifle seasons in the rut. Maybe privates a different story.


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[KurtR]

There will never be a change. SDGFP manage the state as a opportunity state. Taking the rifle season out of the rut would be a huge thing but will never happen

 

[Dakota_Rookie]

There will never be a change. SDGFP manage the state as a opportunity state. Taking the rifle season out of the rut would be a huge thing but will never happen

I agree SDGFP would never make the change. Too much “tradition” with the November rifle hunts. One can only dream


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[Muddawg]

Montana has a 6 week rifle season. SD has already talked about including the archery tags in a draw in the near future. Most people are to lazy to put in the time it takes to find mature deer on public land.

 

[Dakota_Rookie]

Montana has a 6 week rifle season. SD has already talked about including the archery tags in a draw in the near future. Most people are to lazy to put in the time it takes to find mature deer on public land.

Most people are too lazy. And most who aren’t lazy don’t have the time to scout many different public land areas in different counties to find and hunt a truly mature Buck (mule deer or whitetail) on public land.

I wasn’t comparing SD to Montana or not saying they 100% don’t exist on public land here. But they are few and far between. It’s just the reality of the situation. If you’re coming to SD to hunt public land, expect to see deer but don’t expect to be breaking many records. It can be a really fun hunt if you manage your expectations.


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[tpick21]

I've hunted SD the last 3 years in a row. It has increasingly got noticeably worse every year. Not sure if I will go back this year or not. I ended up taking a medium buck last year, but it was very slim pickings. Overall numbers are waayyyy down. Used to be a super fun hunt, not sure what the cause in decline of animals is, but I hope it changes.

Overzealous GFP and Governor exploiting our resources, all for the benefit of the dollar.