North Dakota Whitetails

[ManUpNorth]

Planning on doing an early-season archery whitetail hunt. In your opinion would bringing a saddle be worth it? Want to target river bottoms. TIA

 

[ewescue]

Are you asking if taking a saddle is worth it vs a treestand? or if taking a saddle to be able to hunt from an elevated position is worth it?

 

[SuperDUECE22]

well beings a tree saddle virtually takes up no room why wouldn't you just bring it so you have it ?

 

[WCB]

I'd be more concerned with lack of deer

 

[NDGuy]

I'd be more concerned with lack of deer

We got whacked pretty hard this winter. Definitely in pockets though, some places have great numbers some are a boneyard.

 

[go4thegusto]

We got whacked pretty hard this winter. Definitely in pockets though, some places have great numbers some are a boneyard.

Yep, going to be a lean year. I found 36 dead deer in one small hay yard about an acre in SE ND. Heaven knows how many were dead nearby. I found another dozen shed hunting including several shed mature bucks.
I will be hunting hard this fall but could be a bird watching fall.

 

[fulldraw1972]

The DNR has an article on their web site about the effects of last winter.
In the article it talks about 50+% loss in 2J1 and 2J2.

 

[ManUpNorth]

With the winter kill would west river be a better spot to target?

 

[D S 319]

Winter kill on the west side too. NDGF claims ~30% lower numbers in the badlands. Just ain’t gonna be able to be as picky on them.

 

[Brandon.miller.4]

I've been doing some pre season scouting out west and central. Worst I've seen in my lifetime regarding deer numbers.

 

[WCB]

The DNR has an article on their web site about the effects of last winter.
In the article it talks about 50+% loss in 2J1 and 2J2.

Yep our zone the Any Antlered Deer rifle tags got cut by about 40%... of course Game and Fish still handing out doe tags like candy

 

[hoyt-guy]

I've been hunting with a saddle for the last 2 seasons. I use it on public & on my private ground. I really like it, and would bring it & use it if I was you. Hunting whitetails elevated works way better for me than trying to hunt them on the ground.

 

[WCB]

Also, to the OP. get a Ghillie suit...not a 3d leafy suit but a ghillie suite. We've killed a bunch of our deer in the Dakotas on the ground in Ghillies. A lot of "river bottom" or draws you can pattern deer coming out of are fairly narrow and steep hard to get above the deer as many times the deer are even in elevation with you in the tree. But normally there is some brush or cover on the top or above the trails. Just clear out a spot and sit down. Heck I've just sat against a fence post in my ghillie suit and killed deer in basically the wide open.