SD Black Hills Whitetail

[NLenz22]

Hey all,

After a couple years of applying I finally drew a whitetail tag for BH101 in South Dakota. I have family up there so it’s a chance to hunt some different country, spend time with family, etc…

That being said, I still want to put some effort into the hunt, and do my best to come home with a buck that represents the area well. This is a huge unit and from what I can see on aerials, the topography seems to be very similar throughout, and much different than what I’m used to hunting in Missouri.

Is there a certain portion of the unit that is known to hold (or not hold) deer? A particular area that gets a ton of hunting pressure that I might avoid? It sounds like there’s plenty of deer there but I’d like to have a better strategy than throwing a dart at the map.

Any advice would be appreciated!
Thanks!

 

[huntngolf]

There are whitetails everywhere in the black hills. Park on the side of the road, hike in and see if you find any. If you don't drive to a different place and try it again.
Or just drive around until you see some then hunt that area.
Its a fun tag to have

 

[Bearded Bowhunter]

What he said^^^. There will be plenty of people but the unit is huge and you can hunt most of it. Roads all over as well so it is pretty accessible.

 

[WCB]

Any obvious gate, "parking area" places close to towns, etc...will have more pressure. It is literally a hunt where throwing a dart and hunting is a strategy. If you can find long open ridges with saddles from one drainage to the next that is where I would sit first light and last light. If you are hunting during any rutting you can sit there all day and catch cruising bucks. or find a bench over looking an open-ish bottom and watch deer move all over.

Otherwise looking for the largest roadless area or rough terrain will weed out a few guys.

 

[cnelk]

Bring some rattling antlers....

 

[N2TRKYS]

What’s the average score for whitetail bucks in the Black Hills?

 

[spur60]

What’s the average score for whitetail bucks in the Black Hills?

100", lots of guys shoot the first 4x4 they see.

 

[cnelk]

100", lots of guys shoot the first 4x4 they see.

100", lots of guys shoot the first 4x4 they see from the truck

Typical for the BHs

 

[N2TRKYS]

10-4. There’s so many deer, I didn’t know how they could be very big.

 

[backcountry_hunter]

100", lots of guys shoot the first 4x4 they see from the truck

Typical for the BHs

Aside from this, the deer are also like a subspecies closer to Coues deer than a cornfed whitetail in Iowa. The tag is an absolute blast to have, but they just aren’t huge either body or antler. I had it a couple yrs ago and saw 100ish deer in 2 days. Don’t remember the exact number but was a lot. Very few hunters where I was but midweek away from towns….

 

[sniper20]

Let us know how you do. I live in the very SE corner of SD and I'm trying to get places to go hunting. Moved up here from KS where I had access to private land, that went away... Never had to hunt public before and trying to get started on it.

 

[cnelk]

Black Hills shooter?

 

[7RemMag]

I live in Northeast Wyoming. The SD border(and part of the black hills of SD) are 15-20 minutes from my doorstep. I spent much of the last two summers working in the hills around Deadwood and Lead. I don’t know if it’s feasible for you, but if you could find “corners” near private creek bottoms and ag lands close to or bordering huntable public lands those may be good spots to hunt as well. We could see quite a few deer, and a few decent bucks right from the excavator on a weekly basis while we were installing a 4” poly gas main along Rotchford Road and Highway 85.

I killed this guy less than a mile from the South Dakota border. In the Black Hills on the Wyoming side.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Sorry for the crappy quality. Black hills hybrid mule deer/whitetail with some gnarly tall and forked brow tines. Still in velvet. I tried to get a photo of him in the binos before he ran off. Crappy phone zoomed in too far pic. Different buck for sure.