South Dakota Application Strategy

[ProStaffSteve]

Hello Roksliders,

I have done some research & concluded that it will probably be a couple years down the road before I get to make this hunt happen. Essentially I’m looking to hunt a South Dakota Mule Deer. I’d prefer to hunt West River but also think I could make East river Any Deer (Mule Deer) work for me. I missed the chance to buy a bonus point last fall-new year 2022 & understand these tags are looking plenty coveted. What strategies do you utilize to pull tags here. Is there a certain region that might be under represented from hunters where it won’t take 5 years to get a chance at a tag?

Hope everyone has luck this draw season! I have my MT big game combo in and my expectations couldn’t be lower for my odds there!

 

[bsnedeker]

Hello Roksliders,

I have done some research & concluded that it will probably be a couple years down the road before I get to make this hunt happen. Essentially I’m looking to hunt a South Dakota Mule Deer. I’d prefer to hunt West River but also think I could make East river Any Deer (Mule Deer) work for me. I missed the chance to buy a bonus point last fall-new year 2022 & understand these tags are looking plenty coveted. What strategies do you utilize to pull tags here. Is there a certain region that might be under represented from hunters where it won’t take 5 years to get a chance at a tag?

Hope everyone has luck this draw season! I have my MT big game combo in and my expectations couldn’t be lower for my odds there!

East River Mulies? I grew up east river SD (Mitchell and Watertown), I've never heard of a mulie in eastern SD....of course it's been over 20 years so maybe things have changed?

 

[LongWayAround]

I would bet there's a few around Oahe but you should plan on west river for mule deer.

 

[ProStaffSteve]

Growing up we used to hunt East River for Pheasant & bunnies we would certainly run into a few mule deer. Just confirmed with the old man that we saw mule deer in East river, nice ones too. Is drawing the East river tag “Any Deer” license realistic or is it a crap shot? Their prior year draw results are confusing to say the least

 

[ProStaffSteve]

I would bet there's a few around Oahe but you should plan on west river for mule deer.

Didn’t know Hawaii had mule deer either

 

[MidWesternHunter7]

You can look up harvest numbers to see how heavily favored east river is for white tail over mulies. But they're there. Either way, I'd stick to west river if you're after mule deer

 

[bsnedeker]

Growing up we used to hunt East River for Pheasant & bunnies we would certainly run into a few mule deer. Just confirmed with the old man that we saw mule deer in East river, nice ones too. Is drawing the East river tag “Any Deer” license realistic or is it a crap shot? Their prior year draw results are confusing to say the least

Just checked the harvest stats from 2021 in SD....east river hunters harvested a grand total of 62 mule deer bucks east river. Color me surprised!

Edit: Was reading it wrong...actually about 250 mule deer bucks in total. That's compared to about 13 thousand whitetail bucks.

 

[wyosteve]

Duh- it's Oahe, not Oahu!

 

[ProStaffSteve]

Just checked the harvest stats from 2021 in SD....east river hunters harvested a grand total of 62 mule deer bucks east river. Color me surprised!

Edit: Was reading it wrong...actually about 250 mule deer bucks in total. That's compared to about 13 thousand whitetail bucks.

I knew it! And actually not afraid of this. Even open to filling the tag if I found a nice whitetail too, but I’m pretty confident I could find one of the 250 & make it 251. But brass tax, how challenging is pulling the tag these days? West river looks like 4-6yr plan minimum ^x is supposed to be a big issue. Maybe that East river pull would give me a shot at going somewhere hunting

 

[ProStaffSteve]

You can look up harvest numbers to see how heavily favored east river is for white tail over mulies. But they're there. Either way, I'd stick to west river if you're after mule deer

Have you pulled either tag? Insight to rates would be great.

 

[MidWesternHunter7]

Have you pulled either tag? Insight to rates would be great.

I grew up in SD so I would pull tags yearly as a resident. SD has a nice draw statistics calculator you can google that will tell you exactly what you're looking for

 

[ProStaffSteve]

I grew up in SD so I would pull tags yearly as a resident. SD has a nice draw statistics calculator you can google that will tell you exactly what you're looking for

Copy, copy. Can’t wait to post my East river mule deer with absolutely no insight as to where he came from I’ll DM those guys who have and who eventually provide insight here

 

[sodaksooner]

Ive got 8pp right now, but just keep putting in for them every year. Just like anywhere, no one that knows is going to give up spots. That said SD tracks by county/unit so you get a pretty good idea via the harvest stats. Look at walk in/public land atlas and correlate. I grew up west river and still know a few good spots but I aint telling!!! LOL.

 

[Lytro]

East river for muleys might be an easier draw than west river since it's overlooked. There's a lot less of them, but you can certainly get into them in the hills bordering the river.

My advice is to just look at the draw statistics, find a unit you can draw an any deer tag in, and go. I know of at least one unit that a nonresident has over 60% draw odds with 0 points. SD probably has the easiest draw stats to filter through, but who knows when 2022's will be posted.

 

[ProStaffSteve]

East river for muleys might be an easier draw than west river since it's overlooked. There's a lot less of them, but you can certainly get into them in the hills bordering the river.

My advice is to just look at the draw statistics, find a unit you can draw an any deer tag in, and go. I know of at least one unit that a nonresident has over 60% draw odds with 0 points. SD probably has the easiest draw stats to filter through, but who knows when 2022's will be posted.

Excellent! That’s the sort of info I needed a rough overview on. Super appealing to me as I have some sort of idea on area I wanna focus and challenges to expect. Plus if I fill my tag early I know I can go chase birds with my free time

 

[ProStaffSteve]

Ive got 8pp right now, but just keep putting in for them every year. Just like anywhere, no one that knows is going to give up spots. That said SD tracks by county/unit so you get a pretty good idea via the harvest stats. Look at walk in/public land atlas and correlate. I grew up west river and still know a few good spots but I aint telling!!! LOL.

Wouldn’t want this info if you were going to give it to me! That’s half the fun. Just need to ensure that I can get my hands on a tag so I can be legal while hunting. Pretty impactful experience as I had hunted pheasant before getting my first deer, I recall spooking these funny looking mule bucks thinking why the hell do I hunt MN when these deer just stand there! Got a mule deer in MT last year and I’m more passionate about this now than ever

 

[Andrew12gauge]

Copy, copy. Can’t wait to post my East river mule deer with absolutely no insight as to where he came from I’ll DM those guys who have and who eventually provide insight here

You won’t be posting an east river mule deer because as a nonresident you are not allowed to apply for east river in the 1st draw, meaning you will not draw an east river any deer tag


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ProStaffSteve]

You won’t be posting an east river mule deer because as a nonresident you are not allowed to apply for east river in the 1st draw, meaning you will not draw an east river any deer tag


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Is this consistent? I’d be okay applying for a couple years.

 

[Trees91]

I could show you and east river mule deer in less than an hour. Guaranteed. But I ain't gonna gotta save them for archery and if I ever draw a any deer tag.

 

[KurtR]

Is this consistent? I’d be okay applying for a couple years.

You will never draw an any deer tag east river. Unless you buy the special buck for private land only and I think that’s a tough draw. I will apply for 8 plus years as a resident for my mule deer tag. You have little to no chance drawing a east river whitetail tag. Nr can’t apply in the first draw and no tags left over. It will have to be west river or buy a reservation tag. Probably good not to draw a few years winter hasn’t been kind and then add disease in deer are down. I have enough points to draw the west river tag I want but doubt I will apply this year unless I see something interesting. The nw corner gets the most attention but there are lots of area not there that have mulies.