South Dakota mule deer

[ChasinDoes]

Anybody ever hunt southwest South Dakota for mule deer? Drew what i thought was a good unit for mule deer but afraid I might have made a mistake.

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[Andrew12gauge]

I drew a South Dakota tag for the first time this year and scored in the first hour of the opener

In that first hour this morning I saw 3 different 4 points cruising for does. Spent the afternoon window shopping since my hunt ended so quickly. Lots of deer in the unit I have which is SW


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[Beagle001]

Nice buck, Andrew!

 

[KurtR]

I drew a South Dakota tag for the first time this year and scored in the first hour of the opener

In that first hour this morning I saw 3 different 4 points cruising for does. Spent the afternoon window shopping since my hunt ended so quickly. Lots of deer in the unit I have which is SW


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You should have been here in the 2002-2010 years. population was at a minimum 50%-75% of what it is now with better quality. Triple tags handed out like candy for every one. Then in one bad winter it went down hill and still not recovered. I would say after hunting for 5 years in Idaho it probably feels like there is alot of deer compared to what i saw out there even with our horrible population numbers right now.

 

[ChasinDoes]

Ended up getting a nice 4pt after 3 days scouting and 2 days hunting. Saw a pile.of does, spikes and forks with a couple 3 pts. Only saw 2 4pts one of which I shot. Super fun and exciting hunt that morning

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[DakotaCC]

I bow hunted in the SW part of the state earlier this year and was really disappointed with the mule deer quality compared to the last few years. I was in a few miles deep, which is hard to do in SD. However, I know of a couple guys who found some really good ones on public, just off a major highway. So I guess they are still out there, just not always where you expect.

 

[ChasinDoes]

I bow hunted in the SW part of the state earlier this year and was really disappointed with the mule deer quality compared to the last few years. I was in a few miles deep, which is hard to do in SD. However, I know of a couple guys who found some really good ones on public, just off a major highway. So I guess they are still out there, just not always where you expect.

Yea it took me a few days to find anything bigger than a small 3pt. Real happy with the deer I ended up taking tho

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[ChasinDoes]

I bow hunted in the SW part of the state earlier this year and was really disappointed with the mule deer quality compared to the last few years. I was in a few miles deep, which is hard to do in SD. However, I know of a couple guys who found some really good ones on public, just off a major highway. So I guess they are still out there, just not always where you expect.

Biggest one i saw on the trip

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[DakotaCC]

In my opinion, that's a good representation of what you can expect to find on public land in SD. No doubt there are bigger but in my experience they are very few and far between. I know some guys who pound SD public hard every year and they don't always kill deer as big as yours. Good work.

 

[hburggunner]

Biggest one i saw on the trip

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Good lookin buck. Congrats dude.

 

[car]

Nice buck, congrats!

 

[krent12]

I have 5 preference point for west river this year. i was considering the SW corner because of the amount of public and few tags. but maybe i need to reconsider that area.

 

[KurtR]

Had an east river any deer tag that takes 5 years to get. Hunted lots of what should be good private land and public seen one deer that got me a little excited till I put the glass on him. The deer numbers are absolutely horrible here and nr can’t get tags so that’s not a problem. With only 50 tags given out pressure wasn’t a problem. Here is the one that looked nice until closer inspection.

 

[Fatcamp]

Gotta say, pressure is stupid and deer numbers seem way down. SDGFP will respond in 4-5 years.

Our deer are hunted from September 1-January 1. That's a full third of the year. It's stupid.

We have great muzzleloader any deer tags we won't fill. It wouldn't be right.

 

[Jared Bloomgren]

SD numbers or quality are not what they used to be that’s for sure!

 

[N_Steen]

We bow hunted NW mid october. Lots of does and only a couple forkys

 

[spur60]

Gotta say, pressure is stupid and deer numbers seem way down. SDGFP will respond in 4-5 years.

Our deer are hunted from September 1-January 1. That's a full third of the year. It's stupid.

We have great muzzleloader any deer tags we won't fill. It wouldn't be right.

Yep we need to continue hammering the GFP commission into submission until there are significant changes to tag allotments for does, non resident archery, etc. for both WT and muleys. I drew statewide muzzleloader and spent Dec 26-Jan 1 bouncing between Fall River Co, the hills, and the badlands. Spent mornings looking for/at mule deer and afternoons chasing whitetails in the trees. I ended up eating tag soup. I had some good sneaks to 50-100 yards on muley does and a spike or two just to verify there wasn't a nice buck hiding with them. Saw an ok amount of whitetails once I got into a good area on day 3. Missed a decent 4x4 at 157 yards. Got busted by an even bigger 4x4 that ran onto private before I could line up a shot. Those were the only two shooters I saw that weren't in city limits in Custer, RC, Springs, etc.

Overall, deer numbers flat suck right now and are definitely down in the areas I elk hunted in the hills end of december in 2022. Also, WT numbers are terrible over here on the east side; still recovering from '22 winterkill and EHD this summer knocked down more. I couldn't even find a doe on public to fill a miner co. rifle tag or the LM muzzleloader doe tag. Land owners I have permission from weren't letting very many does get shot either. Oh well, until someting changes I'll have to support the cattle producers and buy more beef.

 

[sodaksooner]

My brother lived in Hot Springs for many years. I remember the days when I could pick up a leftover a few days before rifle and head up and hunt. No more. I have 10 pp now and most likely will not hunt Fall River County though. Honestly most of the deer he shot over the years were whitetails, but he does have a 180" muley on the wall from there. All that said, we have some private land we can hunt, fortunately, but I have been too bitten by the elk bug to take the time to hunt SD. This year may be the year though, just not down south.

 

[TheYukiYama]

I was a South Dakota resident for 22 years but moved out of state a handful of years ago. Historically have just done whitetail so I could hunt more often but since I have the points I'll likely do any deer and target muley. Lot of big mule deer east of Rapid, (Wall to Phillip area) still but mostly on private. I've hunted SW public before because it was closer to home, but not so sure I want to spend my points there. I've heaard from friends that NW also isnt what it used to be.. I'm tired of waiting though so going to spend my points, just need to decide where...

 

[sleekmedia]

Lol I learned this the hard way years back my first time hunting AZ OTC. Deer like ease of access to food, shelter, and water just like us. They aren't going to go way back in unless they have to. Look in the spot's others aren't close to resources. I have found a lot of big bucks just off the road on a hillside, watching the road everyone drives in on. Smarter not harder.

I bow hunted in the SW part of the state earlier this year and was really disappointed with the mule deer quality compared to the last few years. I was in a few miles deep, which is hard to do in SD. However, I know of a couple guys who found some really good ones on public, just off a major highway. So I guess they are still out there, just not always where you expect.

looking.