SD vs ND non resident mule deer (archery)

[solemntactician]

OK, so had initial plans of going elk hunting.... well with time off available vs time off needed, it aint gunna happen.

So we are looking at a muley hunt (archery) instead but trying to decide on SD or ND.

Thoughts/suggestions? Good idea bad idea? Would you rather go a different route? feel free to PM instead of open forum

Im from IL so trying to keep the drive to a day.

 

[NDGuy]

PM me if you want any details on ND.

 

[william schmaltz]

Last I heard, only things left in the ND badlands are rough necks and rattle snakes! I haven't been back there for about 5 years but hopefully someone can help you out. I sure hope it's getting back to the glory days down there.

 

[Muleys32]

ND Archery mule deer for NR already had their draw. I don't believe there is anything like returned tags that you could use. You could still get over the counter whitetail archery tags but would have to wait until next year to apply for the any deer bow tag. SD I believe is OTC for archery in most areas but not entirely sure.

 

[dble07]

ND Archery mule deer for NR already had their draw. I don't believe there is anything like returned tags that you could use. You could still get over the counter whitetail archery tags but would have to wait until next year to apply for the any deer bow tag. SD I believe is OTC for archery in most areas but not entirely sure.

This is correct. Non residents have to apply for the archery tag by sometime in March (unsure of exact date). I don't think there is any OTC mule deer options after the deadline.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[NDGuy]

Last I heard, only things left in the ND badlands are rough necks and rattle snakes! I haven't been back there for about 5 years but hopefully someone can help you out. I sure hope it's getting back to the glory days down there.

It is still pretty rough on Mule deer out west. But this year they did open doe tags again. (Not sure why you'd do that unless you have a really healthy population)

 

[rackcity24]

There's deer on public and private. Obviously more on private. Hunting public can be done. Depending where you go, they eat on alfalfa fields then move back to their bedding. It got harder after the oil boom to get on private land due to some people trashing the land and/or poaching. Certain landowners don't mind, just mention that your only using your bow. NDGUY the population is better, but not like it used to be. More tags more $$$...

 

[NDGuy]

NDGUY the population is better, but not like it used to be. More tags more $$$...

Ya I was talking about deer numbers overall. 6 years ago they were giving out 120k tags. The last 5 have been 40-46k haha. Like you said the population is doing "better" but still not good hence my comment. I will say it is definitely location too. Some places got near wiped out completely while others barely noticed deer populations were down. Where I bowhunt WTs we counted over 100 dead fawns, does, and old bucks just on the outskirts of the mgmt area shed hunting last year. We didn't have a single buck over 100 inches on our cameras last fall.

 

[rackcity24]

I totally agree. Some areas are worse than others. Blue tongue did affect some deer as well, just not as much as the winters.

 

[william schmaltz]

It is still pretty rough on Mule deer out west. But this year they did open doe tags again. (Not sure why you'd do that unless you have a really healthy population)

When I was back a few months ago I was talking with Bill Jensen about the mule deer study out there and he said things are looking much better than when it was started 5 years ago. The doe season is finally a good sign. They’re not issuing doe tags so they can make a measly couple thousand dollars in tags. We used to find some MAGNUM muley sheds when doing lion work out there about 6 years ago and I was always too busy to hunt it. Still bug me. Sitting on 6 points now so I should be due if I move back in a couple years.

Blue tongue doesn’t really have any effect on mule deer in ND. The finger can pretty much be pointed at losing 2 million acres of CRP in a span of 5 years, draining and planting every wetland in sight, and ripping out almost every tree row. Once all that protection was taken away, the winters took care of the rest. I remember having a buck rifle tag, bow tag, and 6 doe tags one year to hoping I can get a single rifle tag two years later.

 

[dirtytough]

Like mentioned the deadline to apply for a non res bow tag in ND is in March. There are some decent whitetails here also. If you were interested in hunting whitetails instead I could help you out with a few areas that hold decent bucks.

As for muleys I did not see the quality of bucks this last year that I have seen in years past. I was actually disappointed. Still a good amount of deer though. Hopefully it was just me and not an age issue. 400+ rifle muley buck tags per unit during the rut definitely makes it a little harder for the bucks to grow up. And with as wide open as the grasslands are it makes it even harder for the bucks to escape during rifle season.

 

[NDGuy]

The finger can pretty much be pointed at losing 2 million acres of CRP in a span of 5 years, draining and planting every wetland in sight, and ripping out almost every tree row. Once all that protection was taken away, the winters took care of the rest. I remember having a buck rifle tag, bow tag, and 6 doe tags one year to hoping I can get a single rifle tag two years later.

Ding Ding Ding

Thanks $10 corn..

I still see red when I think about all of that habitat lost. I really hope G & F turns it around and gets another program going.

 

[Muleys32]

As for muleys I did not see the quality of bucks this last year that I have seen in years past. I was actually disappointed. Still a good amount of deer though. Hopefully it was just me and not an age issue. 400+ rifle muley buck tags per unit during the rut definitely makes it a little harder for the bucks to grow up. And with as wide open as the grasslands are it makes it even harder for the bucks to escape during rifle season.

I can second this. As well as almost everyone I talked to. I think it was the case across the west for the most part with the drought.

 

[MIedge]

I do not have an opinion on ND as I have not hunted the state. I have however hunted SD (all public) the last two years and the two experiences could not have been more different. Both hunts took place in the last week of September.

2016: Coming from swamp hunting whitetails in MI, we were blown away by the numbers of deer we were seeing. The pressure was low and we saw significantly more whitetails than we did muleys. It may have been a product of the style we chose to hunt that year (mostly glassing rather than hoofin it). The muley bucks we encountered were all forks and small 3x3's whereas the whitetail bucks we were able to put stalks on were much more mature ranging from the 130s to the 150s.

2017: This past year we hunted completely differently in that we covered significantly more terrain. We put on around 60 miles in the week and were able to get in stalks every day. Unlike the previous year in the same area, we saw almost zero whitetails and significantly more hunting pressure. A short discussion with a few locals lead us to believe that the culprit for low whitetail numbers was blue tongue. We did however see muley bucks everywhere. On the third morning I blew a chip shot on a nice 150ish 4x4 giving him a haircut. The bucks we saw ranged from small forks to a nice 170 nontypical 5x4 all on public. Driving to and from our hunting locations it became blatantly clear that in the future we should try for permission on private because we were seeing some fatties file on/off private before and after shooting light.

All in all I have been thrilled with hunting SD so far. My brothers and I are using it as a stepping stone to move onto a CO elk hunt and as it stands we will probably be going back this fall to take care of some unfinished business.

 

[jm1607]

Did west SD get hit hard by the freeze last year?

 

[KurtR]

If you mean winter no it was not bad this year. As for freezing it was 5 degrees this morning

 

[NDGuy]

If you mean winter no it was not bad this year. As for freezing it was 5 degrees this morning

I can't believe this weather, sucks a%%

 

[KurtR]

I can't believe this weather, sucks a%%

I know now another 5-8 inches of snow this Sunday. At least we won't start the year in a drought.

 

[solemntactician]

Looks like we will be going to the Badlands last week of Sept. So here are some questions..... again your choice of open forum or PM

Questions regarding a last week of September SD Badlands hunt:

• Typical weather (temps, rain, wind etc.) - research says fairly warm 50-75 degrees.

• In regards to wind should I be training crosswinds (I’m from IL so most hunting is in the woods with little to 0 cross winds) or will they be in draws and such vs open country?

• Guide suggestions

• Tips/tricks – NOT LOOKING for gimmes (Never hunted Mules)

• Books/videos/podcasts to look at

• Gear that I wouldn’t think of

• Typical hiking distances?

 

[KurtR]

Looks like we will be going to the Badlands last week of Sept. So here are some questions..... again your choice of open forum or PM

Questions regarding a last week of September SD Badlands hunt:

• Typical weather (temps, rain, wind etc.) - research says fairly warm 50-75 degrees.

• In regards to wind should I be training crosswinds (I’m from IL so most hunting is in the woods with little to 0 cross winds) or will they be in draws and such vs open country?

• Guide suggestions

• Tips/tricks – NOT LOOKING for gimmes (Never hunted Mules)

• Books/videos/podcasts to look at

• Gear that I wouldn’t think of

• Typical hiking distances?

Weather could be 100 or 5 out with snow rain or blistering sun. Its april and today it is 10 out and we are getting more snow on sunday it should be in the 50's. So its really hard to say but if you go of average your temps are probably close.

Wind is another it could be calm with bugs killing you or blowing 40 generally its blowing 40 which is a relatively light breeze for here haha.

cant help with the guide i know there are some good ones i just dont know who to recommend since living here i dont use them.

tips do alot of glassing be patient as i have watched guys walk yards from mulies as they laid in a creek and they blew past they will hide in places you dont thing a deer can. Our draws would be open places from what you are used to seeing.

gear would be easier if you list what you were bringing

hiking distance can also very from few hundred yards to miles but its no supper hard like in the mountains so if you can walk with out having a heart attack you will be fine.