South Dakota archery mule deer

[SDpiper09]

Hello everyone I’m new here. I normally don’t get into this forum stuff but it seems there is a lot of useful knowledge here. I live in central SD and have never hunted western SD. I know of all the public out west but I’m looking for a local that has more info on staying away from the NR crowds. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.

 

[Turkey165]

Go deeper and further then anyone else is willing to go. OUR public lands hold alot of good deer. The NR crowds (me) don't get to hunt them until October 1.

 

[rcfireninja]

Welcome to rokslide


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ndbowhunter]

Well you have the whole month of September to get past the NR crowds.

start there

I think the whole “NR crowding” is a bit of rubbish personally.

 

[Ndbowhunter]

Pm me.

this is a case of loose lips sink ships.

this isn’t 2004. Posting spots on the internet has to be the dumbest thing a guy can do.

 

[Jaweiss]

Central South Dakota has good hunting around there.

 

[KurtR]

Ya I don’t know that I would leave good hunting just to go west. Pm me what part your in. No need to blast on open forum

 

[OFFHNTN]

Hello everyone I’m new here. I normally don’t get into this forum stuff but it seems there is a lot of useful knowledge here. I live in central SD and have never hunted western SD. I know of all the public out west but I’m looking for a local that has more info on staying away from the NR crowds. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.

You, me, and 99% of the hunters out there would like to find places with less people. I would think being a resident in the center of the state you would have the upper hand and a huge advantage in finding good deer and tucked away places with a little work instead of asking on a forum.
Good luck and welcome to Rokslide!

 

[bjfoxhoven]

If you archery hunt you should be able to get away from most crowds out there. Even before the October 1 start for NR hunters I never ran into a ton of hunters during archery season. I’ve hunted November in the rut before rifle season and had many square miles all to myself. Rifle season is another story, the bigger tracks of public can get hit pretty dang hard unfortunately, especially the first weekend. Look through th SDGFP page and find tracks of land. Then compare to google earth, then go check them out yourself. Nothing beats boots on the ground. And remember that google earth doesn’t tell the entire story either, some areas don’t look like anything...but muleys find a way to live in that stuff too. I agree, being in the middle of the state gives you a great head start.

 

[Fatcamp]

What bj said.

 

[Lawnboi]

If your center state and local your in the position to find a lot of deer that are not on the radar to most guys headed to the western side.

 

[Mule34]

Welcome to the forum! I am from around Rapid City, there are a ton of spots you could look into. You could look north of Rapid City... but being from the middle of the state you really only need to cross the river to start looking for good mule deer. Some big mulies have been shot around the middle of the state! what part of the state are you from?

 

[WCB]

hahaha you don't have to worry about the NR crowd...I am one of those NRs and you have a month without any. Also, I hunted multiple years in a row in one of the most talked about areas in the state and in around 40 days over multiple seasons...including the year NRs could hunt Sept 1st...I saw exactly 4 hunters actually hunting in the field and guess what? They were all residents.

Better tip would be to ask how to get away from the resident pressure....easy answer....get more than 200yds off the road.

The whole over crowded NR thing is the biggest load of crap.

 

[LongWayAround]

I'm a non-resident and spent two five day trips last year west river. I saw one other guy bowhunting in 10 days and I was on deer every day.

Good thing they changed the application rules to keep the crowds at bay...

 

[Fatcamp]

And I thought I was salty at SDGFP. You guys are bent about that change, huh?

Are you two gonna hunt SD this year? Every time I see a "I didn't draw any tags!" thread I wonder if they bought SD archery. Might suck in some ways but a guaranteed tag for mule deer.

 

[bjfoxhoven]

hahaha you don't have to worry about the NR crowd...I am one of those NRs and you have a month without any. Also, I hunted multiple years in a row in one of the most talked about areas in the state and in around 40 days over multiple seasons...including the year NRs could hunt Sept 1st...I saw exactly 4 hunters actually hunting in the field and guess what? They were all residents.

Better tip would be to ask how to get away from the resident pressure....easy answer....get more than 200yds off the road.

The whole over crowded NR thing is the biggest load of crap.

I’m sure certain areas get hit more than others. But I’m pretty sure the overcrowding is more of an issue with the rifle seasons, mainly opening weekend. Things can get pretty hairy in some areas. However, I’m sure the majority of that is from residents.

 

[WCB]

And I thought I was salty at SDGFP. You guys are bent about that change, huh?

Are you two gonna hunt SD this year? Every time I see a "I didn't draw any tags!" thread I wonder if they bought SD archery. Might suck in some ways but a guaranteed tag for mule deer.

South Dakota can do what ever they want. Am I bent about the changes...not really. The way the did it was kinda BS. Also, they could just be honest and say a few residents complained that know people that help us make the hunting regs so we are going to change them.

I am not hunting SD this year but thats because I am already hunting 3 states. I'll draw a SD West River rifle tag next year...maybe grab a bow tag

 

[Fatcamp]

South Dakota can do what ever they want. Am I bent about the changes...not really. The way the did it was kinda BS. Also, they could just be honest and say a few residents complained that know people that help us make the hunting regs so we are going to change them.

I am not hunting SD this year but thats because I am already hunting 3 states. I'll draw a SD West River rifle tag next year...maybe grab a bow tag

Nice. They have made some changes to the resident draws that have pissed off a bunch of people, including me, but still lots of opportunity.

For what it's worth September=Rattlesnakes. LOL

Ten days until our elk draw and five weeks until deer. Already have our archery deer tags.

 

[jjgaw]

Hello everyone I’m new here. I normally don’t get into this forum stuff but it seems there is a lot of useful knowledge here. I live in central SD and have never hunted western SD. I know of all the public out west but I’m looking for a local that has more info on staying away from the NR crowds. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.

Well, asking how to get away from the NR crowds on a public forum where most NR hunters get their intel isn't a good start... You live in the state, go figure it out.. As a general rule of thumb in any state, if you're running into crowds, you're not working hard enough.