Dakota Mule Deer
- Thread starter Ilovethewest
- Start date
huskyhunter
New Member
I'm not even sure if a non resident can get a muley license in ND anymore. The numbers here are way way down because of a few very hard winters recently and the oil traffic. The last two years the rifle license numbers have been cut by a 1/3 each year for bucks. You can't hunt a muley doe with a bow or rifle. Not to mention the antelope season has been shut down for quite a few years. Its getting to be slim pickings in western ND but you can still find some good ones if you know where to look. I might have to try SD sometime soon if the oil boom sticks around for years to come.
tdcour
Veteran member
I just moved to Kansas from SD and will be planning on going back for archery season this year again. If you are looking to hunt this year, you will only be able to hunt a buck with a bow. You can buy those tags over the counter, but every other buck tag is a draw. I know there are some monster muleys and white tail in SD. In my opinion it is a sleeper state for giants. I shot a 170" WT last year in central SD with my rifle. No real monster bow bucks yet but we have gotten a few decent ones for as open as it is where we hunt. If you want to hunt the most deer, look over by the black hills by Rapid City and right along the Missouri River. There will be both WT and muleys in these places typically with good numbers. EHD wiped out a lot of good deer last year so there are less deer this year than the last few years, but numbers are still good with lots of public land to hunt.
I have been planning a hunt northern / northwest SD area for several years now, public land. The timing has not been right, so we just keep accumulating PP's. I have like 5 for west river deer! Crazy, huh? but for 3.00 bucks, I just keep getting them. we are hunting in Wyo this fall. There are very few non-resident tags to be had for the unit we want to hunt in SD, and we have 4 guys in our group. So the likelihood we draw is low. Especially since 2 of the guys will buy their 1st PP this year. So we will be applying as a group with 1 PP total next year. Kinda sucks for us who have more PP's, but oh well. Our 2 new members are good guys and good hunting partners.
So our plan next year is to try to apply for SD gun, then if we don't draw, buy an archery tag. Then we can do some more in depth scouting for a future gun hunt in SD.
I too think SD is a sleeper state. I saw a mulie on my way home from WYO last October along the road. It was in the hill country above the Cheyenne river in the wasta area. I think that area is almost 100% private, I looked on the SDGF after seeing this buck. Biggest mulie I have seen alive. It was dark and at night, and he was along the road. He didn't stick around long, but I quickly guessed him in the 180" range. By far the biggest mulie I have ever seen alive. My buddy shot a mulie 140" last fall, and this one destroyed that buck in every facet...height, mass, width, body size.
I would like to try ND someday, bow or gun. Some of the areas around Medora, south of TRNF along the lil Missouri look good. Bought some maps of the area. The east side of the Lil Missouri look pretty good with decent amount of public land. i would like to try that sometime.
good luck to all headed out this fall. I would love some insight on those of you hunting SD this year. Private Message me if you'd like.
Thanks!
Luke
So our plan next year is to try to apply for SD gun, then if we don't draw, buy an archery tag. Then we can do some more in depth scouting for a future gun hunt in SD.
I too think SD is a sleeper state. I saw a mulie on my way home from WYO last October along the road. It was in the hill country above the Cheyenne river in the wasta area. I think that area is almost 100% private, I looked on the SDGF after seeing this buck. Biggest mulie I have seen alive. It was dark and at night, and he was along the road. He didn't stick around long, but I quickly guessed him in the 180" range. By far the biggest mulie I have ever seen alive. My buddy shot a mulie 140" last fall, and this one destroyed that buck in every facet...height, mass, width, body size.
I would like to try ND someday, bow or gun. Some of the areas around Medora, south of TRNF along the lil Missouri look good. Bought some maps of the area. The east side of the Lil Missouri look pretty good with decent amount of public land. i would like to try that sometime.
good luck to all headed out this fall. I would love some insight on those of you hunting SD this year. Private Message me if you'd like.
Thanks!
Luke
schoff
Member
I drew a rifle "any deer" tag in NW SD and am heading up to hunt on private ground this season. I have taken 2 mulies and an antelope in the last 2 seasons out there and hope the success continues! Good luck to everyone this season!!!
Sent from my GT-P5113 using Tapatalk 2
Sent from my GT-P5113 using Tapatalk 2
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NDHunter
Veteran member
Here is my buck from ND 2 years ago. I didn't have a whole lot of time to hunt and so I was happy. Shot him on public land in one of the units where you don't need 27 points to draw. ND's non-resident tag allocation is terrible and I don't think it's right but I doubt that it will ever change. If you can draw a tag in one of the better units, I'd say it is definitely a sleeper state. A few years ago I spent some time in the badlands and saw multiple 170"+ mulies. There are also some big whitetails and if you stick with the western third of the state, there is enough public land to hunt. My 2 biggest whitetails (about 150")have both come off of public land.
I too am buying points in SD and just need to figure out when and where I want to go there...
I too am buying points in SD and just need to figure out when and where I want to go there...
NDHunter
Veteran member
I should also mention to anyone who might be interested in applying in ND, the point system is free. You have to apply each year to get the point and cannot buy a point only. I think the non-resident tag will be $250 next year after the price increase. The rifle season is in mid-November so it is right in the middle of the rut.
buckbull
Veteran member
- Jun 20, 2011
- 2,167
- 1,354
that is an awesome buck! good luck to everyone hunting this fall. Hope to see some pictures and stories!
tdcour
Veteran member
Here are two deer from SD last year. Dad shot the muley and I shot the white-tail. Both were public land.
My buddy fixed me up real good with the mount. I only requested a shoulder mount and he threw the habitat on. See what I mean by sleeper state?
My buddy fixed me up real good with the mount. I only requested a shoulder mount and he threw the habitat on. See what I mean by sleeper state?
tdcour
Veteran member
Thanks! Last year was my buddies first year in business as a taxidermist so I took the deer to him to help get him started. I let him keep it until last week to keep it in his showroom and it went from just a shoulder Mount to this. I can't complain any since he didn't charge for the extras. He did a great job on it. That's for sure
tdcour
Veteran member
He scored 169 1/2 gross. I don't remember what the net was... a little over 155 if I remember right. Quite a few deductions. I haven't tried the reservation yet and most likely won't. A buddy of mine is going to bow hunt it this year though. He says it looks like some good ground and actually now that I have moved to Kansas it wouldn't be much more expensive than an out of state archery tag I don't think. The issue is that you don't have quite as much land to hunt on the res, but its all blocked together instead of blocks here and there like the public land is in SD for the most part. Positives and negatives I guess, but if my buddy shoots a big one up there this year I may be tempted to go up there next year! I guess it also depends which reservation you are referring to. I think he is going to the Lower Brule if I remember right, but don't quote me on that. I think each one has its own rules.
I was thinking about the res that is in the northern central part of the state (I don't know the name off hand, but I think some of it spills into the ND side). The rifle tag was somewhere in the $400+ range though. That is a heck of a lot more than the $20 fee I'm used to paying for resident hunting in ND. Maybe next year I'll give it a try. The season was pretty long and it looked as though there was plenty of land to roam around on. The only draw back besides the price is that I've heard there aren't hardly any muleys worth taking a second look at. But if I'm not mistaken, the tag is good for either whitetail or muley. A guy has to do something if he wants a rifle tag these days...especially if you are trying for a muley tag in ND. I guess the other thing to consider is that EHD hit that area a couple years back or so.
Its almost as though I've already had my "good ol' days" of hunting and its all downhill up here.
Its almost as though I've already had my "good ol' days" of hunting and its all downhill up here.
I have a spot or 2 in Wyoming that you can draw tags pretty easily for. Let me know if interested.
I never looked into the reservation hunts. Never thought of that route.
Cant wait to get out there! wish I lived closer to be able to do some scouting. But living in Wisconsin makes scouting tough to do, besides google earth scouting!
I never looked into the reservation hunts. Never thought of that route.
Cant wait to get out there! wish I lived closer to be able to do some scouting. But living in Wisconsin makes scouting tough to do, besides google earth scouting!
that's an awesome deer. far bigger than anything I have ever gotten. PM me if interested in Wyoming. But I doubt the areas I hunt hold deer close to that. I saw one last fall that MIGHT have made 150"-155". We did shoot one that scored 143". What did that buck score? He looks huge in the picture.