Black Hills Any Deer.

Sorry you missed out on the hunt, that said, I thought the Blackhills deer tags were easier to draw than what this thread suggests. I’ll go back and do some more research, but I’ve got a few points and was thinking about trying this year.
Whitetail tags generally are much “easier” to draw than any (muley or whitetail) deer tags in the hills as there are lots more whitetail only tags
 
Sorry you missed out on the hunt, that said, I thought the Blackhills deer tags were easier to draw than what this thread suggests. I’ll go back and do some more research, but I’ve got a few points and was thinking about trying this year.
The whitetail tags are pretty easy to get. The any deer tags (mule deer) are super hard as nonresidents
 
The whitetail tags are pretty easy to get. The any deer tags (mule deer) are super hard as nonresidents
That makes sense. Thanks for clarifying. I did an archery hunt in the Blackhills, and only saw whitetails. I’d love to kill a muley some day, but am happy whitetail hunting.
 
is the nonresident black hills archery tag a draw tag? i see its 286 for the any deer tag for archery in the black hills just not sure if its a draw or otc. thanks for any help
 
Sorry you missed out on the hunt, that said, I thought the Blackhills deer tags were easier to draw than what this thread suggests. I’ll go back and do some more research, but I’ve got a few points and was thinking about trying this year.
That depends on how many "a few points" is and what you want to hunt. With a few points you MIGHT draw an Any Whitetail tag. But you won't draw an Any Deer tag.
 
is the nonresident black hills archery tag a draw tag? i see its 286 for the any deer tag for archery in the black hills just not sure if its a draw or otc. thanks for any help
You have to apply but you'll probably get one. The tag is for any deer tho.
 
tzone thanks for the response. i think im going to apply and see what happens. this would be my second western hunt did colorado otc elk 5years ago good hunt no harvest. ive killed a pile of whitetails in illinois and just got that itch to go west and have always been fascinated with big country hunting so figuring out a place i can possibly go every year.
 
and have always been fascinated with big country hunting
Don't mean to rain on your parade but I wouldn't categorize the hills as big country hunting. Sure there are some good sized hills, but with some pretty dense timber and never being more than ~1 mile from a trail , road, or cabin it can hunt a lot smaller than it looks on a map.
 
Don't mean to rain on your parade but I wouldn't categorize the hills as big country hunting. Sure there are some good sized hills, but with some pretty dense timber and never being more than ~1 mile from a trail , road, or cabin it can hunt a lot smaller than it looks on a map.
well i appreciate you educating me some on this. i wouldnt have known there was that many trails and roads through the area. im used to a 17 acre patch of timber thats a transition between a bigger timber maybe 80 acres. other than that its corn or bean fields. i guess what im looking for is a change of scenery.

so is the black hills any deer tag good for all of the black hills or is it just a specific area of the black hills?

also i guess what i mean by big country is the fact i will have way more than 17acres to hunt on. just gotta go find them.
 
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well i appreciate you educating me some on this. i wouldnt have known there was that many trails and roads through the area. im used to a 17 acre patch of timber thats a transition between a bigger timber maybe 80 acres. other than that its corn or bean fields. i guess what im looking for is a change of scenery.

so is the black hills any deer tag good for all of the black hills or is it just a specific area of the black hills?

also i guess what i mean by big country is the fact i will have way more than 17acres to hunt on. just gotta go find them.
Here's the 2022 regs. I believe there may be some changed for 2023.
 
All of the national forest in the black hills with a few exceptions, Custer State park, WInd cave, Jewel cave. No hunting on posted private land. Read the regs for the unit boundaries. Yeah, its big enough you can get lost or fall off a cliff so be careful and pay attention. GFP was discussing changes to the NR archers today or tomorrow. Might affect you.
 
i see they passed something that caps non resident licenses. ill have to read through the regs and get it figured out.

i believe the application opens on April 27th and closes may 18th guess all i can do is apply and see what happens.
 
well i appreciate you educating me some on this. i wouldnt have known there was that many trails and roads through the area. im used to a 17 acre patch of timber thats a transition between a bigger timber maybe 80 acres. other than that its corn or bean fields. i guess what im looking for is a change of scenery.

so is the black hills any deer tag good for all of the black hills or is it just a specific area of the black hills?

also i guess what i mean by big country is the fact i will have way more than 17acres to hunt on. just gotta go find them.
Agree, there aren't many secret spots. There are however, plenty of place to go that others just won't. The first year I hunted out there a guy told me that the locals don't hunt during the week and they don't like to get out of the truck.

He was right. I think the first year I went the season started on a Wednesday or Thursday. I didn't see anyone else out until Friday morning. I heard 1 shot opening day, which is much different than what I'm used to.

The warden for the are I was hunting told me if I go in 1/4 mile I'll have it mostly to myself. If I go 1/2 mile in, you'll be by yourself. If you go more than that...you'll hit another road. :D
 
so is the black hills any deer tag good for all of the black hills or is it just a specific area of the black hills?
In the regs, it will give you a description of the boundary. There is a lot of country. Depending on what you're used to for pressure, you may or may not think it's crowded.
 
thanks tzone. i dont gun hunt just bow hunt and i dont really have to deal with pressure as its private ground i hunt.

ill be out there a full 7 days to hunt and learn new lands. ill be hunting from the start of the season and may go a day early to scout and get a plan together. lots of work and research to do. thanks again.
 
thanks tzone. i dont gun hunt just bow hunt and i dont really have to deal with pressure as its private ground i hunt.

ill be out there a full 7 days to hunt and learn new lands. ill be hunting from the start of the season and may go a day early to scout and get a plan together. lots of work and research to do. thanks again.
For non-residents, there are no quotas for archery tags. Send them your money and they send you your tag. You can actually buy two archery any deer tags if you'd like, the State-wide tag (ADN-ST1) and the west river tag (ADN-WR1). Both are valid in the Hills. You must buy your tag(s) by the March 31 deadline in order to be able to hunt public land.. If you buy the same tag(s) after 3/31, you can only hunt private land. Also be aware that the season starts October 1 for non-residents on public land. It's all in the regs that Wild Bill linked to.
 
For non-residents, there are no quotas for archery tags. Send them your money and they send you your tag. You can actually buy two archery any deer tags if you'd like, the State-wide tag (ADN-ST1) and the west river tag (ADN-WR1). Both are valid in the Hills. You must buy your tag(s) by the March 31 deadline in order to be able to hunt public land.. If you buy the same tag(s) after 3/31, you can only hunt private land. Also be aware that the season starts October 1 for non-residents on public land. It's all in the regs that Wild Bill linked to.

I believe you’re only half right. You can get the Statewide tag OR you can get a West River and an East River, unless they changed that and I missed it. It was that way when I started hunting there about 10 years ago.
I do know there are changes coming and a quota is on the way. The residents there seem to get very angry that nonresidents hunt harder than they do (I’m poking the bear, but there is a modicum of truth as to what I’ve seen)
 
Non Resident archery tags are now limited on public lands. You can use that same tag on private as well. Private land tags are unlimited but you dont want to get caught on public with it. If in the past, you had acquired a statewide tag, that would have eliminated you from having a West river archery tag as well. IF you did that, please turn yourself in. Non resident archers used to be able to buy an East river archery and a West river archery but now are limited to only one archery tag. Check the GFP page for more information on the last commission meeting. There are application deadlines. Resident archers are trying to get the NR allotment to match the firearms NR allotment of 8% which is much more severe than the current cap approved by the commission. But rest easy, the commission is heavily weighted towards outfitters or commercial hunting. Seems to be a problem everywhere. We are just trying to protect what we have.
 
Oh, by the way, the winter has been terrible and continues to be real hard on all wildlife all across the whole state. I expect reductions in all draw tags. It was blizzarding yesterday and 0 degrees this morning. All areas of the state are reporting above average snowfalls. And it might flood. Hope your situation is better.
 
L ooks like I misread the following to mean you couldn't get both the east and west along with the state-wide, rather than you can't get either one. I've only ever bought the State-wide tag.

"Individual License Quota: Hunters may possess no more than three
archery deer licenses with the following restrictions;
• No more than one statewide “any deer” license (ST1-01). If you have
this statewide “any deer” license, you are NOT eligible for both the
ER1-01 and WR1-01 license."

Didn't realize there is now a cap on public land tags.
 

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