Nebraska Pine Ridge hunt

[mixedbag]

My 10 year old has been begging me to take him on a hunt out west.I looked into Nebraska and what a great deal their licenses are for youths.Anyway,he would want a chance at a mule deer since he's taken whitetails here in Pa.How is the public land in the pine ridge region?Or would you suggest another area for a public land hunt?I was just going to get a regional tag rather then pay the extra for statewide.I'd be interested in hearing what the pressure is like and deer densities.Thanks in advance if you have any helpful imfo

 

[MThuntr]

I went to school at Chadron State College back in the day and the public land up in the Pine Ridge Unit was pretty heavily hunted. We had some success finding deer though it was tough during rifle. Admittedly we never got far from the truck back then so maybe if you can find big chunks without roads it might be worth looking into.

 

[TheSurveyor]

Hunted that area about 7yrs ago. Never seen so much orange. More whitetails than mulies then. I had a either sex either species tag which was cool. Passed on some nice whitetail bucks looking for a big mulie only to take a spike on the last night...

 

[Husker hunter]

The deer numbers are down up there. End got a good number of whitetail a few years ago, and mulies are having trouble with other diseases. If you hunt hard you can have success but I wouldn't expect trophy potential on public.

 

[dcestnik]

I went to school at CSC as well. Definitely a ton of traffic since NE has nine day rifle season and that's one of the largest chunks of public land in the state resulting in some serious pressure. Regardless there's plenty of whitetails and mule deer. Unless you had an in on private land not sure that would be my top choice of spots if driving all the way from PA.

 

[mixedbag]

Thanks for replies.This is more for my son and he's not a big trophy hunter at 10 yrs old.Is there other areas he may find a Muley without the major crowds?I was wondering how bad EDH had hit the deer numbers there.Think he just wants a trip with just him and Dad,but he definitely would want to see some deer to chase

 

[vanish]

That whole area burned pretty recently, too. Something to keep in mind.

 

[jtm307]

There are some landowners here in SE WY (Region T) that might grant permission for a youth hunter. Check out the Land Owner Assistance Program at the G&F website. I also know of a few spots in Regions J and D that hold young bucks, although I'm not sure what the pressure is like during rifle season.

 

[danadrums]

I've been hunting there a few years. Last year I took my nephew for his first hunt. Never saw it so crowded. Don't know what happened, but there was a LOT of orange. Saw some deer, but not like years past.

 

[dpatt325]

I was hunting Elk up in the Metcalf WMA a week ago and saw plenty of Mule deer and White tails. Spend the time to glass and you will find them. It is a large section of public ground.