SD Elk draws
- Thread starter warmer
- Start date
warmer
Well-known member
Good Luck!
SoDak Yak Hntr
New member
I did not draw, but my friend got his archery tag so heading out to help him get his first archery bull. Looking forward to it!
SD_schoeny
New member
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2025
- Messages
- 2
I drew for H2E area - rifle cow - first time hunting elk. Looking forward to it! Also looking for any pointers!
SD_redbear
Member
Good luck, should be a fun hunt
blackbeard
Well-known member
Good luck
I will be there at the same time, my wife drew the same tag. It will be a ton of fun and a lot of hunters in the area.
SD_schoeny
New member
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2025
- Messages
- 2
Looking for places to stay now
SD_redbear
Member
Hello hunttalk SD, I wanted to thank those on this thread, especially dcreiss, for your advice this summer coming in to my first ever elk hunt. I as able to connect on a 337" 6X7 (gross, green score) bull on Oct. 16 in a prairie unit. It was an amazing experience, albeit a short hunt. I had seen elk over the years but underestimated the physical and emotional effect of having a tag, a rifle in hand and big bull elk coming in to call at under 50 yards. It is better to be lucky than good sometimes.
SoDak Yak Hntr
New member
That is great! Congratulations!
warmer
Well-known member
Congrats!! Care to share the whole story and some pictures?
SD_redbear
Member
I scouted all summer via satellite images and also went out a day early to scout in person. I did not see any elk, but did find tracks and scat. On opening morning, I left the truck just after legal shooting light, had picked parking location and initial morning plan based upon the wind direction. It was a foggy morning, and I would have sufficient cover in the fog to maneuver to a glassing spot. I didn't want to stumble around in the dark unnecessarily. I planned to use a long planted cedar windbreak to get in position to glass for awhile after the fog lifted. With a very slight breeze in my face, i walked to the cedar windbreak which were mature, ~20 yards wide and 1/4 mile long. Let out a couple cow calls as I entered the trees, all was silent after that. I had walked maybe 20 yards into the trees and heard thundering of hooves not far ahead. I didn't know a the time if it was elk or cattle (which were just across the fence in a short grass pasture). I threw out a couple calf distress calls anyway, and the whatever was running stopped. I kept slowly still hunting into the breeze, and maybe 50 yards later bumped a bull elk about 10 yards to my left. He abruptly whirled and disappeared into the cedars. I quickly threw out a couple calls, and figured I had just blown my entire hunt in the first 20 minutes. I had no intention of walking directly at the elk from my truck! I intended to get the field edge quietly in the event he had stopped, all the while thinking he had run out of the area. I still hunted another 30 yards and found a shooting lane that I could use to get to the edge of the cedars. I suddenly saw antler tines peaking up over a cedar, a bull was about 20 yards away at the edge of the field, facing directly towards me and slightly to my left, but I could not see the whole rack nor any of his body. I slowly went to one knee and readied the rile. I threw out a couple calls, and to my surprise a large bull (2nd bull) came from my right at about 45 yards, in the field, and stopped in the shooting lane. I got on him, tried to calm myself, & fired. He did not flinch and disappeared to my left. I walked towards the field edge quickly and knelt again, he had made a u-turn and was now running left to right and about to enter another cedar grove. I let out a excited calf call, and he stopped. I shot again at about 75 yards distance. Again, no flinching and he ran into cedars and the second bull followed him. I waited several minutes, picked up my shell casings and started looking for blood. I could find none! I've hunted for many years, did not believe I could miss with a rifle at an animal of that size at that distance. I ended up tracking them from hoofprints in the moist ground through the cedars, and was relieved when the bull was piled up about 75 yards from the second shot. He did not bleed externally until about the last 5 yards. During filed dressing, determined both shots were good. I was hunting solo but did get help from the landowner on the pics.
SD_redbear
Member
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SD_Prairie_Goat
Well-known member
Shhh, you're going to ruin the secret! Well now that I soon won't be eligible for the hunt, tell the world!
grizzly63
Well-known member
Thanks for sharing.
warmer
Well-known member
And the last information I got was that the GFP has no idea how many elk are really in those units.
grizzly63
Well-known member
Well,they cannot go onto private unless something bad is witnessed by themselves. Thanks Kristi
They could commit to aerial surveys, but won’t. They have a decent idea of rough numbers I think and really rely depredation claims/ sharing information with tribal game and fish agencies west river.
SDbuckmaster
Member
Had a buddy with the tag and it costed quite a bit of money to get on the land he hunted. We didn't see anything on the public pre scouting so had to pay. In the past years I used to see lots on public.
