South Dakota or Nebraska?

[jvanderlinde]

I personalty wouldn't waste my time applying for a SD antelope tag for a rifle that is , first of all they are hard to draw there, The big ones are mostly on private. If you just want to kill a antelope it could be for you. Deer hunting with archery has changed since a guy cant hunt till Oct 1 on public now which is a bunch of bullshit. If you got private than you can hunt early. Rifle deer hunting is a shit show, they got the road hunting down to a T there that's for sure.

 

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

I personalty wouldn't waste my time applying for a SD antelope tag for a rifle that is , first of all they are hard to draw there, The big ones are mostly on private. If you just want to kill a antelope it could be for you. Deer hunting with archery has changed since a guy cant hunt till Oct 1 on public now which is a bunch of bullshit. If you got private than you can hunt early. Rifle deer hunting is a shit show, they got the road hunting down to a T there that's for sure.

I would disagree about rifle goat tags. Some units have large amounts of public, you'll find good bucks on public there. Other units have smaller amounts of public, so they get hammered harder, often pushing the bucks to private ground. Same story across most states really, elk is no different in MT/CO/WY/Etc.

Bow hunting deer, I mean at the end of the day NR don't get to vote in a state in which they don't live, so the state will do what it can to keep the voters happy. NR tags cost more everywhere, thats just the way it works when you use a resource that you aren't paying state taxes toward. States are free to restrict NR hunters as they please, South Dakota elected to make a resident only period for deer on public ground. No different than the resident only pheasant opener really. At the end of the day, you can still hunt a guaranteed tag for deer over the rut, can you really complain? Most states don't even allow guaranteed tags any more, even for deer. Maybe a guy should recommend removing guaranteed NR tags to game and fish.......

Rifle deer, don't let him or the road hunters scare you. If you know what everyone else's game plan is going to be, it makes figuring out your game plan that much easier. Everyone going to be hunting the road system? Head in deeper where the deer are that aren't visible from the road.

 

[jvanderlinde]

I would disagree about rifle goat tags. Some units have large amounts of public, you'll find good bucks on public there. Other units have smaller amounts of public, so they get hammered harder, often pushing the bucks to private ground. Same story across most states really, elk is no different in MT/CO/WY/Etc.

Bow hunting deer, I mean at the end of the day NR don't get to vote in a state in which they don't live, so the state will do what it can to keep the voters happy. NR tags cost more everywhere, thats just the way it works when you use a resource that you aren't paying state taxes toward. States are free to restrict NR hunters as they please, South Dakota elected to make a resident only period for deer on public ground. No different than the resident only pheasant opener really. At the end of the day, you can still hunt a guaranteed tag for deer over the rut, can you really complain? Most states don't even allow guaranteed tags any more, even for deer. Maybe a guy should recommend removing guaranteed NR tags to game and fish.......

Rifle deer, don't let him or the road hunters scare you. If you know what everyone else's game plan is going to be, it makes figuring out your game plan that much easier. Everyone going to be hunting the road system? Head in deeper where the deer are that aren't visible from the road.

Yea the good county's like Harding will take a non resident 6-10 years on average to draw, Butte county a NR guy can probably draw in 3-5 years. I don't think South Dakota holds a candle in the wind compared to Wyoming in numbers/size/sure opportunity to hunt antelope and not wait 3-10 years to hunt.
The problem with South Dakota is that its getting pounded by everyone and there brother and the steady decline acres of habitat. The State will never get rid of the guaranteed tags for the fact of pay hunting and outfitters.
Im not exaggerating about the rifle deer season, Its the daytona 500 out there.
But my advice to the OP. If i was going on a opportunity bow hunt for antelope, SD wouldn't be a bad choice. If i was going to rifle hunt Antelope i would be in Wyoming. If I was bow hunting deer on public it would either be Missouri or Iowa.
Good luck

 

[woodruff93]

Yea the good county's like Harding will take a non resident 6-10 years on average to draw, Butte county a NR guy can probably draw in 3-5 years. I don't think South Dakota holds a candle in the wind compared to Wyoming in numbers/size/sure opportunity to hunt antelope and not wait 3-10 years to hunt.
The problem with South Dakota is that its getting pounded by everyone and there brother and the steady decline acres of habitat. The State will never get rid of the guaranteed tags for the fact of pay hunting and outfitters.
Im not exaggerating about the rifle deer season, Its the daytona 500 out there.
But my advice to the OP. If i was going on a opportunity bow hunt for antelope, SD wouldn't be a bad choice. If i was going to rifle hunt Antelope i would be in Wyoming. If I was bow hunting public it would either be Missouri or Iowa.
Good luck

Thanks for the info! Planning on an archery antelope hunt. I have been hunting whitetails in WI for 15 years so just looking to get my feet wet on a budget western hunt for my first time. Planning more for the experience, success would just be a bonus.

 

[bmt99]

Can't argue with Wyoming being king for pronghorn. Just getting out regardless of state will be a good time. Archery goats just hard in general. Unfortunately, as someone mentioned, SD is losing public access at a crazy rate.