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South Dakota public land archery mule deer

Older85

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Hi, I'm planning a public land archery mule deer hunt with a couple of other guys. This will be the first mule deer hunt for any of us. we will be traveling from south alabama. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Also looking into Nebraska and Wyoming.
 
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Check out Buffalo Gap National Grasslands, or possibly Fort Pierre Nat'l Grasslands (although it's much more hit and miss there and tons of whitetails)

Lots of area in the NW corner of the state otherwise, but I think there is a fair amount of pressure there.

I'm very curious about Nebraska, and am thinking about planning a hunt there in the next few years, and Wyoming will have the highest muley population of the three listed.
 
I have seen some nice mule deer on the National Grasslands while vacationing in SD. Should be a fun hunt !
 
Buffalo Gap and Pierre would be good bets, however you will probably run into other hunters. Having lived in SD for 6 years, I would advise trying to find some other pieces that are smaller that may not be as pressured. Otherwise get WAY out in the middle of the large chunks. Good luck!

I never ran into any other archery hunters in Fort Pierre Grasslands, just a few bird hunters.
 
Bow hunted out there several years ago, in some of the national forest and grassland in the northwest part of the state. Seen a fair amount of deer, had multiple stalk attempts almost everyday. There were a few other hunters but never had any issues finding places to hunt.
 
Pretty sure that your too late in the game for WY this year. Unless we can get some private access in a unit with leftover tags. There's some leftover whitetail only tags in WY. The OTC archery tags in SD is a sweet deal.
 
Pretty sure that your too late in the game for WY this year. Unless we can get some private access in a unit with leftover tags. There's some leftover whitetail only tags in WY. The OTC archery tags in SD is a sweet deal.

For clarification on the OTC tags in SD... You're better off getting them online ahead of time (unless things changed in the last year) because apparently they have a short wait period in between "applying" for them and receiving them.

Maybe it has changed, but getting them ahead of time in the mail was definitely convenient. Just don't forget it!
 
I would agree with what others said already. I hunted FP Grasslands a few years ago and never saw another bowhunter. A few bird hunters but they were not hunting the same areas I was. I also ran into a group who were shooting prairie dogs in between bird hunts. I did see lots of coyotes so if that's something your interested in going after too you shouldn't have any problem getting into some. Good luck, its a fun hunt and lots of country to cover.
 
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