S. Dakota Public Land Mule Deer Hunt 2013

[shootist]

I'm a Southern Illinois whitetail hunter, and my brother and I want to chase the hoppers with the deep forks. We most likely will do S. Dakota, and our only option is public land. I would love to hunt near Wall or somewhere in that area, but we will likely need to go either SW, or NW to get into them. I thought somebody on here might have some good advice for me. I'm looking for advice on locations and really any other advice too.

My understanding is that whitetails out number muleys by a bunch, but with some research I'm hoping we can still get into some mule deer. I'm excited to try and spot/stalk one.

Thanks in advance for the help,

Darin DeNeal

 

[WyOpitz]

I think it would be worth a call to the game biologist. I live an hour south of rapid city and the deer numbers are WAY down, more so with white tail but I have seen about half the Mulies this year than usual while bow hunting. Combination of drought and EHD virus, this year is gonna be tough.

 

[r-22 pilot]

The numbers are also way down in ND. I've seen enough deer this year to keep me going back out, but compared to what it used to be it's terrible. As far as public land there is plenty all over the west side of the state. Just watch out for all the crazy oil trucks! I know you were saying SD, but this is just another option for ya.

 

[warmer]

The gfp website has a downloadable map of all available land open to the public. John Kanta at the gfp office in Rapid City would be my first call. He should be able to help you or get you to the right guy. Good luck and welcome to South Dakota!

 

[WyOpitz]

If you have a droid or apple phone, you can also download the GFP app and use the interactive map that also shows your GPS location. I also have the maps downloaded to my Garmin as well, VERY HANDY!

 

[shootist]

...

Thanks for the advice so far. I actually downloaded the SD hunting atlas to my iphone yesterday. I don't see a legend on the map. What is the purple areas?

Thanks again, and please, more advice the merrier. I'm not completely settled on SD. The area around Chadron, Nebraska seems a little promising (if I'm willing to hike away from the general public, which I am). Also, a couple of the 100% draws in Colorado tempt me. North Dakota is getting pretty far from home, but I wouldn't rule it out if it meant getting better opportunities.

 

[WyOpitz]

Purple areas are national grasslands...usually antelope territory but occasionally you can find some deer there. Check out the online map (Wilma), and as soon as you get into SD, grab a public hunting area map-should be able to find one at any store that sells licenses.
Wilma is awesome to prescout areas b/c it overlays the public land markers onto satellite images, a little easier to see vs the iPhone. Good luck!
http://arcgis.sd.gov/Server/GFP/HuntingAtlas/

 

[Dakota79]

I live in Harding County. If you venture this way give me a shout.

 

[wyoming556]

Keep an eye on the winter kill and blue tounge/EHD. Eastern Wyoming is getting hammered right now. I've seen over 40 infected animlas in the last 2 weeks around Douglas/Lusk. I would not be surprised to see the Black Hills and Pine Ridge areas lose the majority of the herd before your hunt next year.

Stay flexible on areas and get a tag where these problems haven't taken a toll on animal #'s. Between WY,MT, CO, you will have more choices for a better hunt than the Dakotas or Nebraska offer, IMO.