South Dakota Deer Results

[Mallardsx2]

Points for me again this year.

 

[blackbeard]

Drew double does in the second round, it took them a while to mail my elk tag. Think that showed up a few weeks ago

 

[BrokenChicken]

I've been looking at SD and hope to add it to my hunt list of states over next few seasons, read all instructions but am still not 100% clear on few things. can someone help clarify please?
**for Non-Resident
Pronghorn - has OTC statewide Archery tag i can pick up anytime, correct?
Pronghorn - PrefPoint - looks like for Rifle hunts it helps to have few points. can i buy points this year for next season (i think YES 9.15-12.15?)? or do you only earn PP if applying for a tag?

Deer - this is the more confusing one. seems like there are quite a few different seasons / application periods.
Deer - Archer - if i buy OTC Archery tag before April 1st, its valid on Public lands, correct? and only on private after 4/1?
Deer - Rifle longer term plan - can i buy just the PP this year in preparation for next season, or do i only earn it when applying for a tag? Also, do they have different PP's assigned based on which unit / tag you apply, was really not clear on this? of if lets say i want to hunt SD in 4 or 5 years, do i just apply for some hard to draw tag and check YES to PP if unsuccessful?

looking at different maps, it does look like SD has decent WalkIns/Public lands, am i correct in my understanding that access is pretty good in SD?

thanks in advance.

**if you don't want to answer publicly, please send a PM? thanks

 

[warmer]

I've been looking at SD and hope to add it to my hunt list of states over next few seasons, read all instructions but am still not 100% clear on few things. can someone help clarify please?
**for Non-Resident
Pronghorn - has OTC statewide Archery tag i can pick up anytime, correct?
Pronghorn - PrefPoint - looks like for Rifle hunts it helps to have few points. can i buy points this year for next season (i think YES 9.15-12.15?)? or do you only earn PP if applying for a tag?

Deer - this is the more confusing one. seems like there are quite a few different seasons / application periods.
Deer - Archer - if i buy OTC Archery tag before April 1st, its valid on Public lands, correct? and only on private after 4/1?
Deer - Rifle longer term plan - can i buy just the PP this year in preparation for next season, or do i only earn it when applying for a tag? Also, do they have different PP's assigned based on which unit / tag you apply, was really not clear on this? of if lets say i want to hunt SD in 4 or 5 years, do i just apply for some hard to draw tag and check YES to PP if unsuccessful?

looking at different maps, it does look like SD has decent WalkIns/Public lands, am i correct in my understanding that access is pretty good in SD?

thanks in advance.

**if you don't want to answer publicly, please send a PM? thanks

You are correct that you can purchase points without applying. Just remember that there a multiple “types” of season. West river, east river, muzzleloader all have separate points.

 

[warmer]

Drew double does in the second round, it took them a while to mail my elk tag. Think that showed up a few weeks ago

Which elk tag you draw? If you care to share. Good luck!

 

[BrokenChicken]

You are correct that you can purchase points without applying. Just remember that there a multiple “types” of season. West river, east river, muzzleloader all have separate points.

perfect thanks. Speaking specifically for DEER:
do i need to pick 1 i'm interested in, or can i get PP's for more than just 1 type. lets say i want BH and West River, so i need to save up points for both and plan them / think of them as completely separate hunts?
one thing i did not see, is when can i purchase Deer PP's?

thanks

 

[seeth07]

perfect thanks. Speaking specifically for DEER:
do i need to pick 1 i'm interested in, or can i get PP's for more than just 1 type. lets say i want BH and West River, so i need to save up points for both and plan them / think of them as completely separate hunts?
one thing i did not see, is when can i purchase Deer PP's?

thanks

In all honesty, if you currently have zero points in SD for any of the antelope or deer draws, you are just about wasting your money as a donation to SD if you are a non-resident. The cubed bonus point system combined with the fact that they give out hardly and tags to NR turns your odds of getting a tag to about zero.

For example - Antelope. Last year there was a total of 58 Antelope tags in the draw for NR TOTAL for the entire state. There were a total of 417 applicants that applied with at least 2PP (you aren't considered in the draw unless you have at least 2PP). Due to the cubed nature of the draw, this resulted in 49397 "tickets or entries" into the draw. With 2PP, you had a grand total of 8 of those. This gave you a total chance of drawing a tag of 8/49397 or 1 in 6174 chance. Yes, some units have better odds and some even worse.

There are also a lot of people like myself who has only ever applied for PP for the last 7 years and aren't showing up in those statistics.

Its only going to get worse every year as there is a huge pool of people that now have 2-4 points.

So if I were you, I'd avoid this as a "draw" state in your hunt plans and instead focus on the OTC opportunity!

 

[seeth07]

In all honesty, if you currently have zero points in SD for any of the antelope or deer draws, you are just about wasting your money as a donation to SD if you are a non-resident. The cubed bonus point system combined with the fact that they give out hardly and tags to NR turns your odds of getting a tag to about zero.

For example - Antelope. Last year there was a total of 58 Antelope tags in the draw for NR TOTAL for the entire state. There were a total of 417 applicants that applied with at least 2PP (you aren't considered in the draw unless you have at least 2PP). Due to the cubed nature of the draw, this resulted in 49397 "tickets or entries" into the draw. With 2PP, you had a grand total of 8 of those. This gave you a total chance of drawing a tag of 8/49397 or 1 in 6174 chance. Yes, some units have better odds and some even worse.

There are also a lot of people like myself who has only ever applied for PP for the last 7 years and aren't showing up in those statistics.

Its only going to get worse every year as there is a huge pool of people that now have 2-4 points.

So if I were you, I'd avoid this as a "draw" state in your hunt plans and instead focus on the OTC opportunity!

Just for fun, here is BH deer and its even worse!

16 licenses.
312 applied for a hunt last year.
68904 total "tickets or entries"
Even if my wife or I entered this draw with our current 7PP, our chance would have been 7*7*7/68904 = 0.5% or 1 in 200

 

[BrokenChicken]

In all honesty, if you currently have zero points in SD for any of the antelope or deer draws, you are just about wasting your money as a donation to SD if you are a non-resident. The cubed bonus point system combined with the fact that they give out hardly and tags to NR turns your odds of getting a tag to about zero.

For example - Antelope. Last year there was a total of 58 Antelope tags in the draw for NR TOTAL for the entire state. There were a total of 417 applicants that applied with at least 2PP (you aren't considered in the draw unless you have at least 2PP). Due to the cubed nature of the draw, this resulted in 49397 "tickets or entries" into the draw. With 2PP, you had a grand total of 8 of those. This gave you a total chance of drawing a tag of 8/49397 or 1 in 6174 chance. Yes, some units have better odds and some even worse.

There are also a lot of people like myself who has only ever applied for PP for the last 7 years and aren't showing up in those statistics.

Its only going to get worse every year as there is a huge pool of people that now have 2-4 points.

So if I were you, I'd avoid this as a "draw" state in your hunt plans and instead focus on the OTC opportunity!

i appreciate this, seeing real numbers really brings it back to reality, so i appreciate your breakdown.
i did see that they were changing to squaring, so ya not helping me.

would you say it's worth looking at OTC Deer Archery and OTC Antelope Archery?
are their walkins/public land decent? looking at the maps, looks like it is.

thanks again.

 

[LCH]

I think SD is worth getting into for whitetails. The ship has probably sailed for mule deer tags.

 

[blackbeard]

Which elk tag you draw? If you care to share. Good luck!

11D, prairie elk Sept-oct season

 

[warmer]

In all honesty, if you currently have zero points in SD for any of the antelope or deer draws, you are just about wasting your money as a donation to SD if you are a non-resident. The cubed bonus point system combined with the fact that they give out hardly and tags to NR turns your odds of getting a tag to about zero.

For example - Antelope. Last year there was a total of 58 Antelope tags in the draw for NR TOTAL for the entire state. There were a total of 417 applicants that applied with at least 2PP (you aren't considered in the draw unless you have at least 2PP). Due to the cubed nature of the draw, this resulted in 49397 "tickets or entries" into the draw. With 2PP, you had a grand total of 8 of those. This gave you a total chance of drawing a tag of 8/49397 or 1 in 6174 chance. Yes, some units have better odds and some even worse.

There are also a lot of people like myself who has only ever applied for PP for the last 7 years and aren't showing up in those statistics.

Its only going to get worse every year as there is a huge pool of people that now have 2-4 points.

So if I were you, I'd avoid this as a "draw" state in your hunt plans and instead focus on the OTC opportunity!

https://gfp.sd.gov/UserDocs/nav/FIREARM_ANTELOPE.pdf

This info indicates there were 160 firearm tags sold last year. Looks like 1316 different applicants. Not smart enough for the math, but does that change your odds?

 

[warmer]

Just for fun, here is BH deer and its even worse!

16 licenses.
312 applied for a hunt last year.
68904 total "tickets or entries"
Even if my wife or I entered this draw with our current 7PP, our chance would have been 7*7*7/68904 = 0.5% or 1 in 200

https://gfp.sd.gov/UserDocs/nav/BLACK_HILLS_DEER.pdf

And 269 rifle deer tags for NR in the Hills.

 

[seeth07]

https://gfp.sd.gov/UserDocs/nav/BLACK_HILLS_DEER.pdf

And 269 rifle deer tags for NR in the Hills.

You are looking at all tags. So let me rephrase. Tags avail to NR for mule deer or antelope

Black hills any deer tag:

 

[rmyoung1]

Just for fun, here is BH deer and its even worse!

16 licenses.
312 applied for a hunt last year.
68904 total "tickets or entries"
Even if my wife or I entered this draw with our current 7PP, our chance would have been 7*7*7/68904 = 0.5% or 1 in 200

Your 0.5% above assumes only one tag is drawn. The figures would be correct if you were calculating the odds of your name being first out of the hat. But the fact that they draw 16 tags pushes your odds of getting one closer to 7-8%. So… not awesome but better

 

[warmer]

Your 0.5% above assumes only one tag is drawn. The figures would be correct if you were calculating the odds of your name being first out of the hat. But the fact that they draw 16 tags pushes your odds of getting one closer to 7-8%. So… not awesome but better

Now thats math!!!

 

[rmyoung1]

Now thats math!!!

*Disclaimer: I didn’t double-check the 68,904 total entries calculation. I might be nerdy, but I have my limits, you know?

 

[BrokenChicken]

alright guys i ran the numbers for BH101 (any deer)

redoing numbers

 

[BrokenChicken]

and for BH Any Whitetail BH111
redoing numbers

 

[BrokenChicken]

which brings me to my next and i guess final question on SD hunting:
is OTC access/walkins/public lands decent? on maps it looks like western/south western parts of the state have decent public access.
so is OTC archery for Deer or Pronghorn worth it?
thanks