South Dakota Hunt

[Wapiti23]

Hey everybody.

I am considering applying for an antelope tag in South Dakota. I live in Bismarck, ND and I plan on applying for one of the Harding county units just because they are fairly close. I have driven through that area a few times on my way to Douglas Wy and have seen alot of goats off the hightway and a few that I wouldnt mind taking home but other than that I dont really know anything about the area as far as hunting. I have a walk in access book for SD but am curious to what the land owners are like as far as getting permission to hunt if need be. Of course I need to get drawn first but any info would be awesome.

Thanks alot!

 

[T Bone]

There are lots of public access areas in Harding county as you're aware. Plenty of antelope there if you're willing to do the walking.

Landowners vary widely. Some allow hunting for a fee, some for free, some not for any price.

Myself, I gave up asking permission, refuse to pay to hunt, and find ample opportunity in the walk in areas.

Best of luck.

 

[wswat]

I hunting this last year and the numbers were WAY! WAY! down. I am also from ND and found it still to be a fun hunt but was alittle disappointed with the quality of animals. 12" was a good goat and if you saw one of those there were 10 guys after him. I hope they rebound some numbers after the last 2 years of bad winter.

 

[Wapiti23]

Ok, I dont mind a good walk. I love to explore new areas and just (get lost) sort of speak. Well I hope the goat population gets a lil better. I noticed on the SD website that there are two different types of tags; Antelope 2? Does that mean there are 2 tags? Antelope 1? Also, does this mean that you only get the one tag? One tag costs about $245 while the other one is somewhere about $195. Can I only get the one tag or not? If you guys could clear this up for me that would be great. Again thank you a bunch.

 

[hardscrabble]

I have not been on the SD site yet this year but last season when I hunted you acctually received three tags. One any antelope and two doe/fawn tags for $245.

 

[Wapiti23]

Oh ok, well I dont think i need 3 tags I guess but if thats the case than so be it. I guess you never know if your not going to see a buck to harvest so a doe tag would be nice too. Are there alot of people that hunt the public lands out that way then? Another question that my buddy wanted to know was how are the mule deer out that way?

 

[T Bone]

Yes there are a lot of people that hunt the public areas. Few get farther than a mile from the road.

Yes there are deer available in the same area. Seasons for buck antelope and buck deer do not coincide. You can hunt doe deer during the antelope season.

 

[Wapiti23]

Alright thank you for the info. Well i guess the only thing left to do is get the tag a go for a scouting trip to see what the place is really like off the highway and look at some goats. Thank you guys for all the help.

 

[mconway951]

I hunted harding West last yer and as stated earlier numbers were way down due to a bad spring snow storm landowners were about 50/50 on letting us hunt there land half said yes please shoot them all and the other half wanted $500 or just said no. not a bad price on the tags and quite a bit of public land but my advice is go first season not the second the public was pretty shot up second season.

 

[Wapiti23]

Ok thank you for the heads up. Does anyone know what the odds are of getting a goat tag here? Like how many years it may take to draw a tag? Just curious, if i dont get a tag its not the end of the world.

 

[mconway951]

You can check the past years results on the web we drew on our first attempt their was 3 in our party. Actually the avatar pic is from that trip as well.

 

[dakotasnow44]

just curious to find out if you got your antelope tag. I hunt muleys up in Harding county but for antelope I hunt in Butte county. If you did indeed get a tag, one of the better recommendations I can make is to use a GPS (if you have one) because some of the better areas to hunt aren't clearly marked and so a lot of hunters shy away from them. The SDGFP has the GPS maps available for free download and you can find a link here http://www.southdakotahunting.com/community/news/2010-gps-maps

 

[sluggo6850]

I have hunted in Perkins county next door to the east for a lot of years, and the word has been that it is real tough to get on private land in Harding. A few years back the land owners got into it with the GF&P and closed most of the private land. It still wouldn"t hurt to try, maybe they have mellowed out some. Good luck, Sluggo

 

[dakotasnow44]

I have hunted in Perkins county next door to the east for a lot of years, and the word has been that it is real tough to get on private land in Harding. A few years back the land owners got into it with the GF&P and closed most of the private land. It still wouldn"t hurt to try, maybe they have mellowed out some. Good luck, Sluggo

As far as I can tell it hasn't really mellowed out. Either the landowners are running an outfit and charge an arm & a leg, or they just plain don't let hunters on unless you know someone. Last year a good friend of mine made a call to a rancher he knew, but other than that the door often seems closed. Too bad, because SD is known for friendly people and it kind of gives hunting in the state a bad name if that ends up being an out-of-state hunter's only experience.

 

[cwalsh2]

landowners

Yes, I am from SD and hunted harding county as a teenager. It is getting harder all the time to find a private place to hunt on. I hunt Custer county, where I live. It is not in a heavy antelope population area so there are less antelope-and less antelope hunters. Most landowners have friends or relatives that hunt the opener but the second weekend some let people in. There have been some really good bucks the last few years. On public land Fall River county is hard to beat. The Nebraska Wyoming corner is usually good. Good Luck- Cal

 

[dakotasnow44]

Here's the 2010 antelope density map released by the SDGFP

 

[mnguy152]

How is the hunting for archery in corson and perkins for antelope?