Waubay Refuge
Contributors to this thread:South Dakota
From: Skullwerx
10-Sep-15
Looks like I drew a waubay refuge deer tag. Anyone hunted there before? Any tips or pointers?
From: Griz34
10-Sep-15
What season did you draw?
From: Skullwerx
11-Sep-15
Nov. 22-29
From: Griz34
11-Sep-15
Sent you a PM.
From: leftee
13-Sep-15
Skull, Nice draw.Will be looking your way from a couple of my stands.:-) ALL day stands cause the rut will still be rolling-particularly 22nd through 26th. Good hunting!
From: Skullwerx
13-Sep-15
I'm looking forward to it. It's my first time hunting there. I also drew a muzzleloader tag this year. Pretty excited about that also!
From: DR
22-Sep-15
You are a lucky Dog Jake. Those are two of the best deer tags there are in SD. I'd trade a rifle for the December Muzz any year.
From: Skullwerx
23-Sep-15
Ha ha. Thanks Dana. It's he first muzzy deer tag I've had. Looking forward to it. Told my wife on going to have to start saving now for the taxidermy bill.
From: Brotsky
24-Sep-15
Good luck to you Jake! I've got 7 pp for refuge deer and muzzleloader and no tag! You're going to have a late season dreams are made of!
From: Griz34
24-Sep-15
Holy cow, how can that be! I drew both first season Waubay refuge and statewide muzzle loader with 1 point each last year. I also had both tags in 2012...maybe I'm luckier than I thought!
From: steve hay
27-Jan-16
Was curious as to how your hunt on Waubay turned out ?? I will be retiring soon and moving to that area. How many points does it take for a resident to draw this tag typically ? Thanks for any input.
From: Skullwerx
05-Feb-16
I drew it the second year. I was pretty disappointed with the hunt over all. Didn't see many deer. I hunted the second season so maybe that had something to do with it.
From: tjzenk
05-Sep-17
I'm curious if anyone has any advice for Hunting the Waubay Refuge (What Island to go towards) what pinch point you should keep an eye on and anything else from some other hunter or group who might have done this hunt previously. I'm curious what worked or what didn't. Along with the no scouting out there what type of caliber of deer you might have seen / taken? Just not sure if a 120 inch buck is a good one for the area or if there might be some "Monsters" in the Refuge!!! Any advice is much appreciated. Thank You in Advance for the reply?
From: Griz34
05-Sep-17
There used to be some big deer in there, I have hunted it many times. The last time I hunted it I think was in 2014 and if I remember correctly I think I killed a buck that would score around 120. I remember pming Skullwerx back in 2015 when he drew his tag in 2015, and he was pretty disappointed with his experience. My brother hunted it last year first season I believe and didn't see much and didn't come home with a deer. I'm pretty sure he hunted the big island, which can be hit or miss. When it's good it can be a really fun place to be, be also pretty dangerous going out there in bad weather. If you want any specific info pm me and I can tell you what I know.
From: tjzenk
14-Sep-17
Was in a group of 4 hunters all with 3 Years of preference and applicants for this season was 32 huntins (we're 4 of them) with 2+ years Pref and was unable to get drawn.....have to wait for 2018 I guess.
From: HighCountryHntr
08-Jul-20
This is an old thread, but thought I'd see if I could revive it as I'm hunting out at Waubay NWR this fall. I've reached out to a few posters via pm, but no one has replied yet. I'm going to take my small camper over there later this month and do some scouting (or at least get a "lay of the land", talk to staff, locals, etc., since you can't really "scout"). Anyone want to pm me and discuss details? Specifically, I'm wondering if it's worth trying to hunt the outter areas that you can walk to and not bother with a boat or if bringing a boat and hunting the islands is the way to go. Thanks! -aim small miss small
From: Griz34
10-Jul-20
I just sent you a PM.
From: Whitetailn44
26-Jun-21
Any insight about previous hunts from a bud thread. Drew a tag this year thank you!!
