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Non resident hunt

Hey folks just want to start by saying thanks for any information you can offer. I live in Wisconsin and want to plan a bow hunting trip to SD in the next couple years. I was reading the regs and they offer an Archery tag and then other tags such as West River East River and black Hills. Was wondering what the difference is with the tags? I would be hunting late September. I was wondering what the public land is like, I want to camp and do a Diy hunt with my cousin. I deployed overseas a few years ago and always said when I get home I would take a hunting trip out to SD just to relax and now I want to start planning it. Just looking for any help such as counties to look and with public land. Thanks again for any help and safe hunting.

Thanks for your service. Freedom isn't free. The archery tags have various options: 1. Statewide 2.East River 3.West River If you buy the statewide, you cant buy either of the other two. If you buy an East river, you also have the choice of buying the West river or vice versa. The West River archery tag is valid in the Black Hills. There are antlerless archery tags that are valid in limited areas and species (whitetail only) The other seasons you might be referring to are Rifle tags and are by lottery drawing within preference built up until drawn. There are no rifle seasons in late September. Archery season opens the last week of Sept. if I remember correctly. All dates, areas open or closed are listed in the description of the deer season listed on the South Dakota Game Fish and Parks website. Just about anything you might want to know might be learned from this site except the best areas to go to. The state has just taken a pretty bad hit of EHD in the central areas of the state. The Black Hills is a good area but it is up to you to figure out how and where to hunt. Waterholes in the Hills in a dry sept. are a good bet. There are still cattle on leases in the Forest land until late October in many areas. Does not mean there are not deer there. There are vast Walk In areas across the state with the bigger ones out west. Perkins and Harding counties have a lot of public land. Spot and stalk Mulies are possible in these areas. You could try the National Grasslands. Private property East and West river are harder to come by but you will not know if you don't ask. There are some good GFP properties listed on the Website atlas. Only footwork will reveal which ones are best. You could consider archery antelope in Sept. with a chance at archery deer on the same hunt. Good luck and hope you enjoy yourself. Things may be changing this year with drawings so pay close attention to any changes that should be decided on before applications come out.

Thanks Grizzley! Have a great Holiday.

Does the Archery tag cover mule deer or whitetails or is there a separate tag for each?

Archery licenses are good for any deer

Thanks Dakota, I don't expect you to give me your hot spots but for a newcomer would you recommend hunting deer or Antelope. Thinking about a black hills trip but not really sure where to start.

What tickles your fancy and how do you like to hunt?

We are looking for public land spot and stalk. Really looking for a memorable time not necessarily looking to shoot and monster. We are looking into Harding County as it appears to be loaded with public land. I think we are leaning towards Mule deer now with bow. We want to camp and wake up and hunt and get away from other people. With this being our first time out of state we just don't know what we are getting into lol. It would be a long drive for us to get there so we don't want to drive all the way there and be surrounded by hunters and not see any animals. But like i said we are not trophy hunter just looking for a good time to make some good memories.

That's a good choice Willert. Make sure you get the free access permit required to access Custer National Forest from the state GFP.

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