Any advice would be great!
I am talking East River now,,,,, some great bucks around Lebanon and Hoven and Faulkton and Gettysburg,,,, however blue tougne in that area ......
Akaska is on the river, largest amount of walk in areas ,,,, talk to the guy at walleye and wings,,,,, he had rooms for 45.00 a nite and welcomed bow hunters,,,,
North of 90, west side of river, lot of public land, plenty of room, hunt and truck camp for several days, go into town for shower and hot food, other than the tail gate grill..... both mule deer and whitetail, your tag will allow either......
South of 90, more hunters, because of state campgrounds, and Sioux Fall residents etc,, check out the Chamberlin area, again focus the river.....
west river go to the bad lands, prepare for a tough hunt, but nice mule deer,,,, be able to have a bow set up, to shoot out to 50 yards, in the wind,,,, need power behind that arrow for penetration,,,,,,
as you go west, more and more land is leased, by outfitters, asking on average 3500 for 5 days,,,, never found any places to pay and hunt on your own, like Wy......
NW area, Custer National Forest,,,, too many hunters and the closer you get to the Black Hills the more you will run into......
Central grasslands is tough to hunt, but fun, stay near the river, you will see plenty of deer, you need GOOD glass, I like my Styrkas 8 x 42, and spotting scope is a YES.
Keep quiver on your bow, do not place on the ground, and ask yourself, " where is my quiver, after the shot" I know someone who did this,,, ha ha ha
At this point and time, the locals want a 8 percent reduction in allotted archery tags for non residents, so no decision at this time, otherwise its OTC in Pierre only at dnr office or on line...... you can get all licenses at the local Wal Mart, except archery deer.....
There are a lot of options,,,,, do not go out for 5 days, waste of time, because if your serious, you do need the time,,,, if only 5 days, hunt east river,,,, good areas around the Mn border and close to N Dakota border, look for the large Waterfowl Production areas,,,,,
bring a deer cart, but I still cut my deer up, to place on cart,,,,, bring a pack that can haul meat, or parts,,,,my new pack is called So Calif PAck Mule just got it, super light, check it out on line,,,,
Great place to decoy deer,,,,, it all works,,,,,, Locals, in the Lebanon area and out by Toltsoy, receptive, to give permission for this, and if they have apple trees they hate them deer....
Locals are always friendly, I have met some nice people..... hope this helps,,,
otherwise I hunt the western UP,,,,,,,, look at North Dakota by the Sheyenne River, lot of deer, lots of public land, nice system they have out there on the PLOT system,,,,,,
Do not count on being able to get groceries, close by, including water and stuff, be prepared,,,, just down the road out there is 60 miles
I like hunting in the western UP,,,, sure it is not easy, but the trade off, is really less and less hunters,,,,, there are areas up here, with very little pressure anymore on the deer, but again, takes a lot of time and I have a house here, so that makes a difference...
There is still very good hunting in Nebraska, OTC, and like the UP, focus on the drainage systems,,,,
My friends hunt Kansas,,,,, too many people for me, but good hunting none the less....
The sleeper state is Oklahoma,,,, lots of public land, really nice locals, and not much advertisement, unlike the American Archer hunting Kansas all the time, on TV