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Antelope or deer hunt?

Planning trip to SD, would be hunting Sept. 24-30 on public land. Would you recommend buying Antelope tag or deer tag? Will be first out of state hunting trip looking for best opportunity for success.

Buy both and hunt when the seasons overlap. You never know what you might see in the right area.

I would love to but not sure if I can afford to buy both tags. Maybe i will start saving my pennies lol. Not a bad idea though. Does the black Hills have Antelope or are they found more in the prairie? I have never been west before.

There are pronghorns in the Black hills. I hunt the grasslands for them. If money is an issue I would just go with the deer tag and be aware of other species. Pronghorns are very difficult to hunt spot and stalk. If fact I would say the most difficult. Move around to a couple of different spots. You will learn more the first year on the ground than anyone can tell you.

Thanks Brown E. WE are going with deer, hope to find a mule deer or two in custer National Forest.

I saw your other thread here too. Just a heads up the Custer national forest seems to be getting more and more crowded the past few years. This year we were there beginning of October and saw almost more people than deer. Last year was end of October and same thing. There's decent deer there but seems to be more people to. I think the deer get pushed more to the prairie. Keep that in kind and don't get to tied down to one spot.

Yeah, Custer national forest has really gone down hill in recent years. I wish they'd limit the number of access permits. There are a lot of youth, archery and muzzle loader hunters in there plus 125 rifle hunters.

Custer has become almost a waste of time imo this last season. I hunted there a hand full of times. Saw more out of state hunters than deer. No offense when i say that but it has really gotten bad up there with everyone coming in and hunting. I scouted most of the year for a couple of bucks and after opening day located none of them other than on the private surrounding it. I ended up moving out and finding some great deer out on the priaire. They were difficult to find but once found you had a good chance of hunting them. Remember the week you are coming out is our opening weekend. Lots of ppl out and about. I myself find it more fun to hunt antelope mid to late aug than fight the crowds of opening week of deer season. You can hunt antelope all day, see lots of country, and put a couple stalks on each day and not be tied down to finding a deer. Just my thoughts. good luck!!

Thanks guys for the heads up. We may have to reevaluate our location. We thought about going to the black Hills also. Any recommendations for less pressured areas. Like I said we are not trophy hunters we just want to have a good vacation and have a shot at a deer.

Any info on Buffalo gap national grassland? Would that be better than Custer national forest SD as far as hunting pressure early season?

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