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Preliminary feedback on the rifle draws?

My luck was two for two unbelievably. Most of the people I have visited with have had similar results. I have came across a few that only drew one. How was your luck? My earlier attempts at the draws all resulted in nothing so I was glad to see some positive hits. I would think someone will break it all down once all four draws are done and we can ponder the results.

I only drew one. That's all I really expected to draw, and it's all I'm going to have time for this year. Looking at the draw statistics and comparing them to last year none of the numbers were better than last year. I looked at statewide muzzle loader, east river and west river in the units I usually apply for. All the draw odds were a little bit worse than last year, and the leftover tags were about the same as in previous years.

I'm a little disappointed they didn't stick with the original plan to make people choose just one tag in the first draw. I know there were a lot of people who threw a fit, but I think it would have made a bigger difference in more people drawing their first choice.

Did you see an increase in the draw odds in the units you applied for grizzly?

One thing I misstated in my above post. Statewide muzzle loader odds did increase slightly, but not by a whole lot.

We had okay luck. I drew a ML tag and my daughter drew a BH any deer tag, both were long shots and we got lucky. Otherwise we didn't see anything unusual in our draw odds. I will say across the board the draw odds either stayed the same or increased ever so slightly. Basically a few extra people got into the field which is exactly what the GFP said would happen. I think a lot of folks had unrealistic expectations of what the change would do. If they had limited it to one choice in the first draw then we would have seen some changes. The way they set this up was the worst of all the proposals.

I agree, congrats on the BH tag! That's a tough one to draw.

It's my daughter, draw odds do not seem to apply to her. She applies and she draws, it's unreal how lucky she is. I'm surprised she hasn't drawn a sheep tag.

Hi Fellas, Non resident here and have never hunted SD. A buddy and I have been building points for a while and decided to put in for a west river unit in the south west part of the state (I don't want to hot-spot the unit). We drew it with 4 points and are pretty excited to come and hunt your state. We were planning on hunting for 12 days (starting 11/16) and mainly camping in the Buffalo Gap grassland. We also planned on picking up archery tags (this month) so we could both rifle and archery hunt during our trip. I'm from out west so unlike most I am more excited for whitetails than anything--everybody wants to hunt what they don't have. Anyways if anyone has any tips or hints for a guy who is used to hunting in the mountains let me know--PMs are awesome as I don't like to put stuff out on the web. I am not sure what my expectations should be but we are excited to give South Dakota a try!

I took my three points and tried for the ML and it seemed to work. Little better odds. Now that I have drawn that, it will be awhile before I see it again. I have had good luck drawing the BH any deer in the past. 2 for 9. Stopped applying for it because I feared the odds were going to swing the other way. I should be able to draw the BH whitey next year and I do enjoy being there. Brotsky, little squirt will be hunting in November and you in December. Don't kill em all before I get there. She is lucky. She probably will get the sheep tag. Good luck. I would have liked to see the single choice option to begin with also. I would be willing to think that putting all the big game in a single choice drawing would make people ponder what is really important to them. At any rate, we may not have full blown point creep, but I think we are heading that way. At least they are not trying to introduce wolves here yet. Good Luck Airborne, our mulies will not impress you but you might find a larger whitetail. They don't get old by being dumb. They will lay out in the open well out of range, hide in the nastiest stuff you have ever seen. You just don't know where they will be. I like the first twenty minutes of the season best.

I also drew the ML tag. I'll be in the hills in December trying to fill a cow elk tag. If I see a nice muley that would be a bonus...if not I have another spot I'd like to try.

Thanks for the info grizz! We will bring some good glass with us and hopefully find something. We had planned on arriving the night before the opener and hit the ground running opening morning--now you have me rethinking this--would it be better to arrive a couple days early and try to find deer and put a buck to bed the night before hoping he will be there on the morning of the opener? Not sure if I can swing that with my days off already lined out. I appreciate the help!

I have usually found it better to bow hunt just prior to the start of rifle. There are more critters and less spooked. You will have a good idea where they are for rifle opener. Keep in mind that the wind always blows in the grasslands. Be thinking of that when you camp. Good luck. On the other issue, I ran into quite a few people who drew no tags in this initial draw. Many had tried for the coveted BH any deer tag. Needless to say, none of them were any too happy. Some confessed that applying for some units with no preference probably wasn't the wisest thing to do.

We did very well. I got a very good refuge muzzleloader tag and both my wife and son got good WR and statewide Muzz with less points than previously were typically used. I shot the moon with my two with RFD and CSP so getting 1 was pretty good I thought. I totally agree with the above sentiments about 1 vs. 2 preferred choices. The numerical estimates from the department were 3,500 more individual hunters getting a preferred tag with 1 choice and about 1,000 with 2 choices. I don't know when they will release that information but that's really the only way I can judge if it was "successful" or not personally. There was a LOT of backlash throughout obviously but the goal was "more hunters getting A preferred tag" and I think it will wind up working to a degree. The wailing and gnashing of teeth will likely continue during tweaking. One thing I personally don't think can be ignored (won't be popular) is that allowing a separate draw for special buck actually gives those applicants another chance over and above everyone else. Yes, it's a choice and costs much more but it's a variance that shouldn't be ignored in the statistical analysis. In other words, those applicants aren't out a thing by putting in for those and if they draw (great that's 1 of 2), if they don't, they still get 2 shots at "preferred tags". I don't think I personally know anyone that didn't get at least 1 they wanted already. The "leftovers" are pretty bare though from what I see.

Another thing we need to watch with a close eye is I've heard a lot of chatter about turning to archery and getting the guaranteed bow tags. That can be a double edged sword IMO. Great to expand bowhunting, possibly not so great to have more inexperienced and un-trained (NO Bow Ed requirement). As well as putting more pressure on numbers by pushing the possibility of archery draw further into the sight picture.

As feared, my group didn't draw any better on BH or WR than previous yrs. Actually a little worse in BH111, (3 out of 12) all of whom had 2 preference points going in. Nobody with 1 point in our group drew. In looking at the left over tags, all tags for my county or any county I could gain access are already gone with no option for me to pick up any preference. Worst possible outcome for guys like myself who would apply for multiple seasons, earn my points and eventually draw.

Stepchild, you can still purchase points for every season in which you did not draw starting August 30. The option tp build point and eventually draw has not changed.

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