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Considering a move to the Jerauld county, SD. Anyone here hunt deer in the area? I eat a LOT of venison....am I pretty much assured of having the opportunity to shoot deer every year?
Where are you considering moving from? Archery or firearms? The deer population in SD is not as robust as in many eastern states and there are more hunters per capita. So it can be harder to get tags here. I moved here from KY where you could shoot 4 deer/year with an OTC tag. 1 buck and 3 does.
Here everything is via the lottery for firearms. You can get archery tags over the counter. In general the major zones are Black Hills, West River, and East River. So you could get three OTC archery tags every years.
Firearms- you can usually pull a BH tag every 2-3 years. West river I can get a whitetail tag every year but Mule Deer tags are harder to pull and require a couple years of prefeence points. I'm not as familiar with East River but it's probably pretty similar.
Muzzleloader, you can get a doe tag OTC every year but the zones fluctuate. A statewide buck tag is every 3 years with preference points.
So basically, if you're hunting archery, you should be able to get at least three tags a year but you'll have to hunt the whole state. Firearms, you should be able to get at least one tag every year, especially if you stagger your preference points.
You can also buy an antelope archery tag OTC every year. Firearm drwas are every 2-3 years depending on the unit.
The deer hunting here is good and there lots of public land but it's definitely not as good as Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, etc.
Oh yeah, check the website for South Dakota Dept of Fish and Game. They have reports that show your chance of drawing and average hunter success for all the different zones/units.
Thanks guys. I'm in southern Nebraska. I shot 9 deer last year and my teenage daughter got 2. I took 5 with the bow, a couple muzzleloader, and a couple rifle. She took her deer with rifle. We filled our freezers with deer. I typically take 1 buck and antlerless after that for meat. I'm blessed with being able to hunt within 2 miles of our house. I'm just not used to driving hours to hunt. The idea of "deer camp" is foreign to me because any deer I shoot, I take home and either butcher it or hang it in my freezer. And yes.....we really do eat all that we shoot.
Nice to know it's doable...I'm ok with losing some firearm opportunity...I just am hoping to be able to get 2-3 a year. I know South Dakota kicks everyone's butts when it comes to pheasants, so I'm planning on enjoying that if I make the move.
I know you guys also have some elk.....if I ever got a chance at that I'd be loving it.
How common are antelope? I'd most likely be in East River....my traveling for hunting is limited....I'm a poor pastor that doesn't have a big budget. Only reason I hunt this much is because processing it myself, rather than paying for it to be butchered.
I'd live of venison instead of store bought meat if I could too. Sadly, it's just not possible for me right now. It sounds like you were pretty fortunate to have access to some great opportunities in NE.
It won't be quite as good here, but you could probably realistically count on 3 deer a year. One archery, one east river firearms, and one muzzleloader. You could add to that with west river firearms and there are also separate tags for hunts on some of the NWR around the state.
Antelope are fairly common in west River, there are basically none East River. The highest densities are in the NW and SW corner of the state.
Elk tag takes years to draw unfortunately. I think a bull average at least 10 years of preference point and cows usually take a few years at least. And I believe if you draw you're not eligible for a tag for another 10 years. I just moved here three years ago so I'm still building up preference points.
If you're East River you'll be right in the heart of the best pheasant and waterfowl hunting int he state though.
I'd live of venison instead of store bought meat if I could too. Sadly, it's just not possible for me right now. It sounds like you were pretty fortunate to have access to some great opportunities in NE.
It won't be quite as good here, but you could probably realistically count on 3 deer a year. One archery, one east river firearms, and one muzzleloader. You could add to that with west river firearms and there are also separate tags for hunts on some of the NWR around the state.
Antelope are fairly common in west River, there are basically none East River. The highest densities are in the NW and SW corner of the state.
Elk tag takes years to draw unfortunately. I think a bull average at least 10 years of preference point and cows usually take a few years at least. And I believe if you draw you're not eligible for a tag for another 10 years. I just moved here three years ago so I'm still building up preference points.
If you're East River you'll be right in the heart of the best pheasant and waterfowl hunting int he state though.
Thanks for the info.
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