North Dakota Early Season

[Peeps22]

I work weekends so the first won't work for me but I will be out there on the 5th. I am not planning any long trips because it is only about a 5 hour drive for me so I will most likely just go out there a few times for 3-4 days. I am hoping to tag out early like everyone is but if that don't pan out then I will most likely be doing a few late season hunts in those 60mph winds that the Dakotas have.

I am also considering possibly making one trip way west and going for a giant muley buck.

Yeah its about a 12hr drive for us. Next year id like to try for a muley and an antelope.

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[62kodiak]

Is the archery tag still over the counter? Some of the guys at the archery shop were saying that North Dakota had gone to a lottery system for the archery tag but I cannot find any regulations to back that up.

[Peeps22]

I havent actually bought a tag yet but last time i checked it was over the counter. Ill have to do some digging to make sure though.

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[purebowhunting]

2 years ago it was OTC for whitetails but you had to draw a Mule Deer tag, unless there was a recent change.

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[chas3r]

Nd guy here as for tags they are over the counter. Not sure about nonresident but locals can hunt all species with the same tag

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[Peeps22]

I think when i looked last, non-residents had to buy seperate tags for different game. Or the combo tag was more expensive than just one or the other? Not 100% sure...

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[chas3r]

just checked the ndgf website can't find anything on bowhunting but the deer apps come out in may and usually you can buy your bow tag then right from the website and they will send it to you.

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[Lockdown]

Peeps I've been to South Dakota 7 or 8 times and just wanted to throw a few things out there. Good advice from PBH his findings are spot on with mine.

When he said public has more cover than private, that is true in many instances. Especially if you're talking public that is government owned and not walk-in. On walk-in the landowners can do whatever they want, state/federal owned stuff doesn't typically get grazed. Huge difference.

And yes they move in the wide open. Its not like I watch mounters stroll across cattle pastures every year, but its a lot different than WI and MN. Around here the deer worry about danger spotting them before dark. Out there they can see their surroundings. They get up earlier in the evenings and go to bed later in the mornings.

Even in my pre-beast days I figured out that they lay wind to back on the leeward hillsides. Mulies do it too and they're 1/4 as smart as whitetails If you see a buck heading to bed, know for a fact he's going to find a leeward hill.

The first buck I ever shot out there (rifle) was bedded in 1/4" tall grass in a heavily grazed cattle pasture. Use Beast tactics, but keep a very open mind.

If I were you I would cyber scout your but off and find the areas away from driving trails. If I know anything about North and South Dakotans, they love to hunt from their trucks.

[Peeps22]

Peeps I've been to South Dakota 7 or 8 times and just wanted to throw a few things out there. Good advice from PBH his findings are spot on with mine.

When he said public has more cover than private, that is true in many instances. Especially if you're talking public that is government owned and not walk-in. On walk-in the landowners can do whatever they want, state/federal owned stuff doesn't typically get grazed. Huge difference.

And yes they move in the wide open. Its not like I watch mounters stroll across cattle pastures every year, but its a lot different than WI and MN. Around here the deer worry about danger spotting them before dark. Out there they can see their surroundings. They get up earlier in the evenings and go to bed later in the mornings.

Even in my pre-beast days I figured out that they lay wind to back on the leeward hillsides. Mulies do it too and they're 1/4 as smart as whitetails If you see a buck heading to bed, know for a fact he's going to find a leeward hill.

The first buck I ever shot out there (rifle) was bedded in 1/4" tall grass in a heavily grazed cattle pasture. Use Beast tactics, but keep a very open mind.

If I were you I would cyber scout your but off and find the areas away from driving trails. If I know anything about North and South Dakotans, they love to hunt from their trucks.

Thanks Lockdown, alot of good advice that makes sense... now when you have been out to the dakotas, how many have you killed in the morning and how many in the afternoon? Or i guess another way to put it is, with your experiance out there, would you say your chances are better shooting one in the morning or in the evening?

I planned on scouting the mornings and then hunting the evenings but thats because thats what i do around here... im sure theres not a right or wrong answer but figured id get your input.

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[Lockdown]

Before I answer your questions I should add that in the hillier country the whitetails do bed in random patches of cover and wooded draws. Last time I was out there I watched some mulies bed out in the open, and there was a whitetail buck off to the side in the thicker cover. If you find riverbottom/slew/swamp there will be whitetails in it.

I went East river in '06, then west river '07-'11, and '13. I cheated every year but 2013 (I was rifle hunting). I shot 11 bucks and does with a rifle, some were mulies, and in 2013 I killed a mulie with my bow.

My situation was a little different due to hunting the rut. However I looked through my records and all but two of those kills were in the morning. Some were very late morning, but it was a lot if spotting and stalking. A good portion of those kills came from observing ag fields or simply climbing the biggest hill around and then going after them. I did spot and stalk my archery mulie in the evening.

So my experiences aren't exactly apples to apples with your situation. I do think your best bet is observing in the morning then either setting up on him that night, or hoping he does the same thing the next morning.

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