MN has nothing on SD

Here is may cousin’s wife Jessica. Dandy of a whitetail. No details other than 23″ wide.

Nice buck,

Congrats to your cuz

Nice buck,

Congrats to your cuz

Definitely a nice buck I am guessing a strong 140″ class. SD has some big whitetails, but keep it a secret

Definitely a nice buck I am guessing a strong 140″ class. SD has some big whitetails, but keep it a secret

Dandy of a buck .

Dandy of a buck .

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Definitely a nice buck I am guessing a strong 140″ class. SD has some big whitetails, but keep it a secret

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There are some monsters out there, just fewer and further between compared to Iowa, WI, MN etc… In the county where this deer was shot we see about 4 deer like this a year. We have the same issue out there as most places. Nobody shoots does. There are 350 doe licenses leftover in this county alone. The old school mind set is to kill bucks.

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Definitely a nice buck I am guessing a strong 140″ class. SD has some big whitetails, but keep it a secret

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There are some monsters out there, just fewer and further between compared to Iowa, WI, MN etc… In the county where this deer was shot we see about 4 deer like this a year. We have the same issue out there as most places. Nobody shoots does. There are 350 doe licenses leftover in this county alone. The old school mind set is to kill bucks.

Here is my best friend from high school. Last Wednesday I was lucky enough to jump in the truck with him and a couple other buddies. We drove all over the place, as Jeff said, I’m sure we didn’t see a lot of deer due to the BS flying. We all hadn’t hunted together in quite some time.

With about an hour left, we spotted this guy laying in some CRP with a doe. He just layed there 35 yards from the pickup. I could see with a naked eye he was a good one. The two guys with tags were both only going to shoot “trophy” deer. Well, for our county, this is a trophy. He was only 18 inches wide, but very heavy. He grossed in the 146 range, but will probably come in at 136 due to deductions. Best deer my buddy has ever shot and he got to do it with his 3 best friends. It was pretty awesome. I haven’t deer hunted for over 5 years, but being back in the field watching these guys sure got the juices flowing!!

This deer was shot about 8 miles from the one I posted above. I saw two other deer the next day in the same class as these. Like Rob said, the benefits of mild winters is really becoming apparent.

Here is my best friend from high school. Last Wednesday I was lucky enough to jump in the truck with him and a couple other buddies. We drove all over the place, as Jeff said, I’m sure we didn’t see a lot of deer due to the BS flying. We all hadn’t hunted together in quite some time.

With about an hour left, we spotted this guy laying in some CRP with a doe. He just layed there 35 yards from the pickup. I could see with a naked eye he was a good one. The two guys with tags were both only going to shoot “trophy” deer. Well, for our county, this is a trophy. He was only 18 inches wide, but very heavy. He grossed in the 146 range, but will probably come in at 136 due to deductions. Best deer my buddy has ever shot and he got to do it with his 3 best friends. It was pretty awesome. I haven’t deer hunted for over 5 years, but being back in the field watching these guys sure got the juices flowing!!

This deer was shot about 8 miles from the one I posted above. I saw two other deer the next day in the same class as these. Like Rob said, the benefits of mild winters is really becoming apparent.

As some of you may be questioning the ethics of driving around hunting, I thought I would fill you in a bit about the terrain where we grew up.

It’s flat and no trees. We have many thousands of acres to hunt, so in order to cover ground, we often drive the edge of properties, finding any kind of a knoll to sit on and watch what is moving. It’s nothing to make a 300 yard + shot out there. Bi-pods are a favorite of most guys.

It’s obviously a lot different than hunting here in MN or WI, so I thought I would give a little extra info.

BTW, look at my buddies nose. It’s called 7MM to the snout. I didn’t give him any grief about that.

As some of you may be questioning the ethics of driving around hunting, I thought I would fill you in a bit about the terrain where we grew up.

It’s flat and no trees. We have many thousands of acres to hunt, so in order to cover ground, we often drive the edge of properties, finding any kind of a knoll to sit on and watch what is moving. It’s nothing to make a 300 yard + shot out there. Bi-pods are a favorite of most guys.

It’s obviously a lot different than hunting here in MN or WI, so I thought I would give a little extra info.

BTW, look at my buddies nose. It’s called 7MM to the snout. I didn’t give him any grief about that.

Got to love that SD hunting. That is how we hunt out there also. 90% of the hunt is scounting and driving around. It makes for a nice change of pace for those of us who do a lot of stand hunting. Nice buck

Got to love that SD hunting. That is how we hunt out there also. 90% of the hunt is scounting and driving around. It makes for a nice change of pace for those of us who do a lot of stand hunting. Nice buck

Here are a couple more SD Bucks. This is Chad and Darren, the guys we hunt with out there. The 4×4 had an inside spread of 28 inches and the 5×5 had an inside spread of 25 3/4. Both very nice mule deer in my book. These were both shot on their land on the shores of Lake Francis Case the second day of the rifle season.

Here are a couple more SD Bucks. This is Chad and Darren, the guys we hunt with out there. The 4×4 had an inside spread of 28 inches and the 5×5 had an inside spread of 25 3/4. Both very nice mule deer in my book. These were both shot on their land on the shores of Lake Francis Case the second day of the rifle season.

There are some dandy mule deer living along the Missouri River. I used to do a lot of spot and stalk with the bow on them. We would sit out on Oahe and glass for hours til we found one good enough to go after. It was a blast!!

There are some dandy mule deer living along the Missouri River. I used to do a lot of spot and stalk with the bow on them. We would sit out on Oahe and glass for hours til we found one good enough to go after. It was a blast!!

In regards to your buddies snout- I got the privilage of duct taping my brother in laws forehead shut after it absorbed the kick of a 300 mag in Montana..

In regards to your buddies snout- I got the privilage of duct taping my brother in laws forehead shut after it absorbed the kick of a 300 mag in Montana..

Funny thing is, this happened a few days before our hunt when he was shooting his doe. The next day his brother wanted to shoot his rifle, same thing. Funnier than heck, both with scabs on the nose. I didn’t give them any guff.

Funny thing is, this happened a few days before our hunt when he was shooting his doe. The next day his brother wanted to shoot his rifle, same thing. Funnier than heck, both with scabs on the nose. I didn’t give them any guff.

John was it the scope that hit them in the nose, this is actually quite common, there is a name for it but I forget what it is.

John was it the scope that hit them in the nose, this is actually quite common, there is a name for it but I forget what it is.

Kooty and Scott, some of the hutning I do in ND is the same way. Not much for trees and pretty open country. The deer use the small shelter belts, topographic relief, sloughs and CRP for cover. The group of 5 bucks I posted a few weeks ago from ND was in the same type of country. It is vital to have a goodpair of binoculars out there. Scouting from a far and making your plan of attack(push) or stalk is very critical down to the smallest details of timing, wind, etc. when trying to bag those big boys out in the open country like that. Sometimes you can get lucky and catch a big boy off gaurd tending a hot doe and he will not even care or know you are there cause his mind is somewhere else . You just need to take advantage of those opportunities ! Great deer Kooty and nothing like hunting like that, where you can shoot the bull, with good buds and chase monster racks all at the same time! Doing ones homework of glassing fields and knowing what deer are in the area helps also ! Congrats to your buddy on a awesome deer

Kooty and Scott, some of the hutning I do in ND is the same way. Not much for trees and pretty open country. The deer use the small shelter belts, topographic relief, sloughs and CRP for cover. The group of 5 bucks I posted a few weeks ago from ND was in the same type of country. It is vital to have a goodpair of binoculars out there. Scouting from a far and making your plan of attack(push) or stalk is very critical down to the smallest details of timing, wind, etc. when trying to bag those big boys out in the open country like that. Sometimes you can get lucky and catch a big boy off gaurd tending a hot doe and he will not even care or know you are there cause his mind is somewhere else . You just need to take advantage of those opportunities ! Great deer Kooty and nothing like hunting like that, where you can shoot the bull, with good buds and chase monster racks all at the same time! Doing ones homework of glassing fields and knowing what deer are in the area helps also ! Congrats to your buddy on a awesome deer