Weekend Hunt

This weekend I took my first hunting trip of the year. The group I was with had a cabin up in the hills outside Nemo, SD. The three days I was up there we took three different spots each day that had been scouted the weekend before. The first two spots we walked through the first day we didn’t see anything but squirrels and I few chipmunks. The third we only saw doe’s and a bull elk, nice 5 by 5 or 10 pointer. The second day one of the other girls got lost the first spot we walked. We found her on the far side of the camp. That drive no one saw a thing, same with the second. The third drive I saw eight doe’s and one nice 5 by 6 or 11 point buck. He hid behind trees so I couldn’t get a clear shot. The third day no one saw a single thing. “Day three was a waste of gas in the trucks,” that’s what the land owner said when we get back to camp.

The whole weekend not one get a deer but three of the guys filled their turkey tags. If you don’t get the animal you’re hunting the first time you go, try to go as often as possible till the season is over. Never give up after the first trip.

Deer

November 1^st marks the start of deer session. Running from the first to the thirtieth, deer hunters have I whole month to find and bag or kill their buck or doe. Most people will hold out on killing a deer in the first week or two, but coming into the third and fourth weeks people start being less picky on what deer they should take. When hunting you should know what tag you have, whether it’s a white tail or mule deer tag. You also need to know the difference in the two types of deer. The best way to tell them apart is their ears. Mule deer have longer and wider ears while white tails have shorter skinner ears. If that doesn’t help you tell them apart, white tails have a white butt and the underside of their tails are white. Mule deer don’t and will hop like a jack rabbit when they are running.

To me mule deer are much more fun to hunt because; they have bigger racks than most white tails tend to. The white tail I got last year was bigger than my dad’s mule deer. The white tail I get was a four by five or a nine point and my dad’s mule deer was a two by three or a five point. I get bragging rights all year. I didn’t draw a deer tag this year for the hills, but maybe in the plains re-draw I can get a tag

Trophy Bucks

When people think of trophy bucks, they think of monster sized deer. Most people think that the trophy buck should be at least a 6 by 6 or 12 points with a 12 inch spread at least. Even though, the size of a trophy buck is different for everyone. The biggest trophy buck ever had between 50 and 60 points. With that rack the deer weighed 375 pounds. He lives on a farm n Pennsylvania.

When I got my first trophy buck, I was 12. He was a whitetail; he rack was 6 by 5 or 11 points. His spread was 7 inches. I know that isn’t real big for some of the whitetails up in the hills, but he was good for a twelve year old. I didn’t fully kill him but I shot him in the guts, worst place to shot a deer. One of the guys I was hunting with finished him off. I haven’t gotten a trophy buck that would even come close to beating my first, yet.

Hunting Stands

There are many types of hunting stands, from the tree stand to the ground blind. Hunting stands come in handy for keeping you hidden, and out of the sent range of the animal you are hunting. When you get a tree stand you need a strong a flexible stand that will allow the hunter to move and to position their selves. This allows for a good shot. Most of the tree stands will hold at least 350 pounds.

The only stand I have used was when I was hunting geese with a friend. We lay in that ground blinds and just waited. But they do pay off. The geese didn’t know we were their till the landed on top of us and we came running. I think they are amazing and work well.

Antelope

The firearm season for antelope starts the last Saturday of September and ends right before archery starts. There is not a set date for the end of firearm hunting; there is also no set date for the beginning of archery season. Antelope archery season starts in mid-October and runs till late October. The most estimated time for the firearm to end, and the archery to begin is the 13^th through the 16^th for this year.

I have never gone archery hunting for antelope. I have never shot an antelope so this is one of the only animals that I have no idea on. I went antelope hunting with my dad once and didn’t see a single thing. I would like to go hunt antelope so I can learn more about tracking them over the prairie. For me there really isn’t much to say about these animals because I have never hunted them.

Sharp-tail Grouse

The Sharp-tail Grouse is open is September. The grouse’s season runs through early January. This bird is chicken like in many ways. They use a wide variety of habitats then most birds do.  They are one of the largest grouse and are easily mistaken for prairie chickens. They tend to live in prairies, grasslands, agricultural areas and open woodland. Make sure when you’re hunting these birds you don’t shoot a prairie chicken. That would make you look like you don’t know what you’re doing.

I have never hunted these birds. I would like to someday soon. If I ever got to hunt these birds I will end up getting in mounted and hung on my wall next to the antlers from the deer I got last year. Some people tell me that prairie chickens taste better the sharp-tail grouse.

Bows

One of the most over looked bows is the Darton Pro 3800. The draw weight of this bow ranges from 50 to 70 pounds. Their draw length is between 25” and 31.” The mass weight of this bow is 4 Ibs. When hunting with this bow the arrows can reach speeds of anywhere between 345 and 350 fps, which is feet per second. The Alpine Frontier bow’s mass weight is 3.5 pounds and has a brace height of 7.25 inches. This bow also has a draw length of 26” through 30.” For how small of a bow this is the arrows will travel at speeds of 300 fps.


My choice of an ideal bow is a Diamond Black Ice Bow. With a brace height of 7.5 inches and a mass weight of only 3.6 pounds, it comes in draw lengths from 26 inches to 30 inches with half inch modules available and draw weights of 50, 60, and 70 pounds. The arrows fly at about 300 fps with my draw back length sitting at 28 inches.  

Hunting Guns

The most commonly used rifle’s used for hunting are the 243 Winchester and 6 mm Remington. Many other rifles can be used; which one is used depends on the animal you are hunting. For elk hunting a 7mm or 280 Remington would be the best chose. If you would like to use a bigger gun like the 30 caliber magnums or a 338 Winchester Magnum; bear hunting is preferred for this rifle.

When I hunt I have three guns I choose from. When I hunt big game I use a 243 Winchester lever action. It is the only gun I will use to hunt big game with. When I hunt water fowl I use my 12 gage shot gun pump action. The scatter shot rounds for a 12 gage work better then slugs for bird hunting. For small game like rabbits, prairie dogs, and squirrels I use a 22 Remington lever action.

Animals people hunt in the Black Hills

There are seven major animals that people hunt in the Black Hills. They are deer, antelope, elk, big horn sheep, mt. lions, pheasants, and sharp-tail grouse. Every animal that is hunted has a time of year or season that people can hunt it. During the animals season there is only a serene number of animals you can take out ether a day or out of the whole season. Most have a firearm season and an archery season.

For deer the season runs from November 1st through November 30th. The two types or deer that are hunted here are white tail which makes up 75% of the deer population in the Black Hills. The other is mule deer. For antelope the archery season starts in mid-October and runs till late October. The firearm season starts the Saturday before the first of October and ends right before archery starts. For elk, big horn sheep and mt lions the season runs from October 1^st through the 31^st. The pheasant’s season opens in mid-October through early-January. There is a bag limit per day; this limit is 3 birds and 15 for the whole season. Sharp-tail grouse season runs from mid-September through early-January. The bag limit is the same as the pheasant and so is the season limit.