SOUTH DAKOTA PUBLIC

Aaron Skrzypczak - South Dakota - October 3rd , 2023

By: Brennen Nading (@nadingbr)

With the rule change a couple years ago, Nonresidents must wait until October 1st to start hunting deer on public lands in South Dakota.  That said, we hung around in North Dakota chasing whitetails until the end of September.  When the calendar flipped to October, we headed south to chase mule deer.  Day 1 of our hunt found us covering a lot of ground in search of some bucks to hunt.  We ended the day with a solid game plan heading into day 2.  The next morning, we didn't make it far from the vehicle before spotting a group of bucks heading down into the public draws.  We kept a few hundred yards in between us as we followed them into where they would set up shop for the day.  Once the bucks got comfortable in their beds, we waited for the wind to pick up before making our move.  We used the terrain to cover our movement as we closed into range.  55 yards was as close as we were getting, it was go time.  JP adjusted his sight, and rose up to take the shot.  The arrow found its mark and the buck only made it 60-70 yards before piling up.