Another South Dakota opening weekend over and done!! Took this 5x5 whitetail buck less than a mile from my parent's doorstep on the family ranch!! First blood for my AR-15, and generally a great weekend all around. My 10 yr old nephew shot his first deer Sunday morning as well, making thee hunt that much more special. My favorite time of year....gone for another year!
South Dakota opening day deer
- Thread starter Davek1977
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glock36
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Well done, congestions for sure. What load was used ?
Federal Fusion 62 gr. took oout both lungs, nicked the heart, and exited opposite side....ran a few hundred yards when another small buck ran past him as I thought he was dying, but left a blood trail that was hard to miss. In all, could have happened with any caliber...
Cleburne
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Congrats on the harvest.
Almost correct....as MOST of West River opens the 12th. However, Mellette County, which is where i hunt, Gregory County, and maybe one more (?) county have a split season, the first of which opened last weekend. The Buck was taken roughly 4 miles northwest of Wood, South Dakota, in central mellette county. Good luck on the upcoming hunt....FWIW, our area seemed to have few mule deer, which is odd for our exact location, as they used to outnumber whitetails significantly. Also, while there were reports of many whitetails dying from that disease they seem to get every few years (blue tongue someone called it?) all the deer we saw were healthy....but oddly wild for it being so early in the season.
Freedom_fighter_in_IL
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Taken from wiki. The whole article can be found here if interested.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetongue_disease
Nice buck by the way.
Yeah, I hunt the Mellette County early season every year, and I've hunted in t-shirts as often as winter gear. You just never know what you're gonna get....it might be 60 and sunny, or it might be 20 and snowy...and I've had opening weekends where I've had both extremes!
And thanks for the compliments...He's not huge, but he's a good representation of whats out there. At the time he was shot, he was the biggest I had seen that day, but saw at least three others later in the day that could have topped him....not saying I had a shot at them necessarily, but I certainly saw bigger! Oh well...maybe they'll last the season and be around next year!!
And thanks for the compliments...He's not huge, but he's a good representation of whats out there. At the time he was shot, he was the biggest I had seen that day, but saw at least three others later in the day that could have topped him....not saying I had a shot at them necessarily, but I certainly saw bigger! Oh well...maybe they'll last the season and be around next year!!
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