Antelope Hunting In S.D.

[Bear Hunter]

Just wondering if there is any one out there around the Faith or Buffalo S.D. area that would let a guy do some antelope hunting on there property. Use to hunt out there many years ago and stopped hunting them after that big winter kill in 77 and now the fellers ranch has been sold to a big outfit that charges alot of $$$$$$to hunt. We show the land owners our appreciation but not out right paying big $$To kill an antelope!!!!Thanks for any info!!!Larry

[walleye710-unlogged]

Not very familiar with the area around Faith but I have hunted prairie goats near Buffalo for about 30 years - the antelope hunting is better. The antelope numbers are coming back fairly well and many ranchers will still grant permission to hunt them (deer is an entirely different story). However quite a few of them do charge a trespass fee that ranges anywhere from $20.00 to $200. I've heard of a couple that go as high as $1000 but that is the exception rather than the rule. There is also still the lock-out issue going on in Harding County. I am not sure if that will resolve itself this year and has been going on for 2 years already. Its a long story but a few ranchers in Harding County have closed their land to hunting (at least to non-relatives) over a dispute between their group and the SD GF&P. The secret is to make contact early and not just the day before the season opens. However the upside is that SD GF&P have leased many thousands of acres and enrolled them in the public access Walk-in program. Get yourself one of the guide books/atlases when they come out and do some homework. There are several large blocks of land in Harding County and in Butte County to the south where there are lots of antelope and good public access because of this program. I was quite dismayed to learn 4 years ago that the ranch I hunt was leased to the Walk-in program, mostly because I feared the over-run of hunters. My fears have been largely unfounded because there are now more antelope on the property and most hunters (over 90%) won't walk in any further than a mile. Last fall my son and I walked in 2-3 miles and had a lot of land all to ourselves. We got our goats with little trouble and it was his first antelope hunt. The land adjoining the few roads there are out there will get over-run by hunters and roadhunters and the goats will soon move inland a little further where most people won't go. A buddy of mine (he's about 60 years old) hunts a large walk-in tract in Butte County and shoots a goat every year. You just need a game cart or some other way to get the critter out because it is walk-in only, no motorized vehicles are allowed. The largest herds of antelope are in the Camp Crook area of Harding County which is 25-30 miles straight west of Buffalo and there is an enormous amount of walk-in ground over there too. A buddy of mine and his wife hunt a big tract of walk-in ground near Camp Crook and they don't have any trouble getting their goats at all. The walk-in land is good, it is free, and very public, just a pain in the rear end to get your goat out. We used a game cart bought at Cabelas and it worked very well - we were able to haul out both of our goats along with a cooler full of water and lunch.