"The vast Dakotas are home to big bucks"
Early this year I scheduled consecutive hunts for whitetail to North and South Dakota. I was prepared for the cold. It was not my first whitetail hunting trip to the region. However, I was not prepared to accept what happened while hunting, which to put it in a nutshell, was nothing. Despite
hunting in what is arguably the best trophy buck territory in the United
States, I spent almost 20 days in a ground blind and treestands without
placing an arrow or a bullet into a buck. I make a living hunting and
relating my hunting experiences on the Internet and on television. It
was a blow I still remember. But it is not as unusual as many hunters
looking to make a trip there might suspect.During the last decade or a little longer, each season the eyes of the whitetail hunting world have been on the western states and provinces. Almost as large as Texas, North and South Dakota is home to the country's large growing whitetail deer. Eighty percent of these states' population lives in the Dakota's largest cities like Bismarck, Fargo, Sioux Falls and Grand Rapids. In the vast, rolling hills of these twin states where most whitetail hunting occurs, a farmer's nearest neighbor could be miles away. Grain crops like wheat, flax, sunflower, and corn grow in rolls and are measured in miles rather than acres.
The Dakotas are near the northern edge of the range of the highly adaptable whitetail. The subspecies of whitetail found here, the Dakotas whitetail, is the northern most subspecies, and the same subspecies that is found in Canada's provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Manitoba. Mature specimens of these whitetail often exceed 300 pounds live body weight. It is ironic that these prairie monsters have essentially the same genetics of their smaller southern counterparts, even the dog-sized Key deer of southern Florida.
Whitetail has inhabited the continent for a very long time, adapting in body size and habits to the habitat and climate where they reside. Bigger bodied, bigger antlered bucks occur most consistently along the northern edge of the whitetail's range because of the harsh winter weather, according to a biological principal known as Bergman's Law. This biological prin
ciple
states that the farther north a mammal such as a whitetail occurs, the
larger its body must be to enable it to maintain its body heat. Larger
bodies most efficiently retain valuable internal heat when it is very
cold.Conversely, the farther south species like this live, the smaller the body for just the opposite reasons. Smaller bodies dissipate internally generated heat, a liability in steamy environments. This is not to say there is not a 300-pound, near world record buck, roaming the backwoods of southern Alabama as we speak. But in general terms, far northern bucks are most likely to be the largest, something a brief look at either a Boone & Crockett or Safari Club International record book will quickly point out.
Whitetail has always been found in the Dakotas. The local residents, who are mostly quite isolated farmers, have long shot and eaten these animals. Until the last twenty years of so, interest in antlers, the object of obsession among many members of the bowhunting community, were little more than handles for dragging these animals. One can only wonder how many bucks bigger than the world record Hansen buck were quietly converted to stew while the racks hung in a barn to feed field mice.
Some believe intensive grain farming has played a significant roll in increasing the whitetail herd of the Dakotas. The Dakotas are big--ranging for mile after mile after mile. Even where these animals are most abundant, it is not like hunting in Texas or Georgia, where you often see dozens of animals in a single day from your treestand. Herd densities in the frozen north are not nearly so high, but because the countryside is so open to allow you to see so much for so far, you see every whitetail for miles around.
Only a few thousand nonresident whitetail hunters have visited the Dakotas over the last dozen years compared to many more who have trekked to the better-known Prairie Provinces of Canada. The most common comments made by most is that it is a far tougher hunt than they anticipated both in rigors of the cold and the number of whitetail sighted.
If you come to the Dakotas to hunt whitetail, bring a rifle mounted with a quality riflescope that is zeroed in at a 200-yard range. Many of the biggest bucks you will see will be 200 to 400 yards away. The locals have always hunted here. They know their land an
d
the whitetail found there.When venison was needed to feed their families, hardy Dakota farmers shot these animals at 100 to 400 yard ranges. They have long been well schooled at constructing ground blinds for rifle hunting. North Dakota does not offer rifle tags to nonresidents, and rifle tags are difficult to get in South Dakota, the glaring exception being Indian reservations, which welcome nonresident rifle hunters with open arms.
Outfitters who welcome bowhunters have finally arrived in the Dakotas, although many of them are not always well versed in putting up treestands that are strategically suited for bowhunting success--especially after the leaves have fallen. However, growing interest in Dakota whitetail by bowhunters has resulted in a growing number of outfitters adjusting to accommodate archery hunters.
Like everywhere else, the Dakotas have an early bowhunting season that precedes the rifle hunting season. The early part of bowhunting is usually characterized by mild weather. Although most of the countryside is prairie that is largely bare of trees, the coulees are flush with thickets and cottonwood trees. Although not large growing, these cottonwoods lend themselves well to treestand hunting. Successfully bowhunting here is not easy. Warm temperatures adversely affect early season bowhunting and heavy rains. Biting cold and harsh winds can curtail late season hunting success. During the early season bucks are surprisingly nocturnal, and opt to only offer shots very early in the morning or very late in the evening. But of course, you do have leafy coverage!
Late season, which is usually November, is the height of whitetail rutting activity in the Dakotas. Bucks determined to breed as often and as much as possible shake of their nocturnal habits, roaming their countryside for estrus does. This does not mean you are going into a penny arcade shooting gallery, but it does mean that if you sit still in your treestand for the entire length of your hunting trip, odds are you will see a neck-swollen buck that is so large it will make your tongue drop out of your mouth.
Bowhunters
must be careful in choosing an outfitter and carefully plan their trip,
especially if you have never prepared to hunt where -25 degrees F is
considered a nice day. The Dakotas is where you can kill a Boone &
Crockett buck if you hunt hard, pay strict attention to details like
scent control, and have a bit of luck. It is not a cakewalk hunt.Trophy whitetail hunting in the Dakotas is more economical than similar hunts to Canada's Prairie Provinces, although nonresident hunting here through an outfitter is not cheap. If you have access to private land in the Dakotas you do not need an outfitter. However, to maximize your chances for success, a good outfitter is worth a premium price. If you go during the latter portion of the season, have the clothing that will enable you to treestand in cold down to -20 degrees F. Practice shooting your bow while bundled in bulky clothes that will keep you warm at those temperatures. Good luck!