Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Pine ridge Nebraska DIY deer hunt

Just looking for general experience of those on the fire that have hunted Nebraska. Looking seriously into this area for a trip out west this fall. Like the idea of 2 buck tags and a chance at a mule deer. I know pressure can be an issue but I am from PA and am no stranger to that. Again not looking for GPS coordinates or anyone's favorite spot, just what you like/dislike about the hunt and area. I like to backpack and will be putting some miles in, that is what draws me out west, we just don't have the opportunity to roam out east and of course chasing another critter than whitetail always intrigues me.

Thanks,

MM

Nobody hunts Nebraska?

Unlike most of Nebraska, there is a lot of public land in the Pine Ridge WMA. It is mostly prairie with little cover, longer ranges, and lower deer population densities. Except in the wooded area south of Chadron, I think that the best way to hunt is to spot and stalk. You are likely to find crowds of hunters during the first third of the rifle season and then almost none. A good GPS unit and ATV will get you out into the prairie and back again.

You might want to talk to the COs for that area, Jim Zimmerman and Dan King, to get their take on your planned hunt.

Used to hunt the sandhills in the Valentine NWR when I lived up there. Always saw mulies and even shot a couple, but I don't have any recent information.

I'm considering a trip to there or that part of the state next year to see if my young dog can tell what a prairie chicken smells like. Might gave to think on a deer tag as well. Looks like neat country!

Licenses are a bit on the steep side. I can shoot 2 for that price right?😉

You can buy 2 tags but they are priced individually. About $250 each or so? We hunted that area one year. Tons of pressure around Ft. Robinson area. Literally truck loads full of deer. Locals would have 25-30 deer in the bed of a truck and I'm not kidding. All that said, we had a good hunt and killed some deer and saw some nice ones. Out of 5 hunters we killed 4/5 on Mule deer. 2 smaller bucks and 2 nice bucks. Saw a couple of dandy whitetails and one giant muley. You can eventually get away from the people. Most of the pressure was opening weekend.

Nebraska is the easiest place to tag out on a whitetail that I have ever hunted. The whitetails out there are a completely different critter from what we have in the southeast. Folks out there are very nice as well.

This is what I'm having trouble with. Startewide buck is 600 whitetail only when I look online, but I can buy for each individual county?

One thing to note... I checked online and Chadron and the surrounding area don't seem have much for locker plants to cool and hold venison, if you might want such.

Called to the field office and they cleared my last question up. I think I'm sold on Nebraska.

I have a 48" Igloo Cooler that holds ice for days. That'll do for a deer.

I have hunted NE several times, both central and NW parts. I'm not trying to discourage you, but want to give you an accurate picture of what to expect....

There are deer, but the days of seeing 20 deer in the back of a pickup are over. 2011 we saw 15-20 deer a day. By 2013 the deer herd had tanked. In 2015 we hunted the entire season and scouted the day prior and saw two small legal Mule deer. We backpack hunt and cover a ton of ground glassing and hiking. In the NW there really isn't any public land big enough to "get away" from hunters other than the prairie/sand hills.

Again, you can find deer, but they are really few and far between and a realistic expectation for mule deer is a forkie. Yes, people kill bigger ones, and if you listen to some it seems like they are all over the place- they used to be maybe, but it's been pretty rough the last few years.

I have hunted Nebraska each fall for 20 years now. I love it. the first few years i hunted the northeast corner when pheasants were abundant but also got modest deer. for the last 17 years I've focused on Holt County (north central) for deer and feel incredibly fortunate to have had such opportunity. In 06 I shot a 150 class whitetail that the meat locker weighed and said was minimum 340 lbs on the hoof, and 2 of my small group of companions have shot 160 class bucks. I learned to deer hunt in Pennsylvania too and the quality of NE deer has been exciting by comparison. Terrain is relatively more open, deer concentrate in the cover along creeks, and since rifle season is in the rut waiting for them to pass by as they travel those corridors seeking does has been productive.

some days I've seen 7 bucks, usually 2-3. 95% whitetails but west of route 281 it becomes increasingly mulies. Lots of prairie chickens and turkeys too.

Caveats:

1. as mentioned, there was a huge outbreak of CWD around 2013 and it's certainly not been the same since, but been recovering.
2. the weather is unpredictable. I've hunted some years in a short sleeve shirt and others in single digits. but the bigger problem can be the wind: many a day it blows over 25 mph and deer hunker down.
3. i've mostly hunted private land, but some public. WMA's and walk-in land have not been crowded--especially cp PA--and i've seen good bucks on them too. after opening weekend they are almost deserted.

I now drive there from VA. We gut/skin/quarter the deer out there, and as also mentioned by others a quality cooler with ice keeps the quarters cold for days if ice is replaced and water drained.

GO FOR IT! It's been a major highlight of my life.

Thanks for the honest replies. Looking for a different destination this year, and even if it's a tough hunt I think it'll be worth the trip.