Your First Western Hunt: Part 2
Three Buffalo Bulls; Badlands, South Dakota - Taken June 2022 by Jasveer Sandhu
Deciding What and Where to Hunt
Alright, so you have sorted out that you want to hunt and ensured that you have the support of your family and friends to do it. What’s next? Deciding that you want to do something is often not the hard part. It’s hashing out the specifics to make sure you are getting the most out of your time and hard earned dollars. Let’s a take a look at what we think you should consider when you start to build the frame work for your first western hunt. I will explain what you can think about and how I assessed four key considerations to arrive at my target species and location.
(You can reference Part 1 of this blog series to see what goes into the decision to go in the first place!) You need to decide what you want to hunt and where.)
Deciding what to hunt and where to hunt it is now the primary objective
While considering what species and location to hunt this fall I considered four key factors, I believe you should too. The goals that you established for your trip, the time that you have available, the financial means that you have, and your physical fitness and general health will all heavily influence your plans. Beginning by understanding your goals, is a great place to start.
You will have to assess what your goals are and apply them to your species and location as I have. This may seem obvious to you but consider how many times you have been presented with dessert at a restaurant and gotten some just because it “sounded good”. When you get ready to apply for tags or buy over-the-counter permits, you will be presented with many such options. A mule deer buck (layered cake), bull elk (crème brulee), or a wolf tag (chocolate mousse). It will be hard to resist applying to these enticing tags even if you don’t truly have any aspirations of hunting them. Don’t get us wrong, if you are compelled to apply for a tag because its something you would like to experience don’t let us talk you out of it. In fact, if one of your goals is to land one of those incredible hunts you may need to start applying now to build up preference points for the future and you will need to consider where to apply. We will talk more about odds and preference points in Part 3 of the blog. At this point I encourage you to consider broader goals as well as specific ones. If you are interested in filling the freezer and testing your woodsmanship, you may need to consider cow elk or mule deer doe tags to hunt sooner than later. If your goal is to shoot a whitetail buck you will want to apply for antlered whitetail tags in states and units that they are available in. Perhaps you aspire to hunt a charismatic predator like a wolf or bear, you’ll need to consider what states allow it and by what methods of take. Do you want to push yourself physically, you’ll need to look at more rugged country. However, no matter what your goals are you will need time to achieve them. By the time your done planning your first hunt, you’ll be ready to start planning another!
Time is arguably our most valuable resource. We all have a finite amount of time to achieve our goals and meet our obligations. It can be a real challenge to find the time even when the finances and tags are easy to come by. When I was working a corporate position, I had extremely limited vacation. In a year, I would have considered three business days reasonable or five days’ vacation to hunt as ideal. Five days vacation would allow me two days to travel in and establish camp, five days to hunt during the week, and two days to pack up and head home. The species you choose to pursue and the location you choose to hunt in will be dependent on the time you have. In some regions elk are more abundant than in others and will take less time to locate, track, and pack out. If you choose to hunt a male of a species it may take significantly longer to pin down that boar, bull, or buck your looking for. An over-the-counter tag may give you a guaranteed tag so that you can plan the hunt far in advance and a lottery tag may give you as little as a month to get organized. If you want to hunt a species that is specific to a certain region that may limit your choice of location and consume much of your time to get access to it. Not to mention that some locations are more expensive to access than others which brings us to the matter of cost.
You will have to assess what your means are from a financial perspective. Maybe you have been saving up a long time for this trip like I have or perhaps you have the means on hand to go whenever you like. The species and location will dictate the cost of the trip, as well as your personal dedication to thrift or otherwise. Trophy and exotic species often command expensive tag and application fees while more numerous and less sought-after freezer filler tags are generally less expensive. Additionally, when you are considering your budget, make sure that you consider what you must pay for beyond a tag or license. The following are some of the things that you’ll need. (Blog 4 will cover additional notes on each category with things to consider)
Travel and Transport
Food
Coolers and ice
Backpack
Weapon
Boots
Weather specific clothing
Tag and License
If you are trying to limit expenditures, I would strongly recommend choosing a species that you can hunt with equipment you already own. Consider locations that you can drive to if possible. Other saving options are to find someone that you know who lives in a western state who could put you up, join you for the hunt, or provide you with a vehicle. This will curb the costs of the trip significantly. Ultimately, trust that whatever you plan to spend, you will probably blow the budget by 10-15 percent, so be realistic when you estimate cost and give yourself a break where you can. Remember, the pool of hunting is unfathomably deep. It will take a lifetime of diving before you hit the bottom of hunting experiences available to you. Be patient and be responsible with your resources. Don’t rush an experience if it means that you will sink your future.
Finally, you will need to consider your physical fitness and health. Chasing mountain goats or rocky mountain sheep over shale fields and boulder outcrops at high elevations is different than hunting antelope on open prairie. Both have their challenges that need to be looked over before you make a decision. Don’t be fooled into thinking that you can squeak by with little or no training, especially if you plan to go by yourself. You wouldn’t drive your car 10,000 miles if you knew the radiator was about to blow and the thing was burning oil. Your body is no different. Consult your doctor and know your capabilities and limits. Don’t be afraid to build yourself up and remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day either.
My Plans
Looking to my future, I assessed the species and location based on my conclusions below. I encourage you to write out your thoughts as well! Comment and let us know what you plan to hunt and where!
Species: Whitetail and/or Antelope
Location: South Dakota, Public Land
Justifications:
My Goals:
My goals for my first western hunt are listed in Part 1 of this blog series. I have listed the two most influential goals that I set regarding the species and location below:
Learn how to prepare for a hunting expedition into an area that is unfamiliar to me
To hunt and camp effectively for more than 3 days
I haven’t explored much, if any, huntable public land in most of the western states that I have visited, so I can essentially hunt anywhere and remain unfamiliar with the area. Likewise, most tags I apply for will provide me with two to three days of hunting which will give me adequate time to achieve my goal of three consecutive days hunting and camping. I have camped and hiked many times for five-to-ten-day periods of time, but not in the context of a hunt, and never entirely alone for more than three days. Hunting in South Dakota gives me plenty of ground to explore and it will be full of interesting species to learn about. Additionally, South Dakota is a place that allows out of state hunters to apply for antelope tags which is high on my list of animals to pursue.
My Time:
I am currently self-employed, so time is less of a concern for me as I plan this trip. I did know that I want to be out of doors for at least four days to achieve my goal and I am also striving to spend most of the time on the trip hunting, so I don’t want to spend more than two days traveling either direction. South Dakota is close enough to my home that I can drive to any place in the state within two days or less. The state is also chock full of game and the terrain is challenging without being impossible to navigate so it will take me a couple days to get my bearings without taking a week to feel comfortable.
Financial:
For this trip, I want to ball on a budget so I will need to focus on species and locations that facilitate that. White tail doe tags and antelope tags are relatively cheap to come by in South Dakota. In fact, two whitetail doe tags can often be won on the same lottery application of a hunting unit increasing the amount of meat that can be harvested with no significant increase in cost. That also means I can hunt longer and explore more as I seek to fill my second tag. South Dakota is also much closer to where I live so I can drive my own vehicle there which removes the need for a flight, transport fees, rental vehicles, or otherwise. Additionally, Whitetail and Antelope can be hunted with the equipment that I own today with some minor improvements. I already have a rifle, boots, coolers, camping equipment, a climber stand, calls, and optics. All I need is a meat hauling backpack and camo that is location and seasonally accurate.
My Physical Fitness and General Health:
I am in good health and at a generally good level of physical fitness. I am regularly active, train with weighted rucks, and I visit the gym a few times a week. I hunt several times a week and am familiar with my gear and confident in my mechanics. I live in Ohio so my exposure to elevation is limited although I have hiked throughout the west and have found my body to be tolerant of extreme elevation changes. I am not prone to being chilled and am comfortable walking long distances. I do not do well in extreme heat. South Dakota has some remote areas but in general I will be within 1-25miles of help should I need it. The weather during hunting seasons for whitetail and antelope will be between 10degF and 60degF making it comfortable for strenuous activity while not being to cold to camp. The terrain in South Dakota will be challenging enough to make the hunt exciting without pushing me beyond my comfort zone.
Final Thoughts
Having considered all of these factors, I arrived at my decision. I began to apply for whitetail and antelope tags in South Dakota for this Fall. Blog 3 of this series will cover what I learned about the process of applying, how I went about it, and what I ended up winning!
