Nebraska Grass Lands

[wile]

Gentlemen I would appreciate any info that anyone could give me on the Ogallala grasslands north of Harrison as far as mule deer goes. I'm scheduled for a ranch buck mule deer hunt and if succesful early enough I thought I might try and fill the doe part of the tag on public land with a couple of days camping out before I head back east. Just want to know if the place is a sea of orange and my outofstate license plates would leave me completely unwanted? The FS map I just received makes it seem that getting into and out of the public lands pretty straight forward with my 4x4, and the license sales for the Pine Ridge area seem to make it a very lonely place for a deer hunter with only about 700 of 3000 sold.

 

[MTmuleymaster]

I haven't actually hunted the rifle season on the grasslands but have hunted archery deer and antelope there. It seems people don't hunt there as much anymore due to the CWD scare. You should be able to find a doe to shoot in the rougher forested section of the grasslands about 5 miles north of harrison without much trouble, but might have some company. As usual, get as far away from roads in the roughest country there is and you will find fewer hunters and more deer. I seldom encountered deer on the open grasslands when I hunted goats but would often see them in the private property that consisted of wooded draws and creek bottoms (which is probably the type of terrain you will be outfitted on.) Good luck.

 

[twodogs2025]

During the rifle season there will be a reasonable ammount of other hunters there. Most of them will be on the weekends though. As far as killing a doe is concerned you won't have much trouble Just walk a ridge or two and you should find one. I hunt with a few guys and we have been going into that area for years. We stay at Ft. Robinson and just drive over every day. Be prepared to see quite a few whitetail does. What dates are you going to be there. You could maybe stay near us or hunt with us as well. Even if we shoot our deer early we still stay all nine days.

 

[wile]

Thanks for the info. I'm staying on a ranch nearly on the WY border, and when I'm done I was thinking of heading due north to that corner section off a Schnurr road out of convenience. Its interesting that you mention whitetails since the ranch I'll be at the owners tells me its rare for him to see a whitetail and his pictures prove that. But that is what I'll fill my doe tag with and leave the mule deer does alone. I suggest that for everyone in the area since whitetails are like fleas as compared to mule deer. Thanks for the offer to hunt, but I'm kind of a loner when hunting, and since I live in suburban hell in Illinois I could use the desolation.

 

[wile]

Thanks, I'll be looking for the most desolate area I can find that is why I bought a gps and FS map so I can hoof it away from the far more sensible locals. Maybe I'll scout some antelope territory as well given the time since archery antelope is one of my bigger goals in life. Good luck this year.

 

[sealer]

Isn't this the part of NE that got nailed with the fires last month???

 

[outtabreath]

I have hunted the Pine Ridge for the last 7 years. My dad had a ranch four miles north of Harrison. He sold it in May. Well, just a few weeks ago there were a couple of huge wildfires in that area. His old place was badly burned as well as alot of surrounding ranches. Do a little research in that regard to find out where all the burned areas are. My dad's place had mainly whitetails, about 40 muleys, and elk. Whitetails are in the creek bottoms. There is a wildlife area north of Harrison called Barker something. Also the Pine Ridge National Forest east of Harrison.

Heres a whitey from two years ago.

 

[wile]

Thanks guys for the tips on the fires. I just researched the fires and it seems there were two main fires and they both affected primarily private ranches in Dawes and Sioux counties and the Chadron State College (alma mata of Don Beebe wide receiver Green Bay Packers Superbowl champions 1997). I'll call the ranch owner but his ranch is on the Wy. border and it seems the fires were a bit east of there. Also thanks for the pic of the whitetail buck but I need a mule deer buck to finish off the collection.