Hunting Indian reservations for Mulies

Just wondering has anyone tried it,and would they recommend it.Also curious which ones have you heard about.So far I am looking at standing rock near the ND/SD line.I have a friend going there this fall,and he's got me fired up.Seems to be a good way to go for non-residents.Any stories are welcomed as well!!Thanks!
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ABert
I've got a buddy who USED to hunt a reservation for elk in Utah...

until he showed up one year and found there were no elk left. Seems the tribe rounded up the elk and sold them to someone and failed to tell him and his buddies they had done it. Up until then he was very happy with the quantity and quality of the animals on the reservation.
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waynedevore
I don't know about standing rock. I do know that most reservations/tribes have very liberal hunting seasons and limits for their members. The reservations I',m familiar with in MN and MT have very low numbers of big game because of this. It is worth checking out.
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sneekeepete
I had a buddy who's uncle is kind of a hot head. Well he was driving through Ouray Indian reservation and got pulled over for speeding and argued with the reservation law enforcement. Well they took both his and his sons rifles and gave them a ticket and sent them on their way. They did get their rifles back but it really put a damper on that years hunt. I know I have never had any problems driving through them but then again I don't stir up trouble.
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Wow..lol..I appreciate the posts.I'll see how my friends trip turns out first.Thanks!
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AGCHAWK
I wouldn't give the tribes here in WA one dime of my money for anything. Thier unlimited hunting, both in sex, time of year, and bag limits, have decimated the elk and deer herds in what used to be some prime hunting areas in my state.

For example, we had one tribal member show up at the Sportman's show head competition with THREE different bulls that all scored over 320". It's a bunch of crap considering I can apply for a branched antler bull tag for 20 years and NEVER draw it...yet this idiot can drive in there any time of year, with any weapon, and take as many bulls as he pleases. (Yes, as a non-tribal member I have to be DRAWN to take a bull bigger than a spike)

Therefore, they will never get anything from me. In fact, I will not step foot in their casinos either and forbid my wife from doing the same. Until the tribes get off their collective rear ends in this state, the herds will continue to diminish until there is nothing left to salvage.

I will end this by saying that I have nothing against the vast majority of the tribal members and have some great friends who belong to a couple different tribes here in the region. However, as a whole they have GOT to fix it...and FAST!
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Man..this is priceless info.I knew they could somewhat make their own rules up,but I didn't know it went this extreme,also read about certain parts of certain states being dangerous to hunt because of illegals,and drug runners.We aren't exposed to that stuff over here,and I wouldn't have thought about it.That info right there is priceless,and no mulie,or elk is worth that hassle.Thanks for the info guys!!
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waynedevore
This is happening here in Minnesota, and there is little we can do about it. Certain members of the tribes are poaching, spotlights and night shooting outside the reservations. [lack of deer on the tribal lands] On my land and my brothers land included. they are taking a lot of deer, and getting by with it.
Conservation officers and the MN DNR don't seem to be concerned. Reasons are apparently high deer numbers and political. :>/
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silvertip-co
SW CO and NW NM res's have 40" mulies if your wallet i$ big enough. I think most natives get $5k for a mulie hunt and $10k for an elk hunt. The Southern Ute Reservation out of Ignacio usually has a contest for a free hunt or three but as I recall the ticket prices are like 50.00 or something. But if you won or bought a hunt I am sure it would be great.

Not all the res trophies make it to B&C or even to Al Gore's Internet, lots of them are just film fotos in someone's shoe box at home( I've seen some of the fotos ).
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AGCHAWK
"waynedevore" wrote:This is happening here in Minnesota, and there is little we can do about it. Certain members of the tribes are poaching, spotlights and night shooting outside the reservations. [lack of deer on the tribal lands] On my land and my brothers land included. they are taking a lot of deer, and getting by with it.
Conservation officers and the MN DNR don't seem to be concerned. Reasons are apparently high deer numbers and political. :>/
 Yup! Same here Wayne. They seldom hunt ON the res here also...especially since they can go to any trophy unit in the state and hunt it any way, any time they want.

Again, they get nothing from me until they can effectively police themselves.
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"silvertip-co" wrote:SW CO and NW NM res's have 40" mulies if your wallet i$ big enough. I think most natives get $5k for a mulie hunt and $10k for an elk hunt. The Southern Ute Reservation out of Ignacio usually has a contest for a free hunt or three but as I recall the ticket prices are like 50.00 or something. But if you won or bought a hunt I am sure it would be great.

Not all the res trophies make it to B&C or even to Al Gore's Internet, lots of them are just film fotos in someone's shoe box at home( I've seen some of the fotos ).
Wow..that's a bit much..lol..I would probably be satisified with 20" 4x4 that I got on a DIY hunt..lol
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There are some good deer on there but most of them are on the fields owned by those same farmers who shoot them, now if you can catch them off the field and the Native F&G cops beleive you and not the farmer you can get a good one.LOL Just be very careful that you are on Land that you have permission to be on.
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Thanks for the reply!
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While hunting near the OR - NV border, a buddy and I were qwenching our thirsts @ a little casino in McDermitt. After a few too many hours @ the bar we made a few indian friends. Once they knew we were there hunting the rimrock on the Oregon side, they were more than happy to tell us plenty of stories. Most were about taking of deer whenever they wanted, even though they were "only supposed to take one a year". One particularly annoying story involved killing a trophy buck before the rifle season, and mounting its head and antlers in a tree. There hope was some dumb hunter would hike dowm into that miserable canyon to shoot it only to find an thier left-overs. Update on the hunt: I came home with a nice set of antlers from a poached deer left by a jeep trail. The only thing that was worse was that I seemed to bel the only one on foot. Everyone else had an atv, and used it to scare the Sh*t out of any deer within range. One guy I encountered (blowing cross country thru one of the only area's if had spotted deer in) told me he had busted out "at least 5-6 bucks, "a couple of them were real nice 4 points, but I'm holding out, got a rut tag in Idaho". D-Bag! ](*,)
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I don't have a lot of personal experience hunting reservations, but I have talked with a lot of people who have hunted them. Most reservations are poorly managed, but there are a few exceptions. The Jicarilla in northern New Mexico is a world-class place. Some of the very best muleys and quality elk. I think the mule deer hunts are $10K (or more) now and there's a 3 year wait. And that does not include the guide, which you also have to hire. The Southern Ute is also a well-managed place, quality mule deer. The Navajo is a huge reservation, way overgrazed, but they do kill a few good bucks each year. But the licenses are even pretty pricy there.

From what I know, there's not much for quality in the northern states. A couple of the native reserves in Canada have pretty good hunts, but again, you have to be careful. Canada is even more liberal with allowing natives to harvest big game year-round and by any means, so they can hammer the local populations of wildlife in a hurry.
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Some of the reservations here charge you a permit fee, then a tresspass fee for every day you hunt. You probably should hire a guide too or you may not see anything. Pretty funny? Yeah, they have their own police and laws. You had better get aquainted with them or end up jailed. It's like going to a different country. I know my carry permit is no good there. I need to stay on federal roads going through indian lands. Can't take my handgun into even a gas station.
Mark
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I grew up on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, yes there are some very nice deer harvested each year. Be very careful who you hire to take you, the reservation has deeded land pock marked all through, and to hunt that you must have a state license. There was a couple fellas who hired a native guide not to long ago that ended up in jail for poaching and trespassing. The natives have a different length season, but it only applies to natives. So if you buy a over-the-counter native deer tag the dates are not correct, you have to follow the state season. Had a friend of mine in high school get busted for poaching even though his tag dates were still good. The res lays in ND and SD, so you have to be legal to hunt in either state as well. I have been gone for 12 years in the NAVY, but thats how it was when I was growing up. Make a few phone calls to the state dept and indian dept to get all the rules layed out before you spend a bunch of money.

Jake
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Jake
is so right you have to know what and where you are, it could take bad turn getting pinched for hunting on private land without premission.
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Hunt_Rez
Don't you people think Natives being allowed to hunt year around (the way it was for 1000's of years) is a small price to pay after everything that was done to us.....I'd stay away from hunting reservations......after all it's land the government thought was worthless and would suit the Indians well.....just my pennies
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Hunt_Rez,
I don't have any issue with the Bureau of Indian Affairs setting their own seasons and governing there own, but when they are selling guided hunts to out-of-state non-tribal members and leading them astray to where they get arrested unknowingly that is a problem.
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"Nehl" wrote:Hunt_Rez,
I don't have any issue with the Bureau of Indian Affairs setting their own seasons and governing there own, but when they are selling guided hunts to out-of-state non-tribal members and leading them astray to where they get arrested unknowingly that is a problem.
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"silvertip-co" wrote:SW CO and NW NM res's have 40" mulies if your wallet i$ big enough. I think most natives get $5k for a mulie hunt and $10k for an elk hunt. The Southern Ute Reservation out of Ignacio usually has a contest for a free hunt or three but as I recall the ticket prices are like 50.00 or something. But if you won or bought a hunt I am sure it would be great.

Not all the res trophies make it to B&C or even to Al Gore's Internet, lots of them are just film fotos in someone's shoe box at home( I've seen some of the fotos ).
The Southern Ute tried That one year And the hunter shoot 2 bucks what a idiot talk about greedy. messed that up for all u that want to hunt our awsome rez. Besides that no non meber can hunt on the ute now. And wont be able to for many years too come. Dont no about any other reservations.
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