South Dakota has certain regulations in place for non-residents who wish to hunt in the state. Non-residents are only allowed to apply for bison, deer, and antelope and are not permitted to hunt bighorn sheep, mountain goat, or elk. It is important to note that South Dakota typically releases their current year regulations and changes at the end of May, which is after this issue has been published. As such, we’ve ensured the information provided in this section is as accurate as possible given the resources available to us. It is always advisable to check the South Dakota Game, Fish, and Parks (GFP) website for any updates, especially as the application deadlines draw nearer. By staying up-to-date with any changes, non-residents can ensure they are following all rules and regulations and can have a successful hunting experience in South Dakota.
| South Dakota Species Specific Information | ||
|---|---|---|
| South Dakota Deer | South Dakota Bison | South Dakota Antelope |
| Available SD Hunts (HF Adventures) | ||
Applicants need to set up a user profile on the South Dakota Game, Fish, and Parks website if they’ve never applied online before. A valid credit card is required when applying online, but it won’t be charged until the draw results are announced. There’s no application fee for antelope, deer, or bison licenses. Groups of up to six applicants can apply together for limited issue licenses, and either all members will draw a tag or none of them will. Groups will be assigned a number of preference points equivalent to the lowest number of preference points held by any member of the group. An incomplete application will void all other applications in the group. Residents and non-residents may apply together, but residents who apply with non-residents will have a lower chance of drawing a first-choice license.
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South Dakota runs a hybrid draw. Last year, applicants (both resident and non-resident) needed 2-plus points to draw non-trophy or trophy bison. The bulk of the better antelope and deer units we cover took two or more points to draw. South Dakota makes 8% of their firearm antelope and deer licenses available to non-resident applicants. There are three drawings that take place before any leftover licenses become available. We are only covering the first drawing, as almost every non-resident license is allocated through the first draw.
The state runs the drawing in this sequence: Landowner with Preference Pool, Landowner Pool, 2+ Preference Pool, 1+ Preference Pool, 0+ Preference Pool, and, lastly, the 2nd Choice Pool. All applicants’ first choices will be looked at before anyone’s second choice. There is the option to use preference points for your second choice. This means, when they go to the 2nd Choice Pool, you can draw on preference there; however, there are usually no tags available at this stage for non-residents, so a first choice is all that matters.
Qualifying South Dakota landowners are given preference in the draw and can obtain licenses quite easily. However, those licenses cannot be transferred to a non-resident. Outfitters and guides are not allowed to guide antelope and deer hunts on public, walk-in access, or state lands. Outfitters are only allowed to guide hunters on private lands in South Dakota. If you want to go on a guided, private-land rifle hunt, you should apply for the antelope or deer license through the special buck draw or regular draw. Also, be sure to get in contact with these outfitters well ahead of time, as they are booking out one to two years in advance.
Non-residents ages twelve through fifteen must provide a previous hunting license issued by any state or the certificate number from their hunter safety card. Non-residents who haven’t completed a hunter education course can still apply for a license, but they must leave the hunter education number blank in their profile. If successful, the license will be held until a hunter education card number is provided. However, if you are over the age of sixteen, South Dakota does not require proof of a prior hunting license or a hunter education number during the application process. Nevertheless, if you apply online and create a user profile, we suggest entering your hunter education number. Youth under sixteen may also hunt without having completed a hunter education course by obtaining a mentored big-game license. The mentor must hold a hunter education certificate.
The big-game license consists of two parts: the lower portion is the tag, and the top portion is the license with general information about the licensee. Both parts must be carried while hunting. The license is not allowed to take more big game than authorized by the license or kill a big-game animal that is not specifically authorized by the license. The license and tag cannot be transferred. The top portion of the big-game license can be used to hunt various other species until January 31, 2026. Big-game licensees who have already filled their tag(s) can still carry a legal weapon to hunt these other species with their group.
When hunting big game with a firearm, it is mandatory for license holders to wear at least one exterior article of clothing in fluorescent orange or pink, such as a hat, shirt, vest, jacket, coat, or sweater. For big game, the shooting hours for both firearms and archery are from one half hour before sunrise to one half hour after sunset.
Youth aged twelve through seventeen are eligible for a youth deer license. Additionally, if a youth will turn twelve by December 31, they may hunt after September 1. Youth under twelve are eligible to hunt but must obtain a mentored big-game license.
South Dakota uses a hybrid draw. They verbalize it as a preference draw, but it is a preference draw only to a certain extent. Here, “preference” means the order in which they allocate tags to each pool as outlined under “details of the draw.” Having two points matters because that will get an applicant into the 2+ Preference Pool. Most hunts have more applicants applying at the 2-plus point range than they have tags allocated, so most hunts are exhausted at this stage. Any points beyond two are considered “bonus” points, increasing one’s odds of drawing a tag at random. An applicant’s points are cubed to help give them “preference”. Nobody is guaranteed a tag—even if they have the most points. However, there are some hunts that act as true preference draws.
For example, there were 2,200 non-resident archery deer licenses available last year. Of the 112 applicants who applied at the 2+ point level, all were awarded a license. Of the 744 applicants who applied at the 1+ point level, all were awarded a license. Of the 2,415 applicants who applied at the 0+ point level, 1,344 were awarded a license. This acted as a true preference point draw because it did not draw out in the 2+ Preference Pool.
In summary, the 2+ Preference Pool is where you want to be. For hunts that draw out at that level, you will be hoping to draw a random tag, and you’ll have more chances with more points. For hunts that draw out at less than 2 points, you will be awarded a license because you have the highest preference. You can obtain preference points by paying the fee and entering the preference point code or by applying for a hunt and choosing to pay for a preference point if unsuccessful. There is a points-only code for applying for firearm antelope, deer, and bison licenses. There is also a points-only period where points can be purchased from September 15 through December 15, 2026.
Points are stored in the applicant’s account and remain valid if they do not apply the following year(s). However, if you go dormant and don’t apply five years in a row, your points will be purged. Points cannot be transferred to another person. Youth applicants under the age of sixteen will not be charged the $20 preference point fee. Preference points may be purchased starting at age ten.
Listed draw odds were calculated by dividing the number of eligible applicants with preference points by the number of licenses available.
South Dakota offers a statewide resident and non-resident youth-only antlerless deer season, which traditionally opens the second Saturday of September. Youth who are twelve to seventeen years old—or who will turn twelve by December 31 of the current year—may purchase a license and hunt the entire season. Youth hunters must possess a hunter education card. Successful applicants for the youth deer license are not eligible for the mentored deer license. Youth may apply for the license at any time and licenses are unlimited. Youth may only hold one youth deer license.
Self-loading or autoloading firearms that hold more than six cartridges or shells are not allowed for hunting big-game animals. Firearms capable of being operated as fully automatic are also prohibited for hunting both big- and small-game animals. When using a single ball or rifled slug with a shotgun, the projectile must weigh at least a half ounce. Buckshot is prohibited. Shoulder-held firearms using ammunition rated to produce at least 1,000 foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle and handguns using ammunition that is rated to produce at least 500 foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle are allowed for hunting deer and antelope. Only soft-point or expanding bullets are permitted.
Hunters using bows and arrows are not allowed to use or possess explosive, poisonous, hydraulic, or pneumatic points. Crossbows and draw-lock devices that hold the bow at partial or full draw are also not allowed unless the individual possesses a valid Crossbow/Draw-Lock Permit. Electronic devices may not be mounted to the bow or arrows, except for cameras, video cameras, and cell phones used exclusively for photographic purposes; lighted sight pins; and illuminated arrow nocks. Electronic arrow or string releases, telescopic sights, and arrows without at least two metal cutting edges are not allowed for hunting big-game animals. Bows with less than 30 pounds of draw weight are not allowed for hunting big-game.
In seasons restricted to muzzleloading firearms, telescopic sights are not allowed. Muzzleloading rifles must discharge a projectile of at least .44 caliber, and muzzleloading handguns must discharge a projectile of .50 caliber or larger.
Applicants can apply for a special buck license under a landowner in mid-April for better chances at drawing. Non-residents can apply for leftover whitetail-only tags for specific units in the third draw held in early August.
GFP accepts license returns for all big-game and limited-draw seasons. License holders not planning on hunting for any reason must have their licenses postmarked before the beginning of their respective season based on specific dates provided by GFP. Deer licenses must be postmarked no later than August 1. Hunters returning their tags will receive a full refund less a $30 processing fee, and preference points for that season will be retained. The GFP Licensing Office mailing address is 20641 SD Hwy 1806, Fort Pierre, SD 57532.
At the end of each hunting season, surveys are mailed to a random sample of hunters using emails and paper questionnaires. Those who do not respond to the first mailing are reminded or sent a new survey five to seven days later. Unsuccessful hunters are also important to survey, as they represent a cross-section of all hunters. It is equally important for hunters to provide information on whether they hunted or not.
South Dakota offers a public hunting atlas at https://gfp.sd.gov/hunting-areas/. The atlas contains maps and information on South Dakota’s Walk-In Areas (WIAs), Game Production Areas (GPAs), Waterfowl Production Areas (WPAs), school and public lands, national forests and grasslands, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands and other lands open to hunting. The atlas will also be printed and available as a hard copy in early August.
South Dakota has over 5 million acres of hunting opportunity on public lands as well as private lands leased for public hunting. GFP uses money from hunting license sales and federal aid tax on hunting equipment sales to pay for leased private lands. Despite 80% of South Dakota being private, public hunters should be able find plenty of public land and accessible private land with the help of a map and the South Dakota Game, Fish, and Parks atlas.
Public land areas for hunting: South Dakota has around 730 GPAs totaling more than 281,000 acres. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service owns 1,000 WPAs totalling 150,000 acres that are all part of the National Wildlife Refuge System. Deer and other wildlife thrive in these well-managed habitats that are open to hunting. The BLM manages over 274,000 acres that are open to hunting. Most of the BLM land is west of the Missouri River. The United States Forest Service (USFS) manages over 2 million acres of land that are open to public hunting. The South Dakota Office of School and Public Lands also manages over 750,000 acres. These areas are open to hunting as well, but there are a few more restrictions hunters must follow.
Private land areas for hunting: The WIA program grants hunters access to over 1.4 million acres of private land from more than 1,500 landowners. The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) adds additional hunting access for private lands enrolled. These areas are primarily found in the James River and Big Sioux River watershed. The state also has a Controlled Hunting Access Program (CHAP), which provides limited public hunting access. This program gives landowners more control over hunter activities on their land. They can set certain restrictions that must be followed while hunting on their property. Hunters must check in and obtain permission slips on a first come, first served basis.
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