bighorn sheep and mountain goat
Bighorn Sheep
The limited population of bighorn sheep in the Black Hills offers South Dakota residents an opportunity to take part in a unique hunt.
There are two areas outside of Custer State Park open to hunting. The season within the park has been closed for the past few years after the herd was decimated by an outbreak of pneumonia.
The traditional hunting unit is Pennington County west of SD Highway 79. The other unit is Custer County west of SD Highway 79.
The application process for this season opens in mid April with a late May deadline.
- Season and Application Information
- Apply Online - for the ease and convenience of applying from you home; follow instructions and use credit card for payment.
- Big Game Regulations - each license holder will also receive a copy as part of their license package.
- Public Hunting Areas - we offer over 1 million acres of Walk-In Areas (private land leased for public hunting) to supplement our many other public hunting opportunities. Not only can you access these maps, but we offer options to personalize maps to meet your needs and even download map information to your GPS unit.
- Hunter Harvest Survey Reports - a scientific sampling of hunters is taken after many hunting seasons. The information you provide is not only valuable to our biologists, but is good background information for you on the past year.
- Request Information be mailed - if you prefer, you may send us your mailing information and request copies be mailed to you.
Mountain Goat
The mountain goat hunting season has been closed since 2007 as GFP biologists work to strengthen the herd in the Black Hills.