Forms & Permits

Photo © Jeremy Waltner

Private Shooting Preserves

The Private Shooting Preserves Permit Application can be issued to an individual (South Dakota residents only), co-partnership, association, or corporation owning, holding or controlling by lease or otherwise any contiguous tract of land (must touch at the corners or sides) of at least 160 and not to exceed 2,560 acres.

A shooting preserve may not be located within one mile of publicly owned land managed for hunting and wildlife without prior Commission approval. The one-year private shooting preserve fee is $100.00 for the preserve season plus 40 cents for each acre of land within the preserve.

  • For example, the annual fee for a preserve of 640 acres would be $356.00. The three-year private shooting preserve fee is $300.00 for the three preserve seasons plus $1.20 cents for each acre of land within the preserve.

The shooting preserve season runs from September 1 until March 31 of the following year. Shooting hours are restricted from sunrise until sunset. The game birds that can be licensed for South Dakota preserves include pheasants, partridges, quail, and turkey.

  • The bag limits will vary for each species.
  • The applicant is required to submit a plan of operation which includes information about the facilities available on the preserve, services offered, species of game birds to be hunted, bag limits planned, number of birds expected to be released, age of birds at time of planned release, and approximate dates of planned bird releases.
  • The applicant must provide a full legal description of the acres involved, listing the section(s), township, range, and county.
  • The preserve boundaries must be outlined on a plat map provided with the preserve application.
  • A FSA (SCS) type aerial photo outlining the preserve boundaries is also required.
  • A minimum of 300 rooster pheasants must be released within the preserve during the first year of operation and a minimum of 600 rooster pheasants each season thereafter.
  • Hen releases are allowed on the preserves, but their numbers cannot be included on the game release records, nor can they be used to meet the required minimum release total for the preserve.

The total harvest of released and wild birds cannot exceed 100% of each species of birds released.

  • For example, if 800 pheasants (680 marked and 120 wild) were harvested on the preserve, release records must show that at least 800 rooster pheasants have been released on the preserve acres.

All birds released on the shooting preserve must be marked by either toe clipping or by the enlarged nares from some type of anti-pecking device. In either situation, this marking must be done before the birds are six weeks of age. A department representative must verify the marking method and release of the birds. All birds must be kept until they are at least 15 weeks of age. Species of game birds hunted and tagged on the preserve may include only those species listed on the preserve permit. All birds must be released on preserves from August 1 through March 31.

Birds must be released on the preserve before hunting can be started. Waterfowl and other game species not listed on the preserve permit may be hunted within the preserve, but only with the appropriate licenses and during legal seasons, according to state laws and regulations.

All birds, both released and wild, harvested on preserve acres must be tagged with a GFP issued serial numbered kill tag. These tags are used to identify birds harvested on preserve acres. Any bird harvested on non-preserve acres should not be tagged.

A preserve hunter may transport or be in possession of up to 20 undressed or processed pheasants with attached kill tags from the beginning of the hunting preserve season through the end of the statewide pheasant season. From the end of the statewide pheasant season through the end of the private shooting preserve season, a preserve hunter may transport or be in possession of up to 15 undressed or processed pheasants with attached kill tags. Possession of more than 20 tagged pheasants will be allowed, provided the hunter can document multiple days of hunting on a preserve operator's guest register record.

Game harvest and release records must also be maintained and recorded daily throughout the entire preserve season by the operators. The harvest records will include the dates the hunters hunted, their names/addresses, driver's license numbers, and number/type of birds harvested. The release records will include the date(s) of release, species, sex, number released, and source of the birds.

Throughout the entire preserve season, shooting preserve kill tags must be placed around the leg or neck of all birds (released and wild) that are harvested on a preserve, even during the normal state season. Any birds harvested on non-preserve land are not to be tagged. Preserve operators must send in a request for shooting preserve kill tags (500/pkg.) in advance of the September 1 opening or prior to when they start hunting. There is a charge of 25 cents for each kill tag used, which is paid at the end of the preserve season, when left-over tags are returned with the game harvest and release records. Unused tags not returned, are assessed a fee of $2.00 each.

New and renewal applications for private shooting preserves will be received in the Pierre office from January 1 through March 1. Any new preserve application and those preserve applications located within one mile of the publicly defined land, must have a public notice printed in various daily newspapers prior to the approval or denial consideration of the Wildlife Division Director. The one mile distance permitted from public land is measured in a straight-line distance from the preserve to the closest point of the public land managed for wildlife and/or hunting. If you are considering setting up a shooting preserve, please contact your local wildlife conservation officer and discuss your plans before applying for a private shooting preserve permit.

Administrative Rules for Private Shooting Preserves

Sales Tax Information

State Laws for Private Shooting Preserves

License Requirements

Private Shooting Preserves by Size

Acreage Number
160 24
161-320 40
321-640 53
641-960 32
961-1279 18
1280-1919 36
1920-2559 18
2560 9

Private Shooting Preserve Renewals

Year Not Renewed Renewed New Total
2012-13 12 185 18 203
2013-14 16 187 14 201
2014-15 18 183 14 194
2015-16 13 181 19 200
2016-17 17 183 14 197
2017-18 2 195 19 214
2018-19 17 199 26 225
2019-20 23 202 13 215
2020-21 15 201 29 229
2021-22 14 210 16 226
2022-23 16 208 19 227
2023-24 13 214 21 234
2024-25 28 208 27 235

Private Shooting Preserve Pheasant Harvest and Release Records

Year Number of PSP Species Birds Released Total Birds Harvested Released Birds Harvested Wild Birds Harvested
2010-11 207 Pheasant 356,727 242,705 185,094 57,611
2011-12 297 Pheasant  386,563 243,196 200,337 43,744
2012-13 203 Pheasant 403,380 237,965 202,991 36,630
2013-14 201 Pheasant 434,005 260,426 234,590 25,836
2014-15 194 Pheasant 420,074 268,316 234,003 34,313
2015-2016 200 Pheasant 432,304 279,383 243,168 33,196
2016-17 197 Pheasant 438,287 280,536 250,029 30,507
2017-18 214 Pheasant 468,668 283,254 264,291 18,963
2018-19 225 Pheasant 499,442 305,987 279,243 26,74
2019-20 215 Pheasant 499,179 306,430 283,988 25,316
2020-21 213 Pheasant 451,662 276,571 252,597 23,974
2021-22 226 Pheasant 579,672 350,581 330,674 21,104
2022-23 227 Pheasant 597,137 359,535 338,488 21,047
2023-24 234 Pheasant 612,857 375,716 354,133 21,863

Private Shooting Preserve Other Game Bird Harvest and Release Records 

Species Birds Released Total Harvested Percentage
Partridge 5863 1413 25%
Quail 210 21 10%
Turkey 0 0 0%