Hunt
Photo © Sam Stukel
Pheasant
Hunt the Greatest in South Dakota
With rolling hills and endless prairies, South Dakota is home to the best pheasant hunting in the country. With abundant public land hunting opportunities, pheasant hunters have access to some of the greatest spots to chase birds and work their dogs. We do not have to be the ones to tell you that pheasants and pheasant hunting are solidly engrained in the South Dakota culture - because that speaks for itself. Whether you live here or are here for the hunt, you will never forget that South Dakota is where you hunt the greatest land, live the greatest traditions, and make the greatest memories.
Since 1919, the tradition of pheasant hunting has brought friends and families together. Every fall, opening weekend brings unprecedented enthusiasm, excitement, and activity to cities and rural communities across the state.
2024 Upland Outlook
Find everything you need to plan your pheasant hunt in our 2024 Upland Outlook!
Traditional Pheasant Season
Daily Limit:
3 rooster pheasantsPossession Limit:
15 rooster pheasants, taken according to the daily limit. The limit accrues at the rate of 3 birds a day, and 15 birds may not be possessed until after the fifth day of hunting.Open Area:
All of South Dakota except the following: Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Brown County is open Dec. 9-Jan. 31. Renziehausen Game Production Area and Game Bird Refuge in Brown and Marshall Counties, Gerken Game Bird Refuge in Faulk County and White Lake Game Bird Refuge in Marshall County are open Dec. 1—Jan. 31.Shooting Hours:
10 a.m. Central Time, to sunset all season. Central Time is used for opening shooting hours statewide.License Requirements:
Residents: Small Game License, any Combination License, Youth Small Game License or 1-Day Small Game License. Nonresidents: Nonresident Small Game License or Nonresident Youth Small Game License (each valid for two 5-day hunting periods; start dates must be identified before license issued). Multiple licenses may be purchased to hunt more than the two 5-day periods allowed by one license.Youth Only
Before the opening of regular pheasant seasons, resident and nonresident youth hunters have a 9-day period to themselves for pheasant hunting. This is an opportunity for adults to take young hunters out to experience, first-hand, the joy of hunting as well as the responsibility. For safety, it is advisable that everyone wear at least one exterior garment of fluorescent orange. Youth must be accompanied by an unarmed adult while hunting.
Nonresident Small Game Licenses Age 18 and above
Daily Limit:
3 rooster pheasantsPossession Limit:
15 rooster pheasants taken according to the daily limitOpen Area:
Statewide on private and public land. All public road rights-of-way are closed to pheasant hunting during this season, except for the one-half of the road right-of-way adjacent to and part of public hunting lands.Shooting Hours:
10 a.m. Central Time to sunset.Eligibility:
Resident and nonresident youth age 12 (or turn 12 by December 31 of current year) through 17 and possess a valid hunter safety certificate and small game license. Resident youth under the age of 16 who are participating in the Mentored Hunt program may hunt during the Youth Pheasant season.License Requirements:
Residents must purchase and carry one of the following:
Youth Small Game Licenses: Youth age 12 (or turn 12 by December 31 of current year) through 17. Must have their hunter safety certificate with them and be accompanied by a parent or guardian.Nonresidents must purchase and carry one of the following:
Nonresident Youth Small Game Licenses: Youth age 12 (or turn 12 by December 31 of current year) through 17. This license is valid for two 5-day hunting periods. Five days may be used for this season and an additional five days must be identified for the regular season. Nonresident must have their hunter safety certificate or a valid hunting license in their name from any state when purchasing the license. Nonresident youth may purchase additional licenses for additional hunts during the regular season.Nonresident Small Game Licenses Age 18 and above
Resident Only
Daily Limit:
3 rooster pheasantsPossession Limit:
9 rooster pheasants, taken according to the daily limit. Limit accrues at the rate of 3 birds a day; 9 birds may not be possessed until after the 3rd day of hunting.Open Area:
Public lands, statewide, which include the following: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Waterfowl Production Areas, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land adjacent to the Missouri River, U.S. Forest Service National Grasslands, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation land, State School and Public Lands, State parks (unless prohibited – refer to hunting and trapping handbook), recreation areas, and lakeside use areas, GFP managed or leased property otherwise open to public hunting, including Game Production Areas open during the regular pheasant season, GFP managed and leased property designated as Walk-in Areas and land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP).
Hunting on public road rights of way is limited to those contiguous to and a part of public hunting lands open for hunting.
Shooting Hours:
10 a.m. Central Time to sunset.License Requirements:
Small Game, Combination, Senior Combination, Youth Small Game or 1-Day Small Game2023 Pheasant Economics
| Millions of dollars spent by | Numbers of Hunters | Pheasants Harvested | ||||||
| County | Resident1 | Non-resident1 | Total Spent1 | Resident | Non-resident | Total | Resident | Non-resident |
| Aurora | $4.3 | $5.4 | $9.8 | 1,800 | 2,885 | 43,533 | 17,737 | 25,796 |
| Beadle | $6.4 | $7.3 | $13.8 | 2,668 | 3,886 | 62,906 | 30,809 | 32,097 |
| Bennett | $1.0 | $1.0 | $2.0 | 424 | 519 | 4,198 | 2,066 | 2,132 |
| Bon Homme | $1.8 | $0.4 | $2.1 | 741 | 192 | 6,345 | 5,564 | 781 |
| Brookings | $5.1 | $2.4 | $7.4 | 2,096 | 1,270 | 28,948 | 18,801 | 10,147 |
| Brown | $5.8 | $11.4 | $17.2 | 2,414 | 6,040 | 75,938 | 28,477 | 47,461 |
| Brule | $3.6 | $8.1 | $11.7 | 1,504 | 4,290 | 52,299 | 12,377 | 39,922 |
| Buffalo | $0.5 | $0.8 | $1.3 | 212 | 423 | 5,671 | 2,169 | 3,503 |
| Butte | $0.3 | $0.2 | $0.5 | 127 | 115 | 1,366 | 757 | 609 |
| Campbell | $0.9 | $2.6 | $3.4 | 360 | 1,366 | 22,289 | 6,526 | 15,763 |
| Charles Mix | $3.3 | $4.3 | $7.6 | 1,355 | 2,289 | 35,132 | 12,459 | 22,674 |
| Clark | $3.5 | $4.2 | $7.7 | 1,461 | 2,212 | 37,675 | 18,923 | 18,752 |
| Clay | $1.1 | $0.5 | $1.5 | 445 | 250 | 4,623 | 2,966 | 1,656 |
| Codington | $5.6 | $1.3 | $6.9 | 2,308 | 712 | 26,729 | 22,217 | 4,512 |
| Corson | $0.6 | $0.8 | $1.4 | 254 | 423 | 5,831 | 2,823 | 3,008 |
| Custer | $0.1 | $0.1 | $0.1 | 21 | 38 | 324 | 0 | 324 |
| Davison | $2.9 | $4.0 | $6.9 | 1,186 | 2,135 | 29,203 | 11,784 | 17,419 |
| Day | $1.6 | $3.1 | $4.7 | 656 | 1,654 | 16,221 | 5,769 | 10,452 |
| Deuel | $1.9 | $0.5 | $2.4 | 784 | 289 | 8,045 | 6,199 | 1,847 |
| Dewey | $0.8 | $0.9 | $1.7 | 318 | 500 | 8,072 | 3,560 | 4,512 |
| Douglas | $1.4 | $1.1 | $2.4 | 572 | 558 | 13,662 | 7,856 | 5,806 |
| Edmunds | $2.9 | $4.0 | $6.9 | 1,207 | 2,135 | 35,028 | 15,343 | 19,685 |
| Fall River | $1.0 | $0.1 | $1.0 | 402 | 38 | 2,031 | 1,555 | 476 |
| Faulk | $2.1 | $5.1 | $7.3 | 889 | 2,712 | 35,396 | 10,229 | 25,168 |
| Grant | $1.3 | $0.3 | $1.6 | 529 | 154 | 4,052 | 2,700 | 1,352 |
| Gregory | $2.1 | $6.0 | $8.1 | 868 | 3,174 | 36,726 | 7,713 | 29,013 |
| Haakon | $1.0 | $0.5 | $1.5 | 424 | 269 | 3,854 | 2,046 | 1,809 |
| Hamlin | $3.0 | $0.8 | $3.8 | 1,249 | 442 | 15,169 | 11,743 | 3,427 |
| Hand | $2.7 | $3.7 | $6.4 | 1,122 | 1,962 | 29,714 | 12,009 | 17,705 |
| Hanson | $1.7 | $1.1 | $2.8 | 699 | 596 | 15,046 | 9,963 | 5,083 |
| Harding | $0.3 | $0.4 | $0.7 | 106 | 212 | 1,817 | 675 | 1,142 |
| Hughes | $3.9 | $3.9 | $7.8 | 1,609 | 2,058 | 40,451 | 23,260 | 17,191 |
| Hutchinson | $2.4 | $2.1 | $4.6 | 1,016 | 1,116 | 19,738 | 10,086 | 9,652 |
| Hyde | $0.7 | $1.2 | $1.9 | 296 | 654 | 10,001 | 3,662 | 6,340 |
| Jackson | $0.4 | $0.4 | $0.7 | 148 | 192 | 1,739 | 368 | 1,371 |
| Jerauld | $1.1 | $1.7 | $2.8 | 445 | 923 | 12,643 | 4,971 | 7,672 |
| Jones | $0.6 | $2.1 | $2.6 | 233 | 1,096 | 10,257 | 1,309 | 8,948 |
| Kingsbury | $3.1 | $2.3 | $5.4 | 1,292 | 1,231 | 21,101 | 8,613 | 12,489 |
| Lake | $3.2 | $0.8 | $4.0 | 1,334 | 442 | 16,579 | 12,847 | 3,731 |
| Lawrence | $0.0 | $0.0 | $0.0 | 0 | 19 | 228 | 0 | 228 |
| Lincoln | $1.9 | $0.3 | $2.2 | 805 | 154 | 7,208 | 6,485 | 723 |
| Lyman | $2.9 | $7.0 | $9.9 | 1,207 | 3,713 | 46,032 | 11,231 | 34,801 |
| Marshall | $1.6 | $1.6 | $3.2 | 656 | 846 | 14,018 | 8,326 | 5,692 |
| McCook | $3.7 | $0.8 | $4.6 | 1,546 | 442 | 23,522 | 20,724 | 2,799 |
| McPherson | $0.9 | $3.0 | $3.8 | 360 | 1,577 | 16,775 | 3,335 | 13,441 |
| Meade | $0.1 | $0.4 | $0.5 | 42 | 192 | 1,264 | 102 | 1,161 |
| Mellette | $0.2 | $0.4 | $0.6 | 85 | 212 | 2,902 | 675 | 2,227 |
| Miner | $3.7 | $2.8 | $6.5 | 1,546 | 1,481 | 35,437 | 19,864 | 15,573 |
| Minnehaha | $4.4 | $0.4 | $4.8 | 1,842 | 212 | 14,785 | 13,604 | 1,180 |
| Moody | $2.0 | $0.4 | $2.4 | 826 | 212 | 8,723 | 7,181 | 1,542 |
| Oglala Lakota | $0.1 | $0.0 | $0.1 | 42 | 0 | 164 | 164 | 0 |
| Pennington | $0.7 | $0.0 | $0.7 | 275 | 19 | 1,609 | 1,514 | 95 |
| Perkins | $2.6 | $2.0 | $4.6 | 1,080 | 1,077 | 18,424 | 8,981 | 9,443 |
| Potter | $2.4 | $3.9 | $6.3 | 1,016 | 2,058 | 30,165 | 11,374 | 18,790 |
| Roberts | $1.6 | $0.5 | $2.1 | 656 | 269 | 8,086 | 6,240 | 1,847 |
| Sanborn | $2.2 | $2.5 | $4.8 | 932 | 1,347 | 22,992 | 11,170 | 11,822 |
| Spink | $3.6 | $7.3 | $10.9 | 1,482 | 3,886 | 59,612 | 17,900 | 41,711 |
| Stanley | $1.1 | $1.3 | $2.3 | 445 | 673 | 8,809 | 3,764 | 5,045 |
| Sully | $3.1 | $1.9 | $5.0 | 1,292 | 1,000 | 28,072 | 17,982 | 10,090 |
| Todd | $0.2 | $0.2 | $0.4 | 85 | 115 | 1,377 | 368 | 1,009 |
| Tripp | $3.4 | $6.8 | $10.2 | 1,398 | 3,616 | 44,036 | 14,566 | 29,470 |
| Turner | $2.0 | $0.3 | $2.3 | 826 | 154 | 10,707 | 9,717 | 990 |
| Union | $0.7 | $0.2 | $0.8 | 275 | 96 | 2,586 | 1,882 | 704 |
| Walworth | $2.5 | $3.1 | $5.6 | 1,038 | 1,654 | 22,668 | 7,324 | 15,344 |
| Yankton | $2.1 | $0.7 | $2.8 | 889 | 346 | 8,205 | 6,035 | 2,170 |
| Ziebach | $0.6 | $0.3 | $0.9 | 233 | 173 | 4,434 | 2,721 | 1,713 |
| Total | $136.0 | $145.3 | $281.3 | 56,457 | 77,003 | 1,243,194 | 572,159 | 671,036 |
| 1Rounded to the nearest $100,000 | ||||||||