HuntingRulebook

South Dakota · Deer · 2026-27

This is every South Dakota deer season and the day it opens, the whole state at once. A pin turns it into a day-by-day calendar for one county, with your own tags marked against it.

South Dakota 2026-27 season

In the order they open

  • Sep 1 – Jan 1Archery DeerStatewide
  • Sep 12 – Jan 1Youth, Mentored and Apprentice DeerStatewide
  • Oct 21 – Dec 1Refuge DeerLacreek NWR (LC1, LC2)Printed in 3 columns — check which covers your county.
  • Nov 1–30Black Hills DeerBH1 — Black HillsPrinted in 1 column — check which covers your county.
  • Nov 1–30Custer State Park DeerCU1 — Custer State ParkPrinted in 1 column — check which covers your county.
  • Nov 7 – Dec 20West River DeerGregory County (units 30A and 30B)Printed in 2 columns — check which covers your county.
  • Nov 7–29Special BuckWest River — Gregory CountyPrinted in 3 columns — check which covers your county.
  • Nov 14 – Dec 20West River DeerWest RiverPrinted in 2 columns — check which covers your county.
  • Nov 14 – Dec 13Refuge DeerSand Lake NWR (SL1, SL2, SL4, SL5)Printed in 3 columns — check which covers your county.
  • Nov 14 – Dec 6Refuge DeerWaubay NWR and State Waterfowl Refuge (WA1, WA3)Printed in 3 columns — check which covers your county.
  • Nov 14–29Special BuckWest River (WSD)Printed in 3 columns — check which covers your county.
  • Nov 21 – Dec 20East River DeerEast RiverPrinted in 1 column — check which covers your county.
  • Nov 21 – Dec 6Special BuckEast River (ESD)Printed in 3 columns — check which covers your county.
  • Dec 1 – Jan 1Muzzleloader DeerStatewide

Transcribed from the published 2026-27 South Dakota digest. Where this app and the digest disagree, the digest is the law. Read the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks digest.

South Dakota deer seasons, 2026-27

South Dakota’s 2026-27 deer seasons run September 1, 2026 to January 1, 2027, and what is open on a given day depends on the county your stand is in. Drop a pin above and this app reads the county off it, then answers the rest from there — the dates, the legal arms, the bag limits and the shooting hours, transcribed page by page from the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks digest. It is a planning aid, not the law: check the digest before you hunt.

Every screen for South Dakota

  • Today in South Dakota — Whether the season is open at your pin this morning, what you may take, and the legal light either end of the day.
  • Map in South Dakota — Drop a pin and see the unit, the public land and the property lines under it.
  • Weather in South Dakota — Wind, temperature and the scent cone over your ground, hour by hour, for the days you can still choose between.
  • Calendar in South Dakota — Every day your tags are good for in your unit, from opening day to the end of the season.
  • Rut in South Dakota — When the rut runs where you hunt, and which week is worth taking off.
  • Rules in South Dakota — The legal arms, bag limits, antler restrictions and shooting hours that apply at your pin.
  • Tags in South Dakota — The licences and permits you hold — what turns the published season into your season.

The other states

Every state — the app opens on whichever one your own pin falls in.