Just got back from a trip driving through several states. South Dakota, especially the eastern half, has a lot of what my wife and I are looking for when considering locations for retirement.

I know it is considered a premiere pheasant hunting location. What I don't know are the hunting opportunities aside from pheasant - like antelope and elk?

Can I buy tags over the counter like in Wyoming, or does it require a draw that I'll have to wait years for?

Elk in the southern Black Hills. Its a tough draw.....

Yes, there are elk in South Dakota. Very tough draw, resident only.

Shooting some real rippers in the prairie units. I know of one 400 plus and a 390 taken this year already.

Great state for hunting. Pheasants for sure. White tails, mule deer, antelope, coyotes, prairie dogs all are huntable, or “shootable” in the case of PDs. Also, lots of turkeys.
I’ve not hunted water fowl there, but hear it’s very good. And it’s a low tax state.

[/img]

Sorry, thought that bull came from over by Belle Fourche, but it’s a Wyoming bull from the Gillette area.

I got some pictures texted of an alleged 400 plus tonight from SD. "Grossed 417 net 401", still needs to dry for another 30 days.

People are drawing BH elk tags with 7-13 years of preference generally speaking. Some units are harder, some are easier. Antelope seem to be every other year right now, they're down some at present. When they rebound, people will get tags every year. You'll have a tougher time finding a place to hunt being an import. The public land is abundant and so are the people who use it.

There are elk in SD but the draw is tough. The system is set up to reward the long time applicants so drawing a tag is tough. My hunting partner and I drew this year with 20 preference points I just turned 68 and Bob will be 68 in a month. You can see your odds of getting drawn on SDGFP website when you look at each unit. We changed the unit we applied in and got drawn this year. By changing our unit application it doubled our odds of drawing and it worked well for us. I got a really good 6X6 on opening day and Bob tagged out 10 days later on a nice 5x7, his had a broken G2b or would have been 6x7. The bulls were shot about 100 yards apart on the same water hole.
wmd