PointsAfieldSeason2026–27
Grass and picked corn under a high plains sky, South Dakota
Grass and picked corn under a high plains sky, South DakotaColoful Sunset in the Badlands · CC BY 2.0

South Dakota

Species on recordOpen now0Classified13Record year2026
The place

What South Dakota is like to hunt

Awaiting survey — South Dakota overview

Season classification for South Dakota is complete for 2026, but the qualitative overview has not been written yet. Dates, bag limits and status below are current; the narrative is what is outstanding.

Issuing agencySouth Dakota Game, Fish and Parksgfp.sd.govRecord year 2026
The reason people drive here

Ring-necked pheasant

Ring-necked pheasant
Ring-necked pheasantBob Brewer · Unsplash License
#1Ring-necked pheasantRing-necked pheasant is classified as huntable/regulated upland game in 44 of the 50 states surveyed for the 2026-27 season (research pass captured 2026-08-18). This is a factual presence/season-classification summary, not a population outlook — no 2026 outlook/forecast research was performed for this species; see each state's own state-species record for season dates and any opportunistic 2026 notes captured incidentally.
Opens in 36 days
44 statesUpland
Every bird classified here

Species run

Status is computed from the published dates, not stored — a stale build cannot show an ended season as open.
Ring-necked pheasant
Ring-necked pheasantBob Brewer · Unsplash License
#1Ring-necked pheasantRing-necked pheasant is classified as huntable/regulated upland game in 44 of the 50 states surveyed for the 2026-27 season (research pass captured 2026-08-18). This is a factual presence/season-classification summary, not a population outlook — no 2026 outlook/forecast research was performed for this species; see each state's own state-species record for season dates and any opportunistic 2026 notes captured incidentally.
Opens in 36 days
44 statesUpland
Northern bobwhite quail
Northern bobwhite quailnorthern bobwhite quail · Public domain
#2Northern bobwhite quailNorthern bobwhite quail is classified as huntable/regulated upland game in 42 of the 50 states surveyed for the 2026-27 season (research pass captured 2026-08-18). This is a factual presence/season-classification summary, not a population outlook — no 2026 outlook/forecast research was performed for this species; see each state's own state-species record for season dates and any opportunistic 2026 notes captured incidentally.
Opens in 57 days
42 statesUpland
Gray (Hungarian) partridge
Gray (Hungarian) partridgeOwn work · CC BY-SA 3.0
#8Gray (Hungarian) partridgeGray (Hungarian) partridge is classified as huntable/regulated upland game in 23 of the 50 states surveyed for the 2026-27 season (research pass captured 2026-08-18). This is a factual presence/season-classification summary, not a population outlook — no 2026 outlook/forecast research was performed for this species; see each state's own state-species record for season dates and any opportunistic 2026 notes captured incidentally.
Opens in 29 days
23 statesUpland
Greater prairie-chicken
Greater prairie-chickenPrairie Chicken, Puffed Up Uploaded by Snowmanradio · CC BY 2.0
#6Greater prairie-chickenGreater prairie-chicken is classified as huntable/regulated upland game in 13 of the 50 states surveyed for the 2026-27 season (research pass captured 2026-08-18). This is a factual presence/season-classification summary, not a population outlook — no 2026 outlook/forecast research was performed for this species; see each state's own state-species record for season dates and any opportunistic 2026 notes captured incidentally.
Opens in 29 days
13 statesUpland
Sharp-tailed grouse
Sharp-tailed grouseSharp-tailed Grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus) · CC BY 2.0
#5Sharp-tailed grouseSharp-tailed grouse is classified as huntable/regulated upland game in 14 of the 50 states surveyed for the 2026-27 season (research pass captured 2026-08-18). This is a factual presence/season-classification summary, not a population outlook — no 2026 outlook/forecast research was performed for this species; see each state's own state-species record for season dates and any opportunistic 2026 notes captured incidentally.
Opens in 29 days
14 statesUpland
Lesser prairie-chicken
Lesser prairie-chickencrop of file in file name · CC BY-SA 4.0
#20Lesser prairie-chickenLesser prairie-chicken is classified as huntable/regulated upland game in 5 of the 50 states surveyed for the 2026-27 season (research pass captured 2026-08-18). This is a factual presence/season-classification summary, not a population outlook — no 2026 outlook/forecast research was performed for this species; see each state's own state-species record for season dates and any opportunistic 2026 notes captured incidentally.
Not present
5 statesUpland
Ruffed grouse
Ruffed grouseRuffed Grouse - Bonasa umbellus · Public domain
#3Ruffed grouseRuffed grouse is classified as huntable/regulated upland game in 38 of the 50 states surveyed for the 2026-27 season (research pass captured 2026-08-18). This is a factual presence/season-classification summary, not a population outlook — no 2026 outlook/forecast research was performed for this species; see each state's own state-species record for season dates and any opportunistic 2026 notes captured incidentally.
Opens in 29 days
38 statesUpland
Greater sage-grouse
Greater sage-grouseGreater Sage-Grouse Conservation · Public domain
#4Greater sage-grouseGreater sage-grouse is classified as huntable/regulated upland game in 11 of the 50 states surveyed for the 2026-27 season (research pass captured 2026-08-18). This is a factual presence/season-classification summary, not a population outlook — no 2026 outlook/forecast research was performed for this species; see each state's own state-species record for season dates and any opportunistic 2026 notes captured incidentally.
Season closed
11 statesUpland
Classified but not tracked by this productWild turkey · Sandhill crane · American coot · Crow · Eurasian collared-dove · Common gallinule