Hunting Areas

Game Production Areas: GPA's are generally managed for the production and maintenance of all wildlife species. Although species emphasis varies from site to site, all wildlife benefits. South Dakota has approximately 730 Game Production Areas, totaling more than 281,000 acres.

Waterfowl Production Areas: WPA's are owned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as satellites of the National Wildlife Refuge system. These areas are managed for the production of waterfowl, but other game and nongame species thrive on them as well. There are 1,000 WPAs in South Dakota, totaling nearly 150,000 acres. Public hunting is one of the benefits these areas provide.

Bureau of Land Management: BLM lands are open to public hunting, with the majority of surface acres located in 13 counties west of the Missouri River. A majority of the vegetation on BLM lands is prairie grassland or juniper woodlands. These lands are managed for livestock grazing, mineral extraction, forest management and recreation if public access exists. BLM manages over 274,000 surface acres, please check with the local BLM office to be aware of any specific rules or restrictions that may apply to these lands.

Forest Service: The United States Forest Service manages over 2 million acres in the Black Hills and Custer National Forests and three national grassland units; Buffalo Gap, Fort Pierre and Grand River. These lands are all open to public hunting and fishing. Please check with the local USFS office to be aware of any specific rules, restrictions or travel plans that may apply to these lands.

School & Public Lands: The SD office of School and Public Lands manages over 750,000 acres of land. The majority of this land is located in the western half of the state. School lands are available to the public for hunting and fishing. These lands must be legally accessed, anyone crossing private land to access school land must have the permission of the private landowner. In most cases they are not posted with signs. Off-road travel is prohibited. No person may engage in hunting in any standing, unharvested crops on any school and public lands, unless the crop is designated for conservation or wildlife habitat. Public use of these lands is a privilege. If this privilege is abused, public use of school lands may be restricted.

Walk-In Areas: Privately owned lands, operating as working farms and ranches. Walk-In Areas are leased for public hunting access by the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks using money from the sale of hunting licenses and Federal Aid money from a tax on hunting equipment sales to pay the leases. No further permission from landowners is needed to hunt these areas. NO DRIVING is allowed on Walk-In Areas except on designated trails and parking areas.

• Hunter Evaluation of the 2009 WIA's - Report
• Walk-In Evaluation - Northwest Region
• Walk-In Evaluation - Eastern and Central

Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP): Open year round to public hunting and fishing access. CREP lands are owned by private individuals who have enrolled them in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and signed a lease agreement with South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks to provide public hunting and fishing access.


Controlled Hunting Access Program (CHAP): Privately owned lands, operated as working farms and ranches, leased for public hunting access by the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks primarily for big game hunting. Landowners are paid based on the number of hunters that use these lands. It is important that hunters using a CHAP area complete the required check in registration slip and drop it in the self-service box so hunter use can be properly counted. Lease payments are paid with money from hunting license sales. To view current CHAP areas, click here.

Lower Oahe Waterfowl Access Program: Privately owned lands, operating as working farms and ranches, leased for public hunting access by the outh Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks primarily for feild waterfowl hunting Click here for more information

COOP Manage Areas: Privately owned lands, operating as working farms and ranches, leased for public hunting access by the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks. These leases are paid for using money from the sale of hunting licenses and Federal Aid money from a tax on hunting equipment sales. No further permission is needed from the landowner to hunt these areas. Driving on harvested fields is allowed to place and retrieve waterfowl decoys. Hunters with a disabled hunting permit are also allowed to drive on these areas to hunt any game. All other access is limited to foot traffic only. No hunting while farm machinery is present. Most are located in the north east part of South Dakota.

Elk Access Program:The Elk Hunting Access (EHA) program began in 2006 in response to a large volume of elk depredation complaints in the southern Hills near Wind Cave National Park. GFP developed the program to increase hunter harvest; specifically on private lands with higher than landowner-tolerable elk use. The program has now been expanded to include all Black Hills elk hunting units. Access to the property (how many, when, and where) is controlled by the enrolled landowner. This allows the hunting to take place where the best chance of success is, as well as with the best chance to diminish elk depredation. GFP does not sign the boundaries (as with walk-in areas), nor are maps made available of the enrolled properties. GFP does provide the contact information for participating landowners upon request. License holders are responsible for making contact with the landowner, and making arrangements to hunt the enrolled property. Request this information by calling 605.394.2391.