To purchase a hunting license online, create a Go Outdoors South Dakota account through the Department of Game, Fish & Parks. You can also download the free Go Outdoors SD mobile app with Google Play or the App Store to renew, purchase and store your licenses and reservations on your smartphone or tablet. Visitors will want to obtain the Nonresident Hunting & Trapping License (different fees apply depending on the species you’re hunting, the number of days and the hunters’ ages).
Please note: GF&P has a new registration system, so anyone with a pre-2022 account will need to create a new one. No problem! Whether you’re buying your first license or your 40th, it’s easy to set up your new account before you buy your license.
Resident & Nonresident Licenses
There are differences between resident and nonresident licenses, but the buying process is the same. Take note of the different season dates, get your license and plan your outdoor adventure.
Youth-Only Pheasant Season
Start Date: September 27, 2025
End Date: October 5, 2025
Resident-Only Pheasant Season
Start Date: October 11, 2025
End Date: October 13, 2025
Traditional Pheasant Season
Start Date: October 18, 2025
End Date: January 31, 2026

Buy in South Dakota
Hunters can buy licenses from more than 250 registered sales agents in South Dakota (like select gas stations and bait shops). Find locations online or call SD GFP at 605-223-7660 and they’ll point you in the direction of the nearest agent.

Buy Online
Save some time by purchasing your South Dakota pheasant hunting license online. To apply, set up your Go Outdoors SD account and follow the steps.
Always Carry Your License While Hunting
The South Dakota Department of Game, Fish & Parks requires every hunter to carry their small game, fishing or trapping license while hunting. Instead of a paper copy, you can carry a digital copy of your license. Paper copies are still valid, but the digital version’s barcode can be scanned and recognized as your official license. Do this by logging into your GF&P account on your smartphone, taking a screenshot of your license from your GF&P online account, or by downloading the free Go Outdoors SD mobile app.

Nonresident Licenses Special Information
Nonresident licenses are for anyone who does not live in the state of South Dakota. They are redeemable for two 5-day hunting periods. A little tip for selecting your dates: Choose your first hunting period for when you plan to visit South Dakota. Then, if you aren’t sure when you’ll be back for the second trip, choose the last week the calendar will allow. You can always move these dates up on the calendar, but you can’t move them back.

Nonresident Shooting Preserve Licenses
Shooting Preserve Licenses allow nonresidents to hunt on licensed shooting preserves and take the small game for which that preserve is licensed. They are available for the following periods: one day, 5-day period, season long.

Bringing Your Dog to South Dakota
Your hunting buddy is welcome in South Dakota! And while a rabies vaccination for your dog is mandatory, you don’t need to bring a health certificate if you’ll be here for less than 30 days. Check out the Hunting and Trapping Handbook for details.




Best SoDak Towns For Pheasant Hunting
South Dakota has more than 5 million free-access acres open to hunting. Some are federal and state-owned grounds, while even more are private areas leased for public hunting. Scout your outing with SD Game, Fish & Parks satellite maps. Some of the more sought-after areas in the state for pheasant hunting lie within the Central Missouri River region and the Northeast Glacial Lakes & Prairies region.
Premier pheasant hunting destinations in the Central region to set up your basecamp for hunting season include: Mobridge, with its 1960s Pheasant Drive-In movie theater; Winner and its vast Tripp County farmland (ranked #1 in South Dakota for pheasants harvested); Mitchell (home to the Pheasant Country Chapter of Pheasants Forever); the reservation lands and national grasslands of Pierre; and Chamberlain/Oacoma, known for one of the top pheasant-producing spots in South Dakota.
Towns best known for top-notch pheasant hunting in the Northeast are: Huron (known as "Ringneck Nation" and home to the World's Largest Pheasant statue); Aberdeen, with the most Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) walk-in hunting land in the state; Watertown; Brookings; and Redfield, aka the "Pheasant Capital of the World."
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