Hunting

COMMENTARY
A South Dakota hunter walks the tall grass with his dog.

Out-of-state hunters help private landowners provide wildlife habitat

BY: - November 27, 2023

A disgruntled hunter wrote a Writers on the Range opinion recently about Westerners getting fed up with the many out-of-staters coming in and buying up draw licenses to shoot bull elk, deer, bear and other big game animals. As a hunter myself, I understand their frustration. But reducing non-resident tags, as Andrew Carpenter suggests, takes […]

Trail camera footage shows river otters swimming in the Big Sioux River watershed.

From threatened to managed population: Fourth river otter trapping season concludes

BY: - November 20, 2023

The state’s fourth river otter trapping season ended last weekend when the legal limit of 20 was reached. That season was unimaginable only a few decades ago when river otters were all but non-existent in South Dakota.  The Game, Fish and Parks Department said Saturday that trappers holding a furbearer license had to report their […]

A duck hunter sits amid cattails and reeds along a publicly conserved wetland south of Madison. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

State launches efforts to fight duck-hunting decline and protect habitat

BY: - September 18, 2023

State officials are embarking on a comprehensive plan to boost duck-hunter numbers that have been declining for two decades, and to preserve waterfowl habitat in the process. The plan focuses on providing better access for hunters. It’s a joint venture between the South Dakota Wildlife Federation, the South Dakota Waterfowl Association, and the state’s Department […]

Members of the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Commission hear testimony during a meeting Sept. 7, 2023, in Watertown. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

Commission denies expanded hound hunting for mountain lions after hundreds of comments

BY: - September 7, 2023

WATERTOWN — After receiving hundreds of written public comments, the state Game, Fish and Parks Commission denied a proposal Thursday that would have allowed the use of dogs to hunt mountain lions in a broader area of the Black Hills.  However, the commission directed the Department of Game, Fish and Parks to reassess its mountain […]

Arrows are embedded in a target during practice for the women's individual eliminations match on Aug. 17, 2004, during the Athens 2004 Summer Olympic Games at Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens, Greece. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Gun law raises funding concerns for school hunting programs

BY: - September 2, 2023

WASHINGTON — Republican lawmakers are concerned that the Biden administration is interpreting last year’s bipartisan gun safety law to cut funding for school archery and hunting programs, though programs themselves say they haven’t been affected. A provision in the law – a bipartisan effort to curb gun violence that established new criminal offenses, and expanded background […]

Pheasants Forever launches new initiative to expand outdoor access in South Dakota

BY: - August 23, 2023

In an effort to enhance public outdoor access and support long-term land conservation, Pheasants Forever has unveiled a new program targeting 10,000 acres of land in South Dakota annually. The new Public Access to Habitat (PATH) initiative aims to complement the current South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Walk-In Area program, which pays landowners about […]

Ducks become flashpoint in growing debate over resident vs. nonresident hunting

BY: - May 24, 2023

HECLA — Alex Russo never intended to start a hunting lodge and guiding service. But he was honorably discharged from the Marines about a decade ago after serving overseas and suffering knee and back injuries. “Honestly, what I want to be doing is over there, serving with my brothers,” Russo said.  Russo always had a […]

A South Dakota hunter walks the tall grass with his dog.

Commission approves more out-of-state duck hunting licenses, despite opposition

BY: - May 4, 2023

Some South Dakota duck hunters are upset over the Game, Fish and Parks Commission’s Thursday decision to increase the number of duck hunting licenses available to hunters from outside the state.  The approved proposal allows for 100 more nonresident licenses, to be used on private land only, in two areas of the northeastern corner of […]

A South Dakota hunter walks the tall grass with his dog.

Federal government awards $23 million for Prairie Pothole Region

BY: - March 21, 2023

The federal government plans to spend $23 million to restore and conserve grasslands and wetlands in the Prairie Pothole Region, which is known as the “duck factory” of North America and is home to migratory birds, fish and other wildlife. The money is part of the Department of the Interior’s $120 million in funding from […]

Cold Springs Creek in the Black Hills of South Dakota, where parcels of private land are being added to the Black Hills National Forest. (Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation)

Black Hills National Forest adds 239 acres through deal with elk group and landowners

BY: - March 16, 2023

The Black Hills National Forest is growing by about one-third of a square mile. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation acquired 239 acres of land from two landowners for a total of $1.1 million and conveyed it to the national forest. The land is high in the remote western area of the forest in South Dakota, […]

An antelope walks through dry grass. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

State caps non-resident archery licenses on public land

BY: - March 9, 2023

South Dakota will join most other states in capping deer and antelope archery licenses for out-of-state hunters on public land. The state Game Fish and Parks Commission unanimously approved the change Thursday at a meeting in Pierre. South Dakota had been one of the few states that allowed an unlimited number of non-resident bowhunters on […]

(Photo by Travel South Dakota)

SD’s pheasant predator bounties are wrong for Nebraska, experts say

BY: - February 9, 2023

LINCOLN, Neb. — Pheasant hunting in South Dakota generates an estimated $220 million a year in retail spending and causes an annual flood of 120,000 orange-clad hunters into the state. But a Nebraska state senator’s effort to try to replicate that kind of economic impact by increasing Nebraska’s shrinking pheasant population prompted opposition from biologists […]