State guide · 2026–2027 season

South Dakota Wildlife Refuge Hunting

South Dakota has 13 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refuges and stations in our database, 12 of which list hunting opportunities, plus 717 named Waterfowl Production Areas covering 162,662 acres of walk-in public land. The largest huntable refuge areas are Kulm WMD (45.1K ac), Sand Lake WMD (44.5K ac) and Madison WMD (44K ac).

State mapAll refugesSD WPAsState licenses ↗
13refuges & stations
29hunt units
201Khuntable acres
717WPAs

Map of refuges & WPAs in South Dakota

Loading interactive map…
Refuge with open unitsNo open unitsWPANational Wildlife Refuge Tip: switch to Satellite or USGS Topo in the layer menu · click the map for GPS coordinates

South Dakota by the numbers

Hunt unit acreage by status
Open: 169,174 (81%)Special regulations: 31,825 (15%)Closed: 9,077 (4%)201Khuntable acres
  • Open169,174 ac 81%
  • Special regulations31,825 ac 15%
  • Closed9,077 ac 4%
Refuges offering each activity
🦌 Big Game
12
🦆 Waterfowl
9
🦃 Wild Turkey
8
🐦 Upland Birds
10
🕊️ Migratory Birds
9
🐇 Small Game
9
🎣 Fishing
11
Hunt unit acres by refuge — open special regs closed
Sand Lake WMD
44.5K
Madison WMD
44K
Waubay WMD
41.1K
Sand Lake NWR
19.7K
Huron WMD
17.7K
Lacreek NWR
16.6K
Lake Andes WMD
15.1K
Lake Andes NWR
5.2K
Waubay NWR
4.6K
Karl E. Mundt NWR
1K
Bear Butte NWR
402
D.C. Booth Historic NFH
11
Waterfowl Production Area acres by county
McPherson County
20,990 ac
Marshall County
11,264 ac
Edmunds County
9,239 ac
Beadle County
7,772 ac
Day County
7,316 ac
Kingsbury County
7,280 ac
Brookings County
6,639 ac
Lake County
6,282 ac
Codington County
6,148 ac
Clark County
6,068 ac
Grant County
5,777 ac
Aurora County
4,907 ac

All refuges & stations in South Dakota

Bear Butte NWR

Meade County, SD

1 open
🦌🦆🦃🐦🕊️🐇🎣

402 huntable acres

D.C. Booth Historic NFH

Lawrence County, SD

1 closed
No hunting listed

Huron WMD

Beadle County, SD

1 open1 closed
🦌🦆🦃🐦🕊️🐇🎣

17.5K huntable acres

Karl E. Mundt NWR

Gregory County, SD

1 special2 closed
🦌

697 huntable acres

Kulm WMD

LaMoure County, ND · primary: ND

1 open
🦌🦆🦃🐦🕊️🐇🎣

45.1K huntable acres

Lacreek NWR

Bennett County, SD

7 special1 closed
🦌🦆🐦🕊️🐇🎣

11.4K huntable acres

Lake Andes NWR

Charles Mix County, SD

1 open3 closed
🦌🦆🦃🐦🕊️🐇🎣

2.2K huntable acres

Lake Andes WMD

Charles Mix County, SD

1 open1 closed
🦌🦆🦃🐦🕊️🐇🎣

15.1K huntable acres

Madison WMD

Lake County, SD

1 open1 special
🦌🦆🦃🐦🕊️🐇🎣

44K huntable acres

Sand Lake NWR

Brown County, SD

2 special1 closed
🦌🐦🎣

19.5K huntable acres

Sand Lake WMD

Brown County, SD

1 open
🦌🦆🦃🐦🕊️🐇🎣

44.5K huntable acres

Waubay NWR

Day County, SD

1 open1 closed
🦌🎣

4.6K huntable acres

Waubay WMD

Day County, SD

1 open
🦌🦆🦃🐦🕊️🐇🎣

41.1K huntable acres

Counties with federal public hunting land

Hunting in South Dakota: what to know

Licenses & seasons

Refuge hunts follow South Dakota seasons, bag limits and license requirements set by the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks. Refuges may be more restrictive — never less — than state rules.

Refuge-specific rules

Each refuge publishes hunt regulations in 50 CFR Part 32 and in its hunt brochure. Units marked special regulations may limit species, dates, weapons, or require quota permits.

Walk-in WPAs

South Dakota's 717 Waterfowl Production Areas are generally open to hunting under state rules. Browse SD WPAs by county →

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