PIERRE – The regular West River Deer season closes on Nov. 25, and the regular East River Deer season closes on Dec. 2. Nine additional days will be available to harvest antlerless deer, beginning Dec. 29 and ending on Jan. 6.
“We want to remind both West River and East River deer hunters that their ‘any deer’ and ‘any whitetail deer’ tags are only valid during the regular 16-day season, and that they will not convert to ‘antlerless tags’ like in previous years,” said Tom Kirschenmann, chief of terrestrial resources for the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department.
“Only unfilled ‘any antlerless deer’ and ‘antlerless whitetail deer’ tags will be valid for the late-season dates.”
The changes were made to accomplish additional antlerless deer harvest in areas of the state that need it most while curtailing the doe harvest where deer populations are at or below population objectives.