Goose
Goose hunting seasons are set in early spring. Nonresident licenses are limited in number and issued through an application process and lottery drawing. Shooting hours are one-half hour before sunrise to sunset.
Approved nontoxic shot includes steel shot, bismuth-tin, tungsten-polymer, tungsten-matrix, and any combination of tungsten-iron-nickel-tin-copper-bismuth. Coated lead shot does not qualify as nontoxic shot. Tom Roster's Nontoxic Shot Lethality Table © 2012
The Antelope Island area* south of Pierre on Lake Sharpe has the following restrictions:
- No waterfowl decoys or hunting blinds may be left in the area between sunset and 5 a.m.
- No waterfowl decoys may be left unattended between 5 a.m. and sunset
*The area within the water's edge from a north-south line across Lake Sharpe through the dredged channel at the east end of Hipple Lake, downstream to the north-south line across the reservoir 100 yards east of the easternmost emergent vegetation on Antelope Island.
License Information
Must have one of the following:
- Combination license
- Small Game
- Youth Small Game
- 1-Day Small Game
In addition, residents must also have both:
- South Dakota Migratory Bird Certification, and
- Federal Waterfowl Stamp (not required for those under age 16)
- Licenses for most seasons are limited and issued by lottery drawing. Application deadline is July 10.
- Licenses of limited-day duration require a start date for hunt before a license will be issued; start date may be changed through GFP License Office prior to the start date; applicants without a start date will have license held if successful in drawing, and may provide start date at any time before season, but please allow ample time for mailing license
- See season application information for details.
- Licenses for Unit 00B cover most of the state and are valid for 10 consecutive days
- Licenses for Unit 00A are for the southeastern corner of the state are valid for the length of the waterfowl seasons in that area
- Licenses for Unit 11A are for Bennett County in the southwest and are valid for 10 consecutive days
- Licenses for Unit 00Y in the northeast part of the state are valid for 3 consecutive days
- Licenses for Unit 00X in the central part of the state are valid on private land only for 3 consecutive days
- Early Fall Canada Goose licenses are valid for the length of that season in those counties open to nonresident hunting
- Spring Light Goose licenses are valid for the length of that season
- South Dakota Migratory Bird Certification is included in waterfowl license
- Federal Waterfowl Stamp required (not required for those under age 16)
- Youth age 12 (or will turn 12 by Dec. 31) may hunt and have same license requirements as adults
Canada Goose
Includes brants.
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15 from September 2-30
8 from October 1 - December 18
Three times the daily limit, taken according to daily limit. The counties of Aurora, Beadle, Brookings, Brown, Butte, Campbell, Clark, Clay, Codington, Corson, Davison, Day, Deuel, Douglas, Edmunds, Faulk, Grant, Haakon, Hamlin, Hand, Hanson, Harding, Hutchinson, Jackson, Jerauld, Jones, Kingsbury, Lake, Lawrence, Lincoln, McCook, McPherson, Marshall, Meade, Mellette, Minnehaha, Moody, Miner, Roberts, Sanborn, Shannon, Spink, Todd, Turner, Union, Walworth, Yankton, and Ziebach, that portion of Dewey County north of Bureau of Indian Affairs Road 8, Bureau of Indian Affairs Road 9, and the section of U.S. Highway 212 east of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Road 8 junction, that portion of Potter County east of U.S. Highway 83, that portion of Sully County east of U.S. Highway 83, portions of Hyde, Buffalo, Brule, Charles Mix, and Bon Homme counties north and east of a line beginning at the Hughes-Hyde county line on State Highway 34, east to Lees Boulevard, southeast to the State Highway 34, east 7 miles to 350th Avenue, south to Interstate 90 on 350th Avenue, south and east on State Highway 50 to Geddes, east on 285th Street to U.S. Highway 281, north on U.S. Highway 281 to the Charles Mix-Douglas county boundary, that portion of Bon Homme County north of State Highway 50, and that portion of Perkins county west of State Highway 75 and south of State Highway 20.
From Sept. 1-30 nonresidents may not hunt in Beadle, Brookings, Hanson, Kingsbury, Lake, Lincoln, McCook, Miner, Minnehaha, Moody, Sanborn, Turner and Union counties.
4
Three times the daily limit, taken according to the daily limit. Those areas not included in Unit 1 or Unit 3.
4
Three times the daily limit, taken according to the daily limit. Those areas not included in Unit 1 or Unit 3.
Availble with special permit only.
3
Applicants may have a maximum of 5 licenses. See Application Deadline Rules on application for more information.
White-Fronted Goose
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2
Three times the daily limit
Light Goose - Fall
Includes snows, blues, Ross' and all other geese except Canada, brants and white-fronted geese.
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30
Unlimited
Light Goose - Spring
A Conservation Order is issued annually for a spring hunt to control an overabundance of light geese. Light geese generally migrate into the eastern one-third of South Dakota in late February to early March.
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Unlimited
Unlimited
August Goose Management Take
This is a resident only August Management Take for Canada Geese for those portions of Pennington County west of the Cheyenne River.
15
Unlimited
