South Dakota Deer · WRD-02C PENNINGTON COUNTY south of I-90 and east of the Cheyenne River

South Dakota WRD-02C covers 428,857 acres and lies 40 miles south-east of Box Elder and 54 miles south-east of Summerset. 60% of it is public land, mostly other public land (59%) and state trust land (1%). In 2025, hunters took 52 mule deer here (sum of published weapon rows); hunter counts not published. Its most applied-for hunt, WRD-02C-02, put up 8 nonresident tags in the 2026 draw for 144 first-choice applicants.

NR Tags, 2026
10

2 licenses

Applicants
151

first choice, NR

Hunter Success
—

not published

Public Land
60%

59% Other public

Size
670 mi²

428,857 acres

Box Elder WRD-02C

Boundaries are drawn for orientation only. The written boundary description in the regulations governs.

Every License in WRD-02C

90–100% 50–89% 10–49% 1–9% under 1% fewer than 5 tags: one applicant swings it
WRD-02C-02 0% —
WRD-02C-11 0% (small sample) —

First-choice nonresident odds at your points, 2026 draw. Cut = points the last tag went at; ▲ = points added since the earliest draw on file. Not in the table, with no 2026 result: WRD-02C-01.

Draw results: SD GFP 2026 GoOutdoors draw statistics, retrieved Sep 1, 2026.

If you draw (2026 nonresident fees): $25 ($25 to apply). Open May 27 – Jun 23, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.

Harvest

Mule Deer

Year Deer
2025 (summed) 52
2024 (summed) 68
2023 (summed) 63

White-tailed Deer

Year Deer
2025 (summed) 25
2024 (summed) 32
2023 (summed) 51

2025 split: firearm 52 (100%)

What South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks publishes after each season, for everyone who hunted the area: harvest statistics, not draw odds. South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks publishes no whole-unit line for 2025; a year's total is the sum of published weapon rows, added only where the lines do not overlap. Hunter counts not published for 2025. South Dakota's figures are Game, Fish and Parks post-season survey estimates, expanded from mandatory hunter reporting by the response rate — not a count of animals checked in. Source: SD GFP 2023-2025 Deer Harvest.

The Ground

Other public 252,400 ac 59%
Private 172,904 ac 40%
State trust land 3,486 ac <1%
State land 66 ac <1%

Source: SD GFP 2026 Hunt Unit Deer.

▸ Sources 5
  1. SD GFP 2026 GoOutdoors draw statistics draw results, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  2. SD GFP 2025 Deer Applications booklet fees, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  3. SD GFP 2026 GFP FAQ fees, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  4. SD GFP 2023-2025 Deer Harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  5. SD GFP 2026 Hunt Unit Deer boundary, land ownership, area description, retrieved Sep 1, 2026

About These Numbers

Odds are from the 2026 draw, the latest on file, computed from South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks' published results. They are what happened in that draw, not a forecast. Under five tags a percentage carries a *, because one applicant either way swings it. A dash means the agency did not publish the number, and a date marked expected is last cycle's schedule rolled forward. How we compute these.

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Every report is checked against the agency source before we change anything.

We don't take applications: check South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks's site and apply there.

Prior-draw odds from South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks' results, not a forecast · Methodology · All South Dakota deer hunts