South Dakota Deer — WRD-53A
PERKINS COUNTY, north of SD 20
South Dakota WRD-53A covers 869,701 acres and lies 20 miles south-west of Lemmon and 78 miles north-west of Eagle Butte. 18% of it is public land, mostly other public land (14%) and state trust land (3%). In 2025, hunters took 392 white-tailed deer here. The 2026 draw put up 32 nonresident tags here for 314 first-choice applicants.
Your chance of drawing here
Every deer license type on offer in WRD-53A, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.
Chances are from the 2026 draw (the most recent) for a first-choice nonresident. "Points needed" = the cut in the last draw.
Simple view Odds at every point level-
0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
-
100% Undersubscribed 83% as 2nd choice
-
WRD-53A-18 West River Deer: 53A18 - ANY WHITETAIL DEER, ANTLERLESS WHITETAIL DEER 20 tags · 61 applicants0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
-
100% Undersubscribed 100% as 2nd choice
| Hunt | Your odds (0 pts) | As 2nd choice | Points needed | Tags / applicants | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WRD-53A-01 ↗ West River Deer: 53A01 - ANY DEER | 0% Point builder | 0% | — | 32 / 314 | Nov 14–29, 2026 |
| WRD-53A-09P ↗ West River Deer: 53A09P - 2 ANY ANTLERLESS DEER | 100% Undersubscribed | 83% | — | 8 / 3 undersubscribed | Nov 14–29, 2026 |
| WRD-53A-18 ↗ West River Deer: 53A18 - ANY WHITETAIL DEER, ANTLERLESS WHITETAIL DEER | 0% Point builder | 0% | — | 20 / 61 | Nov 14–29, 2026 |
| WRD-53A-19P ↗ West River Deer: 53A19P - 2 ANTLERLESS WHITETAIL DEER | 100% Undersubscribed | 100% | — | 9 / 3 undersubscribed | Nov 14–29, 2026 |
What these columns mean
- Your odds —
- the share of applicants at your point level who drew this tag in the 2026 draw. Not a forecast: quotas and demand move every year.
- The badge —
- plain language for that number. Likely draw 75% or better · Real chance 40%+ · Long shot 15%+ · Point builder below that, so you are applying mainly to bank a point · Undersubscribed means fewer first-choice applicants than tags, so everyone who applied drew.
- As 2nd choice —
- South Dakota lets you name more than one hunt on the application. Miss on your first choice and you go into the pot for whatever tags are left, alongside everyone else's second choices. Points never help a lower choice, so this number is the same whatever you have banked — it is usually worth naming a hunt that goes undersubscribed.
- Points needed —
- the lowest point total that still got a tag in the 2026 draw, and how that cut has moved since the earliest draw we hold.
- Tags / applicants —
- tags on offer and first-choice applicants for them, as the agency published them. Under five tags we print counts instead of a percentage, because one applicant either way swings it.
What it costs to apply (2026 nonresident fees)
| License | Up front | Gone if you miss | If you draw |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per application | $25 | $25 | $25 |
Application window: opens May 27, closes Jun 23, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.
The country
Boundaries are drawn for orientation only — the written boundary description in the regulations governs.
Who owns the ground
- Private 709,995 ac · 82%
- Other public 124,110 ac · 14%
- State trust land 27,322 ac · 3%
- State land 8,273 ac · 1%
Nearby areas
- WRD-53C — PERKINS COUNTY, south of SD 20 and MEADE COUNTY, north of US 212
- WRD-35C — HARDING COUNTY, east of US 85 excluding those portions of the Custer National Fo
- WRD-35L — HARDING COUNTY, restricted to Custer National Forest Service
- WRD-49B — MEADE COUNTY, south of US Hwy 212
- WRD-64A — Ziebach County
- WRD-20A — Corson County
How the hunting has gone
What South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks publishes for this area after each season — harvest statistics for everyone who hunted it, not draw odds and not a forecast. South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks publishes these per hunt rather than per unit; the rows below add its own figures together, since a hunter holds one tag for the species in a season. 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.
White-tailed Deer
| Season | Harvest |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 392 |
| 2024 | 456 |
| 2023 | 368 |
Mule Deer
| Season | Harvest |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 280 |
| 2024 | 251 |
| 2023 | 299 |
What people carried (2025 harvest)
- Firearm 672 · 100%
Harvest: Deer Harvest (Hunting/Harvest_Maps MapServer, layer 5) — per-unit post-season harvest, 2023-2025