South Dakota Elk — PRE-15B
Unit 15 (Butte/Lawrence Counties area, not separately bounded)
In 2023, hunters took 0 elk here. The 2023 draw put up 5 resident tags here for 5 first-choice applicants.
Your chance of drawing here
Every elk license type on offer in PRE-15B, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice resident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.
Chances are from the 2023 draw (the most recent) for a first-choice resident. "Points needed" = the cut in the last draw.
Simple view Odds at every point level-
100% Undersubscribed
-
100% No first-choice applicants
| Hunt | Your odds (0 pts) | Points needed | Tags / applicants | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PRE-15B-23 ↗ Prairie Elk: 15B23 - ONE ANTLERLESS ELK | 100% Undersubscribed | — | 5 / 5 undersubscribed | Standard |
| PRE-15B-23 ↗ Prairie Elk: 15B23 - ONE ANTLERLESS ELK | 100% No first-choice applicants | — | 3 / 0 | Landowner |
What these columns mean
- Your odds —
- the share of applicants at your point level who drew this tag in the 2023 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.
- Points needed —
- the lowest point total that still got a tag in the 2023 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 (2023 resident fees)
| License | Up front | Gone if you miss | If you draw |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard license | $10 | $10 | $126 |
| Landowner license | $10 | $10 | $126 |
Application window: opens Apr 15, closes May 19, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.
The country
South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks does not publish a mapped boundary for PRE-15B, so there is no map to draw. The agency describes it as “Unit 15 (Butte/Lawrence Counties area, not separately bounded)”.
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.
| Season | Harvest |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 0 |
What people carried (2023 harvest)
- Firearm 0