South Dakota Elk · PRE-WRA West River (portion not in a Black Hills elk unit, Custer State Park, or another prairie elk unit)
South Dakota PRE-WRA spans 20,616,117 acres, centered 53 miles south-west of Eagle Butte. 6% of it is public land, mostly other public land (5%) and state trust land (1%). In 2025, hunters took 47 elk here (sum of published weapon rows); hunter counts not published. Its most applied-for hunt, PRE-WRA-21, put up 25 resident tags in the 2026 draw for 1,957 first-choice applicants.
4 licenses
first choice, resident
not published
7% Other public
20,616,117 acres
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PRE-WRA is outlined in red; other elk units in blue. Boundaries are drawn for orientation; the written boundary in the regulations governs. Open the full South Dakota map →
Best Bets at 0 Points
Ranked by your odds times how often that license type's hunters filled their tag in 2025. Resident, first choice, 2026 draw; licenses with at least 10 tags that anyone can buy.
Every License in PRE-WRA
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PRE-WRA-21 Standard | Prairie Elk: WRA21 - ONE Any Elk | 0% | — | |
| PRE-WRA-21 Landowner | Prairie Elk: WRA21 - ONE Any Elk | 0% | — | |
| PRE-WRA-23 Standard | Prairie Elk: WRA23 - ONE Antlerless Elk | 58% | — | |
| PRE-WRA-23 Landowner | Prairie Elk: WRA23 - ONE Antlerless Elk | 100% | — |
First-choice resident odds at your points, 2026 draw. Cut = points the last tag went at; ▲ = points added since the earliest draw on file.
Draw results: SD GFP 2026 GoOutdoors draw statistics, retrieved Sep 1, 2026.
If you draw (2026 resident fees): Standard $215 ($20 to apply) · Landowner $215 ($20 to apply). Open Apr 15 – May 19, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.
Harvest
| Year | Elk |
|---|---|
| 2025 (summed) | 47 |
| 2024 (summed) | 23 |
| 2023 (summed) | 12 |
2025 split: firearm 47 (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 2018 Elk Harvest.
The Ground
| Private | 12,397,053 ac | 60% |
| Other public | 964,006 ac | 5% |
| State trust land | 274,484 ac | 1% |
| State land | 66,184 ac | <1% |
| Private or other non-public land | 6,914,388 ac | 34% |
Source: SD GFP 2026 Hunt Unit Elk.
Next Door
- PRE-11B Bennett, Jackson and Mellette Counties (portions) 3% public
- BHE-H9A CUSTER and PENNINGTON counties 10% public
- BHE-H9B CUSTER and PENNINGTON counties (antlerless, same area as BHE-H9A) 10% public
- PRE-49A Meade County (portion) 5% public
- BHE-H4A CUSTER, FALL RIVER, and PENNINGTON Counties 10% public
- BHE-H7B LAWRENCE, MEADE and PENNINGTON counties (antlerless, same area as BHE-H7A) 61% public
South Dakota landowner tags →
Landowner Preference: 160 acres. Landowner-on-own-land licences: 160 acres. Not sellable. Owning land here does not waive the license.
Is a parcel in PRE-WRA? →
Click the ground or paste a listing's coordinates on the unit finder: the unit for every species at that point, how far inside the line it sits, and whether the acreage clears the landowner floor.
▸ Sources 6
- SD GFP 2026 GoOutdoors draw statistics draw results, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- SD GFP 2026 Elk application sheet fees, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- SD GFP 2025 Deer Applications booklet fees, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- SD GFP 2026 GFP FAQ fees, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- SD GFP 2018 Elk Harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- SD GFP 2026 Hunt Unit Elk 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.
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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 · All South Dakota elk hunts