FilledTag Get a hunt plan

Deer unit 15B, South Dakota: licenses, harvest and hunting land

GFP's West River deer unit 15B is Southwest Butte / Northeast Lawrence. For 2026 GFP lists 750 resident and 60 nonresident licenses here in 3 license types. In 2025, by GFP's projection, hunters took 638 deer in unit 15B: 603 white-tailed and 36 mule deer, and 529 residents named it as their first choice in the first drawing.

Data updated October 2026. Harvest and first-choice applicants: GFP harvest projections, 2020 to 2025. Licenses and seasons: GFP 2026 application. Land: GFP map layers.

Map of South Dakota's counties with Butte and Lawrence counties shaded, where GFP's deer unit 15B (Southwest Butte / Northeast Lawrence) lies
Shaded: Butte and Lawrence counties, the counties GFP names for unit 15B. GFP does not publish its unit boundaries as open data, so the unit line is not drawn; GFP's hunting unit map shows it.
Deer unit 15B at a glance
GFP's descriptionSouthwest Butte / Northeast Lawrence
CountiesButte, Lawrence
SeasonWest River deer, November 14-29, 2026
Licenses, 2026750 resident, 60 nonresident
Deer taken, 2025638 (GFP projection)
First-choice resident applicants, 2025529
First draw, 2026May 27 to June 23, 2026
Other deer units in these countiesDeer unit 15A

How many deer licenses does unit 15B have in 2026?

750 resident and 60 nonresident licenses, by GFP's 2026 application. Types ending in "P" are good on private land only, not on land GFP leases for public hunting (Walk-In Areas, CREP and CHAP).

TypeWhat the license allowsResidentNonresident
01one any deer15012
18one any whitetail deer and one antlerless whitetail deer40032
19Ptwo antlerless whitetail deer, private land only20016

Source: GFP 2026 west river deer application.

How many deer are taken in unit 15B?

GFP projects 638 deer were taken in unit 15B in 2025, 6% of them mule deer, from 799 licenses sold. That is 38% fewer than in 2020. The most in these years was 1,037 in 2020, the fewest 638 in 2025. By license type, GFP's hunter success ran from 63% (type 18) down to 51% (type 01).

YearDeer takenBucksDoes and fawnsWhite-tailedMule deerLicenses soldFirst-choice resident applicants
202563835128860336799529
202474739535270047808520
202367536031464430808542
2022897453443852441,013628
2021998462537945549921,027
20201,0375564811,00235863699

Sources: GFP, 2025 West River Firearm Deer harvest report; GFP, 2024 Annual Report, Big Game Harvest Projections (Game Report 2025-07); GFP, 2023 Annual Report, Big Game Harvest Projections (Game Report 2024-04); GFP, 2022 Annual Report, Big Game Harvest Projections (Game Report 2023-05); GFP, 2021 Annual Report, Big Game Harvest Projections (Game Report 2022-08); GFP, 2020 Annual Report, Big Game Harvest Projections (Game Report 2021-12). GFP rounds each column of its projection.

Each license type in 2025

The license with the most first-choice applicants for each license was type 01: 237 resident applicants for 150 resident licenses.

TypeLicenseResident first-choice applicantsResident licenses availableResident licenses soldNonresident first-choice applicantsNonresident licenses availableHunter successDeer taken
01one any deer237150148391251%83
18one any whitetail deer and one antlerless whitetail deer282400399393263%390
19Ptwo antlerless whitetail deer, private land only1020019451652%165

Licenses sold can include later drawings and leftovers.

When is deer season in unit 15B in 2026?

November 14-29, 2026; antlerless-only tags also December 12-20; the first draw closed June 23, 2026 (GFP 2026 west river deer application). Every season's dates are on the South Dakota page.

What public land is in the counties of unit 15B?

For the whole counties, as GFP publishes no unit lines:

CountyWalk-In and CREP acresGame production area acresSchool and public land acresFederal land acres
Butte County238,9774,33272,714147,631
Lawrence County1,3154,2100279,752

Game production areas in these counties: Belle Fourche Reservoir GPA (4,273 acres, Butte), Harrison-Badger-Trucano GPA (2,148 acres, Lawrence), Coxes-Mirror Lakes GPA (1,034 acres, Lawrence), Beilage Hepler GPA (988 acres, Lawrence), Duer Lake GPA (59 acres, Butte) and Hydro No. 2 GPA (40 acres, Lawrence).

Questions hunters ask

How many deer licenses are there in unit 15B for 2026?

GFP's 2026 application lists 150 resident and 12 nonresident "one any deer" licenses (type 01), 400 resident and 32 nonresident "one any whitetail deer and one antlerless whitetail deer" licenses (type 18) and 200 resident and 16 nonresident "two antlerless whitetail deer, private land only" licenses (type 19P) for unit 15B.

How many deer are taken in unit 15B?

GFP projects 638 deer were taken in unit 15B in 2025, 603 white-tailed and 36 mule deer. In 2020 the figure was 1,037. The projection comes from GFP's survey of license holders.

Is unit 15B mostly white-tailed or mule deer?

White-tailed deer, by GFP's 2025 projection: 36 mule deer and 603 white-tailed deer of the 638 taken; in 2020, 35 of 1,037 were mule deer.

What county is deer unit 15B in?

GFP describes unit 15B as "Southwest Butte / Northeast Lawrence", in Butte and Lawrence counties. GFP's interactive hunting unit map shows the exact line.

Get a South Dakota hunt plan when they open

Hunt plans for South Dakota are coming. Join the list and you'll hear first. The first 50 hunters in each new state get their plan free.

Until then, the free FilledTag app for iPhone has a map that works in every state, South Dakota included.

Where these numbers come from

FilledTag is not part of South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks. Numbers are copied from GFP or measured from the maps it publishes; nothing on this page is estimated by FilledTag.

South Dakota hunting Deer unit 15A Butte County Lawrence County