Deer unit 21A, South Dakota: licenses, harvest and hunting land
GFP's West River deer unit 21A is East Custer / Central Pennington. For 2026 GFP lists 350 resident and 28 nonresident licenses here in 3 license types. In 2025, by GFP's projection, hunters took 239 deer in unit 21A: 176 white-tailed and 64 mule deer, and 739 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.
| GFP's description | East Custer / Central Pennington |
|---|---|
| Counties | Custer, Pennington |
| Season | West River deer, November 14-29, 2026 |
| Licenses, 2026 | 350 resident, 28 nonresident |
| Deer taken, 2025 | 239 (GFP projection) |
| First-choice resident applicants, 2025 | 739 |
| First draw, 2026 | May 27 to June 23, 2026 |
| Other deer units in these counties | Deer unit 21B, Deer unit 02A, Deer unit 02C |
How many deer licenses does unit 21A have in 2026?
350 resident and 28 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).
| Type | What the license allows | Resident | Nonresident |
|---|---|---|---|
| 02 | one any buck deer | 100 | 8 |
| 11 | one any whitetail deer | 200 | 16 |
| 13P | one antlerless whitetail deer, private land only | 50 | 4 |
Source: GFP 2026 west river deer application.
How many deer are taken in unit 21A?
GFP projects 239 deer were taken in unit 21A in 2025, 27% of them mule deer, from 379 licenses sold. That is 10% fewer than in 2020. The most in these years was 319 in 2021, the fewest 239 in 2025. By license type, GFP's hunter success ran from 67% (type 02) down to 52% (type 13P).
| Year | Deer taken | Bucks | Does and fawns | White-tailed | Mule deer | Licenses sold | First-choice resident applicants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 239 | 203 | 37 | 176 | 64 | 379 | 739 |
| 2024 | 249 | 195 | 55 | 189 | 61 | 379 | 754 |
| 2023 | 253 | 204 | 50 | 197 | 57 | 380 | 781 |
| 2022 | 307 | 244 | 61 | 241 | 64 | 511 | 807 |
| 2021 | 319 | 223 | 96 | 259 | 60 | 500 | 1,040 |
| 2020 | 266 | 254 | 12 | 202 | 64 | 355 | 791 |
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 02: 477 resident applicants for 100 resident licenses.
| Type | License | Resident first-choice applicants | Resident licenses available | Resident licenses sold | Nonresident first-choice applicants | Nonresident licenses available | Hunter success | Deer taken |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02 | one any buck deer | 477 | 100 | 102 | 78 | 8 | 67% | 73 |
| 11 | one any whitetail deer | 256 | 200 | 199 | 14 | 16 | 64% | 138 |
| 13P | one antlerless whitetail deer, private land only | 6 | 50 | 50 | 0 | 4 | 52% | 28 |
Licenses sold can include later drawings and leftovers.
When is deer season in unit 21A 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 21A?
For the whole counties, as GFP publishes no unit lines:
| County | Walk-In and CREP acres | Game production area acres | School and public land acres | Federal land acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Custer County | 30,835 | 2,841 | 9,094 | 368,784 |
| Pennington County | 4,731 | 175 | 27,275 | 610,529 |
Game production areas in these counties: Spring Valley - Custer GPA (1,003 acres, Custer), Friendshuh GPA (974 acres, Custer), Pleasant Valley Elk Area GPA (502 acres, Custer), Cooper Ranch GPA (361 acres, Custer), Spring Creek GPA (109 acres, Pennington) and Sunday Gulch GPA (66 acres, Pennington).
Questions hunters ask
How many deer licenses are there in unit 21A for 2026?
GFP's 2026 application lists 100 resident and 8 nonresident "one any buck deer" licenses (type 02), 200 resident and 16 nonresident "one any whitetail deer" licenses (type 11) and 50 resident and 4 nonresident "one antlerless whitetail deer, private land only" licenses (type 13P) for unit 21A.
How many deer are taken in unit 21A?
GFP projects 239 deer were taken in unit 21A in 2025, 176 white-tailed and 64 mule deer. In 2020 the figure was 266. The projection comes from GFP's survey of license holders.
Is unit 21A mostly white-tailed or mule deer?
White-tailed deer, by GFP's 2025 projection: 64 mule deer and 176 white-tailed deer of the 239 taken; in 2020, 64 of 266 were mule deer.
What county is deer unit 21A in?
GFP describes unit 21A as "East Custer / Central Pennington", in Custer and Pennington counties. GFP's interactive hunting unit map shows the exact line.
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Where these numbers come from
- Harvest, licenses sold and first-choice applicants: 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).
- 2026 licenses, seasons and draws: GFP 2026 west river deer application.
- Land: GFP public hunting atlas layers (Walk-In Areas, CREP, school and public land, federal land) and GFP Managed Lands. County lines: U.S. Census Bureau 2024.
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 21B Deer unit 02A Deer unit 02C Custer County Pennington County