Deer unit 31A, South Dakota: licenses, harvest and hunting land
GFP's West River deer unit 31A is Haakon. For 2026 GFP lists 1,025 resident and 82 nonresident licenses here in 5 license types. In 2025, by GFP's projection, hunters took 768 deer in unit 31A: 383 white-tailed and 386 mule deer, and 817 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 | Haakon |
|---|---|
| Counties | Haakon |
| Season | West River deer, November 14-29, 2026 |
| Licenses, 2026 | 1,025 resident, 82 nonresident |
| Deer taken, 2025 | 768 (GFP projection) |
| First-choice resident applicants, 2025 | 817 |
| First draw, 2026 | May 27 to June 23, 2026 |
How many deer licenses does unit 31A have in 2026?
1,025 resident and 82 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | one any deer | 600 | 48 |
| 03P | one any antlerless deer, private land only | 100 | 8 |
| 08 | one any deer and one any antlerless deer | 75 | 6 |
| 18 | one any whitetail deer and one antlerless whitetail deer | 100 | 8 |
| 19 | two antlerless whitetail deer | 150 | 12 |
Source: GFP 2026 west river deer application.
How many deer are taken in unit 31A?
GFP projects 768 deer were taken in unit 31A in 2025, 50% of them mule deer, from 1,104 licenses sold. That is 39% more than in 2020. The most in these years was 768 in 2025, the fewest 554 in 2020. By license type, GFP's hunter success ran from 84% (type 08) down to 35% (type 19).
| Year | Deer taken | Bucks | Does and fawns | White-tailed | Mule deer | Licenses sold | First-choice resident applicants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 768 | 519 | 250 | 383 | 386 | 1,104 | 817 |
| 2024 | 645 | 510 | 134 | 332 | 312 | 919 | 851 |
| 2023 | 638 | 523 | 118 | 333 | 308 | 919 | 877 |
| 2022 | 656 | 509 | 147 | 322 | 334 | 913 | 899 |
| 2021 | 643 | 505 | 139 | 310 | 334 | 901 | 1,570 |
| 2020 | 554 | 489 | 65 | 242 | 312 | 869 | 888 |
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 08: 93 resident applicants for 75 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | one any deer | 701 | 600 | 598 | 149 | 48 | 64% | 414 |
| 03P | one any antlerless deer, private land only | 9 | 100 | 100 | 0 | 8 | 60% | 69 |
| 08 | one any deer and one any antlerless deer | 93 | 75 | 75 | 15 | 6 | 84% | 103 |
| 18 | one any whitetail deer and one antlerless whitetail deer | 10 | 100 | 99 | 7 | 8 | 58% | 85 |
| 19 | two antlerless whitetail deer | 4 | 150 | 151 | 4 | 12 | 35% | 97 |
Licenses sold can include later drawings and leftovers.
When is deer season in unit 31A 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 county of unit 31A?
For the whole county, as GFP publishes no unit lines:
| County | Walk-In and CREP acres | Game production area acres | School and public land acres | Federal land acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haakon County | 52,873 | 1,243 | 12,613 | 3,368 |
Game production areas in Haakon County: Cheyenne GPA (849 acres, Haakon), BCB1 GPA (314 acres, Haakon) and Billsburg GPA (80 acres, Haakon).
Questions hunters ask
How many deer licenses are there in unit 31A for 2026?
GFP's 2026 application lists 600 resident and 48 nonresident "one any deer" licenses (type 01), 100 resident and 8 nonresident "one any antlerless deer, private land only" licenses (type 03P), 75 resident and 6 nonresident "one any deer and one any antlerless deer" licenses (type 08), 100 resident and 8 nonresident "one any whitetail deer and one antlerless whitetail deer" licenses (type 18) and 150 resident and 12 nonresident "two antlerless whitetail deer" licenses (type 19) for unit 31A.
How many deer are taken in unit 31A?
GFP projects 768 deer were taken in unit 31A in 2025, 383 white-tailed and 386 mule deer. In 2020 the figure was 554. The projection comes from GFP's survey of license holders.
Is unit 31A mostly white-tailed or mule deer?
Mule deer, by GFP's 2025 projection: 386 mule deer and 383 white-tailed deer of the 768 taken; in 2020, 312 of 554 were mule deer.
What county is deer unit 31A in?
GFP describes unit 31A as "Haakon", in Haakon County. 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.