South Dakota Pheasant Hunting Cost: License, Access Fees, and Lodge Prices

Short answer: In 2026, a nonresident adult pays South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks (GFP) $142 for the Nonresident Small Game License plus $25 for the Habitat Stamp. That is $167 before you fire a shot. Those are the 2026 fees GFP publishes, and the license agent can add a fee on top.

That $167 lets you hunt pheasants legally. It does not give you a place to hunt. The place is a second bill, and it can be close to zero or it can be thousands of dollars:

• Public land and GFP access programs such as Walk-In Areas: GFP pays the landowner, and you need no further permission. No access fee to you.
• A landowner's daily fee (often called a "trespass fee"): a private deal between you and the farm. One ranch listing we checked asks $200 per person per day.
• A lodge, outfitter, or preserve package: the 2026 asking prices we found run from $895 for one preserve day to $4,295 for a four-day package.

Each bill is covered below.

What license a nonresident needs for pheasants

GFP's 2026 Hunting and Trapping Handbook has a license-requirements table. For small game, pheasant included, it lists the Habitat Stamp plus one of these for nonresidents:

• Nonresident Small Game License
• Nonresident Youth Small Game License (ages 12-17)
• Mentored Small Game License (youth under age 16)

GFP's pheasant page gives the same nonresident options. Each license covers two 5-day hunting periods, and you pick both start dates when you buy. If you want to hunt more days than that, GFP says you can buy more than one license.

2026 nonresident fees (GFP)

From the handbook's "Nonresident Licenses and Fees" table. GFP says 2026 licenses are valid Dec. 15, 2025 through Jan. 31, 2027.

Fine print from GFP that changes your total:

• Agent fee. GFP's License Types & Costs page marks the $142 small game fee with a note: "Agent fee not included in price."
• Surcharge is already in the price. The handbook says fees marked with an asterisk, including the $142 license, include a $6 surcharge required by state law. The money goes to hunting access, wildlife damage management, and animal damage control.
• Changing dates. You can move a 5-day period's start date before it begins, online or at a license agent. GFP says agents may charge up to $8 for the change.
• Habitat Stamp rules. GFP says anyone 18 or older buying a hunting or fishing license must buy the Habitat Stamp, and only one is needed per license year. The handbook lists exemptions, including the Mentored Small Game License, youth hunting licenses, and "any private shooting preserve license."
• Next year. The handbook already notes that 2027 licenses will be valid Dec. 15, 2026 through Jan. 31, 2028, with fees "subject to change." Treat these numbers as 2026 fees and check again before a 2027 trip.

Federal and migratory bird stamps

GFP's table lists only the Habitat Stamp and a small game license for pheasants. The Federal Waterfowl Stamp and the State Migratory Bird Certificate appear under waterfowl and migratory birds (ducks, geese, coot, tundra swan, dove, snipe, and sandhill crane). They are not in the pheasant row. If you plan to shoot doves, cranes, or ducks on the same trip, those species have their own requirements in the handbook.

Preserve-only hunters

GFP's nonresident page says a nonresident on a licensed shooting preserve needs the Nonresident Shooting Preserve License, the Nonresident Small Game License, or the Nonresident Youth Small Game License. The Small Game License works on licensed preserves through January 31 and also covers your two 5-day periods off the preserve. The Shooting Preserve License works only on licensed preserves. If every day of your trip is on a preserve, the $50 one-day or $96 five-day preserve license can cost less than the $167 small game stack. If you'll hunt any wild ground at all, you need the Small Game License.

Resident vs. nonresident (same GFP source)

The same 2026 handbook gives resident fees: Small Game $36 and Habitat Stamp $10, so $46 total. Residents also have a One-day Small Game license for $15 and a Combination (small game and fishing) license for $60. A nonresident adult pays $167 for the small game license and stamp, compared with $46 for a resident.

Season timing also differs. GFP's 2026 handbook and 2026 Upland Outlook list these pheasant dates:

• Youth: September 26 - October 4, 2026
• Resident-only (public lands): October 10-12, 2026
• Traditional season: October 17, 2026 - January 31, 2027

Check the current handbook for open-area exceptions and county or refuge rules before you pick your 5-day periods.

Access: what "trespass fee" means in South Dakota

When people search "trespass fee" for South Dakota pheasants, they usually mean a daily fee a private landowner charges to let you hunt their ground. That has nothing to do with the state. No statewide trespass price exists, and GFP doesn't set one. Here are the different ways to get on land:

GFP access programs (no fee to the hunter)

GFP's Hunting Areas page describes the programs:

• Walk-In Areas: private working farms and ranches that GFP leases for public hunting. The leases are paid with license money and federal aid from a tax on hunting equipment. GFP says "no further permission from landowners is needed." No driving except on designated trails and parking areas.
• Controlled Hunting Access Program (CHAP): private land leased by GFP, with landowners paid by the number of hunters who use it. Landowners can limit hunters per day, open days, and other terms. You register on site, by phone, or online, and drop a check-in slip in the box.
• Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP): CRP land that is also leased to GFP for public hunting and fishing. In South Dakota, GFP says the program focuses on the James River Watershed and adds pheasant nesting habitat.
• Public land: Game Production Areas, Waterfowl Production Areas, School and Public Lands, national grasslands, and more. All of it is mapped in the free South Dakota Public Hunting Atlas, which GFP prints every year and updates online in its interactive atlas.

GFP's pages don't list any access fee for these programs. The landowner is paid through GFP, and you need only your license plus the program's rules (check-in for CHAP, foot traffic only, and so on). The 2026 handbook also notes that non-toxic shot is required for small game on most public lands. Factor that into your shell budget before you buy a case.

GFP notes South Dakota is about 80 percent privately owned, so most hunting happens on private land. That's why the next two bills exist.

Paying a landowner directly

This is a private arrangement. As one example, Medicine Creek Ranch near Kennebec, listed on Dakota Hunting Trips, asks $200 per person per day for a "Trespass hunt only" pheasant hunt. The listing says prices don't include gratuities, license, shells, gear, or taxes, and may change with group size and time of year. The page doesn't give a season year. That is one ranch's asking price, not a typical rate. Other farms will ask more, less, or nothing, and many won't allow paid access at all.

Outfitter, lodge, and preserve prices

These are asking prices from the lodges' own pages. They are not a state average. Each package includes different things, so compare what's included, not just the headline number.

The range across these lodges runs from $895 for one preserve day to $4,295 for a four-day package. Add-ons also show up in the fine print. Double P lists extra birds at $42 each, a $375-per-day non-hunting guest fee, and 6.0% South Dakota sales tax. Rieger Creek lists extra birds at $50 each and shotgun rental at $25 per day.

A note on birds per day: some packages advertise five birds per hunter per day. GFP's 2026 handbook gives a daily limit of 3 rooster pheasants for the regular season, and licensed shooting preserves run under their own rules. Ask the lodge whether you're hunting wild ground or a licensed preserve, because that also decides which license you need.

Labeled examples (addition, not quotes)

These add the 2026 GFP fee to one listed price. They are sums we worked out, not quotes from any lodge.

• Two days of landowner access: $142 + $25 + ($200 × 2) = $567 before agent fee, shells, lodging, or gas.
• Rieger Creek three-day package: $3,795 + $167 = $3,962 before taxes, gratuity, and travel.
• Granite Springs one preserve day on a preserve-only license: $895 + $50 = $945. GFP exempts private shooting preserve licenses from the Habitat Stamp. Ammunition, gratuity, and alcohol are extra.

If you tip a guide, plan for it as its own line. Our guide to tipping hunting guides covers that.

What else adds up

The license and the access bill are the two big fixed costs. Everything else depends on your trip, and we're not going to invent numbers for it:

• Shells. Some lodge packages include them and some don't. Remember the non-toxic shot rule on most public land.
• Dog. Your own dog's food, kennel, and vet costs, or a lodge's dogs as part of the package.
• Lodging and food if you're not at an all-inclusive lodge.
• Gas and miles. Moving between Walk-In Areas adds driving.
• What you wear and carry. If you don't own them yet, upland boots you can walk in all day, a blaze orange hat, and a bird hunting vest to carry shells and birds are part of showing up. Add ear protection for the trap and clays time many lodges include. If you're bringing your own gun instead of renting, our upland shotgun picks cover the basics.

For clothing, shot sizes, and choke choices, see what to wear and which shot and choke to use. Then put the real numbers for your group into the hunting trip cost calculator instead of guessing.

What the license does not include

The $167 stack doesn't give you a field. It makes you legal. Where you stand when the birds flush is up to you:

1. Public land, Walk-In Areas, CREP, CHAP: no access fee to you. You do the scouting, follow program rules, and compete with other hunters.
2. A landowner's daily fee: you pay for private ground, but no guide, dog, or bed comes with it unless the deal says so.
3. An outfitter or preserve: one price covers access, guides, dogs, and often lodging. The license may or may not be included, so read the page.

Hunting Kansas instead? See Kansas pheasant hunt expense tracking. If this is your first trip, start with your first pheasant hunt. If you're hunting after the opening rush, read late-season pheasant tactics.

Bottom line

For a nonresident adult in 2026, South Dakota pheasant hunting costs $142 for the Nonresident Small Game License plus $25 for the Habitat Stamp, plus any agent fee. That buys two 5-day periods. Access is a separate bill. Walk-In Areas and other GFP access programs charge you no access fee. A landowner's daily fee is private (one listing asks $200 per person per day). Lodge and preserve packages we found range from $895 for one preserve day to $4,295 for four days, and some include the license while others don't. Shells, dog, lodging, and gas come on top.

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