Non Resident Change Proposal
South Dakota
The next GFP Commissioners meeting June 6-7 Ramkota Hotel at 920 West Sioux Avenue in Pierre
They will be finalizing the current proposal for non-resident archery deer for 2019.
Current GFP proposal the commissioners had to come up with is as follows.
The Commission’s proposal would first impose a delayed start date for nonresident archery deer hunters on public lands; including private land leased by the department for public access in the Walk-In Area program. That delayed start date would be the first Saturday after Labor Day. The proposal would not change the start date on private lands for nonresident archery hunters.
The Commission also proposed to establish an application deadline of August 1 for nonresident archery deer hunters. Any nonresident archery application received after that date would result in the license being valid only on private land; not including Walk-In Areas.
A limit of 500 archery access permits for the Custer National Forest (Unit 35L) located in Harding County was also proposed. Those access permits would be distributed, via a lottery process, to 400 residents and 100 nonresident.
SD Residents wishing to submit public comments can do so here. https://gfp.sd.gov/forms/positions/
SDBI will be asking for the Aug 1 deadline for 2019 due to time constraints and June 1 in 2020 and on. We are also asking for a revert back to 4th Saturday in September for NRs on publicly accessible lands. Finally the 35L proposal we are asking for an amendment to 450 residents and 50 NRs. We have to stay within the confines of the proposal and will re-attack next year on the other areas and a full cap and draw. Fee increases are typically done in September and October and those are definitely in need of a significant increase as well.
Regarding your application deadline of June 1 in 2020: Lets say a non resident wants to apply for a black hills rifle tag and IF he isn't successful there, he would like to apply for a non resident archery tag. But with June 1 that NR would have no idea if they will be successful at the Black Hills Tag until after the June 1 application deadline. Are you proposing the June 1 application deadline for NR archery for this very reason?
I agree with changing the draw numbers on 35L as it gets closer to the 8% nr rifle tags are allocated at. Why should archers be any different?
I don't quite follow the June 1st draw date either.
I do not see the attempt to limit archers to one statewide tag in this but I bet its still coming. That earlier season will be part of their logic for doing such. I never was in favor of that and still disagree with it.
Gentlemen, the entire issue is to limit the non-resident archery permit sales to a "reasonable amount". SDBI and many other resident archers have offered several different options/ideas and plans. The GFP staff and commissioners make the rules. A total cap and draw would (in my opinion) be the easiest and most fair way to allow this to happen. Outfitters are against any limits to NRs on private lands and have lobbied as such for their businesses.
Data absolutely supports a limit, the significant increase in pressure as well as disproportionate harvest. Many different opinions involved and quite a bit of lobbying and some in fighting on these courses of action. A single tag for NRs and a draw was proposed and is not in the proposal.
The earlier draw date was drawn up by the commission and staff. At Aug 1 it's STILL the very last state in the west to draw and show results. Outfitters successfully lobbied that those are ONLY for publicly accessible lands. Unlimited tags are still on the table to be sold at any time but only for Private lands.
Draws in the west and around us are taking place from January through the end of summer. A June 1 drawing would mean that we aren't the "last resort" after hunters didn't draw other states so they show up in SD, get a tag and hunt. The NRs that have always hunted and continue to plan to hunt SD will be able to do so by purchasing said tag early and not waiting.
The Aug 1 this year is their idea and it really can't be done any earlier with the commission meeting date and legislative review committee final approval required. Thus, if we want a draw deadline for public it needs to be Aug 1 or not at all this year.
I guess I'd just say that the entire goal is to somehow limit the number of NR hunters and in particular on public lands. There are many ways to do this but these factors (purchase deadline and later public land start date) are the two areas the commissioners decided to try for this year. 35L will be helped a LOT by this if it's enforced. The issue here is that it's not going to do anything but push people to other places...simply moving the issue to other areas.
DR, Thank you for the update. Could you explain the data points you cite (significant increase in pressure and disproportionate harvest) that support limiting NR permits? I don't want to guess at what they mean and be incorrect. Like I have said in earlier posts, I want the residents to have the experience that they desire in their own state - I am just trying to understand the problem. Very respectfully - Rich By the way, I attended the Naval Academy graduation in Annapolis on Friday - a squared away young man from South Dakota (Rapid City) graduated and is going to be a Marine aviator. My wife and I were his guest.
Rich, I'm sure the graduation was a momentous occasion, especially for that young man. As a 28 Yr retired CMSgt, I can appreciate his choice.
To answer your questions: From 2014 to 2018 the NR archery permit sales/pressure has literally doubled (2K to over 4K). If you look at the mule deer harvest by NRs vs residents they actually kill more mule deer on several of the large public tracts (such as Black Hills and Harding county). The breakdown also shows that even though there are less NRs hunting those areas than residents...they are killing at a higher rate with less discrimination. All of this can be found on the SDGFP page and I've also drilled down by unit/area in many other posts on FB for the South Dakota Big Game Coalition and SD Bowhunters pages. One example is that just last year there was a 18% increase in NR tag sales in just ONE year as a result of the Sept 1 opener and people chasing velvet bucks.
The GFP and Commissioners are trying to do "something" but it seems very hard to get them to agree on which moves to make. We also have a strong outfitters lobby that works hard to keep tags unlimited (especially on private land) for their paying clients. It's not the entire state but it's also not just ONE area. There are individual reports for every part of the state on how many NRs residents have to deal with on public lands such as the Black Hills, certain BLM parcels, the Missouri river corridor on Corps lands, several Eastern SD GPA.s and of course the poster child for craziness...Reva area of Custer National Forest.
DR, Thank you for the clarification. Those are circumstances that should be addressed. One of my goals is to harvest a mule deer but I haven't hunted one yet - I have to get an antelope first, which is proving to be a challenge. I was blown away by the beauty of the Naval Academy campus - it was akin to going to college at Lambeau Field. I retired from the Army as a Master Sergeant (Infantry) in 2010. Thanks again for setting me straight on the issues. Very respectfully - Rich
Thanks for your comments Rich and your service. You ever need help with that mule deer just let me know.
I second Brotsky's offer Rich. Always willing to help a fellow Vet.
The Commissioners amended the proposal and passed it Thursday June 6th. 1. NR archery tags valid for Publicly Accessible Lands must be purchased by Aug 1 in 2019 and by April 1 going forward.
2. The NR Publicly Accessible Archery Deer Season will begin October 1 this year and going forward.
3. All hunters wanting to hunt 35L (Limited Access Unit, Custer National Forest) will be limited now. Archery hunters will have 625 access permits. 500 will go to residents and 125 will be available to Non-Residents.
If you are a Non-Resident, please familiarize yourself with the rule changes and adjust accordingly.
Thanks for the update.
Anyone knows how many access permits went out last year for non res in Custer?
Found what i was looking for. Thanks to another dr post.
Looks like about 75% of the non res won't get access permits based on stats.
Kind of surprised me that they did anything on this issue. I don't think the sky will fall. NR's can still purchase private land archery tags throughout the season ? They are all still welcome here.
Will be interesting to see how this plays out. Might sell a few less tags, but I’m betting October will be more crowded than ever on everything but 35L. With crops coming out, weather cooling and the rut ramping up I’m not sure stacking a bunch of NR in all at once is going to make for the desired affects on the herd.
KB, will definitely be interesting. One thing we could see in year one is a dramatic drop in license sales because guys don't know about the draw deadline. Large numbers of hunters were buying tags in September-November last year. If they plan to do the same this year they will be stuck with private land tags only. Then the enforcement aspect will come into play. How strictly will this be enforced? How many will take their chances? Hard to say until we see how it plays out.
You have some very good points Brotsky. This year will be one thing with people just not knowing the deadline but I think we will see a much more significant drop in tags for the 2020 season.
Question for you residents: What would be an acceptable (loss in revenue) trade off cost for you in dollars to not see as many NR archery hunters in the field each year? $50,000? $300,000? Somewhere in between?
You guys should print up some Nebraska info packets for the guys that drive all that way to realize they can’t get a tag, haha! There will be a learning curve no doubt. Hopefully not too many issues though. I drew North Dakota this year but will have to get in the SD hat by April 1 next spring. I’m thinking 2020 may be your smallest NR pool in quite some time.
Dale, if we increase the price of the NR tag to $400, which would be comparable to neighboring western states, then we could absorb a 30% reduction in license sales with no net loss in income from NR sales.
The Commissioners amended the proposal and passed it Thursday June 6th. 1. NR archery tags valid for Publicly Accessible Lands must be purchased by Aug 1 in 2019 and by April 1 going forward. 2. The NR Publicly Accessible Archery Deer Season will begin October 1 this year and going forward. 3. All hunters wanting to hunt 35L (Limited Access Unit, Custer National Forest) will be limited now. Archery hunters will have 625 access permits. 500 will go to residents and 125 will be available to Non-Residents.
OKAY,,So I called GFP today and they couldn't tell me any more about this when I asked if NR archery had any limitations other than 35L. In fact, he didn't know anything about 35L at all. I am not planning on hunting there but I want to know if I can just apply bay 8-1 and hunt anywhere in SD (other than 35L) like I have in the past??? Is this posted anywhere other than this site? I cannot find anything regarding the changes or any specs to it. I would like to know this before applying for a rifle tag this week.
Dale, as long as you apply by 8/1 you can hunt on any public lands in the state outside of 35L.
Sooooo glad I read this before buying my plane tickets for August 30 and appreciate the info shared here. I've gone hunting in y'alls awesome state the last two years in late September and had a blast. Since it appears NRs wont be able to start until Oct 1, how do you think that'll change the hunting situation as far as pressure that opening week? I am not familiar hunting late October, and obviously the deer will be slightly more pressured, but does anyone have advice for that time of year? I'm particularly worried about rifle and pheasant seasons having an impact. I hunt Butte County exclusively. Thanks
The area you plan to hunt will not be impacted much by small game hunters. I would pay attention to when the rife antelope season dates are as that may play a far larger role in pressuring deer off public lands. Late October things should be settled down some and deer will be in similar locations to where they were in mid September for the most part.
FYI...firearms antelope season is 9/28-10/13.
Any word on when the final regulations will be out and the application period for 35L be?
Any word on when the final regulations will be out and the application period for 35L be?
Trav, likely first part of July. No word yet on how they will do the access permit drawing.
