Bring your Shotgun as there may be options to hunt some upland game as well as waterfowl in the area
There is very little state land and walk-in access in this unit, without prior arrangements to access a piece of private land there is very little opportunity to hunt in this entire unit
Species
General Size
Trophy Potential
Whitetail Deer
110"-150"
160"+
On The Ground
Terrain
Vegetation
Access
Camping and Lodging
Historical Temperatures
High
Low
Moon Phases
December 2024
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
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Sat
Located in the south central portion of the East River Region this unit consists almost entirely of private land. So be prepared to have prior arrangements with a landowner on some tract of private property before hunting as without you will be very limited to where you can hunt.
Being that there is relatively no public access to speak of in this unit, there is no buzz currently about any of the deer hunting that is happening here.
A major portion of this unit is being utilized for dry ground farming.There is an extensive amount of this spread across the entire unit, and the only ground that seems to not be agriculture is mostly swamp. The amount of elevation change is minimal across the unit, although there are rolling hills in the south western corner.These higher elevation areas are a perfect mix of dense timber, and prairie that wind through all manner of cuts, ravines, and draws in all directions. The major terrain feature to note is the James River which runs through the middle of the unit going north to south.
The river bottoms and different creek beds have scattered timber including Cottonwood, American Elm, Green Ash, and Bur Oak lining the edges of much of the water system. As you move through the riparian zone you will find a healthy mix of marsh vegetation to include cattails, different prairie grass and wildflowers. The agriculture is a mix of soybean, corn, wheat, sunflowers, alfalfa primarily with some farmers growing different types of vegetables.
There are 4 major US Highways in this unit that offer access to countless country roads covering the majority of the unit which makes navigating to one spot or the other very simple. There is very little public ground in this unit and without a solid plan on some private ground you will have a very difficult time locating areas to hunt.
This unit does not offer much for lodging or camping, so plan accordingly. There are two cities within the unit that offer locally owned motels, one of them being Parkston, SD which is located in the northwestern portion of the unit, where US Hwy 44 & 37 intersect and Freeman, SD which is located along US Hwy 81 to the east. With populations under 2,000 people there are few amenities. If you are looking for a place to camp, there are none.
