GF&Ps Offers Deer Hunting License Refunds as EHD Reports Expand

Pierre, S.D. — Reports of deer deaths from a viral disease have spiked as hunters take to the fields in South Dakota, and state wildlife officials are reducing some hunting opportunities and offering hunting-license refunds to protect deer numbers.

Epizootic hemorrhagic disease is a viral illness spread by tiny biting midges typically found along muddy shorelines. In South Dakota, the disease primarily impacts white-tailed deer. Warm conditions can extend the period when the insects are active, while a hard freeze generally kills them.

During the Game, Fish & Park’s Commission’s monthly meeting last Thursday in Pierre, Senior Wildlife Biologist Byron Buckley said the department now has about 407 reports this year of dead deer due to the illness: 376 suspected cases and 31-lab-confirmed. During the commission’s Sept. 10-11 meeting, the count was 196, he said. Though he said it’s not unusual for a spike in reports to come in during that timeframe.

The number of reported cases for 2026 is slightly higher than the total reported for all of 2025. The state has taken steps to limit deer hunting in outbreak-affected areas, aiming to give deer populations a better chance to recover. Buckley said the department is allowing hunters holding deer licenses in 16 counties along the Missouri River corridor to voluntarily return their licenses for a full refund.

Since August, neighboring North Dakota has had 160 EHD reports from landowners, hunters and others that tallied nearly 350 mortalities of dead ungulate species, mostly white-tailed deer.

North Dakota G&F this week also announced several strategies in southwestern and south-central North Dakota in response to the outbreak. They included eliminating harvest of antlerless white-tailed deer in deer gun units 3C, 3E1, 3E2 and 3F2. Hunters in 11 units have the option of turning licenses in for a refund. — S.D. Searchlight