Hunting Land in Perkins County, South Dakota

Grand River National Grassland: federal public land inside the county

Part of Perkins County sits within the Grand River National Grassland, a U.S. Forest Service-managed unit of the Dakota Prairie Grasslands that spans Perkins and Corson counties. Unlike private farmland, this is federally owned land open to public hunting and fishing under Forest Service rules, with dispersed camping also permitted across the grassland. For a buyer, that means a parcel bordering or near the grassland sits next to land the public can already legally hunt without a lease or landowner permission -- a genuine amenity for a hunting-focused buyer, but also a reason to confirm your own parcel's exact boundary with the grassland rather than assume a listing's stated acreage or access matches the federal boundary on the ground.

The Grand River Ranger District specifically identifies Perkins and Corson counties as home to black-tailed prairie dog colonies, and prairie dog hunting is open year-round on both private and federal land in the area -- a hunter needs a predator/varmint license or any valid current South Dakota hunting license to participate. That's a distinct, checkable hunting draw beyond the deer and pronghorn hunting more commonly associated with western South Dakota, and it can matter for land marketed specifically for varmint or predator hunting rather than big game.

Besler Ranch: a large disabled-hunter-only walk-in area

Perkins County is also home to the Besler Ranch Walk-In Area, a roughly 7,721-acre tract designated by South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks exclusively for hunters with disabilities, covering deer, pronghorn, and pheasant hunting. Unlike a standard GFP Walk-In Area -- open to any licensed hunter without additional permission -- this tract requires a disabled hunter permit, obtained through the GFP Permitting Office (20641 SD Highway 1806, Fort Pierre, SD 57532; (605) 223-7665), before a hunter can access it. That's a genuinely specific, checkable local fact: a general public-hunting-access claim about Perkins County land should distinguish between ordinary Walk-In Areas or Game Production Areas open to any licensed hunter and a tract like Besler Ranch that carries its own eligibility requirement.

Standard South Dakota Walk-In Areas -- leased from private landowners by GFP using hunting license revenue and federal excise-tax funds on hunting equipment -- also exist elsewhere in the county and require no additional landowner permission to hunt, though driving off designated trails and parking areas is prohibited. If a parcel you're evaluating is adjacent to a Walk-In Area, Game Production Area, or the national grassland boundary, confirm the exact designation and current-year status directly with GFP's Public Hunting Atlas rather than relying on a listing description, since Walk-In Area leases are renewed (or dropped) annually and boundaries can shift from one hunting season to the next.

What to verify before buying for hunting value

• Confirm your parcel's actual surveyed boundary against the Grand River National Grassland's federal boundary -- adjacency to public land raises hunting and recreational value, but only if your legal boundary and access route are confirmed, not assumed from a map.
• If a listing markets 'public land access' or 'walk-in access nearby,' check GFP's current Public Hunting Atlas to confirm whether the specific tract referenced is a standard Walk-In Area (open to any licensed hunter), a Game Production Area, or a restricted-eligibility tract like Besler Ranch.
• A prairie dog or varmint hunting draw requires only a predator/varmint license or a valid general hunting license -- confirm this is the type of hunting a specific parcel supports before marketing or valuing it primarily for big-game hunting.
• Because Walk-In Area leases are voluntary, private-landowner agreements renewed annually with GFP, don't assume a neighboring parcel's current Walk-In status will remain unchanged after a sale -- the new owner of a leased tract can decline to renew.