State expands hunting-license buybacks as reported deer deaths from viral disease jump to 791

Nov 06, 2026 | 1:05 pm ET

By Joshua Haiar

State expands hunting-license buybacks as reported deer deaths from viral disease jump to 791

A white-tailed buck roams South Dakota's Karl E. Mundt National Wildlife Refuge in 2022. (Photo courtesy of Liz Julian/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

Reports of deer deaths from a viral disease have jumped by hundreds in recent weeks, prompting South Dakota wildlife officials to expand a program allowing hunters to return their licenses for a refund.

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, according to the Department of Game, Fish and Parks.

Mule deer, bighorn sheep, elk and pronghorn can also be infected. The department says the disease usually affects deer herds in late summer or early fall. Warm conditions such as those in much of South Dakota this fall can extend the period when the insects are active, while a hard freeze of about 25 degrees generally kills them off, bringing a seasonal outbreak to an end.

Shaded areas of the map show where the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks has offered to buy back deer hunting licenses, including areas circled in red that have been newly added to the buyback program. The effort is a response to hundreds of reported deer deaths from epizootic hemorrhagic disease. (Image courtesy of South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks)

During last month’s Game, Fish and Parks Commission meeting, the department said death reports for the year stood at 407. The total has since risen to 791.

Game, Fish and Parks Secretary Kevin Robling said Thursday’s commission meeting the department is concerned, but “the great news is, white-tails, in particular, have an incredible reproductive performance, can multiply very quickly.”

“We will recover from this, no doubt,” he said. “So we’ll continue being conservative with our harvest strategies and our tag allocations, and we will recover. It will take a couple of years, but we will recover.”

The state has taken several steps to limit deer hunting in outbreak-affected areas, aiming to give deer populations a better chance to recover. The department removed mentored and youth deer licenses in nine southeastern South Dakota counties where outbreaks have affected deer in the past two years. It also removed 62 unsold licenses, two in McPherson County and 60 in Dewey County. The state changed statewide archery license rules, which previously allowed hunters to take any deer, to buck-only licenses.

The department offered hunters holding deer licenses along the Missouri River corridor to voluntarily return their licenses for a full refund. That program has been expanded to some western parts of the state and more areas in southcentral and southeastern South Dakota.

The department asks people to report sick or dead deer via methods listed at gfp.sd.gov/contactus. Officials enter reports into a system that updates the department’s public online map.