Hunters who said they hunted Sully County averaged 10.51 roosters per hunter over 13 seasons from 2012 to 2025. That placed Sully first among the 30 most-hunted counties in the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks harvest estimates, and Sully also led on the last five seasons alone. The Sioux Falls county of Minnehaha came in last at 5.99.
IHolding the Lead
Sully Topped the Statewide Rate in Each of 13 Seasons
Here roosters per hunter means GFP's projected county rooster harvest divided by the hunters it assigns there, with both summed over the seasons. The ranking includes counties with at least 20,000 hunters summed over the 13 seasons. The county numbers come from GFP's annual small game reports for 2012 through 2024 and its 2025 pheasant report.
In each of the 13 seasons, Sully's average topped the statewide rate for that season. Faulk and Potter also did that. Sully finished in the top five of the 30 counties in 8 of the 13 seasons and in the top ten in 12. No other county reached the top five that often. Minnehaha did not beat the statewide rate in any season and came in last in 6 seasons.
After Sully come Faulk at 9.97, Potter at 9.87, McCook at 9.85 and Edmunds at 9.74. Sully, Faulk, Potter and Edmunds lie together between Pierre and Aberdeen. McCook sits on Minnehaha's western border and held up while its neighbor stayed at the bottom with Codington at 7.30 and Day at 6.43. Two counties below the cutoff have high rates. Ziebach comes in at 10.4 on only 4,109 hunters, while Campbell has 9.79 on 19,691.
Swipe table to see every column
| County | Hunters, seasons summed | Roosters, seasons summed | Roosters per hunter | Seasons above the statewide rate (of 13) | Roosters per sq mi a season | Hunters per sq mi a season |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sully | 31,847 | 334,650 | 10.51 | 13 | 25.6 | 2.4 |
| Faulk | 44,780 | 446,357 | 9.97 | 13 | 35 | 3.5 |
| Potter | 36,899 | 364,096 | 9.87 | 13 | 32.5 | 3.3 |
| McCook | 23,463 | 231,080 | 9.85 | 10 | 31 | 3.1 |
| Edmunds | 43,298 | 421,908 | 9.74 | 11 | 28.8 | 3 |
| Spink | 66,421 | 640,882 | 9.65 | 12 | 32.8 | 3.4 |
| Miner | 35,261 | 334,632 | 9.49 | 9 | 45.1 | 4.8 |
| Aurora | 53,860 | 510,041 | 9.47 | 12 | 55.4 | 5.8 |
| Sanborn | 29,900 | 279,822 | 9.36 | 11 | 37.8 | 4 |
| Lyman | 70,343 | 641,179 | 9.12 | 12 | 30 | 3.3 |
| Tripp | 77,954 | 710,327 | 9.11 | 11 | 33.9 | 3.7 |
| Beadle | 74,136 | 672,023 | 9.06 | 11 | 41.1 | 4.5 |
| Brule | 79,696 | 711,282 | 8.92 | 11 | 67 | 7.5 |
| Gregory | 45,696 | 406,962 | 8.91 | 8 | 30.8 | 3.5 |
| Hughes | 51,249 | 453,395 | 8.85 | 7 | 47 | 5.3 |
| Jerauld | 21,633 | 188,048 | 8.69 | 10 | 27.5 | 3.2 |
| Charles Mix | 47,372 | 407,243 | 8.6 | 8 | 28.6 | 3.3 |
| Hand | 41,941 | 354,723 | 8.46 | 5 | 19 | 2.2 |
| Hutchinson | 26,710 | 225,654 | 8.45 | 4 | 21.4 | 2.5 |
| Brown | 101,665 | 856,912 | 8.43 | 4 | 38.5 | 4.6 |
| Walworth | 31,025 | 261,373 | 8.42 | 6 | 28.4 | 3.4 |
| Clark | 37,068 | 308,655 | 8.33 | 6 | 24.8 | 3 |
| Kingsbury | 28,740 | 237,277 | 8.26 | 5 | 21.9 | 2.7 |
| McPherson | 27,441 | 223,903 | 8.16 | 4 | 15.2 | 1.9 |
| Davison | 45,938 | 358,265 | 7.8 | 3 | 63.3 | 8.1 |
| Perkins | 22,272 | 173,009 | 7.77 | 3 | 4.6 | 0.6 |
| Brookings | 34,647 | 257,583 | 7.43 | 1 | 25 | 3.4 |
| Codington | 28,819 | 210,487 | 7.3 | 3 | 23.5 | 3.2 |
| Day | 23,678 | 152,202 | 6.43 | 1 | 11.4 | 1.8 |
| Minnehaha | 24,416 | 146,289 | 5.99 | 0 | 13.9 | 2.3 |
IIFive Recent Seasons
Sully Led 2021 to 2025 as McCook Climbed to Second
A 13-season average can cover up a county's slide, so we ranked the same 30 counties using 2021 to 2025 alone. Sully stayed first at 11.79 roosters per hunter on 11,695 hunters summed. McCook climbed to second at 11.47 on 9,792 hunters summed, while Miner took third at 11.11. Faulk slid to ninth and Potter to seventh, though both continued to beat the statewide rate. Minnehaha remained last at 6.80.
Miner's third place rests on one big year of 13.35 in 2025. Those 2025 county tables are dated 24 March 2026 and came before GFP's April statewide revision. Using 2021 to 2024 alone, Sully and McCook remain first and second at 11.83 and 11.58. Miner falls to fifth.
Swipe table to see every column
| County | Roosters per hunter, 2021-25 | Rank, 2021-25 | Hunters, 2021-25 summed | Rank, 13 seasons | Seasons in the top five (of 13) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sully | 11.79 | 1 | 11,695 | 1 | 8 |
| McCook | 11.47 | 2 | 9,792 | 4 | 7 |
| Miner | 11.11 | 3 | 14,176 | 7 | 4 |
| Spink | 10.74 | 4 | 24,504 | 6 | 3 |
| Aurora | 10.71 | 5 | 20,586 | 8 | 5 |
| Sanborn | 10.6 | 6 | 11,753 | 9 | 2 |
| Potter | 10.58 | 7 | 12,689 | 3 | 7 |
| Edmunds | 10.49 | 8 | 15,429 | 5 | 5 |
| Faulk | 10.43 | 9 | 17,854 | 2 | 6 |
| Beadle | 10.02 | 10 | 30,864 | 12 | 0 |
| Codington | 7.91 | 28 | 11,880 | 28 | 0 |
| Day | 6.94 | 29 | 11,780 | 29 | 1 |
| Minnehaha | 6.8 | 30 | 9,326 | 30 | 0 |
Statewide roosters per hunter ranged from 6.92 in 2017 to 9.75 in 2025 using the county table totals, making 2025 the best of the 13 seasons. In the 2017 low Sully hunters still averaged 7.13. GFP changed its statewide 2025 projection on 20 April 2026 to 1,351,081 roosters killed by 57,076 resident and 82,574 nonresident hunters. That comes to 9.67 roosters per hunter and tops the 13 seasons. Our pheasant counts and CRP guide cites that statewide projection.
Swipe table to see every column
| Season | Hunters | Roosters | Roosters per hunter | Sully roosters per hunter | Minnehaha roosters per hunter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 161,756 | 1,428,874 | 8.83 | 11.74 | 5.99 |
| 2013 | 132,059 | 979,081 | 7.41 | 7.96 | 4.63 |
| 2014 | 140,971 | 1,199,803 | 8.51 | 10.07 | 5.75 |
| 2016 | 142,887 | 1,170,596 | 8.19 | 10.91 | 4.83 |
| 2017 | 119,770 | 828,709 | 6.92 | 7.13 | 4.14 |
| 2018 | 122,595 | 950,883 | 7.76 | 9.15 | 3.67 |
| 2019 | 111,204 | 829,495 | 7.46 | 8.38 | 5.76 |
| 2020 | 121,331 | 1,108,420 | 9.14 | 11.57 | 7.89 |
| 2021 | 130,017 | 1,067,423 | 8.21 | 10.43 | 4.86 |
| 2022 | 127,733 | 1,158,716 | 9.07 | 11.7 | 6.59 |
| 2023 | 133,461 | 1,243,194 | 9.32 | 12.34 | 7.23 |
| 2024 | 140,262 | 1,311,323 | 9.35 | 12.72 | 5.59 |
| 2025 | 134,601 | 1,311,895 | 9.75 | 11.62 | 9.6 |
IIIHarvest and Pressure
Brule and Davison Led in Roosters Shot and Hunters per Square Mile
A per-hunter average shows what hunters in a county killed on average. It says less about where hunters shot the most roosters. Divide each county's average rooster kill a season by its Census land area and the ranking changes. Hunters in Brule County shot 67.0 roosters per square mile a season, compared with 63.3 in Davison and 55.4 in Aurora.
Brule and Davison also have the state's heaviest hunting at 7.5 and 8.1 hunters per square mile a season. Hunters there averaged 8.92 and 7.80 roosters per hunter, below the per-hunter leaders. Sully is 20th of 66 counties on roosters per square mile, with 2.4 hunters per square mile.
Crowding does not match the per-hunter order. Among the 30 ranked counties the rank correlation between hunters per square mile and roosters per hunter was a weak 0.33, meaning busier counties tended slightly toward more roosters per hunter. Brown County had the largest rooster kill of any county over the 13 seasons at 856,912. That made up 5.9% of the statewide total, while Brown hunters averaged 8.43 roosters per hunter.
Swipe table to see every column
| County | Roosters per sq mi a season | Roosters per hunter | Hunters per sq mi a season | Land area, sq mi |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brule | 67 | 8.92 | 7.5 | 817 |
| Davison | 63.3 | 7.8 | 8.1 | 436 |
| Aurora | 55.4 | 9.47 | 5.8 | 708 |
| Hughes | 47 | 8.85 | 5.3 | 742 |
| Miner | 45.1 | 9.49 | 4.8 | 570 |
| Beadle | 41.1 | 9.06 | 4.5 | 1,259 |
| Brown | 38.5 | 8.43 | 4.6 | 1,713 |
| Sanborn | 37.8 | 9.36 | 4 | 569 |
| Faulk | 35 | 9.97 | 3.5 | 982 |
| Tripp | 33.9 | 9.11 | 3.7 | 1,612 |
IVHunter Home States
Residents Beat Nonresidents in 24 of the 30 Counties
Statewide the two groups were nearly even over the 13 seasons, as residents averaged 8.54 roosters per hunter and nonresidents averaged 8.45. Residents averaged more roosters per hunter in 24 of the 30 ranked counties.
Among counties with at least 8,000 resident hunters summed over the seasons, Sully ranks first for residents at 11.75 roosters per hunter. Nonresidents there averaged 9.28 and were half of its hunters. Nonresidents had higher averages in the six counties of Gregory, Jerauld, Charles Mix, Hand, McPherson and Perkins. Among counties with at least 8,000 nonresident hunters summed, Campbell led for nonresidents at 9.93. McCook's nonresidents averaged 6.95 and ranked 27th of the 30 ranked counties. Most Minnehaha hunters are South Dakota residents, and nonresidents make up 14%.
Swipe table to see every column
| County | Resident roosters per hunter | Nonresident roosters per hunter | Nonresident share of hunters, % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sully | 11.75 | 9.28 | 50 |
| Faulk | 10.28 | 9.84 | 72 |
| Potter | 10.34 | 9.59 | 63 |
| McCook | 10.56 | 6.95 | 20 |
| Edmunds | 10.62 | 9.22 | 63 |
| Spink | 10.25 | 9.38 | 69 |
| Miner | 9.95 | 8.95 | 46 |
| Aurora | 10.11 | 9.08 | 62 |
| Sanborn | 9.91 | 8.85 | 52 |
| Lyman | 9.77 | 8.87 | 72 |
| Tripp | 9.39 | 9.03 | 76 |
| Beadle | 9.86 | 8.53 | 60 |
| Brule | 9.27 | 8.8 | 73 |
| Gregory | 7.9 | 9.22 | 76 |
| Hughes | 9.84 | 8.11 | 57 |
| Jerauld | 8.28 | 8.98 | 59 |
| Charles Mix | 8.42 | 8.72 | 60 |
| Hand | 8.35 | 8.52 | 63 |
| Hutchinson | 8.47 | 8.42 | 49 |
| Brown | 9.23 | 7.99 | 65 |
| Walworth | 8.71 | 8.28 | 67 |
| Clark | 9.21 | 7.75 | 60 |
| Kingsbury | 8.31 | 8.18 | 42 |
| McPherson | 7.39 | 8.4 | 76 |
| Davison | 8.25 | 7.59 | 68 |
| Perkins | 7.72 | 7.83 | 44 |
| Brookings | 7.57 | 7.13 | 31 |
| Codington | 7.99 | 5.99 | 34 |
| Day | 7.23 | 5.91 | 61 |
| Minnehaha | 6.05 | 5.61 | 14 |
VGaps and Boundaries
Survey Estimates, a Missing 2015 and No Answers About Causes
Every hunter and rooster number here comes from GFP's harvest survey projections, so each county figure carries sampling error. The figures exclude preserve birds. GFP assigns each hunter to a county using the survey answers. In every season and group the county rows plus an unknown-county row match the printed statewide total, within 9 hunters and 6 roosters.
Roosters per hunter gives a group average. It does not distinguish public from private ground and gives no forecast for any one hunter. The per square mile figure uses all of a county's land, so it shows where hunters shot roosters rather than how many birds live there.
The series is missing a piece. Our files lack the 2015 county report, and the GFP paths we checked for it returned not found. The 2025 county figures may change too if GFP reissues them.
These figures do not tell us why Sully beats Minnehaha. Access, cover, crowding and the share of hunters on preserves or leased ground vary by county but the tables do not separate them.
VITrip Picks
Try Sully First, McCook for Residents, Potter or Faulk for Nonresidents
Our read is that Sully County is the place for a first South Dakota pheasant trip, with the highest average over the 13 seasons and over the last five. McCook is the next pick for residents on 2021 to 2025, but its nonresidents averaged only 7.44 compared with 10.15 in Potter and 10.33 in Faulk. If where the most roosters get shot matters more to you than elbow room, Brule and Davison lead per square mile. Look at GFP's latest county tables before booking, because a county average tells you nothing certain about the one farm or walk-in tract you end up hunting.
NOTES AND SOURCES
- Source: South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks, 2025 pheasant harvest report (county distribution tables).
- Also: South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks, small game annual reports, 2012 to 2024 seasons (pheasant county distribution tables).
- Also: U.S. Census Bureau county land area (TIGER county layer held by FDR, checked against the 2024 cartographic boundary file).
- Scope: South Dakota, all 66 counties, pheasant seasons 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016 through 2025 (13 seasons, 2015 missing), county grain, total, resident and nonresident tables.
- Method: Hunters and roosters are GFP survey projections by county (SAMPLED). County rows plus the unknown-county row match the printed statewide total in every season and group, within 9 hunters and 6 roosters. Roosters per hunter is the sum of roosters over the sum of hunters across 13 seasons (DERIVED). Per square mile divides the average season by Census county land area (DERIVED. FDR TIGER layer, within 1.2 sq mi of the Census 2024 cartographic file for every county). Seasons above the statewide rate compares each county season with that season's statewide birds per hunter.
- Limits: Hunter and rooster numbers are GFP survey projections. They carry sampling error, and preserve birds are not included.
- Limits: A hunter is counted in the county GFP assigns from the survey answers. The county numbers add to the statewide total, so a county figure is a share of the statewide projection.
- Limits: Roosters per hunter is a group average over 13 seasons. It is not a forecast for any one hunter, and it does not separate public from private ground.
- Limits: There is no 2015 county report in our files. GFP paths for it returned not found.
- Limits: The 2025 county tables were last revised 24 March 2026. GFP revised the 2025 statewide projection on 20 April 2026 to 1,351,081 roosters by 139,650 hunters, so 2025 county figures may move.
- Limits: Per square mile uses all county land from the Census, not pheasant cover. It shows where roosters were shot, not how many birds live there.
- Limits: These numbers do not say why one county beats another. Access, cover, crowding and the share of hunters on preserves or paid ground all differ.
Fully Drawn Research is an independent data analysis desk, not affiliated with any state wildlife agency, transportation agency, mapping provider or outfitter. Fully Drawn Research is an independent data and analysis desk. This paper reports FDR's own analysis of public agency and survey data. Harvest, catch and survey figures describe what hunters and anglers reported or what agencies counted or estimated, not how many animals or fish are present, and they reflect regulations and hunter or angler choices as well as wildlife numbers.
Keep reading
FDR Scout puts county harvest history like this on the map of the ground you hunt. Open Scout →See the plans →