Which States Are Better than South Dakota for Hunting?

Hunting isn't just a hobby in South Dakota. It's a way of life.

Granted, it's not for everyone, but there is no denying the impact it has on the Mount Rushmore State, especially with the influx of pheasant hunters from all over the world each October.

This week, Forbes travel writer Chris Dorsey ranked his favorite places to hunt in America, and while South Dakota made the top ten, it didn't rank as high as a lot of us thought it would.

Get our free mobile app

South Dakota ranked ninth on his list of the top ten hunting states in the country.

He did acknowledge that the state is 'one of the most underrated hunting areas in all of America' and mentioned pheasant, whitetails, mule deer, elk, pronghorn and bighorn sheep, as well as prairie chickens, sharptails, and Hungarian partridge as some of the state's top draws.

The article also spotlighted the state's inclusion in the Prairie Pothole Region, which encompasses almost 600,000 acres of waterfowl habitat in South and North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, as well as Manitoba, Alberta, and Saskatchewan in Canada.

TOP TEN STATES FOR HUNTING (Forbes)

1. Alaska (bears, moose, elk, sheep, mountain goats)
2. Colorado (elk, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, big mule and whitetail deer, ducks, geese. moose, mountain lions, grouse)
3. Montana (mountain goats, sheep, moose, elk, bears, deer, sharptails, pheasants, Hungarian partridge, waterfowl, whitetail deer)
4. Arizona (elk, mule deer, desert and Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, desert quail, mountain lions, pronghorn)
5. Wisconsin (whitetail deer, bears, elk, turkey, grouse, woodcock, pheasants)
6. Kansas (quail, whitetails and mule deer, pheasants)
7. New Mexico (elk, mule deer, sheep, pronghorn, bears, mountain lion, quail, waterfowl, doves)
8. Texas (dove, turkey, quail, whitetails, mule deer, desert bighorn sheep, nilgai, aoudad, axis deer)
9. South Dakota
10. Louisiana (ducks, alligators, boars, nutria)

TRENDING FROM RESULTS-TOWNSQUARE SIOUX FALLS:

• Look Out: New Year Means 10 New Nebraska Fugitives
• Flashback 1992: Inside Sioux Falls' Old Washington High School
• Sioux Falls Pawnshop Worker Threatened with Gun
• Shocking Emergency Closure At A Local Sioux Falls Bakery