Updated on September 7, 2026. Confirm every fee, tag request, lottery window, and hunter-education rule on the SCDNR licensing page and the 2026–27 licenses and fees table before you put a card in. This is the field readout, not the proclamation.
| Who this is for | Resident and nonresident whitetail hunters in South Carolina. There is no mule deer tag here. |
|---|---|
| Buy it here | GoOutdoorsSouthCarolina.com · SCDNR offices · SCDNR licensing. Tags are not at Walmart. |
| Hunter education | Required if born after June 30, 1979, before a hunting or combination license. Other-state and Canadian certificates count. Apprentice is small-game only. SCDNR hunter education. |
| What you actually buy | Hunting license and Big Game Permit and deer tags. Combination already includes hunting plus Big Game plus freshwater fishing. Sportsman adds the WMA permit. Combination is not a WMA pass. |
| OTC vs draw | Statewide deer licenses and tags are over the counter. Named WMA lottery hunts (Webb, Bonneau Ferry, Belfast, and others) still draw July 1–August 15. |
| License year | Annual hunting, Big Game, and Combination run 12 months from purchase. Deer tags are for the season printed on them. Fee table: July 1, 2026–June 30, 2027. |
| Antlerless / bonus | Residents get a free 2026–27 base set: 3 unrestricted antlered + 3 individual antlerless (Act 231). Nonresident adults get no free tags. Game Zone 1 caps antlerless at 3. |
| WMA / public extras | WMA permit required to hunt WMA land, including most Francis Marion and Sumter overlay. Sportsman already includes it. Lottery hunts are extra. |
| Youth / apprentice | Under 16 skips the hunting license. Still needs deer tags except on designated youth days. Apprentice is small game — it is not a deer license. |
| Where to hunt next | South Carolina deer hunting guide · what a WMA is · hunting national forest land |
Buy Big Game and the tags before you point the truck at Moncks Corner
I have watched people roll into a Francis Marion lot with a Georgia sportsman’s license in the console and a story about “it’s the same pine.” South Carolina does not care. You need a South Carolina hunting license, a South Carolina Big Game Permit — or Combination or Sportsman that already includes both — plus the physical deer tags. The national walkthrough lives at how to get a hunting license. Seasons and where to sit are on the South Carolina hunting guide.
Step 1: Hunter education
If you were born after June 30, 1979, SCDNR wants an approved hunter-education certificate before it will sell you a hunting or combination license. That cutoff is on the recreational hunting licenses chapter. Instructor-led classes are free. Online is Hunter-Ed / ilearntohunt only. Other-state and Canadian cards count — bring the number. A hunter-ed card is not a hunting license.
Apprentice is the adult path if you have not finished the course, and it is marked small game only. Resident is annual; nonresident is 3-day. Neither one lets you hang a deer. Finish hunter ed before it expires and SCDNR converts it to statewide hunting — then you still add Big Game and tags. Course notes: what a hunter education course is actually like.
Step 2: Resident or not
Residency is not a cabin in Oconee and a Florida driver’s license. SCDNR’s test: domiciled in South Carolina for 30 days, shown with an unexpired South Carolina driver’s license or SCDMV ID. If another state already licenses you as a resident for anything, you cannot buy a South Carolina resident license. Full-time students at a South Carolina school can buy resident — show the student ID. Military stationed here 30 days or longer, plus dependents, are treated as residents.
A first-year nonresident can buy hunting and Big Game over the counter. Cost band, last checked September 7, 2026 against the licenses and fees table: resident State Hunting plus Big Game sits in the high teens, or Combination in the mid-twenties (hunting, Big Game, freshwater fishing). Sportsman is around fifty and adds the WMA permit. Nonresident annual hunting plus Big Game is in the low two-hundreds before a single tag. The 10-day and 3-day hunting licenses are cheaper; Big Game for a nonresident is still annual — there is no 10-day Big Game. The Savannah River reciprocal agreement is freshwater fishing, not deer. Trip math: planning an out-of-state deer hunt.
Step 3: What goes in the cart
Think in layers, not “a deer license”:
- Hunting license — State Hunting covers small game. It does not cover deer. Annual, 3-year (residents), or nonresident 10-day / 3-day.
- Big Game Permit — required on top of hunting for deer, turkey, or bear. Combination and Sportsman already include it.
- Deer tags — physical tags. Not sold at Walmart or Dick’s. Order at GoOutdoorsSouthCarolina.com after July 1, or pick them up at SCDNR offices in Aynor, Charleston, Clemson, West Columbia (State Farmer’s Market), Florence, and York. Mail takes 7–10 days. Tags are not mailed until early August. If season is already open, print temporary tags from the Customer Privileges Portal.
- WMA permit if you will hunt WMA land. Sportsman already includes it. Combination does not.
Resident adults with an active hunting license and Big Game automatically get the free 2026–27 base set: three unrestricted antlered tags and three individual antlerless tags. That third antlerless tag is new this year (Act 231, July 1, 2026) — confirm on deer tag information. Youth, disability, and first-time lifetime / senior holders have to request the free set.
Nonresident adults get no free tags. They buy up to four antlered and up to four individual antlerless. The first antlered tag is the expensive one; the next three sit in a lower band. Two of every hunter’s antlered tags are restricted: 4 points on one antler or a 12-inch inside spread. Buy four individual antlerless and SCDNR adds two bonus tags valid on private land only in Game Zones 2–4. Game Zone 1 caps antlerless at three for the season; with the new free set, a Zone 1 hunter does not buy extras.
Step 4: When it goes on sale
Annual hunting and Big Game are 12 months from the day you buy. An OTC pair is still sitting there on August 15 in a normal year. What disappears is a lottery hunt. WMA deer applications run July 1 through August 15. Most take a nonrefundable application fee; Webb gun hunts cost a little more. A drawn slot is not a deer license. Official windows: WMA regulations.
How you carry it, tag it, and report it
Paper or the Go Outdoors SC app are both legal for the license and the permit. Carry picture ID. The tag has to be on the deer at the point of kill, before you drag it, and it stays on until the carcass is quartered or a processor takes it. Temporary printed tags count until the mailed set arrives. Report the harvest by midnight the day you kill it through SC Game Check: the app, GoOutdoorsSouthCarolina.com, text “Harvest” to 833-472-4263, or call 1-833-4SC-GAME. Mechanics: how to tag a deer and after the shot. CWD has not been detected in South Carolina as of SCDNR’s current CWD page. Do not bring a whole carcass back from an infected state. Natural cervid urine is banned as a lure. Symptoms: CWD in deer.
Public land needs a second permit. A Combination license is not it.
This is the gotcha people from North Carolina miss. NCWRC bundles game-lands hunting on the hunting license. SCDNR does not. A WMA permit is required to hunt WMA land — regulation 2.4 on the WMA regulations page. Sportsman already has it. Combination does not. Francis Marion Hunt Unit (Hellhole, Northampton, Santee, Wambaw) and most Sumter National Forest deer dirt sit in the WMA program, so the overlay wants the permit even though the trees are Forest Service. How-to: what is a wildlife management area and hunting national forest land. Maps: SCDNR WMA maps. No bait on WMA land; stands labeled with your SCDNR customer ID, in no earlier than August 10 and out by January 15; no Sunday unless that property lists it. Lottery weekends at Webb are not a walk-on. Baiting, dogs, and hunter orange live on the South Carolina hunting guide.
Youth and first-timers
Youth means under 16. They skip the hunting license. They do not skip deer tags, except on designated youth days. Request the free base set. Nonresident youth get that set by request, then may buy one restricted buck tag and up to four individual antlerless tags. On WMA land, a hunter younger than 16 hunts with an adult 21 or older in sight and voice contact. Youth days: private-land deer seasons. Adults without hunter ed buy apprentice, then finish the course if they actually want a deer.
Common ways this goes wrong
- Buying only State Hunting — or Combination — and walking a WMA without the WMA permit.
- A 10-day hunting license without the annual Big Game Permit.
- A Georgia or North Carolina license on South Carolina dirt. Reciprocal fishing on the Savannah is not a deer license.
- Waiting until August 14 and expecting tags at Walmart.
- An apprentice license in a deer stand — small game only until hunter ed converts it.
- Moving the deer before the tag is on it, then Game Checking the next afternoon.
- A lottery WMA with a legal Sportsman license and no draw.
Where to hunt once the tag is in the truck
Start with the South Carolina deer hunting guide for Game Zones, the August 15 Lowcountry opener, baiting, dogs, and public land. It is a whitetail state. Neighbor hunts: Georgia, North Carolina, Florida, Alabama. Sibling carts: Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, Florida. After dark on I-26: what to do if you hit a deer. Stand safety: tree stand safety. Parent: how to get licensed · deer hunting · hunting by state · public land deer hunting · where to hunt.
FAQ
Can a nonresident buy a South Carolina deer license over the counter? Yes. Hunting plus Big Game plus purchased tags. Named WMA lottery hunts are the part that may not be sitting on the shelf. Confirm on GoOutdoorsSouthCarolina.com.
Do I need hunter education? If you were born after June 30, 1979, yes, before a hunting or combination license — unless you are on the small-game apprentice path that day. A Georgia license does not work here.
Do I need a separate WMA permit? Yes, unless you already hold Sportsman. Combination is not that product. Tag the deer at the kill, then SC Game Check by midnight.
Are deer tags at Walmart? No. SCDNR offices or order online. A 10-day hunting license still needs the annual Big Game Permit and purchased tags. Nonresident adults do not get a free base set. Print temporary tags from the Customer Privileges Portal if you need to hunt before the mail shows up.