Head west young man

[Gooserbat]

Great job. Definitely on my to do list

[VA Gobble Addict]

Good luck! Seemed like they were getting fired up.

[WisTurk]

Good to hear.  Any tips or tricks?  Not looking for specific areas or anything, but I've never been to that part of the country before and this will be my first out of state trip for turkeys.

[SteelerFan]

Awesome! 

[VA Gobble Addict]

Good to hear.  Any tips or tricks?  Not looking for specific areas or anything, but I've never been to that part of the country before and this will be my first out of state trip for turkeys.

This was my first out of state trip too. Just the usual things you would do with your usual turkeys. Roosting, patience, etc. the second one i killed I got at 1:15 in the afternoon. Wasn't even really hunting. Traveling down a forest road and saw a hen. Pulled off and hit the call to see how she would react. He starting gobbling and I grabbed my call, gun and camo jacket and tucked in the woods real quick. He came in on a string to 10 yards in about five minutes. I was wearing blue jeans. It seems like they may be dumber than eastern when they're in the mood. Also, get in shape. The hills can be rough walking. You'll find that a lot of the guys hunting don't like to get off the main roads. I saw a lot of turkeys by getting off the main road and hitting the side roads and trails. They love to gobble, when the weather is right. They're everywhere. It didn't seem like they were at a certain elevation. In fact it seemed like more gobblers were in the lower elevations, which is the opposite of what I had read.

[VA Gobble Addict]

Sorry for all the typos. I'm heading home and typed that up real quick.

[WisTurk]

Good to hear.  Any tips or tricks?  Not looking for specific areas or anything, but I've never been to that part of the country before and this will be my first out of state trip for turkeys.

This was my first out of state trip too. Just the usual things you would do with your usual turkeys. Roosting, patience, etc. the second one i killed I got at 1:15 in the afternoon. Wasn't even really hunting. Traveling down a forest road and saw a hen. Pulled off and hit the call to see how she would react. He starting gobbling and I grabbed my call, gun and camo jacket and tucked in the woods real quick. He came in on a string to 10 yards in about five minutes. I was wearing blue jeans. It seems like they may be dumber than eastern when they're in the mood. Also, get in shape. The hills can be rough walking. You'll find that a lot of the guys hunting don't like to get off the main roads. I saw a lot of turkeys by getting off the main road and hitting the side roads and trails. They love to gobble, when the weather is right. They're everywhere. It didn't seem like they were at a certain elevation. In fact it seemed like more gobblers were in the lower elevations, which is the opposite of what I had read.

Thanks for the info!  I just can't wait to go now.  Have a safe trip home 

[Va3toes]

Looks and sounds like an awesome trip! Congratulations!
I've been through the Black Hills about a half dozen times on the way to Montana to do some Muley hunting. Definitely a beautiful area. Have a safe trip home.

[mgm1955]

Congrats!!

[renegade19]

 

[birdman24]

Beautiful birds for sure! Congratulations. Did you hunt any of the areas I had suggested? Yeah, getting off the main roads gets you into a whole bunch more turkeys and a whole lot less hunters. Not that there are many anyway. Glad you got a window of good weather to get the birds a little more fired up. It is crazy how quick the weather can change out there.

[trkehunr93]

Congrats!  Looks like they may be a hybrid but who cares, bet it was a fun trip. 


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[Rapscallion Vermilion]

They don't look all that different from Merriam's from historically intact populations here in New Mexico.  The first Merriam's transplants to Wyoming came from here.

[VA Gobble Addict]

Beautiful birds for sure! Congratulations. Did you hunt any of the areas I had suggested? Yeah, getting off the main roads gets you into a whole bunch more turkeys and a whole lot less hunters. Not that there are many anyway. Glad you got a window of good weather to get the birds a little more fired up. It is crazy how quick the weather can change out there.

Yeah man I tried the areas you suggested. Thanks again for that. The weather had them all messed up though, although I wasn't far from there when I got the one in SD. Thank god for the two days of good weather! And honestly I don't really mind if it's a hybrid or not. It was the trip of a lifetime. If hey are hybrids it just gives me an excuse to head back out there. 

[spaightlabs]

I'd take Rapscallions word for the fact that they look like his originals.