First Black Hills experience

[Bolandstrutters]

Just got back to Missouri from my first Black Hills turkey hunt.  Came back without s bird, but a ton learned and an awesome adventure.  Hopefully my learning curve can help someone down the road that is researching this area.  We arrived early last Friday to a fresh coat of snow.  Around 6 inches.  Got a few hours of sleep and immediately went out scouting.  The area was a bit intimidating at first.  It's a giant tract of land.  Our first stop was a gas station and diner to talk to locals.  I recommend everyone do this.  The locals were very friendly and open to share their knowledge.  We spent the entire first day driving around.  Mostly north of Hill City.  We did find one strutter, but he was just off of public on a private field.  If you are driving around, don't expect to see a lot of birds from the roads.  We learned these merriams don't use fields nearly as much as eastern.  We ended up finding a good looking area with fresh tracts to try the next morning. 

The first morning of hunting it was 9 degrees and frozen as can be up in the hills.  We ended up not getting on any birds at all.  Good looking area, but didn't seem to hold many birds at all.  So we drove around a bit more and ended up back at a diner in Hill City.  A local deer hunter approached us and told us about an area that he deer hunts that is full of birds.  He pinpointed on a map where we needed to be.  So that afternoon we checked out that area and it ended up being s bust.  It may hold birds in the fall, but there was no birds to be found plus it was a heavily used area for hikers and atvs. 

The second day of hunting was much like the first.  Drove around.  Found some good looking areas off the beaten path, but they didn't hold many birds if any at all.  There are roads and trails everywhere.  Probably the biggest downfall to the area.  Makes access easy, but also makes it hard to get away from roads.  Got some more intel from some locals that day and had a spot lined up for the third day.  Other then seeing a random hen on the side of the road, no gobblers seen or heard.

The third morning we pull up to the area a local told us about and immediately have a bird gobbling about 300 yards away.  For anyone who hasn't been to this area.  It gets light extremely early and the birds gobble early.  By the time we get our gear ready, he flies down and is three mountains over.  We ended up walking 12 miles that morning, but could never get on him.  Hunted some other random areas that looked awesome that afternoon, but didn't find any birds. 

The forth morning started off slow.  The first spot we tried was a bust.  No turkey sign to be found.  Nothing heard or seen.  At about 9am we find a spot way far away from anything.  30 miles from the closest town.  Which was a super small town.  It's super windy so we set up on a meadow and I start screaming with a box call.  Well about ten minutes in, we've got s bird hammering 75 yards in front of us.  He's strait up a ridge, just on the back side where we can't see him.  He gobbles his brain off, but nothing we did would pull him down that ridge.  We got up and tried to get above him, but never ended up getting back on him.  Hunted that area the rest of the day, but never got on any other birds.  This spot by far had the most sign and no human sign.  Foot tracks, tire tracks, etc.

So the 5th morning we get back to the spot super early and decide to separate and try two different areas.  I get close to where the gobbler was the day before and my cousin sets up about 500 yards away on a different ridge.  Immediately I've got 4-5 birds hammering on a ridge just across a meadow from me.  Probably 300 yards away.  I give them some light calling, but shut up otherwise and wait for them to fly down.  Well when these birds fly down, they hit the hills runnng.  It's like they have an idea of where they are going and nothing is going to slow them down.  They continued to gobble, but quickly dispersed into the hills far away.  I end up getting back on one of the gobblers mid morning, but he doesn't want to play the game at all.  Gobbled on his own, but was unresponsive to calling.  Rest of the day is a bust.  I set up that evening where the birds were roosted that morning, but they never come back. 

Similar story the last two days.  Got close to them roosted on the last morning, but they pitched down with hens and hit the hills 100mph.  I ended up walking 26 miles the last two days and didn't strike one single gobble.  I was in absolute no mans land.  Miles from any roads and in prime looking turkey habitat.  I quickly learned that just because it looks good, doesn't mean there is s bird within 5 miles of you.  I put over 60 miles on my boots and over 800 miles on dirt roads, but came back empty handed.  As tough as it was, I already miss it.

Some things I learned about the black hills and merriams.  If you are expecting there to be s lot of birds, there simply isn't.  There are small pockets of birds, but giant tracts of land that don't seem to hold any turkeys at all.  Stay in lower elevation areas, but stay high on ridges in those areas.  Ignore low fields for the most part.  The birds we found wanted nothing to do with fields..  Also, don't expect merriams to roost in the same spot.  I wasted a few mornings before I learned that.  They are very random and almost impossible to predict.  Have a coyote howler to locate birds in the evening and morning.  They gobble early and late.  Be mobile.  Don't waste a lot of time on one area.  Some of the best looking spots you could ever imagine didn't have birds.  Have a good set of tires and s better set of boots.  It was mentally and physically exhausting, but I'm already planning on doing it again next year!  I'll consider this my scouting trip!

[dirtnap]

I went last year for the first time as well.  I wasn't all that impressed either.  There are definitely birds but they seem to hang out in everyone's yards where they feed them.  It is beautiful country though.  I wish they would run the season until the end of May.

And yeah, the if you talk to a local they will tell you "There are turkeys everywhere."  We ended up killing one a piece but we were lucky to do that.  And it was in a place we found on our own.

[Tomfoolery]

Just got back to Missouri from my first Black Hills turkey hunt.  Came back without s bird, but a ton learned and an awesome adventure.  Hopefully my learning curve can help someone down the road that is researching this area.  We arrived early last Friday to a fresh coat of snow.  Around 6 inches.  Got a few hours of sleep and immediately went out scouting.  The area was a bit intimidating at first.  It's a giant tract of land.  Our first stop was a gas station and diner to talk to locals.  I recommend everyone do this.  The locals were very friendly and open to share their knowledge.  We spent the entire first day driving around.  Mostly north of Hill City.  We did find one strutter, but he was just off of public on a private field.  If you are driving around, don't expect to see a lot of birds from the roads.  We learned these merriams don't use fields nearly as much as eastern.  We ended up finding a good looking area with fresh tracts to try the next morning. 

The first morning of hunting it was 9 degrees and frozen as can be up in the hills.  We ended up not getting on any birds at all.  Good looking area, but didn't seem to hold many birds at all.  So we drove around a bit more and ended up back at a diner in Hill City.  A local deer hunter approached us and told us about an area that he deer hunts that is full of birds.  He pinpointed on a map where we needed to be.  So that afternoon we checked out that area and it ended up being s bust.  It may hold birds in the fall, but there was no birds to be found plus it was a heavily used area for hikers and atvs. 

The second day of hunting was much like the first.  Drove around.  Found some good looking areas off the beaten path, but they didn't hold many birds if any at all.  There are roads and trails everywhere.  Probably the biggest downfall to the area.  Makes access easy, but also makes it hard to get away from roads.  Got some more intel from some locals that day and had a spot lined up for the third day.  Other then seeing a random hen on the side of the road, no gobblers seen or heard.

The third morning we pull up to the area a local told us about and immediately have a bird gobbling about 300 yards away.  For anyone who hasn't been to this area.  It gets light extremely early and the birds gobble early.  By the time we get our gear ready, he flies down and is three mountains over.  We ended up walking 12 miles that morning, but could never get on him.  Hunted some other random areas that looked awesome that afternoon, but didn't find any birds. 

The forth morning started off slow.  The first spot we tried was a bust.  No turkey sign to be found.  Nothing heard or seen.  At about 9am we find a spot way far away from anything.  30 miles from the closest town.  Which was a super small town.  It's super windy so we set up on a meadow and I start screaming with a box call.  Well about ten minutes in, we've got s bird hammering 75 yards in front of us.  He's strait up a ridge, just on the back side where we can't see him.  He gobbles his brain off, but nothing we did would pull him down that ridge.  We got up and tried to get above him, but never ended up getting back on him.  Hunted that area the rest of the day, but never got on any other birds.  This spot by far had the most sign and no human sign.  Foot tracks, tire tracks, etc.

So the 5th morning we get back to the spot super early and decide to separate and try two different areas.  I get close to where the gobbler was the day before and my cousin sets up about 500 yards away on a different ridge.  Immediately I've got 4-5 birds hammering on a ridge just across a meadow from me.  Probably 300 yards away.  I give them some light calling, but shut up otherwise and wait for them to fly down.  Well when these birds fly down, they hit the hills runnng.  It's like they have an idea of where they are going and nothing is going to slow them down.  They continued to gobble, but quickly dispersed into the hills far away.  I end up getting back on one of the gobblers mid morning, but he doesn't want to play the game at all.  Gobbled on his own, but was unresponsive to calling.  Rest of the day is a bust.  I set up that evening where the birds were roosted that morning, but they never come back. 

Similar story the last two days.  Got close to them roosted on the last morning, but they pitched down with hens and hit the hills 100mph.  I ended up walking 26 miles the last two days and didn't strike one single gobble.  I was in absolute no mans land.  Miles from any roads and in prime looking turkey habitat.  I quickly learned that just because it looks good, doesn't mean there is s bird within 5 miles of you.  I put over 60 miles on my boots and over 800 miles on dirt roads, but came back empty handed.  As tough as it was, I already miss it.

Some things I learned about the black hills and merriams.  If you are expecting there to be s lot of birds, there simply isn't.  There are small pockets of birds, but giant tracts of land that don't seem to hold any turkeys at all.  Stay in lower elevation areas, but stay high on ridges in those areas.  Ignore low fields for the most part.  The birds we found wanted nothing to do with fields..  Also, don't expect merriams to roost in the same spot.  I wasted a few mornings before I learned that.  They are very random and almost impossible to predict.  Have a coyote howler to locate birds in the evening and morning.  They gobble early and late.  Be mobile.  Don't waste a lot of time on one area.  Some of the best looking spots you could ever imagine didn't have birds.  Have a good set of tires and s better set of boots.  It was mentally and physically exhausting, but I'm already planning on doing it again next year!  I'll consider this my scouting trip!

Made my first trip this year as well.  You arrived the day after we left. I guess we just lucked up and hit the honey hole because we were in birds every day. 8-10 gobblers every morning on the roost. I killed 1 the first evening but we never could get my cousins bird. Had a chance at one off the roost. Bird was within 50 yards but 2 other birds were gobbling off in the distance. My cousin was set up on the far birds and the close bird was to his left. I tried to signal him to turn his gun to the left he thought i was saying lets get around them. He stood up and when he did we saw the gobbler running off into the hills. Birds were extremely henned up and like u said once they were off the roost the hens would immediately take them in the opposite direction of any hen sound. The bird i killed we got in between him and his hens and flushed the hens away then i gobbled at him with a mix of fighting purs and he came in on a string. Was a blast but the snow hindered us. Would like to go back but a little later to try and get on birds once the hens are hitting the nests.

[hobbes]

Sounds l Iike a public land turkey hunt.   Maybe itll come together on the next one.

Weve been dealing with the same response here in Montana, including this morning.  These have to be some jealous hens.  Finding a tom that's not tripping over himself behind a hen on a mission has been tough lately. 

[Bolandstrutters]

Looking back we probably shouldn't have spent three days on the same group of gobblers that were henned up.  Live and learn.  I'll be back and it'll be even sweeter when I make it happen!

[fallhnt]

I learned the hard way too. First year I went  out west I went to early and the birds were still flocked up. I  like late season now. Good luck to ya.

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[VA Gobble Addict]

There are birds everywhere in those hills. All about timing. I went last year and they had 8 inches of snow the day before I got there. Spent the first four days doing the same thing you did. The weather finally broke and it got sunny and hit 70 degrees. It was like a switch flipped. I went from hearing and seeing nothing, to seeing gobblers everywhere. Heard 7 different birds in a quarter mile stretch of road that I had tried every other day. They're there, they just know how to hide in those hills.

[DTGobble]

Sounds like you had a good time anyway.  Sorry you didn't connect.  I'm leaving Friday headed that way.  Hoping for good weather.  I've never been to that part of SD, so I'm really looking forward to it.  Excited about hunting somewhere different.  A gobbler on the ground wouldn't be bad either.  LOL

[tha bugman]

Well at least you saw some beautiful country


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[Bolandstrutters]

Well at least you saw some beautiful country


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That was my first time out west and I'll definitely be back!  Absolutely fell in love with the area.

[WyoHunter]

Great hunt recap! The BHNF is where I WT hunt and I've taken more than a couple gobblers there too. Love the area and the terrain. Good luck next year!

[Bolandstrutters]

There are birds everywhere in those hills. All about timing. I went last year and they had 8 inches of snow the day before I got there. Spent the first four days doing the same thing you did. The weather finally broke and it got sunny and hit 70 degrees. It was like a switch flipped. I went from hearing and seeing nothing, to seeing gobblers everywhere. Heard 7 different birds in a quarter mile stretch of road that I had tried every other day. They're there, they just know how to hide in those hills.

Thats wild, but I believe it.  I was walking some areas that looked like they would be an absolute merriams paradise and couldnt believe I wasnt seeing or hearing anything.  I guess they were there, just werent acting right yet. 

[High plains drifter]

That's a great report. I'm going to try it next spring.I know that kind of country, because I hunt it in Montana. I would think they would be up high, in flat areas, and maybe in the deep cuts around springs when it's hot. Beautiful country, and I'd be happy walking around in the hills, even if I didn't get anything.Those trips are spendy, so planning ahead is paramount.

[mnbirdbuster]

Not really that expensive at all depending on where you live and how youll go about it for lodging. Ive hunted it many times and with the 7-8hr drive from my home its under $500 total per guy with lodging weve found. Im leaving tomorrow for a week of hunting there and will be on WY/SD border camping with tags for both states in my pocket. $184.50 for the tags, $300 cash in wallet, and all camping gear and food I have already packed.

[High plains drifter]

Good luck, that is great country.I guess camping is the way to go. I've scouted a few areas in my goat, in the summer.It all looks like good bird country, but I like the high ground, and the deep cuts. Having a cabin out there would be great.