Struck out in the Black Hills South Dakota - any thoughts?

[Timmer]

Hey guys,

I hunted Merriams for the first time in the Black Hills of South Dakota.  The scenery was beautiful and I went with 11 guys including my 70 year old father who has never hunted turkeys before.  It was an awesome trip and I was able to bring home lots of great memories, but unfortunately not a bird.  Perhaps you guys would have some advice.

First off, on day one I bumped two birds.  I was aware that I was hunting in more open woods than I am accustomed, and you could generally see quite a ways through the ponderosa pines.  However, I think I've learned that Merriams don't call as loud as Easterns.  When I heard gobbling I expected them to be further away than they actually were.  I tried moving closer and used both locator calls and hen calls to determine their position but ran into them much sooner and closer than I expected.  I tried to test this theory when driving through Custer park as the birds were everywhere and I used a gobbler shaker to get them to gobble and I was surprised that they weren't much louder given how close I was to them.  I know Merriams are more vocal, but would you agree they are quieter?

Given that I was now sensative to being busted, I didn't move in as close to the gobbling I heard.  Over the next 3 days I had the same thing happen with 4 birds.  I would get a bird coming in, I would limit my calling to about every 20 minutes and each time they'd respond, they would be gobbling between my calls, and with each gobble they'd be closer every time.  Just about the time the gobbling was close enough to where I'd expect to see them soon, the next gobble would be farther away, the next even farther, etc.  I spoke with the guys I was with and their opinion was that they were all henned up. We heard a lot of hens calling on the roost and certainly saw plenty of sign and a few of them on the trails.  They argued that they were only willing to come so close and that they were with hens that were pulling them away.  Only once did I hear a hen call during the time the tom was coming in.  Do you agree that this was likely the case?  Anything you would do to try to combat this?  I know if I heard a hen I could have tried to call back to her and get her riled up.  I also know we could have hunted in pairs and put the caller a ways behind the shooter.  Any other thoughts?

And of course as luck would have it I did have one bird come all the way in but I was a bit frustrated and discouraged and didn't give him enough time.  I didn't think he was all that excited because even though he gobbled to my calls, he never cut me off, and didn't gobble between my calls.  When he clammed up and stopped gobbling, and I was thinking he was either coming or going, I guessed "going."  After a while I stood up only to see he was just on the other side of some pine sapplings and was about 15 feet short of where I would have seen him and had a nice 25 yard shot.  

[Spring Creek Calls]

I think you are right on several points. In my 2 years of experience hunting the Black Hills, that oble oble oble of the Merriams is not nearly as strong as the Easterns that I'm used to hunting. We called it a pu**y gobble. The first year I hunted there I got busted in the pines without moving. I found what looked too much like a shallow grave, crawled in and shot a strutting tom 10 minutes later.

As for the henned up toms, I believe you would have to hunt the very end of their season to possibly get away from that.  Even if they are henned up you can always hunt later in the day (2nd shift) when the hens go off to lay an egg or sit on the nest.

I can't imagine hunting turkeys in a more beautiful setting. I have some pictures from my 2 trips that will always be in my photo gallery.

[Timmer]

By the way.  Two of those 4 birds happened mid morning, one in early afternoon, and one late afternoon.   I had lots of gobbling on the roost at daybreak but was never able to get any of those interested.  

[hobbes]

Two thoughts:

1)  Yes they have a whimpy gobble that will fool a hunter that hunts Easterns in the hardwoods.  It is the same for any Merriam's.  You can get used to that and make good bets as to how far they are.

2) I can't imagine only calling every 20 minutes to a bird that is responding.  If he hangs up, I may not call for a while, but I never put 20 minute intervals between calls while working a bird, but maybe that's just me.

[wvboy]

First.. I think you have to throw most of the calling techniques for easterns out the window when hunting Merriams .. the soft calling and waiting 20 minutes between calls can be deadly on an eastern.. but on a Merriam you have to call like there is no tomorrow to keep them interested.. at least that is what I found when I hunted them last year.. all the other other woodsman skills you have learn hutning easterns still apply but the calling should be too much and too loud.

I'm sure you were hunting henned up birds .. but I called in multiple flocks last years hens and gobblers when I hunted them.. seemed to me the hens would come to calling just as well as the toms would .. but I was hunting private with an outfitter and you were hunting public, so the pressure factor probably played a part for you too..

[BHhunter]

I've lived in Rapid City for 17 years now and still make the mistakes you talked of. As a matter of fact I did it just this morning. Was working two birds and thought they were coming in. Then they sounded to be farther away, so I thought hens were taking them away. So I got up to move around on them and here they were still coming, just down in a gully the last time they gobbled. I thought for sure I got behind a rock before they saw me, but that proved to be wrong. Off they went down the hill.
I have found that in the last 5 years we have a very high hen population. I have been having problems getting those lone birds. The first 10 or so years I hunted here I was pulling in 5 or 6 gobblers at a time, now it seems they all have hens with them.
Seems like the best strategy around here is soft purs, clucks and yelps. I think these birds have been pressured an awful lot and they are getting wary. I know the area I hunt I used to not see another vehicle around, now it can be a regular highway on some of these forest service roads. I haven't hunted near Custer, but I hear it's even more crowded there. Less crowded in the northern hills though. My best stratigy lately is to set up where I think they'll be coming a call every 15 minutes or so and stay there for several hours.
One thing I've found about these Merriams is to ignore the old strategy "get above them on the roost" most of the ones I hunt fly down hill off the roost, or come straight down, then move down hill. I have taken to setting up below them in an opening with one or two hen decoys.
I surely am not an expert, but these are a few things that have worked for me.