southGAlefty
Senior Member
Myself and a friend struck out 11am Monday, May 14 for a week of Merriams hunting in the Black Hills of South Dakota. 27 some odd hours later we arrived in Hill City, SD and set to work immediately trying to find a bird to hunt the next morning. About 5:30 that afternoon we finally glassed a group of turkeys in a meadow across a canyon from a high point where we had stopped to call in hopes of a shock gobble. We didn’t know it at the time but those turkeys would be the only huntable birds we’d see all week.
We weren’t able to get anywhere with them that afternoon but the next morning we had one gobbling at us until flydown time. When he hit the ground he got henned up and went quiet. We spent the rest of the day covering ground to find more options. We did strike one bird a little west of where we started but probably spooked him trying to get setup. The pine beetle epidemic in the national forest has made the terrain virtually impossible in a good portion of the place.
The next morning (Thursday) we had a better idea of where we needed to be on the group of birds from the first afternoon and were able to call one of his hens into our setup 3 separate times. This was by far the best gobbling morning of the trip, as we heard 4-5 birds in the pocket we were hunting but they shut up once they got with hens and we couldn’t buy a gobble. The gobbler we were working off the limb came to I’m guessing 200 yards before either hanging up or getting henned up. Our attempts to get around on him and try to hit him from another angle were unsuccessful. Once he went quiet he was done for the day. The rest of the day was more of the same, grinding it out with little reward. We got hit by a crazy severe thunderstorm around Custer that afternoon that lasted the last 3-4 hours of daylight we had.
Friday morning we were back in the same spot. We split up in an attempt to better our odds of getting on one of the gobbling birds from the morning before. Unfortunately only one of the birds gobbled and he was on a ridge across a road and a quarter mile from the ridge I was standing on. I decided to go for broke and hike to him. I climbed a hill once I crossed the road to get on his level and thankfully a hen kept him gobbling long enough for me to get a good idea of where he was. I heard him spitting over a little rise once I got to the top and knew I was close. I peeked over it and could see him standing on another ridge 100 yards away strutting with 4 hens. To make a long story short I was able to get within 70 yards of them twice but every time I tried to call to the flock the hens took him in the opposite direction. That was as close as ether of us came to punching a tag.
In short, the Black Hills is a beautiful place and somewhere everyone should see at least once if you’re able. I checked a lot of new boxes on this trip. First trip out west, saw my first elk and antelope, Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse, and got close to knocking the safety off on a Merriams gobbler.
The hunting was a grind. Birds start gobbling around 4:45 and dark is 8:30 so it makes for some long days on little rest. Even longer when the birds were so hard to find. I talked to a couple forum members that had different experiences but for us locating birds was basically not possible other than that one pocket. Maybe I’m just an Elmer Fudd turkey hunter, who knows?
I will be back after a Merriams, though I’d probably spend the extra money and go the Indian Reservation route next time so that somebody could at least point me in the right direction to find birds.
In all, I learned a lot and will be better prepared for the next trip. You can legitimately do this trip for around $600-700/pc (2 guys) if you meal prep and don’t mind driving. I’m 30 years old and wish I’d done it years ago!
I hope this post helps, if any one has any questions or is thinking about a Black Hills trip hit me up. I can at least help you eliminate some ground.
We weren’t able to get anywhere with them that afternoon but the next morning we had one gobbling at us until flydown time. When he hit the ground he got henned up and went quiet. We spent the rest of the day covering ground to find more options. We did strike one bird a little west of where we started but probably spooked him trying to get setup. The pine beetle epidemic in the national forest has made the terrain virtually impossible in a good portion of the place.
The next morning (Thursday) we had a better idea of where we needed to be on the group of birds from the first afternoon and were able to call one of his hens into our setup 3 separate times. This was by far the best gobbling morning of the trip, as we heard 4-5 birds in the pocket we were hunting but they shut up once they got with hens and we couldn’t buy a gobble. The gobbler we were working off the limb came to I’m guessing 200 yards before either hanging up or getting henned up. Our attempts to get around on him and try to hit him from another angle were unsuccessful. Once he went quiet he was done for the day. The rest of the day was more of the same, grinding it out with little reward. We got hit by a crazy severe thunderstorm around Custer that afternoon that lasted the last 3-4 hours of daylight we had.
Friday morning we were back in the same spot. We split up in an attempt to better our odds of getting on one of the gobbling birds from the morning before. Unfortunately only one of the birds gobbled and he was on a ridge across a road and a quarter mile from the ridge I was standing on. I decided to go for broke and hike to him. I climbed a hill once I crossed the road to get on his level and thankfully a hen kept him gobbling long enough for me to get a good idea of where he was. I heard him spitting over a little rise once I got to the top and knew I was close. I peeked over it and could see him standing on another ridge 100 yards away strutting with 4 hens. To make a long story short I was able to get within 70 yards of them twice but every time I tried to call to the flock the hens took him in the opposite direction. That was as close as ether of us came to punching a tag.
In short, the Black Hills is a beautiful place and somewhere everyone should see at least once if you’re able. I checked a lot of new boxes on this trip. First trip out west, saw my first elk and antelope, Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse, and got close to knocking the safety off on a Merriams gobbler.
The hunting was a grind. Birds start gobbling around 4:45 and dark is 8:30 so it makes for some long days on little rest. Even longer when the birds were so hard to find. I talked to a couple forum members that had different experiences but for us locating birds was basically not possible other than that one pocket. Maybe I’m just an Elmer Fudd turkey hunter, who knows?
I will be back after a Merriams, though I’d probably spend the extra money and go the Indian Reservation route next time so that somebody could at least point me in the right direction to find birds.
In all, I learned a lot and will be better prepared for the next trip. You can legitimately do this trip for around $600-700/pc (2 guys) if you meal prep and don’t mind driving. I’m 30 years old and wish I’d done it years ago!
I hope this post helps, if any one has any questions or is thinking about a Black Hills trip hit me up. I can at least help you eliminate some ground.
