Wyoming or South Dakota

[Gooserbat]

We're leaving for SD and WY next week

Are y'all camping or hotels?

We're staying in Alabama

Nice! Everybody needs a little morning commute to enjoy their coffee on and wake up

Alabama is the name of our turkey trailer.  Sweet home Alabama.

[RutnNStrutn]

If you're going, why not do both?

Sent from deep in the woods where the critters roam.

[RiverRoost]

We're leaving for SD and WY next week

Are y'all camping or hotels?

We're staying in Alabama

Nice! Everybody needs a little morning commute to enjoy their coffee on and wake up

Alabama is the name of our turkey trailer.  Sweet home Alabama.

Ahhh I got ya. Hahaha. Good luck!

[RiverRoost]

If you're going, why not do both?

Sent from deep in the woods where the critters roam.

I'd like to do both but now I'm kinda thinking that being from Mississippi and with the time I'd have to make the trip that driving to be able to haul tents, etc is going to tie up too much time and flying may be the best route which would push me toward the hotel category

[tbowers]

I plan to also hunt WY if things happen to go swimmingly in SD. Certainly not counting on it.  WY still has the 14 self quarantine thing though

[RiverRoost]

This will for sure be a 2021 trip for me just trying to get some info and have a plan laid out for next season. Pregnant wife due in two weeks and Covid don't line up for a trip this year

[tbowers]

Well I'm not going this Saturday any longer after checking the forecast! Rain or snow forecasted everyday next week depending on where you look. Being it's the black hills it means between 1-99" of snow will fall. Stinks I'll have to try next year

[Tomfoolery]

As stated before, get a tag for 1 and plan to hunt both. Me and my cousin drove up from Louisiana in 2017. 22 hour drive straight through. We set camp (tent) and headed out that afternoon to scout and try to find a roost. I had my SD black hills tag filled in the first hour of being in the forest. The plan was to hit WY after my cousin got his but we had a blizzard blow in that shut us down for 2 days and then a couple of missed opportunities because we were mistaking merriams for having eastern behaviors. Not the case!! My advice would be to try and go the week leading up to May 15th. This is when the forest roads open and you will have road hunting pressure. before the 15th the gates are closed and you have miles to roam without vehicle traffic. We hunted for a week and never saw another hunter. I'd really like to go back next year. Saw tons of deer and had a heard of elk walk up on us one evening. So many deer that we had actual deer tracks in the snow  under our tent canopy when we got back from hunting one day. Prepare for extreme weather from both ends of the spectrum and prepare for long days. As they will gobble very early and fly up very late. It was truly an awesome experience.

[tbowers]

As stated before, get a tag for 1 and plan to hunt both. Me and my cousin drove up from Louisiana in 2017. 22 hour drive straight through. We set camp (tent) and headed out that afternoon to scout and try to find a roost. I had my SD black hills tag filled in the first hour of being in the forest. The plan was to hit WY after my cousin got his but we had a blizzard blow in that shut us down for 2 days and then a couple of missed opportunities because we were mistaking merriams for having eastern behaviors. Not the case!! My advice would be to try and go the week leading up to May 15th. This is when the forest roads open and you will have road hunting pressure. before the 15th the gates are closed and you have miles to roam without vehicle traffic. We hunted for a week and never saw another hunter. I'd really like to go back next year. Saw tons of deer and had a heard of elk walk up on us one evening. So many deer that we had actual deer tracks in the snow  under our tent canopy when we got back from hunting one day. Prepare for extreme weather from both ends of the spectrum and prepare for long days. As they will gobble very early and fly up very late. It was truly an awesome experience.

Good stuff. The black hills had had some nasty winters and springs since 2017 though that have really knocked down the population so it certainly isnt a given you are going to just walk out and be on birds. This is based on what the SD biologist told me.  I was planning on camping this week but the temps are supposed to be in the 20's everynight and rain/snow pretty much everyday. I hate to even look at the forecast as they are wrong 90% of the time but I dont want to drive 10 hours out there and be wet and miserable everyday.

[tbowers]

As stated before, get a tag for 1 and plan to hunt both. Me and my cousin drove up from Louisiana in 2017. 22 hour drive straight through. We set camp (tent) and headed out that afternoon to scout and try to find a roost. I had my SD black hills tag filled in the first hour of being in the forest. The plan was to hit WY after my cousin got his but we had a blizzard blow in that shut us down for 2 days and then a couple of missed opportunities because we were mistaking merriams for having eastern behaviors. Not the case!! My advice would be to try and go the week leading up to May 15th. This is when the forest roads open and you will have road hunting pressure. before the 15th the gates are closed and you have miles to roam without vehicle traffic. We hunted for a week and never saw another hunter. I'd really like to go back next year. Saw tons of deer and had a heard of elk walk up on us one evening. So many deer that we had actual deer tracks in the snow  under our tent canopy when we got back from hunting one day. Prepare for extreme weather from both ends of the spectrum and prepare for long days. As they will gobble very early and fly up very late. It was truly an awesome experience.

Where did you get the May15th number for forest road openings? SD biologist I talked to three weeks ago said nearly all of them were open at that point

[Tomfoolery]

Back when I went that was the date they gave me and also saw that through other research I did before going. I want to say I saw some gates that said open may 15th but can't say for sure thats fact. Maybe they changed it. I want to say when I went 15th was the earliest and a chance it could be later deoending on weather conditions. I hope they didn't change it, because that will definitely discourage me from going back.

[tbowers]

Back when I went that was the date they gave me and also saw that through other research I did before going. I want to say I saw some gates that said open may 15th but can't say for sure thats fact. Maybe they changed it. I want to say when I went 15th was the earliest and a chance it could be later deoending on weather conditions. I hope they didn't change it, because that will definitely discourage me from going back.

Biologist told me they open them depending on weather so some years they are all open for the opener of turkey in early April. Maybe someone that has been out there already this spring can confirm if that is actually the case

[Tomfoolery]

Well that sucks. Maybe they were just giving me a general date as to when they usually open. I do know that when I went (last week of April) they were all closed.