Prarie turkeys

[scattergun]

Hi everyone. I see my post count is zero, but I'm almost certain I have posted on this forum in the past. It's possible I had another username, but this is the one I remember. I have lived and turkey hunted in central Minnesota most of my life. Unlike a lot of states, Minnesota's turkeys aren't declining, if anything they are still very much increasing in numbers. Now the entire state top to bottom has turkey, no lottery anymore, and a public land hunter can have fantastic success.

This winter I moved to Aberdeen, South Dakota. Most things are not much different, but a big one is the turkeys, or lack there of. There are no turkeys here as far as I can tell, and no season for sure. I don't have to go that far to find them though. About 30-40 miles east, and I regularly see what I assumed were eastern turkeys. I now have come to realize there is also a very good chance they are Rio Grande. I've been seeing these turkeys in the hilly areas, especially the ravines with lots of timber. Places you would expect to find turkeys. It's interesting to think that as a SD resident, I could complete a grand slam by driving less than a few hundred miles, and flight to Florida. For what originally appeared to be a downgrade for turkey, now appears to be the only state to offer 3 true subspecies.

Now I'm looking at a fall season here in South Dakota. Draws are pretty much 100% success for residents in any area. I'm currently looking at Meriam's, which are found in the western half of the state. The fall turkey areas are oddly small for some reason, but the south black hills unit should be a good one. I've seen plenty of turkeys when I've been in that area. Here's the thing that has me though. There is a Jackson county unit, which is more or less the badlands. Not only that, it is a 2 bird limit. Every other unit is 1 bird max. I've been to the badlands area a few times, and have been trying to draw a deer tag for a while as well. I can't recall ever seeing a turkey out there though. It never occurred to me that a turkey could survive in such a habitat.

This got me to thinking, what do turkeys really need? In the spring, most of the state besides the James river basin, and a few counties to the west are open to turkey hunting. The entire western half of the state has a turkey season. The big difference as far as I can tell is the terrain. The James river basin is as flat as I have ever seen land. Go 30 miles east into the hills, and suddenly turkeys. I'm not sure why there are no turkeys northeast of Pierre, as that is a hilly area as well. The entire western half of SD is hilly. I can't really understand why hills would have any bearing on the survival of turkeys. We have the food, and nesting areas. Pheasants breed like mad here. There's plenty of trees they could roost in, way more than western SD. Apparently flat lands favor predator's?

Whatever the reason, I'm trying to decide between blackhills and Jackson county for this fall season. How would a person go about hunting such an area? Are turkeys going to be drawn to the only timber in the area? Realize I have zero experience with meriums, and for all I know they are nothing like an eastern turkey. Do trees play a part at all with prairie turkeys beyond a night roosting spot? Do guys get up high, and glass like big game hunting? Are there really twice as many turkey in Jackson county, or are they trying to reduce numbers?

[Bolandstrutters]

You better consider weather when deciding, because the Black Hills is liable to have a foot of snow on the ground before any of the prairie.  I would approach a fall season in a prairie unit almost like deer season.  Those birds are going to be in huge flocks and have relatively regular travel patterns and roost sites.  And those prairie merriams love to walk.  I've glassed birds that easily went 2-3 miles from where they were roosted before I lost track of them.  I would try to pattern them based on what food sources they are using in the fall.  They are going to be in the lower elevations and typically close to a private ranch that has some kind of grain on the ground.  I found one little hay pile that would attract a ton of birds every morning for the first few hours of light. Just have a good set of binos and some comfortable hiking boots and go give it a try.  Thats a pretty unique hunt out there in the fall, gonna take some trial and error for sure!  Good luck!

[GobbleNut]

Too many directions to go in a response to your questions.  The simple answer is that you need to find turkeys wherever they might be, get a license, and go hunting.  The process is basically the same regardless of subspecies and terrain.  Everybody has their own hunting style and preference in terms of aesthetics.  Choose the turkeys that fit your style and the type of hunting you like to do and go for it!

The "ingredients" needed for turkeys, in particular, are food, water, cover, and roosting habitat.  The better the quality of those ingredients in an area, the more likely you will find healthy and stable turkey numbers there,...all other limiting factors being equal (predators, disease vectors, etc.).

Regarding the pursuit of "The Slam", we could go into great detail about subspecies, genetics, hybridization, and the like,...but suffice it to say that in any area where two subspecies are intermixed (not geographically isolated from one another), it is just a matter of time until ALL of the turkeys in those populations are going to be hybrids.  Turkey subspecies are just too willing to interbreed with one another for that not to happen over time.  Discussing the pursuit of different/pure subspecies in those situations is not a realistic proposition.

In summary,...Go huntin',...and have fun!   

[scattergun]

I guess ultimately my question is to those who have hunted both prairie and black hills turkey, especially if an SD resident, are there really more turkeys in jackson county than in the southern blackhills? I'm leaning towards the blackhills myself, since I know where to find turkeys, and I know I can get one. The idea of a two bird limit, and turkey hunting in wide open prairie does intrigue me though. I'm not scared of snow. I grew up in Minnesota, and I have always hunted our spring A season. Half the time a Minnesota A season still has ice on some lakes, and snow on the ground. I'll probably be fall turkey hunting the week before thanksgiving. A full month later, mid december, I'll be in the bighorn mountains, Wyoming for elk.

[fallhnt]

You may find most birds on cattle ranches by fall.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[Bolandstrutters]

I guess ultimately my question is to those who have hunted both prairie and black hills turkey, especially if an SD resident, are there really more turkeys in jackson county than in the southern blackhills? I'm leaning towards the blackhills myself, since I know where to find turkeys, and I know I can get one. The idea of a two bird limit, and turkey hunting in wide open prairie does intrigue me though. I'm not scared of snow. I grew up in Minnesota, and I have always hunted our spring A season. Half the time a Minnesota A season still has ice on some lakes, and snow on the ground. I'll probably be fall turkey hunting the week before thanksgiving. A full month later, mid december, I'll be in the bighorn mountains, Wyoming for elk.

Have you found turkeys there in the fall?  They might be in a completely different area than where they spend the spring and summer.  I'd go where you feel more confident so if thats the Black Hills then just dive in and go for it. 

[turkeyfool]

I live in NJ now but I've hunted SD quite a bit. In the blackhills, 90% of the turkeys are in 10% of the area. A lot has to do with water and adjacent cattle ranches, but there's also a lot of examples I can point to where there's no rhyme or reason. I would disagree that the western half of SD is hilly. I'd say maybe the western 1/3rd? Either way, there's some good turkey hunting in flat areas for Merriams. In those prairie units, there's a lot less public land which is the issue. But it's much easier to spot these turkeys from the road or from long distances. I prefer to actually hunt the prairie unit because merriams gobble as they are working away from you and in the black hills, it can get a little ridiculous chasing after them. Any of the prairie units that have a river or have long stretches of cottonwoods that run in and out of cattle ranches will have the birds

[scattergun]

Have you found turkeys there in the fall?  They might be in a completely different area than where they spend the spring and summer.  I'd go where you feel more confident so if thats the Black Hills then just dive in and go for it.

Most of my time in the blackhills and badlands have been late summer into fall. Are Merriams a lot more nomadic than eastern turkey? I'm familiar with fall eastern hunting in Minnesota, and you find turkeys in big flocks, but they mainly stay in the same areas you always find them. They move around to find food and water, but I've never noticed an eastern turkey going say 20 miles away. Also the MN season is October, when birds are still mainly in a summer pattern.

@turkeyfool, the terrain is not consistent, but I'm not sure why anyone would expect it to be. Starting about 30 miles west of Aberdeen, and continuing non-stop to the Montana border is nothing but hills. Head SW of Aberdeen, and it's flat for quite a ways. Overall, everything around the Missouri river, and everything west of it is hilly. Sure, there's flat areas, the same as not all of the black hills is mountains. Directly west of the river, and continuing almost to the black hills is mainly smooth rolling prairie. The NW part of the state is more random with shelves, and butte's. The SW is the badlands. Nowhere in the western half of the state is timbered. There's a few trees down in the river valleys. Other than that, its a single tree here and there, maybe miles apart. The eastern half of the state is a lot more stagnant. Some smooth rolling hills directly east of the river. Everything around the James river is flat as a pancake, mostly farmland, with sparse tree lines. To the far east, bordering Minnesota is the duck factory. Prairie potholes, tall grasslands, a few more trees, and some surprising elevation changes in certain areas. The prairie pothole region is on a ridge. I don't know much about the SE part of the state, I've never been south of Watertown.

I've decided to do the blackhills area for turkey, and the deciding factor was that I have a cougar tag.

[Bolandstrutters]

Yes merriams can be way more nomadic than easterns.  I wouldn't over think it too much.  If you've found birds in late summer/fall that should be good enough for a starting point.  Like said before though, probably 10% of the black hills actually hold turkeys, but 10% of the black hills is like 100,000 acres so you'll have plenty of ground to roam.  I've also noticed that where there are elk in the hills there are usually turkeys.  Good luck!