Black hills South Dakota

[High plains drifter]

I'm interested in trying to turkey hunt in the black hills for free.Is it easy to get on private ground?I know there is lots of public, I'm looking for some general I go, experiences, info, ect. Thanks.

[spaightlabs]

Howdy HPD.  Welcome to the forums.  I see you've been here for just a couple of days - spend a little time reading through older posts and maybe try the search function out. 

Where ya from and how do you normally hunt?   Is there a lot of free hunting around there?

Good luck with your turkey season.

[Rathunter04]

HPD

Ive hunted the Black Hills and have had luck. I've always hunted public there because I never ran out of birds to chase. I stayed in Custer and mostly hunted to the SW and S of town all within 30 minutes or so of town. I can't remember too much specific as far as roads and such but I have always just started by driving around and looking for birds to answer and starting from there. You will find them but be ready to walk. If you've never been there before it's an awesome hunt and you will see tons of wildlife!

[High plains drifter]

Howdy HPD.  Welcome to the forums.  I see you've been here for just a couple of days - spend a little time reading through older posts and maybe try the search function out. 

Where ya from and how do you normally hunt?   Is there a lot of free hunting around there?

Good luck with your turkey season.

. I'm from eastern Montana. I like to hunt the deep cuts, and hill country in eastern mt.I also hunt the hardwoods, near crop land.Ive heard the black hills are good, lots of birds.Im more skilled at hunting farms, and ranches, but I want to hunt the ponderosa pines.

[ddturkeyhunter]

Been hunting SD black hills 20-30 years(didn't seen that long) anyway be ready to walk like some woud say bring your running shoes because them birds will put on some distance when bumped. But on the other note if hunting down by Custerd you might be ok, but if you get higher into the Hills north of Rapid City,  and early in seasion brigh boots. I even have my snow camo with, and for a reason.

[Tomfoolery]

Im heading up the last week of april. Were camping at sheridan lake campground. Its gonna be our first trip so any advice would be great. A couple ppl have steered ne in the right direction from this sight. Talked with a biologist and he was very helpful as well. Im really looking forward to it. Honna be a change from the swamp bottoms here in south LA lol.

[tha bugman]

Beautiful land in which to see the game take place.

[High plains drifter]

Been hunting SD black hills 20-30 years(didn't seen that long) anyway be ready to walk like some woud say bring your running shoes because them birds will put on some distance when bumped. But on the other note if hunting down by Custerd you might be ok, but if you get higher into the Hills north of Rapid City,  and early in seasion brigh boots. I even have my snow camo with, and for a reason.

.        Thanks for the info, I know the Sturgis area looks good all out around devils tower looks good all that hill country looks really good especially when there are a few forms around with with grain and what not . Hopefully you can take a 4 Wheel Dr. in and drive around in that country because walking with walking through all that stuff would really be tiring deal.  Are usually hunt fairly close to farms which means corn usually your winter wheat, oats, they they really like oate. Also, that light brown wheat, when it's seeded.The thing about driving around, is it tends to spook birds and then they shut up and you can't figure out where they are, but when there's all that Hillcountry you almost have to drive some.

[High plains drifter]

Im heading up the last week of april. Were camping at sheridan lake campground. Its gonna be our first trip so any advice would be great. A couple ppl have steered ne in the right direction from this sight. Talked with a biologist and he was very helpful as well. Im really looking forward to it. Honna be a change from the swamp bottoms here in south LA lol.

.      You guys are going to like it. Good luck out there. I think I will go in May , if I can afford it.I think I know that lake, I've spent some time in, and around the black hills, just never hunted there. I have pheasant hunted in sd. Several times, but way east.

[Tomfoolery]

Im heading up the last week of april. Were camping at sheridan lake campground. Its gonna be our first trip so any advice would be great. A couple ppl have steered ne in the right direction from this sight. Talked with a biologist and he was very helpful as well. Im really looking forward to it. Honna be a change from the swamp bottoms here in south LA lol.

.      You guys are going to like it. Good luck out there. I think I will go in May , if I can afford it.I think I know that lake, I've spent some time in, and around the black hills, just never hunted there. I have pheasant hunted in sd. Several times, but way east.

ive pheasant hunted up north end around Aberdeen. Went to the hill once long ago on vacation. Anxious to trounce around in that country chasing birds.

[ddturkeyhunter]

Im heading up the last week of april. Were camping at sheridan lake campground. Its gonna be our first trip so any advice would be great. A couple ppl have steered ne in the right direction from this sight. Talked with a biologist and he was very helpful as well. Im really looking forward to it. Honna be a change from the swamp bottoms here in south LA lol.

Not positive where Sherdan lake is for sure but if it is getting up in elevation, even the last week in April you could get snow. I have always gone open week, but I pack snow boots and white camo alonf also. Most times no problem but one year it even pushed the birds back down to lower ground. But most time in a day or two and snow will all be gone. But then some of the main road get  slick, so plane ahead where you might drive into, so you can get back out incase snow or rain. Like I said before north of rapid City is where the snow problem can start. As the weather fronts come in from the south as they rise to go over the Hills they dump Rain or Snow the higher up you to the North. High Planes drifter, if you go mid May I think for the most part you will be fine most anywhere. I been going to same area 20-30 years and we are sw of Sturgues where it is rough steep and hilly. Thats why we picked it when we were younger. The thing why we keep going back is we know what ridges the turkeys like to roost on now. And if we bust them we know what direction they are going to go. If you bust them on one ridge they might not roost on that ridge that night, but will be back the next day or day after. One other big thing to consider when picking a location is if you are scared of Mountain Lions or not. When we first started to go out there we seen a few tracks in the mud or snow. But now it is a nightly thing to see there tracks in your tracks. It bugs me to walk past a big rock wall in the dark ( I dont use any light going out in morning) knowing one could be up there looking me over. The Cats are the main reasion my older brother won't go out there with me anymore. He says he can't take the steep hills and the snow thing, but he goes elk hunting in the mountains. He's just plan scared of the cats. So pick your location be fore you hunt, because if you get your birds there you will be back it is beautful country.
One more thing you asked if you could drive on the roads, the answer is yes and no, there are a lot of graver two lane roads that people just drive slow and do road hunt. But there are logging roads that you also might be able to drive I believe after May 15. Thats why we go so early to get behind some of the closed gated roads. But here is one more thing to be prepared of, depending where you hunt and that is for ATV's and motorcycles. A lot of the gates that are locked for truck traffic have ramps so ATV's can get past. Some say they can't be back there, some say they can, ether way they do goof up a lot of hunts some times. Because I have been hunting this location that long I have a lot of stories. One day I even had a motor cross bike come flying up the valley one afternoon could here him coming twenty min. He turn and came up the hill I was on, and started down the deer trail, I had decoys set up on. When he came to my decoys out in the middle of no where, he stopped his bike in the middle of them, and started to look up into the trees all around looking for me. I was under a evergreen tree twenty yards away, but when he bent over to pull out one of my decoys. I left him know he wasn't the only one out ther in the middle of the woods. I still laugh every time I think about that. So depending where you are, some people have no problem with bikers or ATV. The USFS doesn't have enough people to stop them, and SD is promotting ATV's use over turkey hunting in my view, so I have accepted it. All and All you guys are going to just LOVE it hunting in the HILLS. Good luck

[Bolandstrutters]

I'll be heading up from Missouri the last few days of April and the first week of May.  Doing as much research as I can, but plan on just putting a ton of miles on the boots.  Hopefully we can find a few to play in 7 days and then head to Nebraska or Wyoming.

[WyoHunter]

If you're hunting the Black Hills in WY most  private land is leased by outfitters. There's plenty of public land but you'll need to cover ground to locate the birds. Get off the roads and hunt and you'll find birds. Unfortunately rifles can be used which brings out the road hunters.

[High plains drifter]

Im heading up the last week of april. Were camping at sheridan lake campground. Its gonna be our first trip so any advice would be great. A couple ppl have steered ne in the right direction from this sight. Talked with a biologist and he was very helpful as well. Im really looking forward to it. Honna be a change from the swamp bottoms here in south LA lol.

Not positive where Sherdan lake is for sure but if it is getting up in elevation, even the last week in April you could get snow. I have always gone open week, but I pack snow boots and white camo alonf also. Most times no problem but one year it even pushed the birds back down to lower ground. But most time in a day or two and snow will all be gone. But then some of the main road get  slick, so plane ahead where you might drive into, so you can get back out incase snow or rain. Like I said before north of rapid City is where the snow problem can start. As the weather fronts come in from the south as they rise to go over the Hills they dump Rain or Snow the higher up you to the North. High Planes drifter, if you go mid May I think for the most part you will be fine most anywhere. I been going to same area 20-30 years and we are sw of Sturgues where it is rough steep and hilly. Thats why we picked it when we were younger. The thing why we keep going back is we know what ridges the turkeys like to roost on now. And if we bust them we know what direction they are going to go. If you bust them on one ridge they might not roost on that ridge that night, but will be back the next day or day after. One other big thing to consider when picking a location is if you are scared of Mountain Lions or not. When we first started to go out there we seen a few tracks in the mud or snow. But now it is a nightly thing to see there tracks in your tracks. It bugs me to walk past a big rock wall in the dark ( I dont use any light going out in morning) knowing one could be up there looking me over. The Cats are the main reasion my older brother won't go out there with me anymore. He says he can't take the steep hills and the snow thing, but he goes elk hunting in the mountains. He's just plan scared of the cats. So pick your location be fore you hunt, because if you get your birds there you will be back it is beautful country.
One more thing you asked if you could drive on the roads, the answer is yes and no, there are a lot of graver two lane roads that people just drive slow and do road hunt. But there are logging roads that you also might be able to drive I believe after May 15. Thats why we go so early to get behind some of the closed gated roads. But here is one more thing to be prepared of, depending where you hunt and that is for ATV's and motorcycles. A lot of the gates that are locked for truck traffic have ramps so ATV's can get past. Some say they can't be back there, some say they can, ether way they do goof up a lot of hunts some times. Because I have been hunting this location that long I have a lot of stories. One day I even had a motor cross bike come flying up the valley one afternoon could here him coming twenty min. He turn and came up the hill I was on, and started down the deer trail, I had decoys set up on. When he came to my decoys out in the middle of no where, he stopped his bike in the middle of them, and started to look up into the trees all around looking for me. I was under a evergreen tree twenty yards away, but when he bent over to pull out one of my decoys. I left him know he wasn't the only one out ther in the middle of the woods. I still laugh every time I think about that. So depending where you are, some people have no problem with bikers or ATV. The USFS doesn't have enough people to stop them, and SD is promotting ATV's use over turkey hunting in my view, so I have accepted it. All and All you guys are going to just LOVE it hunting in the HILLS. Good luck

Thanks for the info, I don't own one of those 4 wheeler things. I do own a jeep.I do pay attention to lions, a guy I know got jumped in eastern mt, and almost got killed.I wonder f a guy could get on private farm?

[High plains drifter]

I'll be heading up from Missouri the last few days of April and the first week of May.  Doing as much research as I can, but plan on just putting a ton of miles on the boots.  Hopefully we can find a few to play in 7 days and then head to Nebraska or Wyoming.

.    You know,if you just walk up in those hills at 4 AM, I'll bet you will hear some gobbling, it might be a long ways away so you may have to drive your rig up there on Waze but I think there's birds all over those hills, so have a great time.