Well our Black Hills hunt went well as usual this year. Weather was better than last year, with a couple very pleasant days to be out, and the turkeys responded in kind. We hunted the northern hills, only saw a couple other hunters during the trip. Stayed at my buddy's parents place in the northern hills, beautiful place surrounded by National Forest. Was out there Sat May 7- Wed May 11.
Saturday.
Arrived in Sturgis at about 2 pm mountain time. As my friend Jake wouldnt get into town untill 6:30 or so, i took Hwy 14 up to deadwood, and then down spearfish canyon into spearfish (probably my favorite stretch of road in the entire midwest) Stopped at spearfish creek and did some trout fishing for a few hours. Caught a couple dozen browns, and kept a few 12-14" for the grill that night. Met my friend at his parents place at about 7. had some dinner and decided to employ our usual strategy to roost a bird (i.e. sit on the back porch with a beer or two and listen to gobbles). There was a group of birds gobbling across the canyon to the north, as well as a few singles further south and on the next ridge over.
Sunday
Absolutely gorgeous day. Sunny, white puffy clouds, 65 degrees and a 5-10 mph wind. we were across the canyon at 4:45 waiting for the first bird to start up. after 20 minutes or so all the birds we'd heard were further down the canyon, so we moved north along the ridge about 3/4 a mile towards the nearest bird. He was roosted in some ponderosas on the other side of a small clearing. We set up in some scrub oaks in the clearing and began calling. After he hit the ground he was fairly hot, answering every call and gobbling on his own. We worked him for about 20 minutes and he eventually came strutting in on my friends side. I couldn't see him due to the scrub oak and a slight rise in the ground, but Jake rolled him at 30 yards. Typical Black Hills tom. 8" beard, 3/4" spurs. It was 6:00 AM, and we headed back to get some breakfast.
We headed out again about 9 am to work down about 2 miles of ridge line to the west of the house. It took us over 7 hours to work the area due to all the birds we ran into. We must have had 20 different birds gobble at us during the afternoon. We worked a couple birds fairly close, but they hung up at that 50-60 yard range and we never did get a shot. I watched one in particular strut back and forth gobbling at us for about 30 minutes, but he wouldn't seal the deal. Was an excellent day to be out though, so we didn't mind much. Around 5ish we headed back to the house and down to Spearfish and Crow Peak Brewery to celebrate the morning bird.
Monday
Not nearly as nice as Sunday. Mid 40's and misting most of the day. A few half hearted gobbles before flydown and then quiet for most of the day. At one point I set up on a bird that had gobbled back a couple times at a box call, and he seemed to be working his way in. Right about this time a couple horseback riders came through and I never heard another peep from him. Spent most of the day walking ridge tops listening for birds and calling down into canyons. Probably put on 10-15 miles. Got a few shock gobbles but not much else going on. Did our usual roosting Monday night.
Tuesday
Partly sunny and mild today, high 50's, but windy. Blowing 20 mph before sunup and will hit 30mph sustained by the end of the day. Set up in a scrub oak clearing across the canyon at daybreak. Didn't hear a single gobble, but had a bird come in yelping that goofy low pitched gobbler yelp about 20 minutes after sunrise. He walked past at ~40 yards, but i couldn't tell if it was a tom or a Jake. He was all wet from the dew, and i couldn't see him real well, so i decided to let him get closer. He never did, walked off yelping, and would stop and yelp after I'd give him a few clucks.
Spent the rest of the morning walking some new areas prospecting for birds. Got a few shock gobbles and saw a couple birds, but nothing really interested. Headed back to the house at noon for a quick lunch, and headed out again at 12:20. I was going to walk down a ridge and up the one next to it to a small clearing we have had luck at in the past. Set up a decoy, call sparingly and wait out the afternoon there. I got to the clearing a little after 1:30, set up the decoy and started calling every 20 minutes or so. The wind was ripping now, and i couldn't hear much. About 3:30 a tom skirted the edge of the clearing. He was within range and in the open for about 5 seconds, but my gun was pointed the other direction, and by the time i could get it over he was hidden behind some ponderosas. He never came out in the open again. About 45 minutes later a couple hens started filtering into the clearing. Then a few more, and finally a longbeard bringing up the rear. They never came closer than about 60 yards and eventually worked their way behind the decoy and down the logging road that ran up into the clearing from the canyon below. I sat at my tree until 6:00 pm without seeing another bird. At 6:00 i started packing up. I went up to pick up the decoy and of course there is a tom standing on the logging road about 100 yards away looking right at me. i could see a couple hens down there as well. I cursed to myself and dropped to the ground back over the fold of land. I snuck back to my tree and sat there for 15 minutes letting them calm down, even though i was sure the tom had seen me. After 15 minutes i crawled back up to the decoy and peeked over the edge of the fold. Well, the tom was still there, strutting for 3 hens, but they had moved another 100 yards or so down the road. I crept back to the tree and weighed my options. I didn't think i had much hope of calling them to my current position. I hadn't heard a peep from a bird since 9 AM, and the birds that had come through the clearing seemed rather uninterested in the decoy and even each other. The logging road ran downhill towards the birds and was open scrub oak on the right hand side. On the left hand side there was a 10 yard buffer of mixed ponderosa and scrub oak before it dropped off sharply down into the canyon. I decided to try and close the distance on the birds by creeping through that narrow buffer strip. I moved over to the buffer out of sight below the crest of the hill and began slowly picking my way towards them. Every couple of minutes i could catch a glimpse of the tom's fan through the trees so i knew they were still there. I got about 100 yards or so from the birds and sat down up against a ponderosa. I could see glimpses of the birds through the trees and i could tell they had heard me walking. The tom took a few steps up the road and started bobbing his head looking around. Taking that as my cue i started scratching leaves with my hand. He was very interested in this noise, and started walking up the road towards me. He came at a constant pace, bobbing his head peering around looking for the hen he had missed that was making the sound. I caught glimpses of him through the trees as he came. I picked out an opening at 30 yards and got my gun situated. 30 seconds after i sat down at the tree he was standing in the opening looking for the source of the scratching. I squeezed the trigger and rolled him onto his back where he flopped for a couple seconds then went still. his 3 hens ran/flew off down the road. I sat there for a few minutes breathing the air, smelling the pines, and listening to the wind in the trees. Then i got up, packed up my previous set up, put him over my shoulder and began the 2 mile walk back to the house. 8" beard 1/2-3/4'" spurs. Crow peak again Tuesday night.
Wednesday. Slept in till 8 today, thanked Jake and his family for letting my stay with them again and headed back to the cities. Stopped at spearfish creek and caught some more browns on the way. left the Hills at 11 central time, and got back to Minneapolis about 9:30. Talked with Jake that night and he said it was 37 and sleeting in the Hills. It was 80 degrees in the cities.
Again I had a very enjoyable hunt in the hills. The aesthetics of the place are simply wonderful, it is by far my favorite place to turkey hunt.
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