south dakota black hills turkey

[jruff002]

trying to plan a turkey hunt in the black hills of SD in spring 2011. i saw some older post and is it as easy as it sounds to just walk to the top of a ridge/mtn.top off the side of the road and make a call/locator and be able to hear birds preety consistently on public land?? i'm from Arkansas and it's guaranteed that there's nothing like that around here and just sounds too good to be true. anyways i am going to go and i guess from the post i will probably just stay in hill city and park on that side of the road and take off walking-ex coon hunter in the mtns. here so i can walk forever and will do it for a bird. Also saw that you can use a rifle, just seems like it will be too easy. please advise those of you who have experienced and can probably relate to my thinking right now from not having been out there yet. look fwd to seeing some post

 

[mdunc8]

I haven't had the chance to hunt SD yet, but I'd image the country I'm hunting in Montana is pretty similar. It's a lot easier to find birds and put the moves on them with the open terrain out here. As long as the wind isn't blowing 50mph, you can hear birds from quite a ways off.

 

[blue devil]

It's not quite that easy, but there are a lot of turkeys around. I hunt in the central part of SD and it seems to be a bit more challenging. Rifles can't be used in spring time, but can be used in the fall.

Very beautiful, lots of forest. so if you're alone and you want to wonder away from the roads, don't forget to bring some survival stuff. Because you can get turned around and lost pretty easily. And the weather is unpredictable in the spring. Have a good time!

 

[mconway951]

I have hunted there lots in the spring and hill city is a great spot depends on the time of year you go if you go early they are usually bigger groups of birds concentrated together so you might not find them for a while but when you do there is lots of birds later in the year they are more dispersed and in smaller groups so you wont have to walk as far to get one to respond. Go out reno gulch road and go off the forest roads and you'll be in go shape.

 

[pointingdogsrule]

Weather is a big factor. snow will drive the birds down on to the private lands (out of the hills). Drive the roads and call (locate). The last time I went I came home empty handed. Just couldn't get the birds to come in. Go and enjoy the scenery and have fun. Go with the intention of having fun and the bird as an bonus add-on. You must apply for the tags early. The only place to by tags over the counter is the state capitol of Pierre (a long dirve to the east).

Note: last time I was there (alone) I drove a dead-end forest road and came across 2 guys with a METH LAB set up on the tailgate of the truck. The road was one lane. I smiled and they smiled. I turned around and left that road ASAP with the gun at my side.

good luck to all
the dog

 

[Mr.Bill]

On Oct 7th after dropping off the last antelope buck at the game processor we set the GPS to find Mt Rushmore. It took us over the top of the mountains on dirt roads barely wide enought to pass someone but the cool thing was the number of turkeys that we saw. WOW! One flock was so close to the truck and unconcerned about us being there we could have reached out the window and grabbed one. Beautiful birds, not quite as big as Rio Grands but nice birds.

 

[Sandhiller]

jruff002 if you decide to head out this spring pm me and I will do the best to help you find some birds. I live 8 miles east of Hill City.

 

[T Bone]

Lived in and hunted the Black Hills for 5 years...There are plenty of birds if you're willing to do some leg work. Park the vehicle and cover ground. If they don't come to you, go to them.