2023 Black Hills South Dakota Merriam Turkey Help?

[jmez]

Winter wasn't bad in the hills last year. Winterkill wasn't an issue.

Sent from my moto g power 5G - 2023 using Tapatalk

 

[KurtR]

I'm aware of parts of the state with great turkey hunting, but please don't share it online. I'm quite familiar with the area you referenced. I don't want to steer non-residents away from the state, but I also don't want to give out specific areas. All I'll say is that both east and western SD has certain areas that are phenomenal.

Wasnt really giving out specific areas. Dont worry unless you know people you are not getting on any land the east side. I grew up there and new alot of people and it is still hard to get permission.

 

[spur60]

We saw no less than 500 turkeys while spending a week in the hills between christmas and new years. I had a cow elk tag, buddy had a statewide muzzleloader tag targeting muleys. I won't narrow it down any further in regards to numbers near public other than to say we stayed in Custer (lots of birds in town), and my elk tag was unit 2. One rancher's feedlot had easily 100-150 birds in it every morning we drove by. Eating the grain out of the cow pies. I could have shot 3 different big toms right from the hot tub at the rental we stayed at.

 

[Novashooter]

We saw no less than 500 turkeys while spending a week in the hills between christmas and new years. I had a cow elk tag, buddy had a statewide muzzleloader tag targeting muleys. I won't narrow it down any further in regards to numbers near public other than to say we stayed in Custer (lots of birds in town), and my elk tag was unit 2. One rancher's feedlot had easily 100-150 birds in it every morning we drove by. Eating the grain out of the cow pies. I could have shot 3 different big toms right from the hot tub at the rental we stayed at.

I'm not saying your are lying, but I was there, area BHE-H2. Got there christmas eve. Only saw one other truck which I suspect were after elk. Christmas day, shot a cow elk out of a herd of a few hundred, could have been 500. Stopped in Custer for lunch, went up to Hill City to register my elk. Never laid eyes on a turkey in the field, or in either city. Saw a few down below near Rapid City. I'm glad you stayed till new years. That Christmas night blizzard farther east was gnarly. Thats one of the few times I was in honest white out conditions.

I'm also guessing you know, but incase anyone reading doesnt, a muzzleloader tag is not valid in the black hills.

 

[spur60]

I'm not saying your are lying, but I was there, area BHE-H2. Got there christmas eve. Only saw one other truck which I suspect were after elk. Christmas day, shot a cow elk out of a herd of a few hundred, could have been 500. Stopped in Custer for lunch, went up to Hill City to register my elk. Never laid eyes on a turkey in the field, or in either city. Saw a few down below near Rapid City. I'm glad you stayed till new years. That Christmas night blizzard farther east was gnarly. Thats one of the few times I was in honest white out conditions.

I'm also guessing you know, but incase anyone reading doesnt, a muzzleloader tag is not valid in the black hills.

It's possible I shot my cow out of the same herd a few days after you did. would love to swap stories Anyways if you were out there during that time frame you saw the snow line roughly along 16. the turkeys were much more active south of the snow line. spent 2 days helping friends with H3 tags. traded water hauling labor for future hunting permission down in there...somewhere Saw very few turkeys where there was snow on the ground.

Also, ST1 muzzleloader tag is valid in the hills, except for in the park. You're thinking LM1 doe tags. I filled my LM1 tag 800 yards from the zone line.

 

[Novashooter]

Wow, I see you are correct. All this time I've been thinking the muzzleloader tag was only for most of the state. I feel dumb.

It's very possible you found one of the few flocks of turkeys left, although I still find it hard to believe there was 500 of them. It isn't that I doubt you, but I just haven't seen anything like that in years of hunting the hills for turkey, elk, and deer. Probably never will get a mountain goat tag. Would be sweet to one day get the bighorn tag. Most of all I'd like to get that muzzleloader tag. 3 years in now, haven't drawn yet.

As for the elk, I was in snow, but not that much. I don't recall a snow line, I think the whole state was more or less coated in a couple of inches. I heard the northern hills got a significant snow that storm of over a foot. Where I shot my elk was maybe 2" or 3" of snow, grass was still visible. I was coming from the north, so maybe it was different if you had been driving from the south.

Oh well, I still stand by my opinion that the BH's turkey population is not doing well. Since I burned my first draw elk on a cow tag, I'm not eligible for 8 more years. Fingers crossed I can draw another cow tag in the next few years for the 3rd+ drawings.

 

[Fatcamp]

Are the Hills worth using a muzzleloader tag in? I've only ever seen whitetails and smaller mule deer, but I don't spend a lot of time their either.

 

[Novashooter]

Are the Hills worth using a muzzleloader tag in? I've only ever seen whitetails and smaller mule deer, but I don't spend a lot of time their either.

I personally wouldn't bother, but maybe someone else knows something I don't. The whitetails out there are stunted, they are smaller most of the western part of the state. In the eastern half we have midwest size whitetail, an adult buck might be 200 pounds. I would guess they are closer to 125 in the black hills on average. There's not much for mule deer IN the black hills themselves. There's fair numbers surrounding it though. As hard a tag as it is to draw, valid state wide, I wouldn't use it to shoot a 125 pound 6 point buck.

 

[spur60]

Wow, I see you are correct. All this time I've been thinking the muzzleloader tag was only for most of the state. I feel dumb.

It's very possible you found one of the few flocks of turkeys left, although I still find it hard to believe there was 500 of them. It isn't that I doubt you, but I just haven't seen anything like that in years of hunting the hills for turkey, elk, and deer. Probably never will get a mountain goat tag. Would be sweet to one day get the bighorn tag. Most of all I'd like to get that muzzleloader tag. 3 years in now, haven't drawn yet.

As for the elk, I was in snow, but not that much. I don't recall a snow line, I think the whole state was more or less coated in a couple of inches. I heard the northern hills got a significant snow that storm of over a foot. Where I shot my elk was maybe 2" or 3" of snow, grass was still visible. I was coming from the north, so maybe it was different if you had been driving from the south.

Oh well, I still stand by my opinion that the BH's turkey population is not doing well. Since I burned my first draw elk on a cow tag, I'm not eligible for 8 more years. Fingers crossed I can draw another cow tag in the next few years for the 3rd+ drawings.

The single largest flock we saw was at that rancher's feedlot, totaling somewhere between 100-150 birds. I thought I saved a shapchat video as we drove by but apparently I didn't. It was crazy; there were birds literally standing under the semi & grain trailer eating every last kernel of corn they could see. No other flock we saw was larger than 10, maybe 15. Maybe we saw the same birds over and over; but they were scattered all over the area we spent the latter half of the week. I'll share more info via PM and leave it at that.

Are the Hills worth using a muzzleloader tag in? I've only ever seen whitetails and smaller mule deer, but I don't spend a lot of time their either.

I don't think I'd go in blind to the area my buddy shot his and expect to see many muleys, especially shooters on public. We knew of these deer due to previous trips out that fall and cameras. And Novashooter is right, the whitetails are small compared to prairie and ag country whitetails. 120" bucks had me slamming on the brakes and doing a double take because of the rack/body ratio, and my buddy would just laugh and say "nope too small." The doe I shot on the edge of the hills was the largest one in the meadow of the 6 or 7 grazing and she was easily 25 pounds lighter than the doe I shot in November to fill an east river rifle tag. For all of the hunting pressure that the black hills gets, it's still an amazing area; and we're blessed as SD residents to have the chance at hunts that mirror western big game style hunts without much travel or cost.

 

[Fatcamp]

I thought as much. That southern hills area looks cool, but I don't have the time to learn it for a tag I only got after 8 years.

I know where there are deer outside of the hills, just a matter of finding them on the right side of the fence.

 

[Jimss]

100 and even 300 turkeys in 1 feedlot in the middle of winter is relatively few turkeys if you consider that's when they are concentrated. During the spring those 100 to 300 turkeys generally migrate and spread out over thousands of acres and possibly 100 square miles. I've watched this happen on several large ranches in Nebraska for years.

I hunted Nebraska gobblers for around 8 years in a row on private land several years ago when turkey numbers were at an all-time high. It wasn't uncommon to see 100 to 300 turkeys in just about every feedlot in that area during the winter to super early in the spring. Once spring came along the turkeys scattered all over the hills. Turkey numbers have dropped so severely on those same ranches I haven't hunted turkeys for the past 3 years.

Unfortunately turkey numbers across the midwest have tanked from where they were around 10 years ago. Poor poult crops as a result of horrible weather and poor nesting conditions, disease, and predators have combined to severely impact turkey numbers across the midwest.

I've also heard from several sources that hunting turkeys during their prime strutting time with more hunters in the field and fewer toms available to breed hens has left some hens un-bred. Wyoming actually delayed the opening of spring turkey season 1 or 2 years hoping that more hens would get bred. To top it off, there has been an increase interest in turkey hunting and it's taken too many years for states to reduce hunting pressure on fewer birds.

Years ago I hardly saw any coyotes due partially to mange outbreaks. I've seen way more coyotes the past 5ish years. I've also heard that coon and other critters that eat turkey eggs/chicks has dramatically increased. Unfortunately, there are quite a few frustrated out-of state turkey hunters that travel all the way to S Dak, Nebraska, and Kansas with the same common story. If you do travel to one of these states it may take more days to see and harvest a tom? Hopefully states will continue limiting tags so turkeys have the opportunity to recover in the midwest states soon!