Daily Account, South Dakota deer, turkeys, trout.

[EBass]

Very cool read and when you couple it with photos it's like I'm right there minus the wind chills and eye to eye with a doe.

[mrklean]

great story don

[SpitnArgueDuckClub*]

Yep great story, how many more days are left in the story?

[DonBo]

Yep great story, how many more days are left in the story?

We gotta go home on Saturday. Two full days, plus Saturday morning.

[Scoot]

We gotta go home on Saturday.

That's the first part of your story I haven't liked! Great job, Don. Are there any muleys in the country you are hunting? If yes, have you seen some quality critters there?

[DonBo]

Are there any muleys in the country you are hunting? If yes, have you seen some quality critters there?

We've seen a few over the years, but very few. On another ranch we used to hunt I once saw a HUGE mulie, but that was years ago.

[DonBo]

Day 7. Thursday, Oct. 15.

35, N wind. Sat blind far south end of Big Field. Saw probably 20 deer, but only a couple close. One buck with nice 4 point one side, duncy fork thing on the other. Three or 4 other bucks running together, one was pretty nice.

Gary slept in and went fishing this morning, caught 5 trout, 1 big one foul hooked in the dorsal fin, that was fun! He then headed up into the hills across the road. He has shot several big toms up there over the years.

I moved my field edge stand to an open gate area at the far north end of the Big Field. After that I checked the field way to the south for the turkeys I've seen here before. They were there, probably 50 or 60. All looked to be (from 400 yards away) pretty big birds. They appeared to be headed to the river. I ran to the river and up the edge to where I thought they should be. As I snuck up the river bank to take a look a red head popped into view maybe only 25 yards away so I got the gun up and waited for them to show. Nothin'. I crawled up to a fallen tree on top of the river bank. One big red head popped up about 20 yards away. BOOM!!!!! One down, then heads were going up all around. Every one of those birds was within 40 yards of me. Another one stopped about 30 yards out. BOOM!!!!! Two down. The rest of the flock didn't really know what was happening and they headed down the river rather calmly. I waited till they were out of sight before going to retrieve my birds. There was only 1. I obviously missed the first one. No feathers, no nothin. Humph!

All the birds in this flock were jakes. A few had short beards. The one I got was maybe just a bit bigger than my first. My turkey tags are half filled.

I am more than ready to take a doe now with time running out, but nothing came close to my stand tonight. I did see 4 big bucks though, one was a BIG 10 pointer. One of the biggest bucks I've seen out here in a long time.

Gary came out of the hills with a nice tom. 8 1/2" beard. I would have taken a photo, but he shot it so far from camp that he just cleaned it on the spot and carried out the meat, and beard.

Just one full day left to get my deer.

Stay tuned...

[MarkAlm]

great story! makes us all feel part of the hunt. p.s thanks for the Thunderheads and the sweatshirt.

[Scoot]

One more to go, DB. You've really done a bang up job on this! Thanks again for taking us along for the ride.

[bigbucks]

Okay so where's Friday? It's time.

[DonBo]

Okay so where's Friday? It's time.

Okay, okay, sorry, I'm a busy boy these days. Darn work getting in the way, and, oh yeah, I'm trying to kill a deer and or a turkey or two at the same time. Anyway...here goes.

Day 8. Friday, Oct. 16.

My last full day to hunt, and my very last day to shoot a deer. I will not shoot a deer tomorrow morning just because of the logistics of getting one home.

Nice morning, 40, light SW breeze. Sat the same gate opening as last night. Watched several bucks head back up into the hills out of range, none as nice as the ones I was seeing last night. Finally had a doe in range at 30 yards, I drew and shot. Can't see the arrow out of my new bow, but the shot felt and sounded good. I watched her run up the hill maybe 75 yards and expected her to fall over. Instead, she looked back at me and began licking the top of her back. What the...I put my binocs on her and can see some blood on the very top of her back. %^&#@@@&*** it!!!!! I watched her for another 10 minutes as she worked her way back up the hill. My arrow had no more that a few hairs on the fletch. Humph! Time is running short!

Later I caught two 20" trout and a "little" 17 incher. Kinda sad knowing the trout fishing is over as well. It's been a great addition to an already great combo trip.

We were driving the woods road to set up another stand for my last night of hunting when we came upon another flock of turkeys. Nothing flashy or showy here, just get out and "surround" them. Gary missed one, I missed another, then I finally connected on a young hen. We each have 1 turkey tag left with not much time.

Last deer stand: Sat way south end of the Big Field. Nothing near me till late, then had 12 or 15 come into the field from my left. A nice doe stopped at 30 yards. I'd love to tell you all how I pulled off a 23rd hour victory, but for me on this trip it just didn't happen. I missed again. My new bow has missed two turkeys and two deer and is still a virgin.

Gary missed another big tom in the hills across the road tonight, but the good news is, our flock of turkeys behind camp is back. We decide to try to fill our last two tags tomorrow morning before we pack up for the long ride home.

[mrklean]

great story don thanks for keeping us on our toes

[DonBo]

Day 9. Saturday, Oct. 17th. Last morning, time to go home.

We had a flock roosted, each of us has 1 more tag to fill. Gary went into his blind that has been up (in a good spot) all week. I just took my stool and sat on the opposite side of all the birds from Gary. As it got lighter I could see turkeys roosting all around me. Lots of turkeys! (we talked later and decided there were at least 100 birds in this flock)

The first bird to fly down almost landed on top of me, but veered at the last second and sailed behind me. Most of the rest of the birds flew towards Gary. He shot. That sent birds in all directions, all except my way! I got in a ditch and snuck towards the largest group of birds. They all appeared to be pretty big. I got behind a deadfall, got my gun up and waited. Soon a bunch of red heads came into view. I waited just a few seconds for one of the larger ones to clear the others, then I shot! We did it! Both birds were jakes, mine sported a 4" beard. 8 turkeys in eight days! A pretty good feat in anyones book.

A beautifull sunrise on the last morning.

Yes, it was dissapointing that I didn't get my deer, but this will be remembered as the year of the big trout. Even without any game to bring home this is such a great trip. Beautifull scenery, abundant game, good friend. What more could you hope for?

Thanks for following along on my adventure!

[sticknstring]

What a great trip Don. Just being out in that beautiful country for a week makes it all worthwhile. The turkey breast fillets are just a bonus.

[DonBo]

mmmmmm. Turkey breast.

[Scoot]

Bravo! Well done, DonBo!!! Thanks again for taking the time to do this.

[Stratosman]

Yeah no kidding, that was a fun documentary to follow.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Great job sir!!! love the picts.. Both you and scooter may have started something.