Black Hills 2011.

[Cheetah]

Good morning everyone! I like to write down the accounts of my big hunts and share them, some of you may remember last years turkey hunt or my elk hunts. I arrived home late last night and since everything is still fresh in my memory and we have network problems in the office today, I took the time to write out the last five days. Sorry for any spelling or grammatical errors, I really should do some actual work here today.

My 2010 Black Hills hunt write-up can be found here.

Enjoy!

Day 1 - Friday.

Neil and I arrived in Rapid City Thursday night and got some good rest to get started for our first day. Unfortunately the weather was not on our side. The weather radio on the way out was saying up to 8" in the northern hills and Wyoming side. 25mph winds with gusts to 50, chance of rain and snow.

We went into our usual area and started covering ground. Didn't hear a single gobble the entire morning. Turkey sign in general was down considerably. While walking we spooked a dozen elk out of a valley. Three had big bases started for antlers. A couple smaller bulls, maybe spikes, and the rest cows. Lots of deer were still around. No turkeys though.

As we finished our big loop we decided to sit for a while in the one area we saw turkey sign in since we knew in the past they sometimes would just cross through this area between hills. Not long after sitting on my hillside I spotted a turkey across the valley sneaking through. I glassed it and thought it was a hen, but didn't have much time to look. It wouldn't respond to my calling. About 20 minutes later I saw more movement on the same hillside, at first I thought they were deer, but they turned out to be 5 half-curl bighorn rams. They caught my scent swirling around the area and were really spooky buy couldn't decide where to run. They would do quick bursts of running 40 or 50 yards then stop again and look. They hung around, bedded in the sun, they got spooky again. Eventually they ran right to the hill I was on and went above me about 40 yards then crossed behind me into the next small valley over. I trailed them for a bit taking more photos.

I still had some time before meeting back up with my uncle, so I decided to walk up the cut that I saw the turkey disappear into to see if I could find anything up there. I called my way up slowly. As I walked to about 100yd from the top of the ridge I saw some movement ahead. It was a turkey, running right at me! I took a knee in the grass and got the gun up, I could see a beard as it ran, but it wasn't big. He ran up to 40 yards and I confirmed it was a jake, he hit the brakes and knew something wasn't right about that thing in the grass in front of it... I could have shot, but decided I didn't want a jake on day 1. He did a circle, then gassed it and ran off. Never made a peep.

We ate some lunch and since it seemed like a wasted day I wanted to at least walk into a new area just to look it over. We picked a spot that off to the NW of us via a different road and drove around to it. It turned out that the bottom of the entire valley had been logged out last summer. The upper half of all the slopes and the ridge tops were still good pines. The road through wasn't very long, and as we got in about 3/4 mile or so I spotted a gobbler in the road ahead of us. It looked like he saw us, but didn't run. I sprinted up the road since he was behind a rise and pile of pine branches and as I got close I saw some hens run out from the ditch in the road. I hoped the gobbler would be behind the pile of branches, so I crawled up and peeked through. I saw him out about 50 or 60 yards, but he had his head down and was feeding away up the ridge finger. As he went over the top I ran up after him and peaked on the other side to see that the whole group went over and was feeding their way across the wide open logged area to the next finger. I called but none of them cared about me and just kept moving away slowly. As they neared the far side we decided to try to run up the hill and get around and in front of the flock. We weren't fast enough though and they gave us the slip...

[Cheetah]

Day 2 - Saturday.

The weather forecast had changed and we were looking at a very nice weekend of hunting. Temperatures in the morning were around freezing, but highs were in the 40's to 50's. We decided that I would drop off Neil at the spot from yesterday since he wanted to sit on the area where I saw the bighorns. I wanted to drive around to the flock with the big gobbler in the logged area. It worked fine, until I got to my spot and a truck was parked there and I only had a few minutes before shooting light... I had already passed three other trucks on the road into where I parked, so backtracking wouldn't do any good. I didn't have another option so I went in anyway and figured I would work whatever side of the valley the other hunter wasn't on. There was a solid dusting of snow on the ground, enough to make it all white, but no real accumulation.

I made it about a hundred yards up the logging road when I heard the gobbler, up the first cut above the parking spot... I figured the other hunters would be on him already, and I heard some yelping on the end of the finger right above their truck. So I decided to move up the road and get up high on the hill on another finger above or at least even with the gobbler in hopes the flock would move my way instead. It was a good idea, but they I heard more yelping down the finger with the hunters, I suspect they ran into all the hens and set up right there and weren't able to move through them in the dark.

The gobbler was up high on the finger near the top of the hill and I probably could have snunk up much closer but decided to hang back and not screw up the other guys who beat me in. When the gobbler came out of his tree, he walked over the finger towards the road, I figured he was going to move down to the hens below. He did, but I think the whole flock dropped down to the cars, probably walked right past them... I heard the other hunter(s?) do a bad owl hoot from below me, so I knew where they were now and started walking away to hunt another area.

After only a few minutes the gobbler turned into two, and they were going crazy coming up the main logging road in the base of the valley. The hens were going at it too cutting at each other and fighting. I decided I would move way up the valley since I figured they might come all the way up to where we saw them in the road the afternoon before. I made it most of the way across the face of the hill and then the flock shut up and disappeared. My best guess is the other hunter must have tried to sneak them on the road and blew them out of the area.

I made a huge circle of the valley rim and called off into all directions trying to locate new birds. Nothing responded. I managed to jump one hen on the way back down to my car. The other truck was gone.

Neil had worse luck than me. He managed to get lost in the dark because he tried to cut cross country instead of taking the road. His right foot started hurting really bad too after the 6 or so mile hike he went on. When I found him on the logging road he stood up and said it felt like a knife was just stabbed through his foot. We managed to limp the mile back to my car.

We drove back to the house to rest a while and figure out a new area to hunt. With the low bird numbers in our usual area I started looking at the forest service map and comparing to satellite images of areas closer to the house. We found an area just off of 16 that looked like it was worth walking into. It turned out that half of it was burned out in the last fire through there 6 or so years ago. I remember that one because my aunt and uncle could see it from their house and almost had to evacuate. There were still some cuts with pines though, and we managed to find one very loud hen that came into us yelping non stop.

Before leaving we finally got one bird to gobble on a far hillside a couple miles over. We decided to figure out how to get there on the maps for Sunday.

[Cheetah]

Day 3 - Sunday.

We decided that we would start the day up near our usual area but in another section of valleys that have a different road access. We had the whole area to ourselves, but again not much sign and no gobbling. We were attempting to find a high open area on one of the hills that is easy to see on the satellite, but impossible to find when walking... We ended up back in the far reaches of where we usually make our big loop, and actually on the same hill as where I shot my turkey last year. When we got there we heard a gobble the cut ahead where the logging road lead. We snuck up after them, the hens would cut and yelp in response to me, but as we neared the top the flock stop calling and disappeared. We moved to the nearest open hilltop to sit and call.

After a while we had what sounded like two gobblers, probably with hens, work past us on the next big hill over. They gobbled a few times and left...

Another 20 or so minutes later we had another gobbler respond, this one seemed fired up and kept coming our way. We set up quickly on the back side of a rise to try to call him over. I would shoot if he came left, Neil on the right. It was clear this bird was coming right in to us. He gobbled twice just over the rise, maybe 60 yards, then marched right in. I had the gun on him and was ready, but he was on Neil's side and I didn't want to shoot across his front. The bird got behind a pine tree anyway. At that point Neil had shifted as he heard the bird work slightly left to me, but he couldn't see it yet. Only a few moments later it came into view for Neil and he pounded it at 25 yards. We were within 100 yards of where I shot my bird last year, on the exact same little ridge, and nearly identical birds in size, spurs and beard.

It was still only mid morning and the weather was nice. We had birds that worked through ahead of this one, so we sat a while and just called and listened. Unfortunately nothing else wanted anything to do with us, so we packed up at lunch time for the long hike out. Neil's foot still hurt and he still limped a little, but the ibuprofen helped and I didn't have to carry him, or the turkey.

After lunch I decided we should try driving up a road I found on the maps and satellite that seemed to go right through where we heard the gobbler late Saturday afternoon. The road was in good condition, but clearly rough and not used often. The gate was open though, so we drove on through. We hit the first creek crossing within a quarter mile, and I had never driving my Outback through a creek. I was a bit nervous... Neil said to just go at it slow and keep going, it was shallow, and they do it all the time in Idaho... So I hit it, kinda fast... And made it! We kept going and had to cross the creek as it snaked down the canyon five or six times total. One spot was about 20' wide, but thankfully shallow.

The general look of the area was very rugged and steep canyons, so we didn't have much hope of it being really good turkey hunting territory. The road soon turned to more of a rugged logging road and looped back around to a nice gravel road. I was pretty confused as to what the heck we just drove on, because it was nothing like what the forest service map indicated it should be. We finally managed to find a parking area and walked down a section of canyon. The forest service had blocked it off so people wouldn't drive in on the old road anymore. It ended up turning south, but we kept walking thinking it was leading to what I saw on the satellite images. We eventually said screw this, we were going cross country where the direction we wanted!

First hill up, call, hen yelps back but won't come in to us. We kept moving, east east east. Crossed a road? What? This wasn't on the map. We realize then that this was the road we drove up the day before with the creek crossings. We went up and down another couple hills, looked down and saw another road? It was a hour to sunset and Neil wanted to keep going. I didn't... Luckily I carry my GPS which has at least some of these forest roads on it. Somehow we ended up way south east of the car, nowhere near where we wanted to be, and we hit the same road we drove on the day before twice in two different spots... So we took the road back to the car. On the way we saw a group of six birds moving through a grassy area where the road took a 90 degree turn. They spotted us and went up the hill to where they were going to roost. According to the GPS the original road actually kept going straight. This is why we got so lost driving through here, the gps and paper maps didn't match the new roads.

We arrived at the car at dark and heard birds gobbling behind us. More than one, so we were coming back here in the morning for sure!

[Cheetah]

Day 4 - Monday.

At this point I was ready to shoot anything legal. We parked and walked up the canyon trying to figure out what side the gobbling was coming from. The echos off the walls made it hard to pinpoint anything. We started up one side, then decided to go the other way. It turns out we had birds on both sides of it. We worked to within 100yd of the bird on the right, which we thought was two. We sat, did some light clucks and purrs, but he wasn't interested. Just before sunrise they all shut up and we saw our bird pitch out of his tree away from us... We started after him and he would gobble back to us, but there was no way we could catch up to him or turn him around. We chased him all the way to private land and he disappeared.

We circled back to look for the other group we heard gobbing. We managed to get a gobbler to respond off in the distance, and we went after him. He kept going though and we hit another private fence after a while. Instead of just walking in circles we decided to pick a more central hill and sit and listen for a while. After a half hour or so I managed to get some hens to respond. Then a gobbler, but he was on a far ridge and moving to the hens fast. We tried cutting down to get between them, but weren't fast enough. They all moved off away from us once we started calling. We tried waiting around a while to see if any more birds would work through, but nothing happened so we packed up to get lunch.

At this point we didn't have many good options, so we went back to our usual area just to walk in and see if anything moved in. Immediately we had a gobbler right above the car, so we moved up and called to him, and he walked away with the hens that yelped at us... Another mile or so later we had another gobbler way up on the peak of a high pointy hill. We went up after them and they tried circling around it on us. We made it to just below the top on the back side, and they wouldn't respond anymore. Neil looks up towards the peak and spots one within range but in thick cover. We see two or three birds trying to sneak away, I saw a red head on one, but no shot. We crept up after them around the right side of the peak thinking they might be trying to circle it again on us. They weren't there, and as I stood there for a few minutes frustrated the whole group of five birds took off from just down the hill a little ways where I didn't expect them to go... Awesome...

Our plan was to go back to where Neil shot his bird just to listen, so we kept going. Our feet hurt, but we made it and of course a bird gobbles up on another hill just a little further on. We tried circling around to get behind them but spooked some deer on the way. The turkeys weren't there...

[Cheetah]

Day 5 - Tuesday

Last chance for me! I was pumped and was going to go aggressive on any bird I could get to gobble. I went back by myself to the tight canyon we had birds in on Monday morning. They weren't gobbling yet, so I was getting a little nervous but kept moving down it. I finally got one to gobble, so I snuck right up under him. I saw him in the tree but wasn't entirely sure it was him. It was, and before sunrise he flew down away from me. I ran up to the top to see if I could figure out where he went. I called a few times, he gobbled, then a hen yelped down the ridge and he was maybe a hundred yards down it. He gobbled a few more times to me but they were clearly walking away. I knew this spot now though so I ran back down into the canyon so I could run the road to get in front of them.

Between the higher humidity, fog, and me running, my glasses were fogging and I was sweating bad. I wasn't going to let this bird just walk away though. The ridge split into two small fingers and as I neared the end of the first one where the road turned 90 degrees left I did a couple crow calls. The turkey gobbled, just over this finger, so I knew he was on the other finger moving down into the grassy area we saw the six birds in two evenings before. I had this guy. I knew he was going to come marching right down the gravel road and into the grass. I slowed down as I neared the row of boulders blocking the old road I was on so I could look over. I saw the hen out in the grass feeding to the right. I had to hustle to get in range. I had a row of tree root balls set up as another barrier maybe 20 yards ahead. It was open grass from there to the gravel. I managed to get my gun up to use a root as a rest and I just waited expecting the gobbler to march right in front of me.

The hen came into view, then the gobbler, my glasses were fogging bad. I struggled to slow my breathing and slowly wipe my lenses with my gloved finger. The gobbler was in full strut pacing back and forth. I had a bit of red brush between us, I needed him to come right a bit more and stick his head out. It was going to be a long shot, I figured 50 to the gravel. 30 minutes went buy and he only left strut once to gobble with the brush between us. In that time I heard more birds down the road to the right, I expected any minute these two would go that way, I hoped he would drop strut.

Slowly the hen fed right, almost to the opening, then she went back left to where I couldn't see behind a tree. The gobbler paced, strutted and drummed the whole time. It's a good thing I had that root for a bench or the gun would have been shaking all over. The gobbler wanted to go to the flock, so he strutted right through my opening for the second time and stuck his head out just out of range. He moved to about 100yd and into a dip in the road. Strutted on the far side of it, then back to my side. The hen didn't want to go. I was worried he was just going to walk off. I thought I could hear the hen scratching just left and behind me, probably within 20 yards, but I didn't dare move an inch.

The gobbler was getting sick of her at this point and dropped into the dip again for a good five minutes. I thought for sure he was going to sneak off on me. Finally he popped up again about 20yd to the left of where he went in. Head up high trying to find the hen again. Coming my way, a few feet at a time. I had my shooting spot picked, when he hit the patch of green grass. I was going to shoot then run him down if I had to. He marched up and stood about two feet to the right of my spot. It was clear, and I didn't want to risk any more, so I put the bead on his head and pulled the trigger.

When the smoke cleared I saw him flop and start half running away! I was on my feet and racing out into the grass after him and pumping in another shell. I couldn't see him as I ran, so just as I got near the road I spotted him. He made it about 20 yards and was on his feet but only able to stand a little, wobbling and looking at me. He could make a break for it any moment. I didn't let him have his chance. One more shot to put him down. He flopped a bit into what turned out to be a dry creek bed that he had hidden in earlier.

I had a serious adrenaline rush at this point. I looked around, did anyone just see that? Nope, it was just me in there. That was AWESOME! I let out a quick whoop, I don't usually do that, but was just so excited I had to do something. I checked my phone, it was 6:45.

The view from my gun rest where I took the shot.

I paced off the shot to 48 yards. Beard is 7.5" long, spurs 3/4", weight 15.5lb. Typical Black Hills gobbler. They just don't put on the weight picking through pine needles all day.

[mws4dux]

Great story and pics. Glad to see all your hard work payed off ! Congrats!!!

[Sutty]

Nice hunt. Hopefully MN will be easier :-)

[DonBo]

Thanks for the story Josh. Way to get the full 5 days of hunting in! Another fine example of persistance paying off.

[bigbucks]

Great job, seems like if you stay after turkeys, as long as you can keep finding them sooner a later a guy can connect.

[DHost21]

Awesome story! Great pics! Thanks for sharing

[Hoyt4]

Nice work Cheetah congrats.

[Wanderer]

Good deal Josh! Thanks for taking the time to recount your hunt for us.

[sticknstring]

Heck yeah - a fine black hills gobbler in the bag! Well done!

[Shu]

Nice! Congrats

[duckhuntr21]

Great story and congrats on the nice bird.

[hugonian1]

Nice job Cheetah.

I cracked a sweat just reading your story.

You definitely earned that bird.

[engfish]

Always a treat to read about your adventures and check out your photos. The sheep pictures were a great start to the week, and the beautiful Merriam capped it off nicely.

[summit090706]

I truely love the pictures and stories you tell. Thanks so much and congrats!