Black Hills Combo 2012

[DonBo]

Thursday, October 18.

40 degrees this morning. The winds were still howling, stronger than yesterday if that's even possible. My little tent trailer was really thrashed around during the night. So glad we had it tied down.

Sat my ground blind in the bedding area again. Saw 10 deer, including 3 nice bucks running together. Unfortunately they were on the neighboring property. Did have one VERY close encounter though.

Gary fished this morning, and when he could get his line in the water because of the wind, said it was a morning to remember. Caught one 20"er along with several in the 17-18" range.

Back at camp and heard a flock of turkeys. With time running out on our hunt and one tag left to fill, I grabbed my bow and headed after them. Got close a couple times, but just didn't happen. I did see a bunch of deer back here though, including a couple forkies running together that I really thought I was going to get a shot at.

Gary headed up into the hills. I was going to drive across the river and pull a couple of my stands...OMG! Big flock of toms!!!

I drove down a couple hundred yards, got all camo'd up, grabbed the gun and went after them. They were headed down a fenceline to the east. There happens to be a dry wash/ditch about 8' deep that roughly parallels the fenceline. I got into the ditch and ran ahead. Snuck a peek and they were still ahead of me so back down and run ahead some more. This time they were even with me, back down to run ahead some more. There's a downfall up ahead I thought I could sneak up to to get ready for a shot. Another peek and they had turned and were going to cross the ditch just ahead of me, maybe only 25-30 yards. I got comfortable, got the gun up and waited. There was a small opening they all to pass through. The first one to stop in that opening was going to get a ride in my truck.

Well the very first one stopped right in the middle of that opening and my trusty old 870 filled my last turkey tag.

With no one around to take photos, this is as good as it gets. He's pretty much a carbon copy of the last one. I'm very happy!

Just as I was coming up from the river after cleaning my bird, Gary walks into camp with an identical tom! He's filled out.

Quite a day, and it's barely noon!

Sorry.....more later.

[Scoot]

Wow! Quite a day indeed!!! Congrats on a great trip! Anything that happens after this is icing on the cake!

[IlliniWalli]

wow. thats 6 birds on 6 permits? and 2 nice toms in one day?

dont get no better than that.

[sticknstring]

Another year supply of wingbone yelpers! Beautiful bird! Can't wait to hear the last day heroics!

[DonBo]

Just a few extra photos I wanted to share before finishing the story tomorrow:

For you rockhounds, lots of petrified wood in the hills. The landowner has a huge stone fireplace at his home made from big chunks of this stuff, it's beautiful!

Bear Butte. Yep, one of these days I'm gonna climb that mountain.

A beautiful afternoon.

Unbelievable wildlife habitat.

Dang, ya sure get tired of opening and closing those gates out here.

What up?

One less for the spring hunters.

Did I mention there were lots of turkeys out here?

[dukhnt]

Looks like an awesome hunt!

[DonBo]

Thursday afternoon.

After taking some photos of Gary's bird I headed back into the hills. Wanted to add some brush to my blind and get settled early. The winds are still howling but are good for my chosen spot. Right about sunset, with the winds finally subsiding, after a long uneventfull sit I decided to stand for a minute and stretch. I also had a much better view of the area I expected the deer to come from. Hadn't been on my feet for a minute when I hear a deer walking in the dry leaves behind me, farther up into the draw. Close.

I slowly turned my head to see a big doe casually feeding on acorns. She's only 15 yards and totally unaware of my presence. I don't believe I could have pulled this off if I were sitting, but I slowly reached for my bow and when she turned quartering away and put her head down and front leg forward, I turned and drew. Yes, I would have loved to take home a big buck, but the opportunities have been few this week and tomorrow is the last day. Tags are nearly $300 and I hate not filling them. A lot of things like this were going through my mind as I squeezed the trigger.

The shot was perfect. She was out of sight in a flash. I sat down to calm myself and soon heard the crash. I knew she was down for good. I gathered my things and loaded them all in my backpack. After a few more minutes to make sure, I went to look for my arrow. It was right there totally covered in bright red blood. I walked up towards the top of the ridge where I last saw her and just beyond, there she was.

This is a really nice doe for this area, one of the biggest I've taken out here. The photo doesn't do justice to the body, but clearly shows the huge head on her.

Taking the life of such a great animal has always been hard for me. So many mixed emotions. Beneath it all, I'm very happy to have taken her in such a quick, humane manner. And to have done it from the ground has always been especially exciting for me. On the other hand, the week is done, the tags are filled and we have to go home.

Gary was, as always, a bit upset that he didn't get to come help on a blood trail, but he DID get to help load her in the truck.

The rest of the evening was spent hanging and skinning and enjoying a nice dinner in the FINALLY calm evening.

Tomorrow we pull our remaining blinds and stands and catch just a couple more trout before packing everything up for the long drive back east.

Thanks again for following along on the best week of the year for me.

[Scoot]

AWESOME!!! What a trip! Lots of birds, fish, and a filled deer tag- man, you must really be pleased with this trip (I sure would be). Congrats on a fun and extremely successful trip and thanks very much for sharing with us.

[rundrave]

great write up! I appreciated reading your story and the effort put forth to put it all together.

well done and congrats on an awesome hunt!

[Cheetah]

Congrats Don! Looks like quite the successful trip. If I have time next spring I might try the public land closer to your area to help thin out that flock. Assuming they are dumb enough to leave the private ranch.

[InTheNorthwoods]

Thanks for sharing again this year. Look forward to hearing about next years adventure.

An honest question with no intended "slight" - did you (or the landowner or SD G&F) have any issue with taking a doe out of the herd when there was an EHD outbreak that killed a number of deer? I know you mentioned that the young of the year and mature bucks seemed to be hit the hardest, I'm just wondering if there were any future population concerns? Seemed like you still saw a fair number of deer.

Edit***I should note, I've never dealt with EHD and don't know how widespread it was, or the impact it had/has.

[DonBo]

Thanks for sharing again this year. Look forward to hearing about next years adventure.

An honest question with no intended "slight" - did you (or the landowner or SD G&F) have any issue with taking a doe out of the herd when there was an EHD outbreak that killed a number of deer? I know you mentioned that the young of the year and mature bucks seemed to be hit the hardest, I'm just wondering if there were any future population concerns? Seemed like you still saw a fair number of deer.

Edit***I should note, I've never dealt with EHD and don't know how widespread it was, or the impact it had/has.

A valid question, one I've been asking myself. There are still a ton of deer on this and surrounding properties. As sad as this outbreak is, the herd needed some serious thinning. Honestly, the taking of a few more deer would probably still be a good thing.

So no, I don't believe taking one doe (or several) will hurt the future of the herd, and will probably strengthen it, and the habitat that has been decimated from overpopulation for so long.

[InTheNorthwoods]

Thanks for the answer. I take it that the area you hunt has not been impacted by severe winter weather the past few years (or is not as susceptible to winter kill) as areas farther north. I've heard a lot about western North Dakota's poor herd numbers, and NW South Dakota being a part of that as well, and really had no idea what the numbers were like in many of those areas (such as where you hunt).

As I mentioned, sounds like you still saw a lot of deer, and the area has a high carrying capacity. Your area appears lucky in comparison to others that were hit by EHD.

Again, fun looking hunt that many of us enjoy reading/following every year.

[bigbucks]

Great write up as always Don. That hunt looks like it would be "the best week of the year."

[bassmann77]

Thanks for sharing your great hunting adventure. It was something I looked for everyday to follow your wonderful week. Thanks for spending the time to put it on this site and allowing us to be in envy over the past few days.

[Borch]

Don I always enjoy reading about this hunt your two do every year. It's truly beautiful country out there with lots of game

[sticknstring]

Congrats on a beautful black hills whitetail Don! The darn tag hike is the main reason keeping me away the past few years. Hope to get back out one of these years when the kids get a little older. Gorgeous country for sure. Thanks for sharing your week with us - definitely a memorable one! Now time to crack down on the local whitetail population eh?

[paceman]

Outstanding Story and pictures! I am a bit sad that you didn't hunt more days!

[NELS-BELLS]

Great story and photos! Turkeys, deer, and nice sized trout....it doesn't get much better then that. Thanks for sharing.

Nels

[nbadger23]

Sounds like a great trip, thanks for sharing! I'm not sure if I'd be able to make up my mind what to do each day given the options of fishing, deer hunting or turkey hunting!

[huntnfish]

Nice work Don! Its gotta be tough to see all the deer laying around like that. I'm heading to Illinois hunting next week and I'm going to try my hand at something like this. You, Scoot and the others have inspired me. I figured if Scoot can do it, anyone can.

[DonBo]

I'm heading to Illinois hunting next week and I'm going to try my hand at something like this. You, Scoot and the others have inspired me. I figured if Scoot can do it, anyone can.

We'll be waiting for that.. Oh, and Scoot? He said it, not me.

In all honesty, it's Scoot's stories that inspired me to go through all the time and trouble to get this story posted. If it weren't for everyone's positive comments, this would NOT be worth it.

Thanks to all!

[slimngrizzly]

Pretty Cool Donbo! Lots of success there!! Glad to see you guys keep the tradish alive! Thanks for takin us!

[Whopper Stopper]

I hate it when I get in on a hunt right from the start. I found myself checking two to three times a day to see if anymore posts were entered (At least when I am Johnny come lately I can scroll through all the pages and read the whole thing)

Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks for a well put together adventure. I will probably never get a chance to go on a hunt like you, but through you, I did.

WS

[sportfish]

I love your story Don and I like how you tell it over the corse of a few days ! Thank You for sharing !!!!