Fall Turkey Question

[woody1975]

I am trying to set-up an antelope hunt for SD, but I have a couple of questions about the Fall Turkey Hunt.

First can you buy turkey licenses over-the-counter(Black Hills area)?

Second - I thought I saw some guys killing turkeys with rifles, Is that legal?

The reason for asking these questions is that I would love to buy a turkey license if I get drawn for antelope, but don't want to just go out for turkeys (this year!)

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

[woody1975]

Are we all Ice fishing?

I know its the wrong time of year for questions like this, but I need to start preparing now.

Any help would be appreciated?

[percherman]

Woody: You can apply for a fall Turkey permit usually the beginning of July. Antelope usually has to be in around the first week of August. You can't buy Black Hills Turkey permits over the counter any more. You can, however, have up to 5 turkey permits for any part of the state after the second drawing.So if there are leftovers, and you like to bang Turkeys, buy away!

You can also use high powered rifles or shotguns. I have seen first hand what a small grain bullet shot from a 30.06 does to a Turkey breast. It wasn't even worth tagging. It takes the sport right out of the sport.

My boy and my Father-in-law scattered the flock this fall and my boy called them in with his mouth. No call just used his turkey voice, and they both filled. That's the way to hunt them.

Check out the SDGFP web site for deadlines and applications.

Have a great hunt!!!!

[woody1975]

Thanks for the help -

Rancher just wants us to thin the turkey herd a bit.

[percherman]

I here that! When I first started hunting at the ranch I hunt at, the rancher's son and family had a double wide with a big aerial for a antenna. We would be watching TV and it would start to get real fuzzy at sun down till you went and spooked the roosting turkeys off the antenna. After 2 years of turkeys roosting up there the aerial looked like a 25' lightning rod. The weight of those turkeys busted every single horizontal piece off of the arial.

He finally switched to satellite dish and thought his problems were over, but they found away to roost on that and give him the fits too.

After careful "flock management" IE... scaring them out of there roost every night, he finally got them off his property and on to the US forestry service ground where they could no longer do any more damage to his property and be a nuisance. We didn't see them again for 12 years.

I sure missed seeing them poking around for many years. Two years ago, at dusk, while we were having a little social time with the ranchers, we heard the familiar sound of hens, and heard the beating of wings as they took to their roost in the trees. It was great to see the old haunting shapes of garbage bags swaying back and forth to the wind in the trees again.

The rancher had to admit, he was glad to have them home.

He has vowed to let us get tags and let the GFP manage his flock. He did say it wasn't a butterball this year.LOL

[Mr.Seaguar]

A lot of guys shoot one turkey with a rifle and then decide never again. Not me. I decided I was never gonna use a shotgun unless I had to by law. I shoot mine in the neck or wait until they are broadside and shoot them in the back. Depends on how I want to cook them. I have not ruined one or damaged much of anything. I`ve killed 4 with a rifle and I realize that isnt a huge sample.

Not much you can do right now to prepare other then decide how you want to take care of your game after you harvest it. It might be 85 degrees during antelope season. It was this year.