Team #5: Longbeard Assassins (6 for 6!)

[Scott M]

Cripes. MN season hasn't even started and the contest is already over.

[Tippman]

 Originally Posted By: da_chise31

Cripes. MN season hasn't even started and the contest is already over.

Don't you love it! Congrats paintbrush

[MNpurple]

Hoyt and Paintbrush, great birds! 4 beards is something else!

I managed to help us tonight too. Called in a bird at 7:10 pm! I'll get the score pics up tomorrow but he weighed in at 23lbs 12oz, 10 inch beard, and 7/8 inch spurs. What a chore fighting that wind today.

I was frustrated all day hearing only one gobble and seeing only one hen. Finally tonight the wind died down and I drove to a new farm and heard a gobble when I got out of the truck, off I went. He sounded a good distance away and I got moving too fast and crested this knoll in the woods only to spook a few birds. I gave a couple clucks real quick and one of the birds stopped and fanned out. He started to strut and the bird I was originally after sounded off again down the hill farther. When he turned his back to me I sat down and his hens dissapeared over the knoll and he followed. I tried calling to him but he was hung up about 60 yards out, gobbling to my calls but hung up. His hens actually left him and they started cutting and purring down the hill from me and I tried to immiatate them. I must have really ticked one of them off as she really let me have it with charp cuts and loud yelps, but each time she started in I cut her off making her even madder.

He was still in between me and the hens gobbling up a storm while the "hen fight" was going on. Finally his hens shut up and I just kept hammering away with sharp cuts from a diaphram, he kept gobbling, and finally made a move toward me. As soon as I knew he had made his move I shut up. I was set up right on the other side of the tiny knoll and it wasnt long before I could hear leaves rustling and up popped his head. At 25 yards he hung up again but I could see only his head clearly and down he went.

What a thrill it is when you can cackle and cut as hard as you could ever want to and it only fires him up more. This was a case where had I backed off my calling when he first answered me, I think I would have lost him. I think me out talking that other hen closed the deal.

[Tippman]

Awesome Mnpurple! That's a thick beard. Great story with it too, isn't that exciting! So if my math is correct the Longbeard Assassins are 4 for 4 now

[Scott M]

This is a murderer's row of turkey hunters.....Just an embarrassment of riches over here...Congrats.

[sticknstring]

Paintbrush and Purple - Congratulations! Nice birds you guys scored on. I love that picture with the full moon. Very nice. Paint - lets see some pics of your Kansas Rios. Last I heard Tipp was heading out to a spot where he had 9 longbeards on a trail cam so hopefully we'll be 5-5!

We got back from the Black Hills last night and although it was great trip, we came home empty-handed. In fact, we didn't even get any shots. The weather couldn't have been nicer. It was snowing the day we pulled in but a half hour later the sun was out and it stayed that way the rest of the trip without any wind. Definitely a learning experience. A lot different hunting than back home. The Fall River prairie unit wasn't too bad... more pastures and draws like you'd see here. We were on birds the entire time down there but couldn't get them to come in. Flocked up in groups of 20-30 and calling the boss hen in was next to impossible. You'd touch the call and they'd go the opposite way. Up to Custer and the hunting got even harder. Made a few stalks but with archery equipment it seldom works out and it held true in our case. Little gobbling. Made an effort to head up towards Deerfield Lake but ran into about 3 feet of snow above 6000 ft and had to turn back. I think a week or so later and the hunting will improve. Definitely feel defeated that's for sure. But I love the challenge and will be back... maybe even before the season closes. Saw lots of game... plenty of mulies, antelope, and unbelievable numbers of whitetails. I was really hoping to get on some elk but that didn't pan out. Anyone else been out there or plan on going? I'd love to chat about current or past hunting adventures out there. Neat place for sure.

[Tippman]

Sounds like a fun trip sticknstring. I would love to travel doing more hunting out of state.

I don't get to hunt for 3 weeks yet as I didn't get drawn this year. I've never late season hunted before so am excited to see how it goes. Unfortunately I have fishing opener and a Boundary Waters trip also planned during my open season.

[sticknstring]

Oh that's right... for some reason I was thinking you were headed out this morning. The 16th will be here before you know it. If I can land a spot - I'll try and get out as well. Those trail cam pics are awesome. Keep 'em coming. Did your buddy ever score a bird during A? We always do a spring BWCA trip as well but vacation ran out this spring with turkey jaunts... which entrance point you going out of?

[Tippman]

I'll be checking the trail cam again soon and will try and post more pics. I had a VERY nice tom 15 yrds in front of him. Long story but first he didn't have the chamber closed all the way and click, then he got a shot at about 23 yrds and didn't kill it, fired once more at 35 and the bird was still going. We put in quite a bit of time looking and just feathers, no blood. I don't know what he was doing, kinda frustrating. I have the whole thing on video too but it didn't turn out for some reason, it's blurry.

Put in at a different place nearly every year in the BW. Really getting to know the whole area by doing this and it's nice seeing different places. This year we enter Crab lake #4. Gotta put in at Burntside to get there, then it's a mile portage. Should give us a workout. Lots of different lakes to go to in this area once we pass the long portage.

[HNTNBUX]

sticknstring I am heading to Custer Wednesday night through the weekend. The weather forecasts I have seen this spring look depressing. Last year we were out there for the opener and it was too early. We talked with a lot of guys that said 2006 was great with lots of birds around on opening weekend and 2007 the birds were still at lower elevations. So this year we chose to go later but I'm sure it is going to be late enough yet. Last year we still went 2 for 3. This year its just me and Wanderer.

Is there still snow in the Hills? Did any of the deer or elk still have there antlers? Last year the bucks had dropped but the elk still had their antlers. I am hoping to find a good elk shed this year.

[Hoyt4]

We just got back from SD,12 birds out of 16.8 hunters two birds each.11 long beards and 1 jake everyone at least shot one bird.Was great time we even found 6 sheds one complete set.Also we found 6 heads with the antlers attached that was cool.Have a them at home going to bring in and see if I can have a taxidermist make a scene with a turkey tail and one of the skulls.Get to hunt MN next week ton of birds out there right now hope they are around when it's my turn.Our team is looking strong right now.

[MJCatfish]

Super nice bird, but the story is even better! It sure is a thrill when you can compete with other birds with aggresive calling.

Congrats,

MJ

[Borch]

Matt your report has be happy we're not leaving for the hills until next week. We may need to hit the lower elevations as those tend to break up a bit earlier than the higher elevations.

Beautiful country isn't it? Well it is until that boss hen leads the flock over a steep ridge.

[sticknstring]

Borch - You're timing out there should be pretty good. I was talking to a few of the locals and they said it had been a cold spring up until opener so after a week of sunshine and temps in the 60's & 70's I'm sure the birds are starting to do their thing. There's still snow in the higher elevations and west-facing slopes especially as you head west out of Rapid City. Didn't see many birds up high either. Do the turkeys and deer start off in the bottoms in the spring and migrate to higher elevations as the summer progresses? Of the hundreds and hundreds of whitetails we saw - no antlers were spotted. They run SMALL. I'd guess they average about a 110 lbs. But we checked in with a few archery shops and they've got plenty of great bucks so I'm not sure if they hang out at higher elevations or what but most of what we saw were lab sized. Never saw any elk either but the boys in Custer said they were around? Everyone I talked to out there before our trip said that this was the most birds they've seen in the hills in the last 25 years so they're out there - Best of luck to HNTNBUX, Wanderer, & Borch out there. A short well-known tip I can give is to look for horse & cow dung. You find that and birds will be there. Just like home - this will mainly be private land. Had we knocked on some doors our luck may have changed but with all the public land available, I was hoping to do it strictly on our own. Find a piece of National Forest that adjoins these farms and you'll be a step ahead. Also Custer State Park is loaded with birds and some big birds to boot. Plenty of public ground surrounding the park to try out. Birds run a lot smaller out there. You tag one in the 20's with a beard longer than 8" and you've got yourself a nice bird. Short whispy beards. Also - I went out dreaming about taking a PURE Merriam but was disappointed in that aspect as well. Most of the strutting toms we saw were hybrids as one would see in NE. Granted there's some around but I guess you need to travel another 50-60 miles west to get into the purebreds. Please report your finding when you get back - I'm curious in figuring out how turkey tags get punched out there! You guys going with shotgun or rifle?

Hoyt - Sounds like your crew had a great hunt. Big group - were you through an outfitter? You were up near Sisseton right? What's the story up there for land access - any walk-in or public ground? I've still got my SD statewide archery tag I'd like to fill and that area would be about 4 hours closer than the hills. Nice score on the skulls and sheds as well. Always a nice bonus.

Here's a few pics from the trip. First one at the summit of Cisero peak at 6100 feet and the 2nd of what nearly every field/pasture looked like in the MIDDLE of the day.

[Borch]

There will be birds both high and low. But early there tends to be more low and they are further along in the breading cycle than the high elevation birds. We've shot some very nice birds out there with a couple in the 20-23lb range but most fall in the upper teens. The way it's set up is that much of the private land parcels are open within the BlacK Hills National forest unless they are posted.

An unreal amount of deer for sure. We usually see mostly whitetails but have seen many mulies as well as elk.

There are plenty or pures but lots of hybreds as well. I'd say we're about 50/50 on the birds we've taken out there over the years.

Everyone who gets a tag gets a survey where you report your results as well as several other questions. Unless it's changed there isn't a formal registration process.

We'll be out there with shotguns. I don't like the rifle thing.

[Tippman]

My brother shot his first bird at 6:15 this morning out of my blind. 23.5 lbs and 9 1/4 beard. Only have played phone tag with him so don't know how long the spurs were.

[MNpurple]

Man SD sure sounds like fun! I've never heard anything bad about it. Do you need access to private land to do well, or just hunt the public land around the black hills? How about competition?

[Hoyt4]

Sticknstring, I didn't even check out any of the state land.We hunt the tribal land.I do know there is some around that area but I'm not sure how good it is for Turkey's.No outfitter,last year we had 6 in the group and went 11 for 12 with a couple of misses by one in the group to make it an even dozen.Not that we have to fill out.I shot a jake but had a blast watching the shows these birds where putting on.

[Tippman]

Here's my bro's and dads bird.

[sticknstring]

Tipp - Nice birds! That thins the flock to around what... 12 longbeards?

Purple - there's more than a million acres of public land to hunt on out there. Plenty of space to spread out although we didn't see all that many hunters. However a good share of the birds we saw were near private (cattle/horses/manure) & state park land which only residents can hunt. I think food up in the hills is a little hard to come by this time of year. Ask lots of questions and put in some homework and make it reality. It's a great trip, especially if you've never been out there.

Hoyt- How does one go about getting tribal tags? Is it a lottery like the prairie units and what's your experience been with getting on the tribal land to hunt?

[Hoyt4]

Sticknstring, yes it's lottery.They also knocked down the quantity this year and made two seasons.200 for each season.Getting on the tribal land is not a problem we have only been going for the last two years.

[8point]

Ok here is my bird that I entered.

[Hoyt4]

Nice bird 8point.Congrats way to keep the team rolling.

[MNpurple]

Great bird 8point. He's got some really nice color!

[Tippman]

Cograts 8pt. Nice bird. That puts us at 5 for 5. The pressure is really on me. Now I'll surely blow it!