Black Hills Spring hunt

[FinBonZ]

Looking forward on my work calender, I see I have a 4 day weekend in mid April( my birthday weekend!!). I am planning on going to the Hills of SD. If you have ever been there or have tips about were to go or not go, I would appreciate any input. I am planning on camping instead of having a roof over my head. Has anyone free-lanced the public areas?

 

[liv4archery]

Tons of turkeys in the Hills. You will see a lot of birds just driving around. The Southern Hills South of Custer are a lot more open the the central and northern hills. Plenty of birds in either place. As far as camping is concerned. There are plenty of places to camp and you can always just set up camp any where you want in the National Forest.

 

[Skully]

I have seen several hunting shows and read magazine articles that mention the Mt. Rushmore area as holding alot of Merriams. Turkey Call Magazine has a U.S. map in one of their issues that shows turkey species and populations of birds in all states. Sound like a fun adventure. Good luck!

 

[jkratz5]

Made it just east of the hills last year, on the reservartions out there. Was some of the best turkey hunting I have ever had, we took 6 birds in 2 days, 5 meriams 1 hybrid. I hear the hunting is just as good and fun in the hills. We hunted the more open terrain areas, but all the birds would hang out in the draws of timber around creek bottoms and river beds. We had a blast and are doing it again this year.

As far as the birds go, we had some really responsive birds, really liked the call, gobbled all day long, and when they saw a decoy they were hooked. Good luck and let us know how the hunt was.

Kratz

 

[oh2b]

The southern hills have a higer pop. density that most areas in the northern hills. Also the closer you get to the foothills the more birds you will see. For someone thats never been here and dont know where to go my best advice is to find the larger aspen groves with small fields nearby. They really like those areas. It also wouldnt be a bad idea to bring a pistol with some oomph. If you do indeed come here let me know.

 

[FinBonZ]

Thanks for your info! The closer Spring comes, I'm sure I'll have a couple more questions to ask. I will be doing a lot of web serfing for info in the meantime. Thanks again!!