advice on SD merriams

[twofer1]

oh man bobby your article lost me after the road hunting or trolling from the road/vehicle thing that is so far from what i think merriams hunting is with all that beautiful country to roam & explore on foot its a shame to stay in the car...

twofer1 road hunters pass many toms that can be killed they just learn to hush when that truck rolls by nice & slow... they freeze shut up & let it pass by then once its quit they go about there day... that is a common tactic used out in high hunting pressure areas of the west so do a little walking in away from the nearest road & hunt you will be better off in the long run your actually get to learn a area you want to hunt...

much better to do a little research B4 hand & put yourself in/on a good solid population of turkeys then hunt there...

also you got to mention the 3 states that the merriams sub species are NATIVE to CO, NM, AZ all other states are trap & transplant released birds...

I hear ya Man! I am looking forward to covering alot of ground on foot and enjoying the scenery! I think I understand what Bobby was saying. Use the vehicle to cover alot of area. But, get out and walk a bit and do some calling.

[Gopherlongbeards]

Sounds like you are looking good for your hunt twofer1, I'm sure you'll enjoy your hunt in the hills. It's still my favorite place to chase turkeys. It can be frustrating at times, going long periods without hearing and birds (but that's turkey hunting isn't it?) When that happens, take a deep breath and enjoy the scenery. Just remember, everything can change real quick when you get within earshot of the right bird. If you put the effort in, you will get your chances.

[turkey junky]

there are plenty of birds in the black hills so you wont have to cover miles if your friend can scout the area B4 hand & find more then 1 bird on the roost...

you will have to cover miles to get away from the road hunters looking for birds as there is alot of roads in them black hills...

bring good boot/shoes & you will be fine there is no shortage of birds in the hills like there is in MT at the moment my 2nd or 3rd thing i look for now when scouting is wear is the nearest road & if im to close i skip that are most the time as i hunt later in the season most the time & any EZ access points get beat down fast out west...

only the hardcore DIY guys will be in/at the walk in only areas or wilderness areas in most states so keep that in mind???

once you hunt all day its hard to go back to the NOON-1:00 pm stop time i love hunting all day i have way more success in actually calling a bird to the kill in afternoons they get real lonely after all the girls leave them ... in the mornings out west it seems them birds have a spot in there mind they want to go from the roost? they for the most part just dont fly down & sit under there roost tree like some easterns i have seen do?

[Gopherlongbeards]

once you hunt all day its hard to go back to the NOON-1:00 pm stop time i love hunting all day i have way more success in actually calling a bird to the kill in afternoons they get real lonely after all the girls leave them ... in the mornings out west it seems them birds have a spot in there mind they want to go from the roost? they for the most part just dont fly down & sit under there roost tree like some easterns i have seen do?

I would agree TJ, Most of the birds I've been involved with in SD have been taken between late morning and sundown. In the mornings they seem to have a plan, but are more open to suggestions in the afternoon?

[turkey junky]

I have no clue where birds were transplanted....even my Georgia Easterns were originally part of a transplant / restoration program

GA did always have birds down on the GA/FL border restoring is 1 thing trans planting turkeys to a state that never had turkeys living there is another its good to know a little about the animals we love to hunt so much...

thank the NWTF for its efforts lol

[Bobbyparks]

I think you got the gist of it Twofer

Seeing the country is what so great about the west....way different than tight woods in Georgia

And what I I talk about in vehicle actually does help get across the barren stretches in between the timber and in my case having my dad who is 72 helps him see and be able to stll hunt

You'll still walk plenty.......regardless..everyone likes to go about it the way they like to go about it

What TJ says about the Avian pox thing makes sense in regards to dates....although we didn't notice a difference until 3-4 years ago...and since I started hunting there as far back as 2002 there were never a lot of birds where we were .....but places that were always good for birds..we're completely empty last year

I actually liked that it was somewhat hard to find the birds because most of the time when we did find em...they'd come in and get shot.....spares birds made it a challenge and you see tons of property and wildlife...I love Montana and intend to hit the neiboring states at some point as well

The river has always our fall back spot......more like hunting the east..more birds in smaller tracts

I'll be out there again this year but will only hunt the river where the bird population was still good last year.

Well ride the prairie just because there's some pretty country...there are lots of timberr sections and draw s that would normally be where birds are....this year we wouldn't shoot a bird the if we found em....already hard to see how they're going to recover without some serious help

[twofer1]

One more thing. How necessary will a handhelp GPS be? If I need to, I will buy one, but just want to make sure if I will actually need it. I never need one in the areas I hunt here in Illinois. Thanks again, guys!

[Gopherlongbeards]

One more thing. How necessary will a handhelp GPS be? If I need to, I will buy one, but just want to make sure if I will actually need it. I never need one in the areas I hunt here in Illinois. Thanks again, guys!

It depends how good you are at maintaining a sense of direction. I typically carry a GPS. If we're going in far from a road I will drop a waypoint at the vehicle. Very rarely have I actually had to use the GPS to find my way back, but it's nice to have if you need it. So to answer your question, No you won't "need" one, but it will come in handy for finding roosted birds in the dark and give you a little peace of mind.

[twofer1]

One more thing. How necessary will a handhelp GPS be? If I need to, I will buy one, but just want to make sure if I will actually need it. I never need one in the areas I hunt here in Illinois. Thanks again, guys!

It depends how good you are at maintaining a sense of direction. I typically carry a GPS. If we're going in far from a road I will drop a waypoint at the vehicle. Very rarely have I actually had to use the GPS to find my way back, but it's nice to have if you need it. So to answer your question, No you won't "need" one, but it will come in handy for finding roosted birds in the dark and give you a little peace of mind.

Cool. I think I will probably be ok. getting jazzed! Booked my hotel tonight. Gonna be staying in Keystone. Got 2 or 3 Illinois tags to fill though to get warmed up for those Merriams!!! I will be out there May 14-18. Hoping for my first Merriams and my first Bowkill bird! Hoping to post some pics for you guys that helped me! Thanks again!

[plentycoupe]

I noticed a couple posts on BHNF maps. Is this one map or a series of maps depending on the areas you are going to hunt.

I plan on hunting the northern side of the Black Hills and am looking for the best maps I can find as I would like to hunt on foot as well as find a good area to hike into and stay for a day or two.

Thanks
Jason