# Black Hills Turkey Hunt 2012 - Take a kid hunting



## birdman (Nov 21, 2007)

My 12 year old and I took off Wednesday for the Black Hills. Each with a two bird South Dakota prairie permit and the option to buy otc Wyoming tags. Over slept and got off late. Arrived at the SD ranch with about two hours before dark. Just before dark I managed to hank a gobble out of a bird up the draw about a third of a mile from camp. Waited a few minutes and called again with an eruption of gobbles from the hillside. Game on for the morning after setting up a blind in the dark with threat of rain in the am. Weather turned out to be great in the morning and I had managed to set the blind up about 75 yards from about 6-8 gobbling birds. Of course, they did not fly down into our lap as I had hoped but one hen almost landed on the jake decoy. She lingered for awhile and then wandered off. The prairie tag in South Dakota is an any bird tag so hens are legal even in the spring (strange to me). I told my son he could shoot it if he wanted but he said he wanted to wait for a tom. Minutes later another hen walks right down past the decoys and away from us down the trail I had set the blind up on. Then a gobble over the rise with has tail fan soon showing. As soon as he came over the rise he was in gun range and made a bee line towards the jake decoy looking for a fight. My son dropped him at 20 yards. Nice bird with a 9 1/4 inch beard and 1/2 inch spurs.









Later that day I called another tom in to about 12 yards and he pulled the trigger to the dreaded click so I had to shoot him as the backup because he got real spooky when he heard the click. Also 9 1/4 inch beard and 1 inch sharp spurs.

Day two brought less gobbling and most of it on the wrong side of the boundary fence, so we spent several hours on a sunny hillside intermittently calling to a gobbling bird that just would never commit to coming down the ridge to us. I thought this would be a good opportunity for my son to practice some calling. He got out his slate and after a series of yelps a bird gobbled down the draw. I called and he did not gobble. Son calls again and he gobbles. Great moment for the boy. We dash down the hill and cross open country to timber around the corner from the gobbling bird. We managed to close to about 100 yards before we had to sit. A few clucks and soft yelps and the boy has his second South Dakota bird. 7 7/8 inch beard with 1 inch spurs.









At that point I decided to make the move to Wyoming so he could try for bird #3. No action that afternoon and no birds roosted. Had me concerned. Those concerns quickly went away the following morning when a bird gobbled at a coyote call. Light was coming up and we had to make a mad dash to get into position. Unfortunately, I did not make it to where I wanted to go and had to set up in a less than ideal spot. After several minutes of gobbling, a hen started up between us and the tom. I thought we were cooked at that point but I got as raspy on the calling as she did and tried to cut her off every time she yelped. It was way more calling than I like to do but it worked. She flew down to us looking for a fight. She walked within three yards of me and crossed a deep ravine to the edge of a field. Moments later the tom was within 10 yards of my son but to his right. He was unable to swing that direction and let the bird walk back down the hill. My heart was pounding waiting for his shot. Turns out he had a hen right beside him and my son did not want to chance the shot. My heart sank when he, another tom, and the three hens with them took off flying across the ravine to the other hen near the field. Golden opportunity missed, or so I thought. Once the birds moved into the field we dropped below the lip of ravine and made a move down along the edge of the field to try to get ahead of them. One of the hens yelped very close to the edge and me made a quick move to the edge of the field. As I slowly stood, I could see the tom within range of my gun but not my sons, so I made a few soft clucks and he erupted into a gobble followed by some spitting and drumming. He closed and my son shot him at 24 yards. 8 3/4 inch beard with 3/4 inch spurs. 









I halfheartedly tried to find another bird but found my self content with my son filling all three of his tags. What a fantastic trip. My son has been beaming since. 









Here is picture of all three of our South Dakota birds. 









Finally, got to do a bit of horseback riding on the prairie with a close friend. A fine end to a great trip.


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## SureShot (Oct 2, 2007)

Congratulations! That sounds like a very fun trip. Do you have to have connections in South Dakota and Wyoming or can you DIY on public ground?


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## birdman (Nov 21, 2007)

The fella in the last photo owns a 2700 acre ranch in SD and about 1000 acres in WY. They are 14 miles apart right along the state line. I also hunt another 1000 acre ranch in WY so all the birds we got this year were on private land. There is plenty of public land in both SD and WY and I've killed a lot of birds on public in years past but those places take more boot leather and time than I could manage with my son. Lots of hunters on the public during early season but many less later. It's a great DIY place if you've got the time.


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## USMARINEhuntinfool (Sep 15, 2007)

Best report yet, great job Dad!


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

VERY cool!


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## sharpshooter25 (Oct 2, 2007)

Great story. Congrats on a successful trip, your son will always remember it.


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## InvaderZim (Sep 7, 2007)

Nice!


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