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


Tippman

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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.

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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

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

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. ;\)

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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.

hills1.jpg

hills2.jpg

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

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.

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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.

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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?

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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.

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

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?

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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.

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

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Nice bird 8pt - It's gotta be pretty cool to call one in with your own hand-made call.

Just need Tipp to finish us off strong here... what zone you hunting again?

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Tippman my brother (who you work with) says you cant hit the broad side of a barn. He said you will be lucky in you can even pull your bow back!

K Gross

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 Quote:
Tippman my brother (who you work with) says you cant hit the broad side of a barn. He said you will be lucky in you can even pull your bow back!

K Gross

Gotta love the bashing!

Scott - Sorry to hear you didn't tag a bird man - if it makes you feel any better I've got 4 un-punched turkey tags this spring. We'll see how MN archery goes... Hard to top the nice one you bagged last year anyhow!

Tipp - If you need some company - I'd have no problem in runnin out with a T2 and filming for ya... could probably help exterminate those 12 pesky longbeards too grin.gif

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 Originally Posted By: KG243
Tippman my brother (who you work with) says you cant hit the broad side of a barn. He said you will be lucky in you can even pull your bow back!

K Gross

Funny I heard the same thing about you and goose hunting grin.gif

PLG had a good laugh when I showed him that!

Sticknstring I might take you up on that offer depending on how things work out the closer it gets. I have a couple buddies who wouldn't mind filming either, not sure if they're gonna be able to get out on the days I'll be hunting yet. And yes there could even be a bird left for you, again we'll see. I checked the trail cam today and it got knocked out of position somehow right after I set it last so I got nothing for recent evidence.

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 Originally Posted By: Tippman
Tippman my brother (who you work with) says you cant hit the broad side of a barn. He said you will be lucky in you can even pull your bow back!

K Gross

Funny I heard the same thing about you and goose hunting grin.gif

PLG had a good laugh when I showed him that!

I am working diligently on getting a video posted from last year where I didn't get the bird though blush.gif

I try to do my share of "giving back" with some steel back to were it came from! Usually the reason i dont get the birds is because PLG is shooting at them 70 yards out! mad.gif so I dont even get a shot.

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Tipp:

You're the missing link to make sure my prediction of a Team 5 New World Order becomes reality. Don't use the doghouse, borrow S&S's T2!!! grin.gif

Kidding!

Joel

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Ha, but this way I have an excuse!

Geez now that it all comes down to me I might have to sacrafice some fishing time to make sure I get a bird!

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Sacrifice fishing time? Fishing doesn't even exist! Just like Lombardi made his Packers abstain from relations before game night, you must purge fishing from your vocabulary altogether. Fishing is the enemy of turkey season.

grin.gif

Ah, in all seriousness though. Go out and have fun. Whenever I put too much pressure on myself (or let others do it for me), the hunt gets bungled.

Joel

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Took the 'ol trusty Lund out last night... ahh good to be back on the water! The gils and crappies weren't cooperating but had some accidental fun with the northerns nonetheless. Water's a tad on the chilly side...

Hard to intertwine fishing and turkey hunting but it can be done! Especially when you have to go 3+ weeks inbetween hunts.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've got fising on the mind pretty hard now too sticknstring.

Paintbrush it looks like we need your pics up in the submission thread yet!

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Tipp - You plan on hitting the water or woods this weekend? This is painful watching all the other teams posting up birds while we sit idle!

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