It’s been a few years since I’ve hunted the Black hills, but it’s a great hunt, and you’re really only limited by the amount of effort you’re willing to put in on birds. After hunting in Winona, the hills probably won’t affect you as bad, but it’s bigger country, and feet on the ground is more of a premium than butts in a truck seat out there.
We hunted west of Lead and Deadwood, but there’s birds all over out there. Private land is a premium that the outfitters will mostly have locked up, but back then I knew folks who routinely knocked on doors and got permission with enough effort.
That said, the public land is great, but focus on getting as far away from other hunters as you can. Long walks are the norm out there, and the birds are with you. A study out there funded by NWTF showed some of those birds can travel 16 miles or more per day. And after flydown, it really seems like they just beat feet and go. The good news about that is you can run into birds anywhere. The bad, it can be tough to keep up with them.
Spend some time on your first day hiking back to a preselected area in the middle of nowhere on a ridge or high area and let loose a coyote howl. You’ll be hiking back in the dark, but the birds you pinpoint on the roost (if they gobble) on that first day or two can really help you setup gameplans for areas to hunt the remaining days.
It’s huge, but focus on a small area that’s tough to get to and harder to drive to and keep at it. It’s been too long, sounds like a blast!
Joel
