Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk ALTurkey Talk -- Beards and Spurs SD and NE trip 2025

Got back Monday evening from some great times out west. Only regret I have is not doing that more often. The scenery is beautiful, people are welcoming and the hunting is fun. It’s a welcome experience after chasing these SE forest birds. We started in NE hunting public land, and although we found birds a plenty, they were always henned up and not very responsive to calling. We walked just shy of 40 miles in 4 days of hunting. We had some very close encounters (within 60-70 yards) but never closed a hunt with a shot fired. I think another day or two of hunting and we’d have likely killed a couple of birds. We were just figuring them out when we were told to get to SD quick to hunt some birds of known location on private land. So north we went. Here are pics of some of the things we saw in NE.






We showed up in SD to an area around the Badlands at 3:30 pm. First bird went down around 7:00 that evening. There were 3 of us hunting, and all of us had birds very close that afternoon. The following morning Jerremy and I doubled on two Merriams. Was an incredible hunt. We called in a flock of birds with several gobblers and put two down fairly quickly.








We immediately headed back to NE for private land, and I struck a bird from camp as we were unloading the truck. I went after him, and had him dead to rights if I hadn’t misjudged the distance. He escaped seemingly unharmed, and I’m thankful for that. A few minutes later I located another bird, stuck with him until roost time, and decided to get in tight the next morning. I learned that Matt and Jerremy doubled while I was hunting solo. I got in early and tight the next morning, and to make a 15.5 hour hunt short for times sake, I hung with this bird all day, and finally called him off the hens at 8:23 PM. That’s the first time I hung with a bird a full day from fly down to just a few minutes prior to the close of legal shooting hours. It was worth the wait, as he was a big old stud daddy.






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Great pics and congratulations

Congrats and thanks for sharing

Congrats

Congrats, sounds like a great hunt trip!

Awesome hunts and great birds, Congrats!

Congrats Matt! I bet you boys are worn out.

Awesome hunt and pics. Congrats!!!!

Awesome pics and congrats

My old butt does not travel as much anymore - but out of state was usually way more gobbling amd gobblers and easy hunts

Congrats Mr Brock. Fun times out there for sure!

Looks like a lot of fun
Congratulations on a good hunt

Glad ya'll found success! And man, is it a small world! Enjoyed meeting your buds.

I've hunted that area several times over the past decade and this year was the earliest i've been and the worst I've seen it in terms of people pressure and bird numbers. When four folks ended up on the same turkey the morning after ya'll heard me shoot, I knew it was time to LEAVE! Feather piles all over parking lots just let me know folks are coming earlier and earlier than they used to. I'd never even really considered going in April before, but now the folks going in mid-May will REALLY be in for a surprise! I re-located north after my second morning and it was basically the same deal. Glad they have a good jake crop, they really need it to keep up with the hunting pressure. Wouldn't hurt my feelings a bit if non-resident tags were cut even more. I'd rather go less frequently and have less people around.

Congrats on your bird!! I hate I missed you. I had them drop me off on one WMA and pick me up on another. That was a long day of walking. The pressure there was definitely way more than years past. I found boot tracks 6-7 miles from any public access, which I’ve NEVER done. I can usually count on being alone that far, but not this year. That and ppl were taking e-bikes into areas they were prohibited. Glad you were able to scratch one out.

Out of state pressure in every state has exploded exponentially in the last 7-8 years.

Congrats guys. I was keeping up somewhat on IG from your podcast buddies. Never doubted ya. LOL I saw where Jeremy learned real quick how to pack lite if your hunting SD. Beautiful country but you will cover ground and see a lot of it.

Loose lips sink ships