Well it's that time of year again at work, so I've been busy busy...These pics are way over due.  

The story goes like this.
My brother called me up and asked if I wanted to go to Wyoming for some Turkey hunting.  
I said well "I can't really afford it right now" and he replied "I'll just use a few of my frequent flyer miles and the tickets would cost ten bucks".   "Twist my arm lets go".

Naturally I took my recurve but he is a smokepole hunter, who am I to judge,  he's my brother and he just got me a free ticket to an adventure in the Black Hills of Wyoming!  

Any ways we set off and of course we get delayed in Chicago and get re-routed to Denver then to Rapid City South Dakota are final destination.  We arrive four hours later than we were supposed to, of course the airline left our baggage in Chicago.  They tell us it will be here 9am the next morning.   We only had three days of hunting, one day scouting, and two days of actual hunting.  Ok not to bad yet...but it gets worse.  Next morning we get to the airport ask them if the luggage will arrive and, NOPE, the man says they missed the first flight.  Next flight is due to arrive at 12:00pm, ok again not bad.  We get the remaining camping supplies we couldn't fly with at the local Cabela's and back to the airport.  Again, NOPE not there yet, plane is delayed and won't arrive until 2:30pm.  So we go for a drive and see Mount Rushmore and some local grasslands.  We finally get our bags and head to Wyoming!  

We arrive around the Black Hills sometime around 5:00pm and immediately are shocked at the steepness of the terrain!  What you westerners call "hills" are bigger than any mountain here in New York.  Anyway we buck up and begin driving two track roads looking for sign.  There is still some snow on the ground and thanks to a tip from a fellow tradganger I was looking hard in the snow for some tracks.  After about an hour or so we came across some older turkey tracks and we decided this area would be a good starting point in the morning, if we don't find anything else, and sure enough nothing else turned up and we headed back to the tracks to set up camp for the night.  We get to a level spot and turn off the car, jump out to get some dinner and gear ready for the following morning. Before my feet hit the ground I heard a gobble.  I looked at my brother and just smiled "Game On"!

Well enough of the story and let's keep it short from here...We worked a lot of birds, botched a lot of stalks, and had one fantastic opportunity to take a fine Merriam but my brother was the shooter and I was filming and I was not expecting him to pass this fine bird up.  However, he told me after I questioned his judgment; the beard was to "small" and "wispy".   I was dumb founded!   But it's not about the kill, it was a fantastic memory and I won't ever forget the look of that bird.  He was magnificent!  We had a fantastic adventure and won't give up that easily, we'll be back after those Merriam Turkeys...some day.

The bird my brother passed up I was shooting with the camera over his left shoulder.

Home away from home for two days.


One of our many set ups unreal country


We saw this guy at Mount Rushmore

A nice bird on private land


Me contemplating a jump after two days of be out witted by a bird with a brain the size of a walnut!

Probably my favorite picture of the trip.  This track was less than 8 hours old and not ten feet from where my brother and I sat the evening before.The box call in the pic is eight inches.  We weren't the only hunters on the mountain!

Glad you enjoyed your time in Wyoming. The Black Hills are beautiful and game rich, as you no doubt found out. Too bad you went home empty handed, but that's why it's called hunting. Looks like a good bird that your brother passed on.

Turkeys have been tough in my neck of the woods; seeing lots of them, mostly on the wrong side of a fence and/or henned up. Chasing them keeps me out of the bars, though.

Come back to Wyoming and try again when you get the chance. Our turkeys will still be here.

More Turkeys on Private Land

The first morning, the first set up the first sunrise in the Black Hills.

No doubt in my mind I will be back. But it will be for a week or more and I will be driving no more of this bull(you no what) with the airlines.  I'm already planning my next trip!

Thanks for the pics

Great pics.  Gives me the fevor.  I lived in Evanston Wyo for a while and it was great.  It seemed like every day was an adventure.

A great hunt indeed!  Congratulations

Great pics, I'm glad you had a good time.
I moved to Sundance in the Black Hills back in August.

Thanks for sharing!!!  

Cool pics and story! Thank you for sharing!  

Beautiful country!  You have some fine pictures and story to go with them.  Next time with a few more days will really be great.

Bernie Bjorklund

NC Iowa/SW Wisconsin

Enjoyed the pictures!

get `em next year...

may be there too!

Thanks for sharing.  I too love to hunt with my brother with the sticks.  But I am a flintlock guy too.  So I would probably bring a flinter and he one of his bows.  Thanks for the pics.