I just recently started testing the new Moultrie I-35 trail camera.  This evening I decided to move it to a section of hardwoods that has some well defined, intersecting trails.  So I grabbed my boots and headed for the woods.

On the walk in, I saw a hog nose snake on the edge of the wood line.  Boy was he aggressive.  It seems like the heat has really made them active.  If  you're not familiar with the hog nose snake, they will vibrate their tails in the leaves which makes a buzzing sound.  They try to imitate rattlesnakes as a defense.  Even though I know their aren't any timber rattlers in this area, that hog nose snake gets me every time.

In the woods I jumped up a couple of little bucks, which I am always glad to see.  I saw some nice 10 pointers in the area last season, and got a few good videos of them on my Bushnell Trophy Cam.  I hope those little bucks got the genetics from one of those shooter bucks.

I got the game cam moved and then walked the creek back to check for crossing areas.  Fresh, muddy tracks in a couple of heavily trafficked crossing areas has me thinking I'll bring another game camera with me on the next trip.

There was a lot of activity in the woods this evening.  After seeing a few turkeys in a clearing, a Red-Headed woodpecker, and a lot of squirrel activity, I realized why game cameras have become a year-round hobby.  I just love being in the woods, and my game cams give me the hidden benefit of being there more often.

The popularity of game cameras has increased throughout the years which indicates they are fun to use and they give hunters an upper hand in the woods.  Game cameras a fun to use in the off season, and give hunters a good excuse to spend more time in the woods.  The edge a hunter gets comes from having an extra set of eyes in the woods to help you hone in on active trails and determine the routes that better quality deer are using.  I use my game cameras to fine tune my stand locations and put me on good deer.  Even if you can't determine the locations or movement patterns of that trophy buck you are after, you should be able to pattern the movement of the does on your property.  Get on the does, and the bucks will be following when the rut comes in.

Scouting cameras can offer a hunter the following advantages:

1. Pattern general movement of deer on your property.
   A hunter can learn how deer are using the property.  By taking note of the sightings of deer within your property boundaries, you can determine their movement patterns, the times they are moving through specific areas, where they are bedding, where they are feeding, etc.
2. Patterning individual bucks.
   I have been fortunate enough to pattern some individual bucks over the years.  By determining the direction of travel in the mornings and evenings, you can figure out where to locate your stand to optimize your chances of getting that shot of a lifetime.
3. Eliminating the guesswork.
   Game cameras can be ideal for sampling the quality of the land you choose to hunt.  I have placed game cameras on multiple farms leading up to opening day.  By reviewing the images and videos from these game cameras, I have been able to determine which pieces of property are holding better quality deer, and have made decisions on which land to hunt based on this data.  It is all about being in the right place at the right time.
4. Building Confidence.
   A hunter that has seen images of good quality deer is much more likely to be able to remain in the stand longer, and have much more confidence in the location they have chosen for their stand.  It can be tough to stick it out and stay in the stand as it gets later in the morning.  By analyzing the images from game cameras, I have seen deer utilizing specific trails later in the morning or early afternoon.  A hunter armed with this knowledge will have more drive to stay on stand longer and increase the chances of harvesting deer during these secondary movement times.
5. A Major time saver.
   Scouting cameras can be major time savers.  I can remember back when I first started bow hunting.  This was back in the days prior to game cameras being such a common commodity.  Me and my hunting buddy would drag our climbers into the woods prior to the season, and prior to daylight.  We would sit in the stands on different locations of the property and note the number of deer that we saw, their direction of travel, and the times that we saw them.  We would do this for many days prior to the season opener.  Armed with this knowledge, we would determine our stand locations for the opening day, and fine tune these locations if necessary after each hunt.  Now, we can have our game cameras do this work for us, and we can reclaim some of that scouting time.

If you have never used or owned a scouting camera, you don't know what you are missing.  Things have changed a lot since the days of 35MM film game cameras, and advancements in game camera technology have definitely given hunters a decided edge.  I have to warn you though... game cameras can be an addictive hobby.  I now own 10 game cameras, and will soon be purchasing another.  And I'm sure that won't be the last.

Using a game camera to scout for turkeys can be more difficult that using a game camera for deer.  Deer are a lot more predictable when it comes to following defined trails or returning to a scrape.  Turkeys tend to wander more across a wide area, so game camera placement can be difficult when seeking out turkeys.

I like to use a game camera to scout for turkeys when I'm hunting a new piece of property or an area that I am unfamiliar with.  I will do this in the months prior to the season coming in.  I don't like disturbing any areas that I actually plan to turkey hunt as the opening day draws near.  Here are a couple of tips that you can use to help use your game camera to check for the existence of turkeys.

1. Mount your game camera a little closer to the ground than you would if you were scouting for deer.  Turkey are obviously not as tall as deer, and this can help to keep your scouting camera's passive infrared sensor from overshooting a turkey that passes near your camera location.
2. Try placing your camera in the woods in areas that contain a good amount of red and white oaks.  Turkeys love acorns, in addition to various insects, grasses, other nuts, seeds and clover.  You will often see leaves in the area turned up as a result of turkeys 'scratching'  in search of food.  You can often capture good pictures and videos in these areas as turkeys come to forage.  Good mature trees with lots of horizontal limbs are also prime areas for turkeys to roost at night.
3. Try placing your game camera on trees or fence posts on the edges of fields that contain clover.  This is another prime foraging area, but fields are also a big draw for strutting gobblers.  More often than not, these gobblers will head to the highest point in a field to do their strutting.  This may even be just a slight rise or mound.  A game camera post mount is ideal for covering these type of areas in an open field.

I like to try to find areas that the turkeys are going to roost in on the evenings prior to the hunt.  A gobble tube is ideal for making a male 'shock gobble' and give up his location.  Unfortunately, these gobble tubes often fool other hunters, so I will either not use them (or use the sparingly) during morning hunts when other hunters may be in the area.  I'll never enter the woods when trying to locate birds heading to roost.  I'll stick to the outer edges of the fields.  The sound from a gobble tube will carry a long distance, and even a mature bird often can't resist gobbling back at them.  Once you locate turkeys in an area heading to roost, it's just a matter of quietly slipping into the woods before sun-up the following morning.  By doing this, you can cut the distance between you and a roosting bird, and the sound of your hen calls can be the first thing they hear when they hit the ground.  For this, I prefer a mouth call, as they require no movement and will lessen the chances of you being busted by their keen vision.  The only part of your body that should move is your finger as you pull the trigger and put that bird down.

I hope these tips help.  Best of luck this season, and let me know how you do!

PS.  Check out this link of some scratching turkeys that I caught on my Bushnell Trophy Cam.  I had to reduce the quality in order to upload it, but hopefully you enjoy.

I've had this debate with some hunting buddies for some time now.  I am a big fan of infrared digital game cameras, because I love the ability to get scouting camera videos at night or dusk.  I love video, because you can study your game and their movements much better.

My buddies have always had issues with the 'glow' from the infrared cameras.  They believe that this tends to spook the deer, and state that a traditional game camera flash won't.  Their arguments were that the game camera flash was like lightening to a deer.  It flashes and is gone and won't spook them.

Well, you aren't going to get any nighttime videos with a flash camera, and I agree that while in video mode, I have had deer staring at my infrared sensors.  I think that the infrared "flash" in picture mode, is much less likely to spook a deer though.  Since it doesn't light up the area, I don't believe they are as apt to notice it, unless they happen to be staring directly at the sensors at the time it flashes.

Well, I stumbled across this video today showing a nice buck getting spooked by a game camera flash.  Sorry guys, it looks like this refutes your argument.

Enjoy.

Here is a friendly reminder for you... Don't leave a game camera in the woods without using some type of Security Box or Locking Cable.

I've mentioned before that I have been a victim of game camera theft.  Since then, I have never placed a game cam in the woods without leaving a lock on it.  Even with a lock, you can't guarantee that someone with a pair of lock cutters won't walk off with your camera, but it will at least deter the crimes of opportunity.

I bring this up again, because I received an email this morning from an old hunting buddy in Texas, stating that is new Moultrie I60 had been stolen.  He said he knew better than to leave it in the woods unlocked, but though there was no chance of it being stolen in the remote area he had left it.  Well it is too late for him now, but it isn't too late for you.

If you don't want to spend the money on a security lock box, you should at least pick up a security cable and a pad lock.  Most game cameras on the market will have a locking hold that will accept a padlock.   If you want a quality game camera lock box, then check out what CamLockBox has to offer.  I have one of their security boxes for my Scoutguard SG550.  It locks tight, and there is no way anyone will get into it, without a pair of lock cutters that is.

If you don't have a lock or security box for your game camera(s), then check out the options at the following link: Game Camera Lock Box.

If you use a feeder in conjunction with your game camera, then listen to what happened to me today.
I had just set a game camera in a new location, and decided that I wanted to place one of my feeders in the vicinity of it. There are some intersecting trails here, and it looked like a good spot to get some pictures. The trigger on this model StealthCam is a little slow, so I like to use the feeder to get the deer to linger and give the camera time to do its work.
I was placing a new feeder when I realized that I was missing the top to it. I have another feeder still in the woods that is out of commission so I decided to go take that feeder down, and grab the top off of it. As I was walking out of the woods, I got buzzed by a couple of wasps. No big deal, the woods near me are loaded with them. I got back to the garage and took the top off this feeder. As I flipped it over, I noticed a wasp nest attached on the inside of the lid, and it had wasps on it. One flew off as I was holding it, and I pitched it to the ground.
I think I set a new record for the 40 yard dash, as I high tailed it away from these angry wasps.
So if you have your feeders out in this hot weather, use caution when removing the lids to refill them with corn. You might be met with a nasty surprise.