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 was chasing a 10 point buck through the Kentucky bow season, and although I did see him from my stand, he never got close enough for the shot. I've been hoping that no one else on surrounding properties had harvested him this year, and my most recent game camera pics have given me some good news. He's been by within the past week, so he made it through the season. So hopefully I'll have another chance to hunt him when the bow season returns this fall.

Buck on a Bushnell Trophy Cam

Bushnell Trophy Cam Review

I received the Bushnell Trophy Cam for testing this past week, and I am honestly kicking myself for not picking this game camera up sooner.  Overall it is a very good camera, with just a few drawbacks.  I'll elaborate on these details, but for a complete review of the Bushnell Trophy Cam, see the link to my YouTube video at the bottom of this post.

I love the compact size, at just over 3" x 5".  I also love the fact that they step right out there with claims of a 1 year battery life.  While this remains to be seen, since I have only had this camera for a short time now, I am excited at the possibility of owning a game camera that doesn't chew through batteries.  One caveat with this battery life though, is that you must use lithium AA batteries to get the one year battery life.  If you use alkaline batteries, the standby operation time drops to 6 months.  That is still a lot longer than any other game camera I have owned recently.

I also like the ease of programming.  One thing that took me by surprise is that the LCD panel and programmable options are very similar to the Scoutguard SG550.  So similar, that I think they are using the same components.  What is different though is the series of buttons on the inside of the game camera's housing used to program the camera.  The Scoutguard requires the use of a programming remote control that you connect to the camera.  Without that remote, you cannot change any of the camera's options.  The Bushnell Trophy Cam has these buttons and LCD embedded in the camera.  The use of the Up/Down, Left/Right, and OK buttons makes this programming a breeze.  The picture quality is decent, and the video quality is acceptable.

A couple of things that I don't like about the Trophy Cam are the lack of added security measures.  The lock hole is small, requiring the use of a small gauge lock.  It is recommended that you pick up a security lock box to protect your Trophy Cam.  I'd also like to see the ability to add a master password and owner identification.  As game cameras become more expensive, theft becomes more of a concern.

I don't like the weak buckle that came with the mounting strap.  I broke mine as I was hanging it, so don't cinch it too tighly to the tree.  This wasn't a big deal for me though, because I have accumulated numerous camouflage straps through years of hunting.  I plan to have a lock box for this game camera soon, so I won't need the strap at that point.

I also thought that the videos appeared to be a bit grainy.  It's too early to tell, and I need to collect a few more samples under different lighting conditions.  Video on game cameras is one of the features that I desire the most, so I may be a little picky when it comes to this.  I get a lot more out of studying an animal via video that I do out of a still pic.  While I say the video was a bit grainy, it wasn't bad enough to where I would complain about it.

After testing the Bushnell Trophy Cam, I can tell you that I'll be keeping this one, and maybe picking up another (to two).  I was a little leary about purchasing the Trophy Cam after hearing about some comrade's past experiences with Bushnell game cameras, but I think that Bushnell hit the mark with this one.

It might be small, but don't let that fool you ...  The Bushnell Trophy Cam has some serious muscle!

Yes, it is small, 6" tall and 4" wide to be exact.  It is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand.  But somehow, Bushnell has found a way to pack a ton of great features into this small form factor.

• Resolution and Image Quality
  The Bushnell Trophy Cam 11-9405 is a 5 MP digital game camera.  It will give you full color images by day, and you also have the option of dropping the camera down to 3 MP for reduced image sizes.
• Battery Life
  The battery life is worth putting at the top of the list for this camera.  It runs on AA batteries, and you can get up to Six Months of operation on a single set of batteries.  This makes this camera a great choice for remote areas that you can't get to often.  It is compatible with external power, but with 6 month battery life, who needs external power?
• Infrared Technology
  A collection of 24 LEDs won't spook your game.  The PIR is adjustable, with Low, Medium, and High settings.  This allows you to adjust the sensitivity of the PIR to suit your needs.  For example, you could use a low setting if you have this set on a corn pile that was regularly visited by squirrels and other smaller wildlife.  No more memory cards full of squirrel pictures.
• Range
  With PIR detection up to 45 feet, and infrared night vision LEDs that reach out to 45 feet, the Bushnell 5.0 megapixel Trophy Cam is a step above the others.
• Video
  This camera can be configured to shoot between 1 to 60 seconds of video with each activation of the PIR.  You can get daytime video, as well as night video.  You get quality video at 16 frames per second to up to 20 frames per second.
• Multi-shot mode
  In picture mode, this camera will fire off between 1 to 3 images each time it is triggered.  The delay between subsequent activations can be set between 0 seconds to 60 minutes.

The Trophy Cam has an operating temperature range between -5 degrees F to 140 degrees F.  It also accepts standard SD memory cards.  You can find all this for around $199.00.  Bushnell also offers the Trophy Cam 11-9415, which has an integrated color viewer.  This allows you to look at your pictures directly on your Bushnell Trophy Cam.

Find the best deals on Bushnell Trophy Cams at the following link:  Bushnell Trophy Cam