Spring turkey season is knocking on the door in many regions across the U.S. The weather is warming and the sound of early morning gobblers will soon fill the woods. Turkey hunters are itching to get into the field to chase one of the most interactive game animals available to us. The popularity of turkey hunting has grown significantly in the past 15 to 20 years, and so has the advanced gear that’s available to help pursue them.
Photo courtesy Aaron Kirkpatrick of Kansas.
Blinds, calls, camouflage patterns, decoys, firearms and bows are some of the products that turkey hunters commonly invest in to help pursue this vocal bird. But one product that has seemed to avoid the arsenal of many turkey hunters is the trail camera. It’s well known that in the white-tailed deer world, trail cameras have become as talked about as a hunter’s choice of rifle or bow. Quite the opposite can be said in the turkey community. Although some turkey enthusiasts are beginning to utilize cameras, most hunters are missing out on one of the most powerful scouting tools available for turkeys.
Most turkey hunters can fairly easily get a good idea on where key roosting areas are located on any given property. This knowledge comes from past experiences, locating high ground with large roosting trees, audibly locating gobbling before birds leave their roosts, or boots-on-the-ground scouting that results in finding turkey droppings beneath trees and other classic signs of preferred roosting areas.
Photo courtesy Jerry Bowie of West Virginia.
Preseason and in-season scouting for turkeys can put you a step ahead in the quest for filling this year’s tag. Similar to whitetails, patterning turkeys revolves around their roost, their food, and how they travel between the two in search of satisfying their mating interests during the spring season. Trail cameras, like those from Cuddeback, can provide a helping hand in identifying the details of each of these areas and the birds’ habits, which can significantly increase your odds of being in the right place at the right time.
The three most valuable ways that cameras can be used to pattern turkeys are to identify travel routes, locate active strutting areas and inventory the birds that call your property home. The vital questions that trail cameras can answer are where birds travel after they leave the roost in the morning, and where they travel on their way back in the evening. Set up your cameras in the most likely areas based on terrain between roosting areas and feeding areas. Features such as draws, ridges, creek beds and even man-made trails will all offer great places to set cameras to learn the paths that turkeys most commonly use, and at what times of the day.
Photo courtesy Cuddeback Digital.
Turkeys — especially toms — can travel more randomly than deer. But hen turkeys are fairly focused on finding food after leaving the roost, and in the spring, wherever there are hens, there will be toms. Remember, it can be a major risk to push too close to a roosting area during a morning setup. The use of trail cameras allows you to stay a safe distance from the roost, while also ensuring that you’re set up in a high-percentage travel route.
Photo courtesy of Brian Grubbs.
The second benefit of deploying trail cameras this turkey season revolves around identifying commonly used areas for strutting toms. These locations can also be referred to as feeding or loafing areas. A tom can certainly jump into full strut anytime and anywhere with hens present, but if you are a ground-blind hunter, information on specific locations will be a huge benefit. Place cameras overlooking open clearings in the timber, food plots or agricultural field corners. If trail cameras can identify specific areas where good numbers of turkeys are gathering to feed, loaf and ultimately strut, then you’ll have a solid head start on picking a good location to hunt. In this case, you may not even need to know a lot about the location of where the gobblers roost. Just put yourself in the right place and let the birds come to you.
Photo courtesy Mike Hess of Pennsylvania.
The final reason to consider trail cameras for turkey hunting is to retain a good idea of what the turkey population looks like on the property that you’re planning to hunt. Every year is different and turkey populations can fluctuate depending on weather, predators, food supply and hunting pressure. An area that yielded great action last year could be a ghost town the following year. Running trail cameras before the beginning of the season can really reduce the time that it takes for you to figure out if turkeys are present on a property, and whether you have toms or jakes hanging around.
Photo courtesy Cuddeback Digital.
Regardless of how you choose to use the cameras, it’s important to remember that turkeys are extremely wary birds. Their keen eyes pick up on the slightest movements, and they can easily be pushed away by human activity. So to truly be effective with trail cameras, choose a cellular camera, or better yet — a network of cameras like those offered by Cuddeback. I personally prefer the CuddeLink system because it allows me to run multiple cameras with only one cell plan and one low price. Plans start at just $10 per month for 750 images. I like to run seven different cameras, so I have opted for the annual plan with unlimited photos for $30. Regardless of the camera that you choose, be sure to limit your activity in the woods, unless hunting, and let technology help with your scouting — as trail cameras can undoubtedly put the odds in your favor this turkey season.
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