Get Ready for Turkey Season Tip 8 – Set up a Trail Camera

Trail cameras are not just for deer hunters.  They are a great scouting tool for turkey hunters too. If you get some pics of turkeys it will boost your confidence in your hunting area and can provide valuable recon on their movements so you can plan how to set up for them.

Set up a camera about knee for high for turkeys.  Put it along a trail or ridge or in a clearing that you suspect turkeys use.  To find a tom’s strut zone put your camera in clearings and secluded field corners or in places where you hear a lot of gobbling.

To pattern turkey movements put your camera or cameras in different places along their suspected route.  The camera will confirm whether you guessed right or need to look elsewhere.

Get a camera with “plot watch” or time lapse mode capability.  In time lapse mode it will take a time stamped picture every 15 minutes, during daylight, of  a field or plot, so you will know when and where a tom enters a field.  Then you can plan your set up to hunt him. When setting up a camera in time lapse mode, hang it up high so it gets the entire plot in the field of view.

To avoid spooking the turkeys when checking your camera, go late in the evening or after dark by flash light when the turkeys are roosting.