Three Osceola Gobblers Show up on Scouting Trail Camera

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Elvis have entered the building!
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I was wondering when a bird was going to show up around this big flock of Osceola hens. I have been watching them for several weeks now. Up to this point, I have only got a couple of jakes on the scouting cameras. Two mornings this week i sat in a blind and filmed then hens before i went to work. One of those mornings I was able to call a Gobbler from across the creek but he did not get in front of the blind where I could get him on film.

Last night I roosted a flock of birds over a flooded swamp. I shot a little footage slipping up under them on the roost. As soon as I can get it downloaded I'll post it for you. it's probably low quality but you'll see just how easy it can be. I'm going to set a camera trap for this flock tomorrow. There is a strutter in the bunch although he looks small in size. Hopefully I can catch him on film strutting.
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Trail camera setup tips:

Here is an important tip for setting a trail cam for turkeys.......Don't set it at the height you would for a deer or you'll get mostly head and back shots. You need to locate it about 16-18" to the camera.

Also, be sure to double check the camera is set to on, before you close up the unit! This sounds simplistic but you'll be surprised how easy it is to forget to turn it on. It's a big disappointment to show up to pull your card and you find out it's just been sitting there set to menu or off and you got nothing! It's like getting a lump of coal for Christmas.

If the tree you are mounting your camera to has a taper to the butt, don't forget to adjust the angle of the camera . You can leave the strap loose and wedge a stick, of the right size behind the top of the camera for the correction.

These pictures were all taken with (2) different type cameras. Both are Bushnell. One is the small Bushnell "Trophy Cam" and the other is the "Trail Sentry 2.1". Both are digital infrared units and work great. I highly recommend either unit but I prefer the Trophy. The only drawback to that one is it costs considerably more than the Sentry. As is usually the case, the extra money buys you more features. In this case they come in the form of extended battery life, more picture capacity, etc.. Check out the spec's on both before you decide. One of the other nice features of the trophy cam is its small, super convenient size, one of the smallest on the market!

One last though regarding the price. Camera theft is always a concern. The lower cost of the Sentry makes a loss a little easier to stomach!


Notice the all white head and neck on the gobbler in the middle, in the second photo compared to this bird in the first photo. When his neck turns white he's hot to go!

These guys just made the "most wanted" list, that includes that pesky red boar hog. He's got a rendezvous with one of my muzzy's.

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If you have any good trail cam pictures of your own, send them to me and I'll post them for everybody to enjoy.

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Good hunting,

Larry Stephens

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NOTE: If you would like to receive an email note when I make future postings, just click on the follow button in the upper left corner! thanks, L.S.

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Poor Sportsmanship Don't Pay, Another Hunter tries to Muscle in on My Hot Spot!

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Have you ever caught another hunter hunting your favorite hot spot while you weren’t there?

Well, I decided to run out and sit my tri-pod stand on a mowed opening along a marsh for a quick afternoon bow hunt. The stand is bounded to the west by waste to chest high grass and a creek drain. The hole area is a wildlife meca and anything that walks or crawls can be found there.

I was quietly slipping along the edge of the high grass when I walked up on a hunter lying in wait not more than 25 yds from my stand!

The bad thing is he’s a free loader that won’t even help pay his share of the lease. He gets to hunt 24/7, while I am work. You can imagine I wasn’t to happy to see this guy hunting practically in my stand!

I decided I would take him out! I sized him up. He was pretty big and not without weapons. It came to me that jumping on him might not be the best idea, I’d better just shoot um.

I had just happened to come up on the back side of his hide and he didn’t have a clue I was there. Not wanting to waste a perfectly good set of broadhead blades, I quietly slipped the set out of one of my Muzzy missiles. I knocked the shaft, drew, put my first pin on his neck and let him have it!

Perfect shot! I pinned him to the ground right where he sat!

Here’s a picture of the sorry sucker in case you run into one of his kind.

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This place has some big snakes! You better keep one eye on the ground around here!

Good Hunting,

Larry

How to Incorporate Digital Trail Cameras in your Turkey Scouting!

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It's time to start thinking about Spring turkey hunting!

If you have not already done it, its time to start working your trail cameras for scouting the turkey woods. Most hunters are familiar with using trail cameras for deer hunting but it seems that few are utilizing them for scouting for turkey.



The Gobblers have been gobbling and strutting here in Florida for several weeks now and its time to start your recon to gather all the information you can to put you in the right spot to harvest a trophy gobbler come opening morning.

Of course all information you can gather with your cameras will be helpful when hunting season actually starts but the main info you will be learning is the number and type of turkeys using the area, where the roosting and feeding areas are and most importantly, where gobbler strutting zones are!



The digital scouting camera is ideal for this. This can minimize your time spent scouting and eliminate spooking turkeys. Your camera does not need to be an infrared camera but if it is, you can gather some interesting pictures of other game at night when they are most active. The more cameras you have the better and the more information you can gather in a shorter period of time.

Most of the attached photo's were taken over a three day time frame with a "Bushnell Trophy Cam". They are excellent trail cameras and take a pretty good photo. This camera is one of the smallest on the market but as you can see in the photo's it does not go un-noticed! Hogs are pretty well oblivious to the presents of the camera but almost every deer and turkey that walks by will pick it out, even if you try to hide it. I don't really recommend trying to over hide it as the material you use can get blown in front of the lens and trigger the camera or block the photo's. I have even had hogs rub the camera and push sticks in front of the lens. Be careful not to have hanging vegetation such as Spanish moss or high grasses such as broomsedge in the sensors range that can wave in the wind and trigger the camera. I recently ended up with over 2000 photo's of Spanish moss waving in the wind that filled the camera card.

Cameras should be set up on woods roads where gobblers might want to strut. Usually, this will be on a slight rise on a long straight grade. You should look for strut sign and set your camera trap accordingly to try to pattern when he is showing up at this location. Other areas to set you cameras up are open hammocks where turkeys like to feed and mill around when the sun pushes them off the fields in the morning. Pinch points in small fields can be another great spot ad well as gaps in fences, bottoms, fire trails, burns and new chops.

Where legal, you can even concentrate them at your cameras with some corn or cow peas. Here in Florida you cannot hunt around the corn but you can feed them and it can get you a lot of great pictures. Notice the times on the turkey photo's. They were there off and on 7-8 times on the 14th., pretty unusual. Note, the camera time is set incorrectly but you can see how often they kept stopping by.

I will be posting some more pictures as I have time but here are a few to get you started.

Good Hunting,
Larry Stephens

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NOTE: If you would like to receive an email note when I make future postings, just click on the follow button in the upper left corner! thanks, L.S.

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