More and more hunters are discovering that pursuing spring gobblers in Pennsylvania can make the month of May the most exciting of the year.
Still, most novice hunters and far too many veterans put pressure on the birds during preseason scouting by calling and making them that more difficult to hunt when the season opens. This year the Mentored Youth Day for junior and mentored hunters is Saturday, April 25. The regular season opens Saturday, May 2.
There is no better way to reduce pressure when doing preseason scouting than the use of trail cameras. Trail cameras have become a mainstay for scouting deer, bear and other critters — even coyotes — and, in recent years, have made their way into the spring turkey woods.
With a trail camera, scouting can be done merely by making a few trips into the woods each week and check out the results on the photo card without giving in to the temptation to fire up that gobbler by calling. A side benefit of making fewer trips to a scouting area, which can be done throughout the day rather than listening for a gobbler at daybreak, means it is less likely of others “scouting” one’s planned hunting area.
Downloading photos of a gobbler is also great reinforcement for youngsters who are participating in the Mentored Youth Hunting Program. Watching a hunting DVD or outdoors program about gobbler hunting is one thing, but actually seeing a bird in the area they will be hunting is second only to hearing it sound off and respond to a call.
Perhaps the best advice when selecting a trail camera is to choose a familiar brand. Bushnell has been synonymous for decades with quality when it comes to serving the needs of outdoorsmen from binoculars to scopes to rangefinders. That same quality and dependability is found in the company’s Trophy Cam HD.
Compact in size, a big consideration when finding a hiding place to avoid detection from those lacking integrity, the Trophy Cam HD measures 12 inches high by 7½ inches wide by 3 inches deep and is big on features. Bushnell touts this as a “just-hand-it-and-hunt” camera, and it is that and more as one learns to maximize all of its features.
Some of the features that make the Trophy Cam HD a great value are a removable “ARD” LED cover, a strengthened cable lock channel and an improved latch, No-Glow Black LEDs, extended night vision capabilities and 1080p HD video with audio recording. The unit runs on eight AA batteries to provide plenty of power and is compatible for a solar panel.
Much like with digital cameras, shooting video — the length of which is programmable for as long as a minute — with the Trophy Cam HD will drain batteries sooner than just taking photos. There is also a programmable trigger to take eight mega pixel color photos from one second to one hour, but keep in mind that utilizing extra features will likely decrease the maximum one-year battery life.
Once in place, the Trophy Cam HD will perform year round, as it has been tested in temperatures ranging from minus-5 degrees to 140 degrees. The camera will also perform in all seasons as the motion sensor will capture motion in the open woods out to 45 feet.
One of the most educational aspects of using a trail camera to do preseason scouting for spring gobblers is the ability to observe how their daily routine changes. Most gobblers were traveling in bachelor groups three weeks ago, but within the past week many of the dominant birds have set out on their own to begin searching for hens.
Yes, hunting spring gobblers makes the month of May unequaled in excitement. Now, by using trail cameras for preseason scouting, that excitement can begin two months before the season.
2015 spring gobbler dates
Hunters may take one bearded bird with their general hunting license and a second bird with a special wild turkey license. Legal sporting arms are shotguns with No. 4 shot and smaller and all archery tackle.
• Saturday, April 25: Special season for eligible junior hunters, with required license and mentored youth, one-half hour before sunrise until noon.
• Saturday, May 2, through Saturday, May 16: Hunting hours are one-half hour before sunrise until noon.
• Monday, May 18, through Saturday, May 30: Hunting hours are one-half hour before sunrise until one-half hour after sunset.
