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10 Trail Camera Tips for Success

2020-05-18T16:16:00-06:00

With only a few months away from open day and animals beginning to grow their antlers, it’s time to start thinking about setting trail cameras. Trail cameras are an extremely effective tool for learning about our targeted animals’ behavior when we’re not able to be in the field. It helps us learn what animals are in the area as well as their patterns and behaviors. So, before you unleash your fleet of cameras, take a look at our ten quick tips to help bring your trail camera game to the next level this year.

1. Direction is Key
If you can, refrain from setting your camera facing East or West. Unless you want a memory card full of pictures of nothing but the sun during prime hours, face your camera north or south and you’ll be much happier with the end result. I think we’ve all learned this lesson the hard way.

2. Check to see if it works
As big of a hurry you may be in, or as tired as you might think you are; ALWAYS make sure you take a test pictures of yourself walking by the camera to make sure that the camera is at the right height and distance and is working properly. Depending on the camera, some have a wider-angle lens than others, so you need to take a picture to make sure the subject fits great in the shot. You don’t want to be that person that hikes in to check his camera weeks later just to find out that the camera angle was off and all the photos are of animal legs. Trust us, it’s worth the extra effort to make sure everything is good to go before leaving.

3. Name your camera
This may sound obvious, but most cameras have the option to give your camera a name and it will print it on each picture’s timestamp. If you’re running more than one camera in the area, this is a must so when you pull the SD card a few weeks later, you won’t get confused and mixed up about which card came from which camera location when you have multiple SD cards you’re dealing with.

4. Settings
When configuring your camera settings, you need to think of how long you plan on leaving it there before checking it again. If the answer is a long time, then you’ll want to keep your image quality low, delay time longer than a minute and maybe only set it on 2 photo burst. Video is out of the question if you plan on leaving it very long. Recording video is great, but it drains your battery and takes up space on your memory card more than anything else. If you plan on checking your camera within a couple weeks, then you could keep your image quality to high, burst mode of 3, and a delay of only 30 seconds or less and you should be fine to record video. Through trail and error, burst mode of at least 2 photos has yielded the best results for us, which is why we highly recommend using burst mode. Without it, you may only catch the nose, or tail end of a big buck, whereas burst mode gives you multiple shots as the animal is walking by. Finally, please make sure the date and time is correct! One of the main reasons for a trail camera is to figure out what time the animals are coming through, so double check it.

5. Checking your Cameras
The easiest, and quickest way to check your cameras is by having an extra SD card. That way you can quickly just swap the current SD card with the new one. But if you’re like us, and want to save money on less SD cards, you can bring any regular picture camera that takes an SD card and you can insert your trail camera’s card to view the pictures. The only problem with this method is you won’t be able to save your pictures because you’ll hopefully have to clear your SD card because it’s almost full. So, we’d suggest getting a memory card reader that just plugs straight into your phone. Many companies sell them for cheap, and they work great. You’re able to save and download any pictures you like from the memory card directly to your phone.

6. Attractant
Depending on your states laws, using attractants can be a great way to get an idea of what’s in the area if you can’t seem to find a water source or natural passage that the animals use often. A “trophy rock” is probably the most popular, but a killer combo that has worked well for us is a mineral lick, with apple “Buck Jam” poured on the ground, as well as some “Deer Cocaine”. This combo works great for both elk and deer. Try a few different things to see what works best in your area.

7. Strategy
Try to have a game plan when placing your trail camera(s). If you’re in a new area that you’re not familiar with, start by placing your camera near a water hole or in highly trafficked areas, and use attractants if legal in your state. This will give you an idea of the animals in the area, and the overall age class. If you’re trying to pattern a specific buck or bull, then your strategy might be different. Rather than putting your camera in highly trafficked areas, or areas that you can glass him, put your cameras on the trails leading to all his possible bedding areas and escape routes. The goal here is to figure out his every move so you can be one step ahead of him come hunting season. Try to stay away from using attractants when “patterning” a buck or bull. You don’t want to put out any foreign scent that might make him change his natural patterns. Just be careful not to bump him when placing or checking a camera.

8. Analyzing
Once you have your pictures or video it’s time to make a game plan. From all the data you have collected you should now know what’s in the area, what time, how frequent, and from what direction the animal is coming. Use this information to help keep yourself one step ahead.

9. Etiquette
With cameras getting stolen more frequently, letting people know simple trail camera etiquette can go a long way. Don’t do anything to someone else’s camera that you wouldn’t want others doing to yours. This may sound obvious, but some people forget that just because they find a camera in the mountains doesn’t mean it’s free to take.

10. Have Fun
The beauty about setting trail cameras is that they are your eyes on the mountain 24/7. There’s just something about hiking up to a trail camera that you haven’t checked in a couple weeks and looking through the pictures. You never know what you’ll find!

If we missed any key tips about successful trail camera strategy, be sure to leave it in the comments!

Justin Finch's Turkey Gear List

2018-04-06T11:37:00-06:00

With the turkey hunts about to get under way, I’ve compiled a list of ideas, tips, and gear that I personally use helps me in the field. Now I don’t claim to be an expert, but I hope some of you can benefit from a few things I’ve learned over the years. Being an archer, I prefer hunting turkeys with archery equipment, but whether you’re going to use a gun or a bow, the ideas are still the same.

Patience, patience, patience. I know people say this all the time, but what does it mean to really be patient while turkey hunting? I’ve learned from trail cameras, and firsthand experience is this: if your setup and you have a tom gobbling back at you and as the day goes on it goes “silent.” At bare minimum give it an hour before giving up on him. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve given up sitting my blind and went home. Just to check my trail camera the next morning to find out 2 big toms came strutting by right in front of my blind about an hour after I left.

Call, but not too much and don’t call too early. I have been guilty of this often - I setup in the dark near their roost tree, and as it starts getting close to first light the temptation to call and hear them gobble back is almost too much. As satisfying as it is to call in the dark and hear them gobble off their roost tree, you got to try and refrain. I’ve found I’ve had the most success when I sit quietly and wait until I hear the hens wake up and start talking. Try to mimic exactly what the hens are doing and begin competing with them by slowly ramping up your calling as it gets closer to “fly down.” By competing with the hens on the roost rather than calling back to the toms, you might just get lucky enough they’ll decide to fly down right on top of you. Once the birds have flown down and are on the ground, keep your calling to a minimal, refrain from being that hunter that is calling every 30 seconds.

A tom that gobbles back to you after 11 a.m. is a dead bird. When you get to understand what turkeys do throughout the day, this will make more sense. But, in a nutshell what I believe happens is this: the jakes and toms fly down off their roost at first light in search of a willing hen. If you don’t happen to convince them to fly down and strut your way, then the toms will stick around the hens until the hens leave the toms to sit on their nests. I’ve found this happens at about 11 a.m. This is when you should be patiently waiting. That tom will remember exactly where you were calling even hours earlier. It’s remarkable how close a tom can pin point your location and eventually work his way that way. Most of my successful hunts have been in the middle of day, while most others are back at camp taking a nap.

Gear: Like I mentioned before, I’m an archery hunter so here is a list of my go-to items when I go afield after turkeys.

Magnus & G5 T3 Expandable broadheads. The Magnus broadheads have a large cutting diameter and are meant for head shooting. In my opinion head shooting is a much easier target when archery hunting turkeys. When aiming for the body with a regular cutting broadhead, it’s sometimes hard to know exactly where to aim on the body, while aiming for the head you know exactly where to aim. When aiming for the head, it’s either a clean miss or a dead turkey, there is no in between. With that said, I do pack my G5 T3 broadheads as well in my quiver in case my shot is over 30 yards. The magnus broadheads fly well up to about 30 yards, after that I would not use them, but rather my expandable head that I know flies true.

When I’m not hunting from a ground blind, I always use a cover on my bow so I’m able to draw back without the turkey seeing. I use the Hideabow brand which is just a sheet of camo that covers my bow just enough to get the job done.

I prefer any type of slate call, I feel like I’m able to be as quiet as possible, or plenty loud enough for a tom to hear me in the wind. I also have a diaphragm call for when the turkey is in the red zone and I need to get my bow ready.

I use one, sometimes two Avian-X hen decoys. I don’t like to risk scaring off a younger tom by bringing in a Jake into the setup. Although I have witnessed a Jake and hen decoy setup work great too. If you’re hunting birds that are very pressured, I’d leave the decoys at home. Just last year I watched a couple toms come into my calls but turn and circle around me the second they saw my decoys. Pressured birds in heavily hunted areas get quickly decoy shy.

I like to layer up when turkey hunting because you never know when you will be running and gunning or sitting for a long time. I wear the XKG Merino bottoms with the XKG Ridge Pants. For my top I use the XKG Transition Jacket along with the XKG Lone Peak Jacket. This combo together is perfect for the crisp early spring mornings, and after shedding a layer it works great for mid-day.

I hope some of my tips can help some of you close the deal on that big tom that has been occupying your thoughts for the last couple months. Now get out there, be patient, and shoot straight! If you have a favorite piece of gear, share it in the comments.

Prepping for Turkey Season

2018-03-08T16:36:00-07:00

Springtime is almost here! With the snow starting to melt and the daylight hours growing, our spring fever is at its peak. We have an intense urge to spend more time outside and rekindle the hunting lifestyle we packed away months ago for the winter ahead. Fortunately for us hunters, most states provide spring turkey hunting opportunities for anyone craving the chase of these elusive birds. In preparation for the season, we’ve highlighted some key areas of the turkey hunt that you can attend to before the hunt begins.

Where to Hunt

Most states offer an early season draw hunt and over-the-counter (OTC) hunt options. Whichever one you qualify for, it’s important to scout your intended areas before the hunt. If you are hunting in a place with a lot of private property, it’s in your best interest to get a plat book or download GPS property apps such as onX Hunt Maps. This will help you identify who owns the land and give you direction for asking for access permission.

Once you’ve found these areas, it’s about patterning the birds. The use of trail cameras is an essential tool for scouting your area. Set these up in key areas of traffic for a couple reasons. First, to assure you that there are actually birds in the area to hunt and secondly, learn their pattern. Trail cams will provide time stamps when the birds walk-by, which gives you valuable insight for when you should be sitting in your blind.When looking for ideal areas for turkeys, keep in mind what they like. They prefer large trees for roosting – oaks in the Midwest and East, and cottonwoods or pines in the West. They need access to food and water – they love bugs, acorns, and crops. A location where there is easy access to openness and cover without traveling a long distance is ideal territory for turkeys.

Practice Calling

You’ve been practicing all winter and are now a turkey calling pro, right? If so, I’m impressed – but for everyone else, including myself, it’s time to dusk off the calls and start practicing. Whether you prefer slate calls, diaphragm calls, box calls, or something else, there is a vast resource of videos and tutorials online to learn the different noises turkeys make. I recommend practicing around the house in your spare time – do not call around the area you plan to hunt, because it might educate the birds.

Decoys

The use of decoys is personal preference, but if you lean the way of decoys, it’s worth getting them out of storage and ready in advance of the season. Turkeys have great awareness for body language. The way a turkey decoy is presented will give off subtle cues to an approaching tom. You want it to convey a relaxed environment, by appearing to feed or squat – both comforting positions to bring toms in. If it looks upright, on alert, or misshapen, it gives a tom cause to avoid the situation and not come close for the shot.

Take the decoys out of storage and clean them off – just water and cloth should do the trick. If they were packed away for the offseason in a way that caused a crease in the body, pack the creased area with newspaper to bring back the shape and heat it with a hair dryer – the crease should disappear. If the creased area is too small (head or neck) and doesn’t reform from the hair dryer, inject the area with foam insulation. Once this hardens, the original shape should be restored.

Once your decoys are clean and formed to how they were intended, they will be ready to attract that big, loud thunder chicken from his roost.

Load Up On Camo

Turkeys are not known for their sense of smell, but they do have very keen eyesight. They can see in color and can see three times better than humans with a wider range of peripherals. If you prefer to hunt outside of a ground blind, head to toe camo is recommended, including a face mask, gloves, hat, and even face paint. Try and keep movement and noise to a minimum as well. Paired with decoys to divert their attention, proper camo concealment gives you a higher probability of blending in undetected.

Do you have any preseason tips or advice we didn’t cover? Leave it in the comments for the other hunters looking to improve their turkey game this year!