If one were to go onto public mountain ground in Central Pennsylvania, where your not familiar with the territory at all. Where would you put a game camera and why. What would you look for when scouting that area and what makes you think it's a good spot? I'm trying to locate some new hunting spots kind of deeper away from others a place where it's unlikely to run into another hunter or hunt pressured birds.
Skip the camera.
Invest a few early mornings before the season starts, and get to the high points of that tract of ground you are eyeing up and listen.
Based on what you hear, or don't hear, plan accordingly.
There are no turkeys on public mountain ground in central Pennsylvania. ;D
Ive never used trail cameras for any amount of turkey scouting so I don't have tips there.
I typically speed scout looking for tracks, scratchings, droppings, feathers. Areas I find sign in I will return before season and listen at day break. Early season east facing points and benches above creek bottoms will get green first.
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Cameras are one of the new fangled devices guys are marketed to think they need. They see no other way as you didn't. As others said skip it, forget about it. You need to drive large areas at daybreak and either simply listen or shock gobble birds or long distance view them. Stay away from their areas. Learn/locate as many spots as you can. They'll soon be in smaller breeding flocks. If you know where you've heard lots they'll break up somewhere nearby. Best bet imo would be audibly by truck, bike something. You'll be limited to time so walking won't cut it. I'd use a truck and preferably most often high where you can hear
Quote from: Bowguy on February 25, 2021, 09:32:02 AM
Cameras are one of the new fangled devices guys are marketed to think they need. They see no other way as you didn't. As others said skip it, forget about it. You need to drive large areas at daybreak and either simply listen or shock gobble birds or long distance view them. Stay away from their areas. Learn/locate as many spots as you can. They'll soon be in smaller breeding flocks. If you know where you've heard lots they'll break up somewhere nearby. Best bet imo would be audibly by truck, bike something. You'll be limited to time so walking won't cut it. I'd use a truck and preferably most often high where you can hear
Right on target! I will re-emphasize (like we have done many times before). Don't wait for those gobblers to tell you where they are on THEIR time schedule. Make them tell you where they are on YOURS so you can cover as much of the area you intend to hunt as you can in that window of time you have available to find them. (...but again, do this with a conscious respect and regard for your fellow hunters who might also be out there) ;D
I've never put cameras out for birds just was an idea. Thanks guys ill be scouting in my jeep all over the mountains.
I would run ridges looking for shock calls or gobbles. I'd look for valleys with water and fields, then run ridges around them.
Take a drive look for areas that have old log landing ,logging roads. Pine, hollows leading to open area. gaslines are a good bet. I've killed many a bird off of gaslines. You'll have you work cut out for you due to the hard core turkey hunters in Central Pa
My PA hunting is exclusively on SGLs. Most of them are quite large. Pick one...get there early, well before gobbling time, and hike to the middle of it. Listen. I've had a relative amount of success on SGLs and I attribute most of it to the fact that I don't hunt "road birds". If he can be heard from the road several dozen guys know he's there.