Looking to the east, the horizon was beginning to turn into a vibrant pink and orange as the sun slowly began to creep into the sky to begin a new day. It was then that the first thunderous gobble struck through the crisp spring morning air. Soon, another then another and I came to the realization that the birds I was looking for were roosted within one hundred yards of my setup. These initial birds sounding off set off a flurry of gobbles from the trees surrounding the field from additional toms, sending excited chills down my spine.

A short time later, I could hear the birds fly off the roost, strike the ground and they were at a mere sixty yards from my set. Surveying my surroundings, I noticed birds entering the field from nearly every direction. In total, nine toms and eleven hens began making their way towards the corner of the field I was seated over.

Within moments, I was at full draw, settling my pin and ready to let an arrow loose. A deep breath later and I was pulling through my release and the arrow was gone. Finding its mark, the gorgeous Eastern tom immediately dropped where it stood and my season was over on opening morning, less than 40 minutes into the season.

Like so many avid outdoorsmen across the country, I find time to be the one thing there is never enough of. Between my family, full time job, filming outdoor adventures, editing and everything else that comes with life, time is precious.  

This hunt was a perfect example of preparation, knowing when and where the birds would be and utilizing my Spartan cellular cameras to be as efficient as possible with my time afield. The weeks and days leading up to the season showed me that nearly every morning, this large population of birds congregated in this corner of the field prior to striking out for the day on their daily routine. Running Spartans to monitor my local turkeys prior to, and during the season has now become a major part of my family’s success.  

Additionally, the GoLive feature on the GoLive and GoLive 2 models has allowed me to pinpoint directions of travel and anticipate where the birds are coming from and going too at any given time.

Having access to multiple properties to chase birds, the cameras allow me to not only know when birds are utilizing an area during a specific time of day, they also assist in providing population numbers. For efficiency purposes, I want to put my family, friends and myself in locations with the highest bird population at the right time to find success.

In summary, your time is precious… utilizing cameras to pattern and monitor your turkeys is a great way to be as efficient as possible with your time and will help you find more success while afield.

Best of luck field, shoot straight and I hope everyone gets the opportunity at a monster gobbler this year!