The Turkey Hunter Podcast with Andy Gagliano | Turkey Hunting Tips, Strategies, and Stories

Fall Turkey Hunting with Roger Parks - Part 1

 This week, turkey call maker Roger Parks joins Cameron and Andy on the show to talk about fall turkey hunting, among other things.

Roger makes one of the finest gobbler callers on the market today, and the guys talk about that call for a bit. Of course, there's lots of turkey call talk as well. I don't think it is possible to have a turkey call maker on the show and not talk about turkey calls.

Roger shares a strategy for killing turkeys no matter whether he is hunting in the spring, fall, or winter. He also shares a few calling strategies and tips as well.

This is a great episode with a guest who loves to share his knowledge with others. Maybe the best news of all is that there is more interview to share next week.

Listen in!

The Monkey Off of the Back

We are back!

Today we have Scott McDonald joining us on the show to share a hunt in Tennessee that he enjoyed with Cameron. 

This was Scott's third time to hunt in Tennessee. Even though he had some close encounters, he had not been able to mark the state off of his list in his pursuit of his super slam. Cameron offered to help Scott with a hunt to see if they could make it happen in the spring of 2023.

This is a fun episode with Cameron and Scott sharing the hunt with Andy. Listen in to the hunt as there are multiple shots fired and a strange story shared in the show.

A Turkey Hunting Survey with Jay Cantrell

This week Jay Cantrell with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources joins Cameron and Andy on the show to talk about recent public meetings and a survey for South Carolina turkey hunters.

Over the course of the summer, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources held meetings across the state to talk about the declining wild turkey population in SC. These meetings came about because of the concern expressed to the SCDNR by licensed hunters in the state.

As good as the in person meetings were, Jay and the SCDNR felt like they wanted more input from hunters within the state. So, Jay recorded his presentation and posted it on YouTube (click here to watch it). The state also posted their survey online for hunters to take, so that they can get more participation and input on possible solutions from the public.

This is a great show, and Cameron and Andy's hope is that more states will take the initiative to hold similar meetings with their hunters as well as take their presentation and surveys online for all who can to participate and have their voices heard. 

Listen in and then take some action if you are interested in trying to turn the population decline around in your own state.

Season Recap and Turkey Talk with Preston Pittman

This week turkey hunting legend Preston Pittman joins Cameron and Andy on the show to recount his 2023 spring turkey season.

The show starts off with some fishing talk because Preston has just arrived home from a great fishing trip off of the gulf coast. After a bit of fishing talk the discussion turns to turkey hunting. A wide array of topics are discussed from call care and storage tips to whether or not to tree call to a roosted tom and everything in between.

This is a great episode that we all can pick up a few tips from to make us better turkey hunters. Listen in!

Mountain Pine Forest Turkey Hunt

This week, Cameron and Andy share one of their turkey hunts with us. This hunt took place in the mountains of the western US in the spring of 2023.

Cameron and Andy were together on this hunt, and it turned out to be a good one with some cat and mouse being played. Although there is not a whole lot of gobbling in the early stages of this hunt, patience, persistence, and the right turkey call paid off in the end.

We think you'll enjoy sharing in this hunt with Cameron and Andy in the dog days of summer.

Listen in!

2023 Season Recap and Turkey Talk with Donald Devereaux Jarrett

This week, turkey hunting outfitter, guide, hunter, and author Donald Devereaux Jarrett (DJ) joins Cameron and Andy on the show to recap his 2023 season hunting Merriam's turkeys in South Dakota.

DJ also shares his thoughts on the Merriam's turkey population in the part of South Dakota where he guides turkey hunts after the harsh 2022/2023 winter. DJ has high hopes for the Merriam's turkey population there after having a successful hunting season.

DJ, Cameron, and Andy also talk a little about DJ's book, Compositions of a Sickness, and they share a few laughs as well.

Listen in!

Season Recap and Turkey Talk with Jeff Budz

This week wild turkey killer extraordinaire and guide, Jeff Budz, joins Cameron and Andy on the show to share how his season went both personally and professionally.

Jeff's passions for the wild turkey and turkey hunting are obvious and show every time he speaks. Jeff shares his thoughts on the direction of the turkey populations in Florida as well as in the western US after the extreme snowfall and frigid temps they had there this past winter.

Jeff is one who loves to push himself to extremes when it comes to turkey hunting, but he stops shy from telling us what his next big turkey hunting goal is. Maybe Cameron and Andy can get that from him the next time Jeff is on the show.

Jeff is always an entertaining guest who is full of information. Listen in!

2023 Spring Turkey Season Recap

Andy and Cameron are back this week to recap their 2023 spring turkey hunting season. 

Both Andy and Cameron share three takeaways from the 2023 season. They discuss some of their experiences in their travels around the country and some of the interesting people they met along the way. Andy shares a story of hens with poults on the same piece of ground as henned up gobblers.

They also share whether or not they achieved all of their season goals that they set for themselves early this year.

You'll want to listen all the way through the end of the show for a big announcement about going to a bi-weekly podcast format through the summer months.

This is a fun show, so be sure to listen in.

Turkey Season Turkey Soup

This week, following a week off for a turkey trip, Cameron and Andy share a little turkey soup during turkey season.

Many states are starting to report their harvest and licensing statistics. So, Cameron and Andy share some stats for Ohio, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Iowa. Overall, so far, many states are reporting excellent harvest statistics. Are these great harvest statistics due to higher turkey populations this year or due to higher hunter efforts and better weather? Well, it is really hard to tell in so many states because they do not know how many turkey hunters they have turkey hunting. So, these states have no clue as to whether there were more turkey hunters in the woods chasing turkeys or some other factor lead to the increase in harvest statistics.

In addition to the harvest stats, Cameron and Andy share the story of a hunter who was shot by his hunting partner, and how at some point he just realized and accepted the fact that he was going to be shot. This is a wild story with some pretty nasty looking pictures showing the wounds. Check them out online.

And, Andy shares two stories of "hunters" who let the dream of a fresh wild turkey in the freezer get the best of them in New York. Thanks to conservation officers enforcing the law, these two hunters were ticketed and had their turkeys confiscated.

This is a fun episode, so listen in!

Check out this week's episode of The Turkey Hunter Podcast to hear Andy and Cameron discuss some questions that have been recently submitted by listeners. 

Your hosts will dive into questions about hunting missed turkeys, eating turkey livers, finding a mentor, and more. 

Check it out and as always Thanks for listening.