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

This week, I have a bit of a hodge podge of a show for you - kind of a turkey soup, if you will.

We are discussing scouting for fall wild turkeys, using trail cameras, additional tag buying opportunities in Wisconsin, fall turkey hunting forecasts in Missouri, and money to be invested in Texas by the NWTF Texas state chapter.

Homemade Turkey Callers

We turkey hunters live and die by our turkey callers. Truth is, we don't really need those callers to be successful while turkey hunting, but those callers do help to increase our odds of success and enjoyment of the sport. 

While most commercially sold callers are well worth their money because of the amount of testing and design work done on them, we can make our own turkey callers ourselves very inexpensively and with very common materials. In addition to saving a little money, it is often quite fun to make our own callers and very rewarding to kill a wild turkey using our handmade, homemade caller.

Today, I discuss several homemade turkey callers, which commercially sold caller they most resemble, and where we can learn how to make one ourselves.

Listen in, learn, and get to work making a couple of homemade turkey callers to throw into your turkey vest to use this fall.

This week I have clips of audio recorded with Preston Pittman where I pick his brain about certain turkey hunting related topics. 

We talk about turkey predators and nest predators, fanning wild turkeys, turkey caliing, cross contamination of steaks, super slams, and a couple of other topics.

This is a hodge podge of turkey hunting material and topics that I think you will really enjoy and learn from as well.

Listen in!

Join me as I interview Tim Knight and Corey New about bowhunting turkeys without a blind.

A wild turkey’s eyesight is undoubtedly the best of any big game species in North America. They have an uncanny ability to pick out any type of movement or something that is just not right in the woods.

Because of their incredible eyesight, bowhunting turkeys without a blind may seem like it is an impossible feat, but it is not.

As of today’s date, Tim Knight has killed 84 turkeys with a bow and without a blind, and in this episode I pick his brain about how he is so successful doing it.

We talk bow setup, shot placement, camouflage, decoys, and ideal range for a bow shot.  In addition, we share some hunting stories, and Tim even shares a recipe or three with us.

This episode is a new one on my favorite episode list because I got so much more out of Tim than I had planned and because I had a great time conducting the interview.

Be sure to listen in to this episode to learn all you can about bowhunting turkeys without a blind, hear some great hunting stories, and laugh along with us as well.

Turkey Hunting Shotgun Modifications Revisited with Laurence Pylinski

In this episode I revisit the topic of turkey hunting shotgun modifications with Laurence Pylinski with Pylinski Arms. Laurence has been a gunsmith for 30 years, and he is very knowledgeable on modifications that can be made to shotguns by turkey hunters that may improve our pattern or accuracy.

Laurence and I discuss porting barrels, the benefits and detriments to porting, and the cost as well. We also discuss backboring shotguns, the benefits of backboring, what to be cautious of when backboring, and the cost of that modification. And, last but not least, Laurence and I talk about lengthening the forcing cones of shotguns, how that can improve our pattern, what to be cautious of when lenthening forcing cones, and the cost of that also.

A couple of these modifications have been widely adopted by gun manufacturers in the manufacturing of their product because they have seen the benefits of having these modifications done to the guns they made in years past. We discuss that as well as any other modifications that may be more worth the money we would invest in these three modifications.

Listen in and leave us a comment about this week's show.

Turkey Hunting Solo

Turkey hunting solo can be a rather intimidating thought for newer turkey hunters who are afraid to fail in the turkey woods. Many new hunters will not take to the woods by themselves for fear of frustration of not knowing the sport.

Today, I tackle the subject of turkey hunting solo, and I offer a few helpful hints to newer turkey hunters to hopefully provide a little self confidence before they head to the woods alone. 

The main takeaway from today's show is that new turkey hunters should get in the turkey woods, have fun, make smart decisions, embrace mistakes, and learn from those mistakes.

Cooking Wild Turkey with Scott Leysath

This week I'm talking about cooking wild turkey with Scott Leysath, The Sporting Chef.

We discuss how to remove that tough silver sinew that surrounds each wild turkey breast. We talk about brining to enhance the flavor of any bird we want to cook, and how we can season our brine to add even more flavor to our turkeys.

Scott shares some recipes for preparing and cooking wild turkeys that will make your mouth water as well as which herbs and spices seem to always go well with wild turkey.

Scott also tells us the best way to prepare wild turkey thighs so that the meat falls off of the bone and is mouth watering tender after it is cooked. We talk about making stock with the legs, and we also talk about the goodness of bone broth.

Getting Permission to Turkey Hunt Private Land

For those of us who only hunt public land, getting permission to turkey hunt private land can turn our success level around so that we are consistently filling tags each season because private land turkeys are often less pressured than public land wild turkeys are.

The problem with getting access to hunt private land is getting access to hunt private land. Most of us don't know where to start to gain access to some private land hunting honey holds.

That is exactly what we are talking about in this week's episode. I discuss how to find those private land parcels that will most likely give us the best opportunity for success, and I talk about some do's and don'ts when we approach the land owners to ask for access.

Listen in!

Traveling with Your Own Firearm to Turkey Hunt

Traveling and turkey hunting are both very exciting activities by themselves. However, when we combine those two activities into one, there are not many things we do that can rival the fun we can have while enjoying both at the same time.

Traveling with your own firearm to turkey hunt can make our travels a little bit more stressful than say a normal family vacation may be. There are so many rules and regulations of the travel carriers that we need to keep in mind when preparing for our trip as well as the laws and regulations governing firearms put in place by our local and state governments.

In today's episode of The Turkey Hunter, I cover some considerations we need to keep in mind when traveling with your own firearm to turkey hunt.

So, listen in as we talk about firearms and ammunition on planes, trains, and automobiles.

https://www.nraila.org/articles/20150101/guide-to-the-interstate-transportation

https://www.amtrak.com/firearms-in-checked-baggage

https://www.tsa.gov/travel/transporting-firearms-and-ammunition

What Makes a Shotgun a Turkey Hunting Shotgun

This week, I'm discussing what makes a shotgun a "turkey hunting shotgun."

Any shotgun can kill a turkey when shooting the right shells, at the right point of aim, at a turkey at the proper distance. However, there are certain things that we need to know about guns in order for us to have any sort of success in the turkey woods.

To make any shotgun into a turkey hunting shotgun, there are certain things that we need to look for in a gun that we are going to use for hunting wild turkeys.

1. Bore or Gauge - we want to be sure we are shooting a gun that we can handle. Some gauges are just too heavy and have too much recoil for some shooters.

2. Chamber Length - having the proper chamber length for our gauge and what we intend to hunt with the turkeys is important to ensuring our success when the opportunity arises.

3. Action - the type of the action of the gun may seem insignificant, but shooting a gun with the type of action best suited for real life hunting scenarios is very important.

4. Fit - a gun that fits properly is a gun that will miss less frequently and will result in a much more happy hunting experience.

5. Length of the Barrel - Years ago, the thought process with shotgun barrels was the longer the barrel the better the shot and shotgun. That is not the case today. With today's aggressive choke tubes, a short barrel with the correct choke tube in it will shoot just as well as a long barrel shotgun.

6. Sights - Front bead, front and rear bead, Rifle Sights, holographic sights, and scopes are all sight options for our turkey hunting shotguns.

7. Recoil Pads - a great recoil pad on a turkey hunting shotgun can mean the difference in a lower recoil and fewer pulled shots and more accurate followup shots.

8. Gunsmithed Modifications - Back boring, Lengthening the bore, and porting are modifications that need to be made by a gunsmith to help our guns shoot better. But do those modifications really work that well?

9. Looks - The more camouflage we can make our guns the less chance we have of being seen by a wild turkey.

Listen in to this week's show to hear more about what makes a shotgun a turkey hunting shotgun.