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

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In episode 022, Karen Lee, who is Vice President of Communications with the NWTF, gives us a preview of the 2015 NWTF Convention and Sports Show that will take place February 13 - 15 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort.

The NWTF believes this year's show will be their biggest and best ever, and by looking at the event billing it certainly appears that it will be. 

Karen tells us all about the calling contests, taxidermy contests, call making competitions, the exhibitors, the seminars, autograph sessions with pros and celebrities, and tons of activities for the kids as well.

Tune in to this week's episode to learn why you can't afford to miss the convention and sports show this year and also to hear Karen and I practicing our team owl hooting/gobbling competition routine.  It is quite funny.

In this episode of The Turkey Hunter Podcast, Jay Scott shares a very cool story of a turkey hunting outing where he was not the only hunter who was hunting the turkeys. The turkeys' reaction to the other hunter is fascinating and completely different than I would have thought.

Listen in as Jay tells the story of turkeys vs bobcat in this week's episode. Also, listen in to the very end of the show where I premiere a new segment of The Turkey Hunter Podcast called, "Fun with Editing" where I do just that.  I have fun playing with some of the audio snippets from the show with my audio editing software. I hope you enjoy the show and the new segment.

Thanks for listening!

In part 2 of Episode 021, Jay Scott with The Big Buck Registry's Big Buck Podcast shares with us some of his field turkey hunting stories and strategies as well.

Hunting field turkeys can be quite different than hunting turkeys that are hanging out in the woods.  Actually, most of the time, they are the same exact turkeys.  They just have dual personalities - a woods personality and a field personality, and we have to keep those differences in mind when we are chasing turkeys this spring.

Listen to Jay and Andy share stories about calling turkeys across creeks, Jay's most recent successful turkey hunt, the advantages of hunting on Wednesday's, and his thoughts about using decoys, and the importance of knowing when to move on a turkey.

Sit back, relax, and enjoy part 2 of Episode 021 of The Turkey Hunter Podcast - Hunting Field Turkeys with Jay Scott

Field turkeys and woods turkeys are generally the same exact turkeys, but turkeys do not act the same when they are in fields as they do when they are in the woods.  Therefore, we cannot use the same hunting strategies on turkeys that are in fields as we do with turkeys that are in the woods.  

Jay Scott, with the Big Buck Registry's Big Buck Podcast, shares many different field turkey tactics with us in this episode.  In part 1 of the episode, Jay tells us the awesome and funny story of how he got into turkey hunting, and how patience is a must have virtue while we are hunting fields. 

Be sure to listen to this week's episode of The Turkey Hunter Podcast and become a better field turkey hunter this spring.

In this episode of The Turkey Hunter Podcast, Bob Eriksen, who is a wildlife biologist with the NWTF, shares his knowledge of the breeding cycle of wild turkey hens and gobblers.

Bob tells us what activities that we need to avoid on our properties while hens are nesting.  Many times, land owners and managers can destroy nests and even kill hens who are sitting on those nests by doing certain things when hens are nesting.  Oftentimes, hens that have their nests destroyed will renest, but that is not always successful for them. 

He also shares the actions that we can take on our properties to improve nesting success.  Hens can nest almost anywhere; however, some habitats are better for nesting than others.  We, as land managers and owners, can perform certain management techniques that can actually enhance the nesting habitat.  Logging, burning, and other techniques can help improve the numbers of turkeys on our properties.

Bob shares his knowledge of what makes certain habitats more suitable for brood rearing success.  Bunch grasses and native warm season grasses are wonderful areas for hens to ensure that her hens have enough food to eat and cover for protection from predators.

Listen in to all of the very informative details of my interview with Bob Eriksen with the NWTF, and learn more about the breeding cycle of wild turkeys so you can be the best turkey hunter you can be.

Bob Eriksen has been a wildlife biologist with the NWTF for the past 13 years.  Bob has participated in many studies on wild turkeys over those years, and he has gained a tremendous amount of knowledge of the bird that he now spends his days studying. 

In part 1of Episode 020, Bob helps us understand the breeding cycle of hens so we can learn more about the Spring habits of the wild turkey.  Here are some of the things you'll learn when you tune in to this episode of The Turkey Hunter Podcast:

1. How many eggs the average hen lays each day and each season.

2. How much the peak season varies from north to south.

3. What factor gets hens in the mood to mate.

4. Why jakes tend to group up with other jakes at the end of the season.

5. How much more likely a mature hen is to nest successfully than a juvenile. 

6. Ideal nesting habitat.

7. When hens will start sitting on nests full time.

8. Why a hen only needs to be bred once to lay a clutch of 10 - 12 eggs.

9. How long it takes a hen to start laying eggs after she is bred.

10. What a "determinate nester" is.

Be sure to tune in to part 2 of Episode 020 next week when Bob will share more great information about the breeding cycle of wild turkey hens with us.

Turkey hunter, John Rowell, recounts the story of killing a once in a lifetime wild turkey in Missouri. 

John tells the story of what starts out to be a tough hunt because of retaliation against his hunting party by the outfitter that John paid to hunt in Missouri. The owner mistakenly associated John with a hunter who had been to his operation in previous years and had killed more turkeys than he was allotted on the unguided hunts.  After that unethical "hunter" cleared the situation up with the outfitter and let him know that John and his group should not be punished because of his actions in years past, the outfitter opened up more ranches to John and his group, but time was against John at that point who had one day remaining on his out of state hunt.

On the last morning of the hunt, John heard shots from all around the ranch he was hunting as his hunting partners were filling their tags, but John was not having any luck.  It looked like John was going to go home empty handed until a gobbling bird entered John's radar screen.  

The hunt was on, but the bird was not playing fair.  John took control of the situation and made the most of the opportunity he was given. 

Listen in as John describes what happened next and take a look at the picture to see how John's patience was rewarded by the Turkey gods.

I venture to say that 80% of whether you are going to be successful on your next turkey hunt depends on where you sit down to call that turkey to you.  You would never charge through the woods at a gobbling turkey in an attempt to kill him, and setting up in the wrong location can have the exact same end result... a light walk back to the pickup truck.

Several factors need to be considered before your hunting spot is selected.  Sometimes we have plenty of time to choose where we want to sit and other times we have mere seconds to make that decision.  The sun, ants, water, the openness of the woods, creeks, valleys, roads, etc are all factors that we turkey hunters have to give thought to before we sit down to call to a turkey.

In this episode of The Turkey Hunter Podcast, I share with you 8 keys to a proper turkey hunting set up.  You'll also hear short stories about how fire ants darn near ruined a hunt for me and how the sun did ruin a hunt for a friend of mine. 

Sit back and enjoy this short episode of The Turkey Hunter Podcast and hopefully you'll think about these 8 keys to a proper turkey hunting set up the next time you are in the turkey woods trying to fill your tag and your freezer.

This is the story of the Whiskey Turkey, who was a turkey that absolutely haunted my good friend Eric for an entire season.  This turkey was a wise old bird, and always seemed to out maneuver and out think Eric.  Eric was possessed by this bird to the point where he was skipping work to go after him.  Finally, one day, Eric devised a plan to kill the Whiskey Turkey.  The plan was executed on a weekend when I happened to be hunting with Eric, and the plan was executed perfectly... well, almost perfectly.  

There was one kink in the plan that neither Eric, or I, accounted for prior to venturing out into the woods that morning.  That was a kink in our armor, not the Whiskey Turkey's armor.  

Listen in and laugh along as Eric tells the story of the Whiskey Turkey.

In Episode 016c: 3 Strategies for Afternoon Turkey Hunting, I discuss the sit and wait method of afternoon turkey hunting.

For many diehard turkey hunters sitting still in one spot waiting on a longbeard to happen by can be shear torture. I know this to be true because I'm one of those hunters who hates to sit still for a turkey. Setting up in the right spot can increase your odds of success tenfold.

In this episode, I share some likely places where turkeys hang out in the afternoons as well as some tips on what to do when you find that spot where the turkeys like to loaf around.

I hope you enjoy the episode.