The Turkey Hunter Podcast With Andy Gagliano | Turkey Hunting Tips, Strategies, And Stories

Scott Ellis Seminar from 2019 NWTF Convention This week, I am sharing the seminar from the Scott Ellis Seminar called "Setting the Mood" from the 2019 NWTF Convention in Nashville, TN. In this seminar, Scott discusses how he approaches calling scenarios from starting off soft and subtle to moving towards a more vocal, aggressive, and demanding calling style. Scott also discusses an alternative to how we call to henned up toms. We also get to hear some calling examples during Scott's presentation, and a lengthy question and answer session. Listen in.

A Giant New York Wild Turkey This week, I share the story of my 2nd New York wild turkey hunt.  We spotted this turkey with some hens and jakes in a hay field on a hillside. After relocating we found ourselves set up about 75 yards from the turkey with the guide float calling behind us using jake and hen calling. This was an interesting hunt with a huge double bearded turkey on the ground after the shot. Listen in and enjoy!

Happy Birthday Merica Turkey Soup This week, I bring us all up to date on turkey and turkey hunting news, and I chat with Steve Stoltz about his 2019 spring turkey hunting season. Mississippi, Alabama, Idaho, Michigan, Wisconsin, and North Carolina are some of the states in this week's turkey soup. Listen in!

Phillip Vanderpool Q&A Seminar from 2019 NWTF Convention This week I have the Phillip Vanderpool seminar from the 2019 NWTF Convention in Nashville, TN. Phillip filled in on very short notice for Ray Eye during the convention due to Ray's leaving the show to tend to an emergency at home. Due to the short notice that Phillip had to fill in, he did not have his usual video presentation so he hosted a Q&A seminar with questions coming from the audience. Listen in as Phillip covers hunting from blinds, bowhunting turkeys, fall turkey hunting, decoys, mid day hunting, and many other topics.

Early Summer Turkey Soup This week I try to catch us all up on some turkey hunting news - after what, in retrospect, sounds like a little bit of a rant. In this week's news is Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Rhode Island, Ohio, Arkansas, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Nebraska, and Wisconsin turkey hunting harvest results and announcements of brood surveys being conducted. I also make mention of truly custom turkey calls made by Primos and turkey socks designed by yours truly - yep, turkey socks. Listen in!

Apple Orchard Turkey This week I tell the story, and share the audio of, my first New York state turkey.  This was a rather odd hunt - at least the first 1/2 of the hunt anyway - but it turned out to be an exceptional hunt when all of the dust settled. In our first setup we were skirted by 3 toms and several hens who did not come into view for me, but were standing about 5 feet from my buddy Chip. In our second setup, some hen and jake calling brought this 2 year old turkey close enough for a shot, and my New York tag was filled. Listen in for some great hunt audio and a pretty entertaining turkey hunting story as well.

The Cow Manure Turkey with Preston Pittman This week, Preston Pittman joins me to share the unbelievable story of a turkey hunt that took place in a 60 acre cow pasture.  This story will make you stop and ask yourself if you could do what it takes to kill a wild turkey the way that Preston did this one.  Preston and I also discuss TSS, whether he thinks turkey hunting will cycle and we will lose some turkey hunters due to poor quality of turkey hunting, and more. Listen in!

A Turkey Hunting Trip for the Ages with Hunt Audio This week I highlight my recent annual out of state turkey hunt with my buddies from college where we wreaked havoc on the wild turkeys in New England. I also play audio from one of the hunts that we had on that trip. On this trip, we visited New York, Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire. We had an amazing experience traveling and hunting the beautiful countryside in the northeast. The wild turkeys were plentiful in the areas we hunted, and we were fortunate enough to have had several exciting hunts. Listen in and enjoy the experience with us.

Turkey Hunting Trip Planning Time This week, I have a replay for you where I talk about planning a budget out of state turkey hunting trip. Now is the time to start planning your trips - at least the bare minimums of what state(s) and dates. From there it is a matter of really nailing down the details of where you are going within those states, where you will stay while hunting, and what you may do with any downtime - like lobster in Maine. Listen in, and get started planning your 2020 turkey hunting trips.

Hen Fight!!! A West Virginia Turkey Hunt This week, my buddy Zach Lucas shares with us the story of and audio from an awesome turkey hunt that we were on in West Virginia this past Saturday.  The hunt had a little bit of everything that we turkey hunters love. There was lots of hen talk, gobbling, strutting, fighting, shooting, and fun all wrapped up into one hunt.  Listen in as I check off one more state in my quest for 49!

Turkey Science vs Turkey Fiction with Mike Chamberlain In this week's episode, I have Mike Chamberlain on the show to pick apart some of the propaganda floating around social media about a few of the reasons that turkey hunters attribute the decline to in turkey populations. We discuss prescribed fire (more specifically, growing season burns), predators, hogs, nest parasites and hosts, the human factor, season lengths, bag limits. Mike also shares the story of his most recent successful turkey hunt with us. This is an episode that I'm pretty sure we can all learn a little something about our favorite game bird, the wild turkey. Listen in!

A Good Ending to a Weird Season Today, I'm sharing my final hunt of Alabama's 2019 turkey season with you.  As Colonel Tom Kelly so accurately and eloquently stated in his book, Better on a Rising Tide, “Turkey hunting is a magical, intellectual, tactical exercise conducted out of doors.  It is a personal, contemplative sport, and does not require the production of a dead turkey to be classified as a success.” I sometimes wonder if we turkey hunters use that line or thought to justify our blunders or lack of success in the woods. But the truth always comes back to my mind soon after having those thoughts. The truth is a successful turkey hunt is what we want it to be. For me, I crave the interaction with the bird. Knowing that I can cause him to respond with a gobble or drumming or maybe even change his course, even if only briefly. When I get that interaction with a wild turkey, for me, that is a successful turkey hunt. Listen in to today's show. It was a very exciting hunt, if only for a very brief period o

An End Around Turkey Story This is the story of another catch and release turkey hunt from my 2019 turkey season. Listen in as my buddy, Drew, and I chase after a hard gobbling Eastern on our home turf in Alabama. You probably will be amazed about the story of the crazy hen that we dealt with for the better part of the morning as well. It was a great hunt and a pile of fun. I hope you enjoy it.

A Catch and Release Turkey Hunt This week I share the story and audio of a hunt with no shots fired. This is a very exciting hunt with 2 new turkey hunters with good gobbling and a pretty interesting twist to it. There is also a challenge issued to you guys listening. After hearing the audio of the hunt, can you tell me what I did wrong during this hunt? If you think you know what I did wrong during the hunt, then shoot me an email. The first person to submit the correct error will receive a Strut Commander maintenance free box call.  Listen in.

A Mississippi Turkey Hunting Story This week I have my buddy Evan Murphy on the show to talk about our successful turkey hunt in Mississippi. Thanks to Evan for helping me to mark Mississippi off of my list of states that I need to kill a turkey in. We had a great and unique hunt together.  Listen in!

Back on the Board in Bama This week, I have Scott McDonald on the show to share the details of our successful Alabama turkey hunt and to play the audio of that file. Scott also briefly shares his story of his successful hunt on public land in Georgia and which states he plans to hunt this spring to move closer to completing his Super Slam. Listen in!

Mississippi Public Land Turkey This week, I replay a hunt from opening weekend in Mississippi on public land with Cameron Weddington, the former Turkey Hunter podcast intern. Cameron and I tackled public land in Mississippi on opening weekend of their 2019 turkey season, and we had some very good luck.  In this episode, Cameron and I share the story of the hunt and talk about some things that happened that really stuck out to us as some reasons why the hunt was a success. Listen in!

Soft Calling with Scott Ellis This week, Scott Ellis joins me to talk about soft calling turkeys. Soft calling is a form of calling we all need to master in order to work turkeys into close range effectively. In the interview, we talk about calls that are not turkey vocalizations, how to change the mood of a Tom, and different scenarios when we can use soft calling techniques. For the icing on the cake, Scott shares the story of his most recent turkey hunt with us. Listen in!

Competition Turkey Calling with Steve Stoltz This week, Steve Stoltz with Woodhaven Custom Calls joins me on the show to talk about competition turkey calling.  We discuss how someone who is interested in competition calling can get into the sport, and we also discuss the differences in competition calling and calling while hunting.  I ask Steve in the interview who is the tougher judge a 4 year old public land turkey or the human judges on the panel of any given contest. Steve demonstrates some calling for us and shows us the difference between calling and calling with emotions. Listen in!

All About Turkey Chokes with Mike Ponder with Indian Creek Shooting Systems This week, I have Mike Ponder, one of the founders of Indian Creek Shooting Systems, on the show to chat about shotgun chokes for turkey hunting. We talk about shotgun chokes in their simplest form, the advantages of an extended choke and a ported choke. We also discuss how chokes help to separate the wad from the shot when a shell is fired which helps to result in a more consistent pattern from the gun.  We cover TSS and how it is revolutionizing the hunting industry in allowing hunters to use lighter sub gauges for turkey hunting compared to the guns we were shooting to achieve the same results 10 years ago.  Listen in and give some thought as to whether or not you are shooting the choke that best suits your hunting style.