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

The Struggles of a Turkey Hunter This week, I interview a listener, Joe Kosalko, who emailed me to ask for some help in figuring out what is going on with the turkeys where he hunts in New Mexico. Joe struggles with turkeys that will gobble a few times on the roost, fly down and not say a word for the rest of the day.  We discuss what the possible problems could be and what he can do to overcome those issues and hopefully fill a tag or two this spring.  Joe's season starts April 15, and he's ready to get out into the woods to try his luck with those New Mexico Merriam's turkeys. 

Understanding the Body Language of Wild Turkeys with Phillip Vanderpool Phillip Vanderpool with The Virtue TV joins me this week to help with understanding the body language of wild turkeys. Learn the signs of what to look for in a nervous turkey, and how to calm that nervous bird back down. Learn the signs of what to look for in a bird that is content and is coming to your setup. Learn what the colors the gobbler displays in his head, neck, and waddles mean and how to interpret what the gobbler's emotions are when those colors change.

Scouting Advice from Turkey Hunting Pros This week Cameron and I have some scouting advice from turkey hunting pros for your listening pleasure.  In fact, Cameron brings the majority of this week's show to you as I vacation at the beach before turkey season starts. Cameron interviews Preston Pittman, Chris Parrish, Jimmy Primos, Harold Knight, Eddie Salter, and Tony Reynolds. He asks them 3 questions about scouting public land because Cameron is having difficulty locating turkeys on some of the public land around Birmingham, Alabama. Listen in and hear what advice some of the turkey hunting pros have to offer Cameron in this week's episode.

Dissecting A Box Call with Bob Fulcher This week, we are dissecting a box call with Bob Fulcher with Shadetree Callers. Tune in to learn how the thickness of the walls and bottom of a call affect the sound of the call. We also talk about tuning box calls with a pocket knife, and the difference between a one piece box call and a laminate call. We talk about how the density of the wood affects the sound of a box call and whether or not we want a box call that is made 100% of the same type of wood.  After we talk box calls and listen to the difference in some of the box calls that Bob makes at Shadetree Callers, we get to hear the story of Bob's most recent successful turkey hunt and one or two of the things that made that hunt a success. Listen in and learn about box calls when we start dissecting a box call.

Early Season Turkey Hunting Strategies with Ernie Calandrelli Ernie Calandrelli joins me this week to discuss early season turkey hunting strategies.  Early season in the turkey woods can be a tale of two seasons. The big dominant Toms are busy tending to their harem of hens; and, in doing so, more often than not are unwilling to respond and come into our calling.  The subordinate, or satellite Toms, are looking for love in all the wrong places, and they will often run over us to get to that “hen” that they think is begging for attention. In saying that, for us hunters, early season turkey hunting consists of days that are really good and days that are really bad, with the majority of our days being the latter. When dealing with early season turkeys, we can do certain things to increase the odds of being successful.  One of those strategies we can try is to mock the boss hen and try to get her angry enough to come into our setup to fight that hen that is trying to tell her and the other turkeys in the area wh

In this episode of The Turkey Hunter, I conduct the 1 question interviews with turkey hunting pros at the NWTF Convention and Sports Show in Nashville.  Hear the 1 thing that increased the turkey hunting success rates around for guys like Preston Pittman, Eddie Salter, Ernie Calandrelli, Ray Eye, Harold Knight, Chris Parrish, Trent Masterson, Matt Morrett, and Jimmy Primos. I guarantee you will learn something about turkey hunting in this week’s show. Listen in and enjoy.

2017 NWTF Convention Recap In this week's episode, I recap the 2017 NWTF Convention and Sports Show that took place in Nashville, TN. With what is sure to be a record breaking crowd in attendance over the weekend, thousands of people enjoyed seminars, calling contests, and an exhibition hall full of vendor booths selling anything from shotguns to turkey calls to facemasks to cover a turkey hunter's face. While all of this excitement was going on in the convention and sports show, I was wandering around recruiting people to let me record an interview with them.  This interview was one with a twist - it consisted of one question. The real trick to the one question is that there really was not one answer, and there certainly was not one right answer.  I strictly wanted to know "What is the one thing that elevated your success level in the turkey woods from that of being a beginner to where you are consistently killing turkeys year in and year out?" That is it!  That is the one question from the one question inte

Part 2 of Advanced Trapping Sets for Wild Turkey Predators with Trent Masterson   In this week's episode I continue the conversation with Trent Masterson about some advanced trapping sets for wild turkey predators - adult and poult wild turkey predators mostly. Coyotes are extremely wary, and they are quick to catch on to trapping in their home area. When they catch on, they get more and more difficult to trap and remove from the area. Trent gives some tips on how we can catch more of those wary coyotes before they catch our nesting hens and vulnerable poults. Trent also discusses how to catch the best hunters in the woods - bobcats. Their inquisitive nature makes them easier to trap than coyotes, but there are some techniques that we can use to increase our odds of success when seeking these turkey killers. Foxes are also a predator that will destroy a nest of eggs or catch our poults and nesting hens, and we need to remove as many foxes as we can to help our turkey population too. Trent and I discuss the ma

Trent Masterson joins me this week to discuss advanced trapping sets for wild turkey predators. If you want to have more turkeys to observe and hunt on your property, there are 2 main things that you can do to really help to increase your population.  One of those is to improve the habitat that the turkeys have.  The second activity is to trap predators. More often than not, those predators that have seen, heard, and smelled other predators caught in traps get wary and hard to catch.  That is exactly what we are discussing in this episode - advanced trapping sets for wild turkey predators. Because this interview with Trent ran almost 2 hours, I've split the interview into 2 parts.  In this part of the interview, Trent and I discuss advanced trapping sets for nest predators of wild turkeys, so we talk coons, skunks, and possums. Listen in as we discuss what we need to know to catch these more wary wild turkey predators.

Preston Pittman with Pittman Game Calls and Longleaf Camo joins me today to discuss pre season scouting for wild turkeys. We talk about when we need to start our pre season scouting for wild turkeys, what we need to be looking for when we scout, when we should stop our scouting for turkeys, and some of the most common mistakes we make when scouting. In addition to learning some tips to scout your hunting property before turkey season starts, we also get to hear some great turkey hunting stories from Preston as well.

I received a show suggestion from Friend of the Show, Griff Baute, to do a show on turkey hunting gear, so today I'm sharing with you what I carry in my turkey hunting vest. I'm going to give you the list of what I keep in my turkey hunting vest 24/7, what I rotate in and out of my turkey hunting vest, and what I need to put in my turkey hunting vest before this season starts. After listening to the show, send me an email with the 1 thing that you will not go into the turkey woods without being in your vest.

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 b

Join Pete Muller, Public Relations Specialist with the National Wild Turkey Federation, and I as we talk about the upcoming NWTF Convention and Sports Show in Nashville.  The NWTF Convention and Sports Show is the premiere turkey hunting and outdoor show held in the Southeast. The show consist of over 600 exhibitors, taxidermy contests, turkey call contests, turkey calling contests, seminars, live auctions, parties, and live entertainment. This year's show will be held at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville in February, and it truly is an event that you won't want to miss. Listen in to this week's episode to learn more about the 2017 NWTF Convention and Sports Show.

In this episode, I share a conversation that I had with Josh Pollock, who is a wildlife biologist in Utah, where I discuss turkey populations and my best chance for success on my upcoming hunt there. I want to be sure I am setting myself and my hunting buddies up for the best chance for success, especially when preparing for a public land hunt. One of the best ways to do that is to ask the people who know the most about the land you'll be hunting where you can find huntable birds.  That is exactly what I do in this week's episode. Early in the conversation with Josh Pollock, I ask what the chances of success are in Southern Utah, and the next thing I know he is telling me exactly where I should start in my search for birds. This type of assistance is exactly what we all are looking for when we are preparing for a public land hunt. Listen in to hear some of the questions I ask Josh so you can write them down and ask the biologist or game warden who is over your favorite public hunting lands the same questions.

In this episode, I ask you to help me help you be a better turkey hunter in 2017.  You can help me help you in 2 ways. First, email me at andy at iamturkeyhunting with one idea or suggestion for a show topic. Your suggestion can be very specific or very general.  It doesn't matter.  Your suggestion should be what you want or need help with or want to learn more about that will help you to be a better turkey hunter this coming season. The second favor is to complete a short survey for me. You can access the survey by texting "helpandy" to 44222. Once you do this, you will receive a text asking you to reply with only your email address. After you reply with your email address, you will receive an email from me containing the link to the survey. Answer the quick 10 question survey, and then you are done. The survey will help me to get to know you better by asking what I can do to help you more and to improve the show as well.  Your participation in the survey will be greatly appreciated. The only other thing I a

This week, I have another followup interview with a guest who has been on the show before. Jenna Barron joins us to give us an update on how her fall turkey season went and an update on Ms. Jeffrey, her farm turkey who had quite the following on Facebook. Jenna shares a story on how she was able to acquire access to some private property for turkey hunting and that the opportunity to hunt that property really paid off for her and her husband.

Some interviews that I do spark quite a few questions by listeners, and I thought that doing follow-up interviews with those same guests would be a great idea. This week, I have the first follow-up interview for you guys, and it is with Dave Owens who you probably recognize from Episode 053 where we talked about how to choose public land hunting spots. Dave is back on this week to answer some of the questions you guys have asked me about him and to give us an update on the status of his US Super Slam.  

Roger Shields with the Florida Fish and Wild Game Conservation Commission is on the show to talk about Osceola wild turkeys. The Osceola wild turkey is great fun to hunt. Their habitat is some of the harshest in the country, and Osceola's have an amazing ability to disappear into nowhere. With plenty of public and private land to hunt in Osceola range, there are no shortages of opportunities to harvest an Osceola wild turkey to complete your Grand Slam.

In this week's episode, an experienced hunter shares the story of his recent hunting accident and shares a gun safety reminder with us. Most of us, at one time or another, have a lapse of judgement when handling a firearm. Fortunately, most of the time, nothing bad or harmful happens and we often don't even realize what we just got away with because nothing negative happened. A friend of mine recently shot himself in the hand while hunting because he committed two firearm safety sins on one hunt. Today, he shares the story of how the accident happened as a reminder for us to slow down and think before we make a big mistake when handling guns.  

Happy Thanksgiving!