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

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

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 sh

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

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

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.

The spot and stalk method of turkey hunting can be a very effective method for filling a turkey tag while hunting in the afternoon.  In the afternoons, turkeys can often be spotted in crop or fallow fields, food plots, and openings in the timber from hilltops, roads, or just slipping up to the edge of a field.  Once spotted, the next step is to put together a plan of approach for that turkey. There are certain tips that can help you to be successful in these situations, like using the wind to your advantage, getting ahead of the turkeys, and adjusting your calling strategies to the situation, that can help you to be more successful.  I cover these tips in this episode so that you can have more success in the turkey woods this Spring.  I hope you enjoy part 2 of Episode 016.  Please tune in next week for part 3 of Episode 016, where I will discuss another effective method of killing a turkey in the afternoon which is to sit and wait.

In Episode 016a, I share the first of 3 strategies for filling a turkey tag while hunting in the afternoons.  Hunting turkeys in the afternoon can often provide an exciting, productive hunt.  Many times, a gobbler is alone and looking for company during the latter part of the day before he heads back to roost.  If you can find that lonely, normally quiet, gobbler and get him interested, you'll have a pretty decent chance of eating turkey for dinner instead of the tag soup that you had for lunch that day.  Of course, all of this depends on whether or not afternoon hunting in your state is legal as there are still several states that do not allow turkey hunting in the afternoons. The first strategy that I'm going to share with you is the Run n Gun.  The Run n Gun strategy for an afternoon hunt is slightly different than it is for a morning hunt where you can afford to be a bit more aggressive since gobblers are more responsive in the mornings.  Afternoon Run n Gun hunting typically involves covering a lot of gr

Here is a simple tip to help you sight in your turkey shotgun before turkey season starts in your neck of the woods so you can be sure not to wound a bird due to a poor shooting gun. 

Steve Hickoff is an author of several books and too many magazine articles to count.  Steve hunts turkeys 8 to 9 months out of each year, and he particularly enjoys taking his turkey dogs out into the Fall turkey woods in pursuit of a great hunt after a successful turkey flock bust. In this episode, Steve Hickoff, shares Fall turkey hunting tips with us so that we can have more successful turkey hunts.  Steve shares his thoughts on using decoys in the Fall, what to do if you get a bad bust on a flock of Fall wild turkeys, and his most recent successful turkey hunt and the one or two keys for success to that hunt. If you want more Fall turkey hunting tips, then please purchase a copy of Steve's book titled, Fall and Winter Turkey Hunter's Handbook.  The book can be found on Amazon.

In this part of the episode, outdoor writer and author, Steve Hickoff, shares his passion for Fall turkey hunting.  Steve also shares how he was introduced to the sport, information about turkey dogging, his thoughts as to why Fall turkey hunting is not as popular as Spring turkey hunting, and some tips for having more success in the Fall turkey woods. Steve is an excellent turkey hunter who spends months each year traveling the country hunting wild turkeys.  Be sure to listen in and use some of these Fall turkey hunting tips to help put that fresh wild turkey on your Thanksgiving table.

A very good friend of mine, Todd, shares a hilarious turkey hunting story of a hunt he took his nephew, Ethan, on this past spring. Ethan was fortunate enough to have taken a bird on this particular day. The events leading up to the hunt are just as exciting as most other turkey hunts we have all been on, but the events after the trigger was squeezed make this story quite entertaining.  For those of you who have young children or grandchildren who hunt, fish, and enjoy the outdoors with you, you will thoroughly enjoy this turkey hunting story. Hunts like this one are the ones that hook kids on our favorite sport forever.  Listen along as Todd takes you on another hilarious turkey hunting trip with the story of Ethan's 2014 turkey.

Here are 5 tips to help you have more success hunting those roosted wild turkey gobblers.   Remember... Roosted Ain't Roasted!  But these tips can help to even the odds a bit in your favor.  Learn mistakes to avoid as well while hunting those early morning wild turkeys and put these tips to good use to maximize your chances of filling your turkey tags this season.

This is the funniest turkey hunting story I've ever had the pleasure to be a part of. The story begins with two friends attempting to play a practical joke on a third friend.  These two friends devised a plan to guarantee the third friend his first turkey on an early morning Spring hunt in west Alabama. The practical joke turned out to be even more of a practical joke when an unsuspecting 4th person enters the story and steals the show.  The main characters of the story are: 1. Tom "Old Man" Haney, Sr. - The father of the president of the hunting club where the story takes place. An older gentleman at the time, who was just one of the greatest people you would have ever met. A long time turkey hunter, and a good one at that. 2. George Boohaker -  A brand new turkey hunter who had not killed a turkey at the time this story took place. George was to be the butt of an elaborate practical joke where he was guaranteed to kill a turkey. 3. Chip Hughes - George's best friend and roommate of Brian Pearson. One of the

In this episode of The Turkey Hunter Podcast, I share 7 tricks for turkey hunting on windy days.

In this episode of The Turkey Hunter Podcast, Jay Salmon the founder of www.outdoormash.com shares with us his reason for starting the website, features of the website, and how the site can benefit us turkey hunters.  Jay also shares his most recent successful wild turkey hunting story with us.  www.outdoormash.com is a new website that has many features and lots of information that most outdoors people will enjoy and use. From classified ads of your gently used outdoors products to the "Facebook" of the outdoors world to information about the tides in your area, www.outdoormash.com has you covered. So, whether you ride horses, ATV's, snow mobiles, or mountain bikes, shoot guns or bows, hunt or fish, www.outdoormash.com has the information that you'll want to know. So, listen to this episode of the podcast and then head over to www.outdoormash.com to check them out.  Also, after listening, please don't forget to email me to let me know your thoughts about an upcoming episode with a land manager to discuss imp

In this episode of The Turkey Hunter Podcast, Scott Leysath shares with us tips for cooking wild turkey to perfection. Scott, the host of The Sporting Chef television show on The Sportsman Channel, shares with us his favorite side dishes and adult beverages to serve with wild turkey, discuss the locavore trend that is sweeping the country currently, and he shares the story of his most recent successful wild turkey hunt. If you have some wild turkey in your freezer that you need to cook soon, then head over to Scott's website for some free wild turkey recipes. Also, don't forget to pick up a copy of Scott's venison cookbook on Amazon.  After you try a few of his recipes, you won't be disappointed.  Enjoy this week's episode, and be sure to tune in next week when I interview Jay Salmon with OutdoorMash.com.  Jay's website has a ton of useful information on it, and he is going to tell us how his site can benefit us turkey hunters.

In this episode of The Turkey Hunter Podcast, Scott Leysath shares with us tips for cooking wild turkey to perfection. Scott, the host of The Sporting Chef television show on The Sportsman Channel, shares recipes for cooking wild turkey, the ideal internal temperature of your wild turkey to ensure that it is cooked properly, and how to prepare your wild turkey for cooking or freezing. If you have some wild turkey in your freezer that you need to cook soon, then head over to Scott's website for some free wild turkey recipes. Also, don't forget to pick up a copy of Scott's venison cookbook on Amazon.  After you try a few of his recipes, you won't be disappointed.  Enjoy this week's episode, and be sure to tune in next week where Scott will share with us his favorite side dishes and adult beverages to serve with wild turkey, discuss the locavore trend that is sweeping the country currently, share the story of his most recent successful wild turkey hunt.