To All the Turkeys I've Missed Before Andy Gagliano and Cameron Weddington, discuss their recent turkey hunting misses and some of the factors they believe contributed to them. Cameron shares details about his single miss from the past year, attributing it to a "stupid" rushed shot and offering insights into how he improved his shooting, including patterning different shells and switching back to open sights. Andy recounts two misses, one from a Texas hunt in challenging weather and another from...
Jul 10, 2025•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 682
Are There Really Fewer Turkey Hunters We hunters hear it all the time, "Hunter numbers are declining." But, are hunter numbers really declining? Are the number of turkey hunters declining as well? This week, Andy Gagliano and Cameron Weddington host Dr. Will Gulsby and Dr. Marcus Lashley to discuss hunter recruitment trends, particularly for turkey hunting. Marcus Lashley presented research indicating an aging turkey hunter demographic and scrutiny of national survey data suggesting a decline in...
Jun 26, 2025•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 681
How Harvest Statistics are Calculated with Roger Shields This week, Wild Turkey Coordinator for the state of Tennessee, Roger Shields, joins Cameron and Andy on the show. They discussed Tennessee's wild turkey population, including concerns about rainfall impacting hatch success, the value of citizen and staff observation data, and trends in brood surveys. Roger provided insights into harvest management, the results of banding studies indicating sustainable harvest rates, and the methods for gat...
Jun 19, 2025•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 680
Hit the Ground Running - A Turkey Hunt Summary Andy Gagliano and Cameron Weddington discussed Cameron Weddington's challenges with their new chicken flock due to mycoplasma and its potential implications for wild turkey populations, referencing anecdotal evidence and a Canadian study finding mycoplasma in wild turkeys. Cameron Weddington then recounted a difficult three-day turkey hunt in a new state, detailing a tense encounter with two gobblers on a steep cliff that ultimately led to a success...
Jun 12, 2025•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 679
Summer Turkey Soup Andy and Cameron discuss concerns about a potentially poor turkey hatch in the Southeast due to rain, the impact of weather on past turkey seasons, and the resilience of turkey populations. They also highlighted the importance of turkey observation surveys and the increasing restrictions and pressure on public land hunting access, referencing Oklahoma's new regulations. They also examined trends in turkey harvest numbers, changes in fall hunting regulations in states like New ...
Jun 05, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 678
Hunting Pressured Turkeys with Darrin Dawkins Andy Gagliano and Cameron introduced Darrin Dawkins, who discussed hunting pressured turkeys, noting increased hunter pressure as a key factor impacting turkey behavior. Darrin Dawkins shared his experiences and observations on changes in South Carolina hunting regulations, the importance of hen imitation and using varied calls like trumpet calls, and aggressive hunting strategies for pressured birds, while Cameron and Darrin contributed insights on ...
May 29, 2025•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 679
Hunting Osceola Turkeys from 2025 Unicoi Callmakers Show This week, Cameron and Andy play the Hunting Osceola Turkeys roundtable discussion from the 2025 Unicoi Custom Callmakers Show that was held in January in Helen, Georgia. The panel for the roundtable includes Darrin Dawkins, Lon Trice, Larry Stephens, Lamar Williams, and Mark Prudhomme. The panel discusses differences in Eastern and Osceola turkeys and the differences in hunting them as well. This is a great discussion, and one that even e...
May 22, 2025•1 hr 42 min•Ep. 676
2025 Mid Season Update Cameron and Andy are back after some unscheduled time off from the podcast. In this episode they explain what has been happening in their worlds that has kept them from posting shows regularly this spring and they share updates about their seasons. Andy's spring season is over now, and Cameron is squeezing in one last hunting trip for the spring. But, what happened between preseason and now? Listen in and find out. Buy some merch and great sounding The Turkey Hunter diaphr...
May 15, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 675
Join us this week as we dive into a successful turkey hunt that Cameron experienced earlier this season. We also discuss a few audio mishaps and fun memories in the turkey woods. Hopefully you can pick up an idea or two from this live hunt to help you on a future turkey hunt.
Apr 24, 2025•40 min•Ep. 674
Hunting Pressured Turkeys with Patrick Wightman This week, Patrick Wightman, a research scientist with the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, joins Cameron and Andy this week to discuss what turkeys do when they get pressure put on them by hunters. Patrick has done hours and hours of research on this topic, and he shares his insight with us in this interview. This is an interview that we feel everyone will glean some useful information from because private and public lands alike c...
Mar 29, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 673
Hunting Pressured Turkeys with Cameron and Andy This week, Cameron and Andy take on the topic of hunting pressured turkeys. They share their approaches to hunting pressured turkeys, and talk about how some private ground is just as pressured as some public ground. They also share some stories of encountering pressured birds and what they learned from those encounters. This is the first of a new series on the topic of hunting pressured turkeys. This is a very informative and fun episode. Listen i...
Mar 13, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 672
Turkey Hunting in New Zealand with Dink Watson This week, Dink Watson with New Zealand Turkey Adventures joins Cameron and Andy this week to talk about turkey hunting down under. This is an eye opening and fascinating episode that kind of makes you wonder what turkey populations might be like in the US without hunter or predator harvests and diseases. According to Dink, the numbers of wild turkeys in parts of New Zealand is absolutely mind boggling. Cameron and Andy will be traveling to New Zeal...
Mar 06, 2025•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 671
Putting Your Best You Forward with Landowners with Dr Jack Schafer This week, Dr. Jack Schafer joins Cameron and Andy on the show to talk about an interesting topic of how to present your best you when approaching a landowner to gain access to his/her property for turkey hunting. This episode is full of very interesting and useful verbal and nonverbal cues to look for when speaking with a landowner and also gestures and verbiage we can use to increase our odds of getting a "Yes" when we knock do...
Feb 27, 2025•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 670
Q&A with Mike Chamberlain and Patrick Wightman at NWTF Convention This week, Cameron and Andy share the Q&A Seminar with Mike Chamberlain and Patrick Wightman from the NWTF Convention in Nashville last week while they are in South Texas enjoying turkey camp with the raffle winners. This is a great episode with Mike and Patrick sharing their knowledge based on many studies completed from around the US. The questions from the audience range from topics like habitat to setting bag limits an...
Feb 20, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 669
Better Setups for More Successful Turkey Hunts with Doc Weddle This week Doc Weddle joins Cameron and Andy to discuss some of his techniques and strategy in setting up for more successful turkey hunts. Doc has completed 5 US Super Slams, and he is arguably one of the best turkey hunters you will ever meet. Cameron and Andy question him on what he looks for in a great setup for a turkey hunt, and Doc provides some great nuggets. Like most, Doc believes great setups will help you kill more turkeys...
Feb 13, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 668
Better Setups for Successful Turkey Hunts with Jeff Budz This week, Jeff Budz joins Cameron and Andy to discuss how to setup on turkeys to increase your odds of filling a tag. Jeff has killed more Grand Slams than anyone has at this point, and he guides hunters as well. So, when it comes to knowing what a good setup looks like, Jeff knows a thing or two. This is a fun episode as Jeff is in his normal fashion, which is 90 to nothing. Listen in! Buy some merch and great sounding The Turkey Hunter ...
Feb 06, 2025•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 667
Better Setups for Successful Turkey Hunts with Cameron and Andy This week Cameron and Andy discuss how setting up for your turkey hunts can make all of the difference between eating turkey or eating tag soup. Listen in as both Cameron and Andy share some of their secrets setting up for more successful turkey hunts. Buy some merch and great sounding The Turkey Hunter diaphragm turkey calls from our Shopify store by clicking here: https://theturkeyhunterpodcast.myshopify.com/ Join our Patreon grou...
Jan 30, 2025•56 min•Ep. 666
Early Season Tactics with Bret Collier and Nick Bakner This week, Dr Bret Collier and Dr Nick Bakner join Cameron and Andy to discuss what wild turkeys are doing early season. Dr. Bakner has extensively tracked the movements of wild turkeys throughout the seasons and in different landscapes across the country. He shares his extensive knowledge of the movements of wild turkeys during hunting seasons, but especially early season. The information that he and Dr. Collier share with us in this interv...
Jan 24, 2025•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 665
Early Season Tactics with Kenny Mount Part 2 This week, Cameron and Andy have the remainder of the Kenny Mount episode where they do a little deeper dive into early season turkey hunting tactics. This episode is not without its share of laughs and silliness either, but there are some tactics that will help you to have more success in the early spring turkey woods. Also, the 2nd annual hunt raffle is on the downhill stretch. Get your tickets by clicking the link below. Listen in! Here is the link...
Jan 16, 2025•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 664
Early Season Tactics with Kenny Mount This week, Kenny Mount joins Cameron and Andy on the show to discuss early season turkey hunting tactics. We are fortunate enough to get a couple of hours of Kenny's time in this interview, so you are going to hear part 1 of the interview today. We really are just getting warmed up in this episode, and we discuss trying to balance a little bit of life with turkey hunting during turkey season, corn and deer and turkeys, turkey season start dates, and how impo...
Jan 09, 2025•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 663
Early Season Tactics with Cameron and Andy This week, Cameron and Andy kick off episode number one of their first series of episodes on Early Season Tactics. We talk about the geographical differences between early seasons and subspecies of turkeys across the country and how that should affect your strategies. We also discuss how your pre-season scouting can make or break early season success for you. One of the several tactics we discuss is how challenging gobblers, depending on where the birds...
Jan 02, 2025•49 min•Ep. 662
1980's Trap and Transfer in MS with Benny Herring This week, Benny Herring joins Cameron and Andy on the show. Benny was with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks for 30 plus years. He was deeply involved in trap and transfer efforts in MS during many of those years. Cameron and Andy talk with Benny about those efforts, enjoy one of the slowest and best Rapid Fire Q&A sessions ever, and talk about turkeys and turkey hunting as well. Listen in! Here is the link to this...
Dec 19, 2024•51 min•Ep. 661
2025 NWTF Convention and Sport Show Preview with Pete Muller Pete Muller joins Cameron and Andy this week to talk about the NWTF's upcoming 2025 Convention and Sport Show. This coming year the show will be held on February 13 - 15, 2025 at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville, TN. The show is 3 days of turkey hunting bliss where experienced and new turkey hunters alike can find hot new turkey hunting products or their old favorites as well. In addition to the convention show floor, there will...
Dec 12, 2024•55 min•Ep. 660
Podcast and Wild Turkey Talk This week, Cameron and Andy celebrate Episode 500 discussing the podcast and wild turkeys. Cameron and Andy talk about their favorite podcast guests, topics, and tips from over the past 10 years. They also get into a little talk about wild turkeys and their prospects for the future. This is a casual, fun, and laid back episode. Listen in! Here is the link to this year's hunt raffle to benefit the NWTF and TFT. Buy early and buy often! Thank you for supporting these 2...
Dec 05, 2024•55 min•Ep. 659
The 2025 Unicoi Custom Call Makers Preview Show with Mark Sharpe This week, Mark Sharpe joins Cameron and Andy again to talk about the upcoming 2025 Unicoi Custom Turkey Call Makers Show. There are some changes to the show for 2025, and Mark covers those changes with us and gives us a little preview as to who some of the new participants to this years show are. This week's show is a good one that you will not want to miss. Listen in! Here is the link to this year's hunt raffle to benefit the NWT...
Nov 28, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 658
Random Turkey Topics with Jim Casada This week, Jim Casada joins Cameron and Andy to talk about all things turkey. This conversation has a heavy lean towards talking about some of the personalities that Jim has had the pleasure of hunting with over his many years of writing for Turkeys and Turkey Hunting magazine as well as for his various books that he has written. Jim is an amazing story teller and a great writer with a wonderful way of expressing his thoughts. This is easily one of our favori...
Nov 21, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 657
Pre-Thanksgiving Turkey Soup This week, Cameron and Andy share some delicious fall turkey soup with you. Among the states discussed are Maine, Illinois, Missouri, Ohio, South Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota. Cameron even shares a story with us about the recent bust of some lowlife scammers in Florida who were selling hunts for farm turkeys as Osceola turkey hunts. This is an interesting episode. Listen in! Buy some merch and great sounding The Turkey Hunter diaphragm turkey calls from our Sh...
Nov 14, 2024•48 min•Ep. 656
April Fools! This week Andy shares one of his hunts from this past spring with us. This is a hunt that took place in his home state of Alabama on, you guessed it, April Fools Day. Listen in as Andy shares the details on this hunt with some turkey vocalizations we don't often hear in the spring time. Buy some merch and great sounding The Turkey Hunter diaphragm turkey calls from our Shopify store by clicking here: https://theturkeyhunterpodcast.myshopify.com/ Join our Patreon group and get additi...
Nov 07, 2024•33 min•Ep. 655
Legends of The Spring with Mike Giles Mike Giles joins Cameron and Andy this week to discuss his new book, Legends of The Spring, Masters of The Call. Mike shares several stories from the book, and we get to learn a little about Mike as well. Liaten in! Buy some merch and great sounding The Turkey Hunter diaphragm turkey calls from our Shopify store by clicking here: https://theturkeyhunterpodcast.myshopify.com/ Join our Patreon group and get additional content, discounts on merch, and other gre...
Oct 23, 2024•57 min•Ep. 654
Fall Turkey Hunting and Turkey Dogging with Gratten Hepler This week, turkey dogger, Gratten Hepler, joins Cameron and Andy to talk about fall turkey hunting with a turkey dog. Gratten turkey hunts in the Fall with a Brittany Spaniel. He shares lots of stories about fall hunting with his dog on the show. Gratten also shares some tips that can be used during the Fall whether you hunt with a turkey dog or not. Gratten also talks about how and why he thinks hunting turkeys in the Fall has changed. ...
Oct 17, 2024•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 653
