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

494 - Fall Turkey Hunting and Turkey Dogging with Gratten Hepler

·1 hr 22 min·5 clips

Coyotes have made turkeys so cautious they now call very softly after being flushed, changing fall hunting dynamics.

The hunt starts after the flush. This conversation gets into the slow work of fall turkey hunting, where busting up a flock is just the opener. Old gobblers can make a hunter sit. When a gang splits, the regroup may turn into an all day wait instead of a quick calling show. Young birds used to talk more. He remembers scattered turkeys calling within minutes, sometimes running back together like they had somewhere to be. That pace has changed. With coyotes pressuring birds from the hatch onward, the younger turkeys in his area have gone quieter and more careful. So the calling shrinks. Low clucks, soft yelps, and an occasional kiki beat big, ringing sound in that setup. The dog work does not end with the flush, either. Once the flock is broken, the dog has to settle beside the hunter and leave the waiting game alone. That is where some dogs get exposed. The conversation points to dogs that could find and flush birds, then struggled when the job became sitting still. No shortcut gets handed out here. The useful picture is a long fall hunt where silence, timing, and restraint matter as much as the break. The questions keep coming back to what has changed in the woods, and how hunters adjust when birds stop giving them much to work with. It feels like camp talk. If fall turkeys are pressured and quiet, the hunter has to slow down with them.

As heard by us

A practical fall turkey hunting discussion built around field-tested advice and patient, plainspoken strategy.

The episode stays on fall turkey hunting, with Andy Galeano and Cameron Weddington trading practical field talk throughout. It follows what happens when a flock breaks, how long gobblers can take to regroup, and why young turkeys may call less and keep quieter than they once…

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Why you'd press play

For when you want fall turkey talk about dogs, soft calls, and slow regrouping birds.

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