Turkey Call All Access

To bag a Merriam's wild turkey, hunter must head west to the more mountainous regions of the country. While these birds may be known for weaker gobbles and some of the shortest spurs and beards of all the subspecies, the snow-white tips of the tail fan for Merriam's turkeys keep turkey hunter heading to the high country year after year! On this episode of Turkey Call All Access, the NWTF's Jesse W...

Easterns are the most widely distributed subspecies of the American wild turkey and primarily are found east of the Mississippi River. They are also the most abundant. In fact, you can find them in 38 states and numerous Canadian provinces. Known for their chestnut-brown tip, strong gobbles and longer beards, these birds draw countless hunters to the turkey woods each spring.  To cover many of the...

Renowned outdoor writer and Wisconsin-native Brian Lovett received the NWTF's Tom Kelly Communicator of the Year Award at the recent 2025 Convention and Sport Show in Nashville, Tennessee for his ability to share the message of the NWTF's efforts nationwide.  While chasing turkeys in South Florida, the NWTF's Pete Muller sat down with Lovett to talk about a Lovett's career as an outdoor communicat...

In this episode, the NWTF's Paul Campbell sits down with renowned wild turkey biologist Dr. Mike Chamberlain to dive deep into one of the most fascinating developments in modern turkey research — the wildturkeyDNA project. They explore how a casual Super Bowl Sunday conversation sparked a groundbreaking initiative to uncover the origins of odd plumage in wild turkeys and what it could mean for con...

In the lower 48, spring wild turkey seasons begin in early March with the opening of the south Florida zones allowing hunters to chase the Osceola wild turkey.  The dark-winged beauties are one of the five subspecies of the American wild turkey and they occupy the states swamps, pastures, orange groves, oak hammocks and more,. They are a highly desired bird by turkey hunters as they are limited in...

Robin Clark of Virginia & Dan Ferraro of Arizona are NWTF award recipients for helping people with disabilities discover or re-discover their passion for the outdoors.   From hunting spring gobblers in Virginia to hunting javelina and doves in the deserts of Arizona, these two gentlemen have gone above and beyond what it means to be a mentor, live the mission of the NWTF and embody what it means t...

Renowned conservationist and outdoorsman, Will Primos, recently announced a partnership with the National Wild Turkey Federation, Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation, Ducks Unlimited, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever to bring awareness to what conservation is and the role sportsmen and women play through the 'Truth About Conservation.' During the NWTF's Conve...

In 2013, John Wallace launched his Wild Game Cook Instagram page as a way to provide everyday outdoorsmen and women with ideas for easy-to-make meals using wild game meat. Nearly 10 years later, he has taken this passion for food and education about wild game cooking, processing and more and made it a full-time gig. At SHOT Show 2025, we sat down with Wallace to chat about raising kids to apprecia...

Foster Bartholow, of Rapid City, South Dakota, is an accomplished trap shooter, an avid outdoor enthusiast and also is a talented videographer and photographer. When not spending his time dedicated to any of these pursuits, he also enjoys helping others with shooting techniques and getting kids into hunting. ​At SHOT Show, we sat down to talk about some of the new offerings from Browning and Winch...

During the 2025 SHOT Show in Las Vegas, we had a chance to sit down with Cody Gill and From Field to Plate chef Jeremiah Doughty to talk food, getting new people involved in the life-changing power of the outdoors and much more! Doughty is known for his recipes and food photography found on his social outlets, as well as Turkey Call magazine. And, Gill is involved with the NWTF mission through his...

The National Wild Turkey Federation Convention and Sport Show is a celebration of a year of successes in delivering on the mission and bringing people together through the life-changing power of the outdoors. And, this year will be bigger than the last with new events and chances to win, a bigger Sport Show with more vendors and experiences, and more ways to honor and celebrate NWTF volunteers lea...

During SHOT Show 2025, we got a chance to sit down with King Pedford - retired boxer and host of Haymaker Hunting - to talk about his passion for turkey hunting and more.  Pedford's show on Sportsman's Channel is described as a show that is meant "to educate and to share the joys, challenges, excitement, and my passion for hunting and fishing   with youth and dedicated hunting fans of all colors....

This past fall, the NWTF launched its newest landscape-level, conservation initiative, Forests and Flocks. At the heart of this Northestern initiative is the NWTF's dual mission to conserve the wild turkey and preserve our hunting heritage. On this episode of the Turkey Call All Acess podcast, the NWTF's Paul Campbell sits down with two of the biologists from the Forests and Flocks region — Cully...

Adventures are out there for those who are willing to take the path, or even water, less traveled.  On this episode of the Turkey Call All Access Podcast, the NWTF's David Gladkowski and Pete Muller sit down with Nashville recording artist and wild game chef Justin Adams to chat about the adventures had on a coastal island adventure, a trip full of fishing, hunting, crabbing, foraging for oysters...

Christina McGannon Jones, of Oxford, New Jersey, has helped countless women get their start in the outdoors through the National Wild Turkey Federation's Women in the Outdoors outreach program, but she wears many other hats.  Today, she sits down with NWTF Northeastern R3 Coordinator Jess Warner to discuss her start in hunting, her journey to becoming involved with NWTF's education and outreach ef...

The tradition of telling hunting stories goes back to some of the earliest discovered cave drawings known to man. While the medium for telling these stories has changed over millennia, stories of the hunt are how we share and connect with something that is so fundamentally human. Whether it's the tales of the hunt, the misadventures, our passions for the pursuit or our love of wildlife and wild pl...

On this episode of the Turkey Call All Access Podcast, the NWTF's Paul Campbell travels to West Point, Mississippi to visit with the Mossy Oak Gamekeepers crew.  Campbell is joined by Bobby Cole, Lannie Wallace and Dudley Phelps of the Gamekeepers to share a few turkey hunting stories and discuss all things private land conservation, turkey research and the future of our cherished bird.

Programs designed to share the life-changing power of the outdoors are a key component of the NWTF's mission to conserve the wild turkey and preserve our hunting heritage.  On this episode, NWTF R3 Coordinator for the Northeast Jesse Warner sits down with Bre Bashford and Coral Minchey to discuss two programs in Georgia — Artemis Georgia and Academics Afield — that are introducing the outdoors to...

Hunter advocacy plays a crucial role in preserving our hunting heritage. As threats to public lands, hunting access and wildlife habitats grow, the need to advocate for America's hunters is more important than ever to protect our outdoor traditions. For the final podcast discussion of NWTF Conservation Week, NWTF's Morgan Evans and Jesse Warner join NWTF Storyteller Hannah McKinney to dive into na...

It's NWTF Conservation Week, and today's discussion is about fire. NWTF Storyteller Hannah McKinney is joined by a panel of NWTF staffers — NWTF biologists Dave Nikonow and Ricky Lackey, NWTF Director of Conservation Operations West Patt Dorsey and NWTF Wildfire Crisis Strategy Manager Molly Pitts — for a talk about fire across the landscape and the impacts on turkeys and other wildlife. Check out...

NWTF Conservation Week continues with a deep five into a topic that will surely pique the interest of turkey hunters — wild turkey reproduction. Ensuring hens are able to successfully reproduce and recruit poults into adulthood is critical for maintaining a stable wild turkey population across the country. For today's discussion, NWTF regional biologists Chuck Carpenter and John Burk join NWTF Man...

Wild turkeys and a host of other game and non-game species thrive in a patchwork of habitats, including forests, open grasslands, agricultural fields, water corridors and more. For Conservation Week 2024, NWTF district biologists Derek Alkire, Ryan Boyer and Mitch Blake sit down with NWTF Managing Editor of Web and Media David Gladkowski to talk about the NWTF's efforts to ensure the wild turkey's...

Who was it that once said, "To talk about conservation and not talk about water is just dry conversation." As the NWTF celebrates its 4th Annual Conservation Week, we would be remiss to not talk about the incredible importance of water and its integral role to the NWTF's mission to conserve the wild turkey and preserve our hunting heritage.  NWTF regional biologists Annie Farrell and Clayton Lenk,...

Taking its support of wild turkey research into new territory, the NWTF recently established the first-ever National Wild Turkey Federation Distinguished Professor position with the University of Georgia's Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources. Coming on the heels of the NWTF officially naming Dr. Mike Chamberlain as the chair of this position, the NWTF's Paul Campbell sits down with th...

Paul Campbell and Pete Muller of the NWTF are joined by Leslie Thompson, the "Niche to Meet You" podcast host, to talk about her new miniseries that was just launched this past week covering wild turkey conservation.  While Thompson chronicles her journey to learn about the history and conservation of our cherished bird and the people who play an important role in continuing one of America's great...