The husband and wife duo of Minnesota’s Lee and Tiffany Lakosky of the Outdoor Channel’s “The Crush with Lee and Tiffany” also will appear at the show.

Waddell, whose first outdoors love is turkey hunting, will talk generally about hunting and his documentary-style TV shows, and he will take questions from the audience, he said in a telephone interview this week.

Waddell’s “Road Trips” is a documentary-style show that puts more emphasis on storytelling and sharing the nuances of hunting camp than what’s typically seen in most TV hunting shows.

“We knew we needed to do a better job of documenting what camp life was about,” Waddell said.

Waddell, a Georgia native whose activities are highlighted on his Web site at www. michaelwaddell.com , said he has never hunted in North Carolina but hopes to pursue turkeys in the Tar Heel State one day.

“I never have,” said Waddell, whose “Road Trips” show has taken him all over the country to pursue various game. “I hate to admit it.

“I’ve always wanted to hunt the rolling hills down to the hardwood bottoms.”

Waddell, who said he got into the hunting media industry through his talents as a turkey caller, gets excited about hunting strategy, from the calling to the stalking.

“You get to talk and learn a new language,” he said. “You get to move around. You get to call your own shots. You’re getting responses, and you’re not depending on luck. You have to develop a game plan to fill your tag.”

With the spring turkey hunting season looming, he said, beginning turkey hunters need to find one good box call and master clucking, yelping and cutting.

“Get some confidence,” Waddell said. “Don’t overcall but don’t be scared to call.”

How do you know what’s the right amount of calling?

“A lot of it comes with experience,” he said. “Don’t be afraid to learn. It’s learning to take a turkey’s temperature. …

“Early in the season, they typically aren’t call shy, but they might not respond.

“Every time a turkey doesn’t gobble doesn’t mean he’s not responding. He could be walking right towards you.”

Learning to talk turkey takes time, Waddell said.

P.S. Note the other sleeping son on the couch. We are truly that entertaining!

TX is a lot of fun to hunt for adults and especially kids, as a matter of fact; starting last year I use an annual trip to TX, as a hunt to work for. Mason has to get straight A’s and good conduct in order to go.

Well this year Mason rocked out on the A’s in school so off to TX with went with the Flextone Game Calls crew.

After 3 days of hunting, Mason connected with an old 130 inch 11 pointer, and his first Javelina with his Remington 7mm-08! He also smoked him a big doe with a crossbow!
We had a blast hunting together and the whole experience was captured on tape for a Bone Collector show episode. It was funny seeing how hard it was for me to keep Mason’s safety on, because he was ready to shoot everything that came out into the food plots.

I just hope now he will still find the fun in hunting GA, he says he wants to now more than ever since he scratched his finger in the lone star state.

The National Wild Turkey Federation’s 34th annual Convention and Sport Show is approaching quickly,

Forget about winter weather — bring the family to the National Wild Turkey Federation Convention and Sport Show at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center Feb. 18 to 21 in Nashville.

For only $12, you can visit 545 booths with the latest hunting gear and see the work of master taxidermists and callmakers. You can also meet and get autographs from some of the biggest names in hunting.

Welcoming guests to Nashville will be Brenda Valentine, NWTF spokeswoman, “First Lady of Hunting (TM) and host of the federation’s “Turkey Call” TV show, airing on Pursuit Channel in January 2010, along with Michael Waddell, NWTF spokesman and host of “Realtree Roadtrips” and “Bone Collector” TV shows.

Three-day passes are $25. Children 10 and under are admitted free.

For more information, call (800) THE-NWTF or visit www.nwtf.org.

The Convention hall will be filled with over 550 booths from industry reps., and loaded with the latest in hunting gear.

The Wild Turkey Bourbon/NWTF Grand National calling, gobbling and owl hooting championships will be held and the NWTF’s new Open live and silent auctions can be attended throughout the weekend featuring incredible hunting and fishing trips, trucks, boats, furs, NWTF exclusive guns, knives, art, jewelry and much more.

TV personalities and experts during hunting seminars and autograph signing sessions are available.

There will be White-tailed deer and wild turkey taxidermy displays and contests.

Custom call makers and callmaking competitions, Bass Pro Shops King of Bucks Collection, Celebrity Autograph signing sessions and fun, hands-on activities for the kids are sure to delight all.

Live entertainment from country music’s finest stars including Little Big Town, Colt Ford, funnymen Paul Harris and the Cleverly’s, Jeff Foxworthy and inspirational music from Music by Nashville’s Premier A Cappella Gospel Singing Group Vocal Union are scheduled.

Register now to make sure you reserve the best seats at the shows (which have additional registration fees) and get your hotel room locked in. Don’t wait another minute to call the Gaylord Opryland Hotel to make your reservations now.

Its so cool to be able to give back to a great organization and then see a very good kid like Cole smile after this big doe hit the ground.

We had a great hunt! We saw 6 deer between last night and this morning and now one is in the back of the truck from one shot with Coles 30-30.

Merry Christmas,
Michael

Decorating our tree is always entertaining as the kids place the ornaments only within a 2 feet wide section smiling ear to ear while singing Rudolph over and over and over again. And as they continue to get older Christmas gets even more exciting for me. Their eyes light up at the mention of Santa Claus and making their lists. They are learning and understating how Jesus is the Reason for the Season. Having them enables me to relive my childhood Christmases.

Its funny how Christmas day has changed over the last 10 years. Rather than my wife and I getting on the road to visit our parents, they all now come to our house to see what Santa has left under the tree. Ham and turkey sandwiches and home cooked pecan pies are the food of choice. I have had this exact same thing on Christmas day as long as I can remember (and I actually cook the pies).

We still do some hunting over the holidays, usually on the same property where I learned to hunt with my Daddy and uncle Morgan. Recently the last several years we have loaded up the family and headed to Alabama for a dove hunt. My oldest son, Mason, begins planning the next trip before January 1st even arrives. This is a great experience for all of us to reconnect with the outdoors after being caught up in the hectic Holidays.

Christmas is a time for Jesus, family and friends. A time to immerse yourself in the Spirit and be thankful for your blessings. Concentrate on giving and not taking. To just reflect. For the Waddell’s Christmas just keeps getting better and better every year.

Please excuse the poor video quality of this clip, but notice the fine tracking job from the younguns!

Needless to say this doe has found its way in several pots of chili since this recovery.

Here is my basic setup for muzzleloading:
•    150 grains of Pyrodex
•    250 grain Shock Wave Sabot
•    Thompson Center Triumph, Bone Collector Edition

And for you guys and gals who have never done any muzzleloading, well, I recommend you try it out. It’s a great option to throw some backstraps in the freezer for the Christmas dinner. And it’s also a great way to introduce others to this great sport during the primitive weapon season.

Now that you know my muzzleloading setup, get out there and get it done it then field, then shoot us a photo. Maybe you’ll be the next Bone Collector of the month.