After personally visiting Brown and doing some initial filming, network executives decided to produce a 12-episode season of the series with the working title The Turtleman of Wild Kentucky.
In October 2012, Animal Planet re-released the series with bonus features and trivia information known as Call of the Wildman: More Live Action.
Call of the Wildman has been compared to other reality series featuring individuals from the Southern United States such as Billy the Exterminator, Duck Dynasty, Swamp People, and Rocket City Rednecks.
[3] Brown relates that, while performing as a sideshow at the Mothman Festival in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, a group of executives from Sharp Entertainment and Animal Planet, who were there on an unrelated assignment, approached him about doing a television show.
[5] Originally given the working title The Turtleman of Wild Kentucky, the name was changed to Call of the Wildman – a reference to Brown's signature yell.
"[6] Despite his "Turtleman" nickname, Brown caught all types of nuisance animals on the show, including raccoons, skunks, snakes, venomous spiders, and possums.
[10] Some episodes also feature other friends who help Brown – "Turtle Team" – including handyman Jake Ison and David "Squirrel" Brady.
[12] After a seven-month investigation, Mother Jones published an exposé of the show which includes testimony and supporting evidence that the crew obtained an opossum from a wildlife rescue in order to fake a supposed wildlife infestation at a fraternity house in Lexington, and that an infant raccoon died from an apparent lack of appropriate food and medical care after being in the possession of Ernie Brown for several days amongst numerous other actions alleged against Brown and crew.
[11] The episode "Baby Mama Drama", which aired July 8, 2012, set a record for the show's largest audience ever, an estimated 1.6 million, according to the network.
[15] The popularity of Call of the Wildman has prompted Brown's appearance on several television programs, including two visits to The Tonight Show.
[16] Associated Press writer Dylan Lovan pointed out that Call of the Wildman was part of a growing number of similarly themed reality shows that included Animal Planet's Hillbilly Handfishin', A&E's Billy the Exterminator, Duck Dynasty, History's Swamp People.
[18] The premiere episode of the show's second season featured Brown removing two cottonmouth snakes from a public pool in Danville, Kentucky.
[21] Brown's last NWCO license expired in February 2014, and the department refused to renew it because he had not fully documented his captures in 2013.
[18] On January 21, 2014, the magazine Mother Jones alleged that Brown appeared to have falsified records submitted to the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife about what was captured, released, and euthanized on Call of the Wildman.
[22] In 2017, a USDA investigation concluded that the show exhibited a coyote, porcupines, raccoons, bats, armadillos and deer without a valid license in violation of the Animal Welfare Act.