Few possessions are as highly prized by duck hunters as their favorite calls.  Skillfully crafted and highly individualized calls enable the hunter to attract waterfowl by mimicking their sounds.  In recent years, the appreciation for duck calls and the art of duck call making has increased notably among waterfowl enthusiasts.  As collecting has grown in popularity, a fascination with the history and craftsmanship of duck calls has emerged.

In this lavishly illustrated book, The Duck Calls of Illinois 1863-1963, collector and enthusiast Robert D. Christensen recounts the history of duck call making and provides a practical guide for collectors of this uniquely American folk art.  Featuring famous makers and introducing many lesser known craftsmen, he shows how Illinois artisans dominated the early market and continued to influence the design and refinement of the modern duck call.  The book spans one hundred years of call making from 1863 to 1963, detailing the development and evolution of call design and focusing on the work of Illinoisans, whose contributions in the “golden age” of hand-crafted duck calls have remained unparalleled.  Christensen offers useful advice on collecting duck calls, including information on finding antiques, evaluating calls of unknown origin, assessing value and identifying counterfeit calls.

Christensen provides essential data on over one hundred call makers of Illinois, long recognized as a vital and active hub for the craftsmanship of calls, and includes over five hundred photographs and illustrations that facilitate identification of the calls.  Covered in the catalog of call makers are such historically significant and skilled crafters as Fred A. Allen, credited with having made the first modern duck call; Charles W. Grubbs, maker of the first commercial modern wooden duck call; Charles H. Perdew, Illinois’s most revered call maker, the Glodo family of Southern Illinois fame; Plilip Olt, founder of the world’s largest call company; Charles Ditto, nationally renowed waterfowler and sportsman and Bill Clifford, call maker of the most intricately designed and crafted laminated duck calls.

An invaluable reference book and collector’s guide, this volume is a unique accessory to waterfowling for enthusiasts and a must for collectors.

Robert D. Christensen, and avid call collector, became involved with collecting contemporary calls in the 1070’s as a result of his search for the perfect hunting call.  Gradually he became interested in antique calls, particularly those from Illinois, long recognized for its calls.  His continuing interest led him to write Duck Calls of Illinois, 1863-1963, for which he interviewed call makers and their descendants, old hunters and historians.

In 1987 Christensen was elected the first vice-president of the newly founded Callmakers and Collectors Association of America.  A number of his articles on duck calls have appeared in the association’s new letter.  As a recognized authority in the field of call collecting, he is frequently asked to authenticate and to appraise calls for other collectors.

A lifetime resident of Illinois, Christensen has hunted ducks and geese throughout the state for almost thirty years.  He has called ducks and geese on the Illinois River, on the Mississippi River, in the Southern Illinois goose country and amid the lakes and potholes of Northern Illinois.  Since 1966 he has made his living as a high school vocational education teacher in Chicago’s northwest suburbs, where he lives with his family.

Duck calls of Illinois 1863-1963

Calling game of all kinds: ducks, geese, turkeys and even big game and large predators is an essential part of the hunt today, whether the hunter’s instrument is a gun, camera or binoculars.  As a result, an amazing array of commercial game calls is available.  Outdoor sporting goods retailers often carry several brands of game calls, mass produced by the tens of thousands.  While major corporations develop some calls, most commercial game calls are adapted from the experimental efforts of custom call makers.

Working alone or with associates, custom call makers have made major contributions to the development and perfection of game calls.  This book includes tips and information from some of the top call makers.  The wisdom, knowledge and practice of these “masters of the craft” are intended to encourage further advancement in this “enduring American folk art”, as Howard L. Harlan and W. Crew Anderson so aptly put in the title of their excellent book on collecting duck calls.

Turning Custom Duck and Game Calls, the complete guide for craftsmen, collectors and outdoorsmen is possibly the first book devoted exclusively to the art and science of turning custom game calls.  While this is not intended as a how to project book with hard and fast patterns, that element is certainly included.  The primary intention is to suggest, inspire and promote innovation and development of the art of custom call making.

The authors have made every effort to gather all of the latest information, methods, materials and techniques currently available on the subject.  While you will find specific instruction on one or more ways to accomplish a particular part of the process, you are encouraged to modify the methods shown in this book in order to suit your own style, skill and taste.  There are many ways to the same –or better-end, some of which may be instantly apparent to you.  Other methods may occur to you as you develop your own manner of work.  This book is to encourage you to become an artist, not a mechanic.

Whether you are a woodworker, hunter, nature lover, collector, folk art enthusiast or simply curious, you will find the contents of this book interesting and informative.  Ultimately this book contributes to the endurance of the art and science of game call making.  Hopefully the readers will come to appreciate the skill and craftsmanship of a custom game call maker.

Turning Custom Duck & Game Calls, the complete guide for craftsmen, collectors and outdoorsman

Authors:  Ed Glenn & Greg Keats