The history and evolution of the American duck call is a culmination of over twenty years of collecting and research on the subject.  Duck Calls-An Enduring American Folk Art presents photographs and advertisements on a scale never before undertaken of calls and their makers from past and present.  This book presents  this craft as a true American Folk Art form.

No one knows exactly who invented the first duck call or when and where it was constructed. Howard Harlan and W. Crew Anderson, coauthors of Duck Calls: An Enduring American Folk Art, discovered what may be the first evidence of their existence in an 1854 Nathaniel Currier art print, in which a dapper sportsman is depicted with a primitive tongue-pincher-style call tucked in his breast pocket. In 1863, Fred Allen of Monmouth, Illinois, is believed to have fashioned the first modern-appearing duck call, consisting of a barrel, stopper, and internal reed assembly. A few decades later, another early master, Victor Glodo, developed a more effective design, which he put to good use as a market hunter on Tennessee’s Reelfoot Lake. Over time, many individuals experimented with and improved upon these early prototypes. Another major innovation occurred in 1957, when Texans Jim Fernandez and George Yentzen patented the first double-reed duck call.

The evolution of the modern duck call continues today, as call making has grown into a multimillion-dollar industry. While many call makers now mass produce their wares in state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, others continue to painstakingly fashion calls by hand, upholding the grand traditions of their craft. Visit your local sporting goods retailer and you are likely to find a plethora of duck calls made of almost every conceivable material, from traditional woods to space-age acrylics.

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