Aaron Wingert
04-26-2009, 2:12 AM
After recently getting into turning I dove head-first into making turkey calls. It started out as just making one for myself and a couple friends, but it has evolved into a nice little side-business. I threw away well over 30 or 40 of them before I got the sound and shape just right. Right now I'm making and selling about one a day, sometimes more. I never thought it would turn into something that I'd make money at but they're in pretty good demand and people are really raving about them. It is sure rewarding to be able to actually justify tool purchases to my wife..."Honey, I need to get _____ for the business." :D I plan to use the off-season to really develop my website and build up a good stock on non-custom calls to fulfill the "I'm in a hurry how quick can I get a call" requests. Almost all of my sales have been on one hunting website so I certainly need to branch out a little.
I tried to come up with a design that was a little fancier than the average turkey call, most of which are made by machines and lack any attention to detail. I also stayed away from any logos or catch phrases (gobbler gitter, etc.) on the calls in an effort to class them up a little. I sign my name on the inside of the call and also put the name of who the call is custom made for, as well as my website. The writing is visible through the sound holes.
Here's a sampling of a few of them. For those that don't know how they work...There's a slate, crystal, aluminum, or glass surface on the top of the call that you rub the striker on to make turkey sounds.
Critiques welcome. I do need to figure out some sort of photo tent thing, but I do want to incorporate the wood chips theme. It seems the bulk of custom callmakers show their calls on a piece of camo fabric, and that just doesn't light my fire.
From left to right are:
-Cocobolo (note the grain orientation of the striker head)
-Birdseye maple
-Curly hickory with cherry
-Sycamore
-Wenge and zebrawood
I tried to come up with a design that was a little fancier than the average turkey call, most of which are made by machines and lack any attention to detail. I also stayed away from any logos or catch phrases (gobbler gitter, etc.) on the calls in an effort to class them up a little. I sign my name on the inside of the call and also put the name of who the call is custom made for, as well as my website. The writing is visible through the sound holes.
Here's a sampling of a few of them. For those that don't know how they work...There's a slate, crystal, aluminum, or glass surface on the top of the call that you rub the striker on to make turkey sounds.
Critiques welcome. I do need to figure out some sort of photo tent thing, but I do want to incorporate the wood chips theme. It seems the bulk of custom callmakers show their calls on a piece of camo fabric, and that just doesn't light my fire.
From left to right are:
-Cocobolo (note the grain orientation of the striker head)
-Birdseye maple
-Curly hickory with cherry
-Sycamore
-Wenge and zebrawood