Back on the turkey board - thoughts on NWTF convention
02-25-2009 | 07:22 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Typical Buck
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 836
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From: Jackson, TN
Back on the turkey board - thoughts on NWTF convention
Hey guys. I've been posting on the deer, muzzleloader, and varmit board but now that turkey season is right around the corner I'm back over here for some topical turkey discussion. I tend to post on the board that's in season.
My 12-year old son and I attended the NWTF convention again this past weekend in Nashville. It is amazing how that thing has grown. I distinctly rememberattending the NWTF convention in 1981 because my turkey hunting buddy andgood friendwas in the Grand National Finals of the Senior division. That entire meeting and calling contest was held at the Fairfield Glade resort near Crossville, TN in a room that would be hard pressed to hold 200 people. There were only 4 or 5 exibitors selling calls or hunting gear. Now this conventionfills the entire exibit hall at the Opryland resort and thousands upon thousands of people attend Thursday through Sunday. Amazing the growth in the NWTF, which reflects broadly the explosion inturkey populations and turkey hunting in general.
I really didn't need to buy anything but came home with $300.00 worth of stuff. The prized find was the best friction pot call I have ever heard from Lon Trice (Lonzo's custom calls) in Bronwood, GA. It is a custom made pot call with a wood called Zircote which is from South America I believe. He uses a very hard bronzed glass for his calls and a different glue according to him. With a custom laminated one-piece striker that thing sounds more like a turkey than any friction call I have ever heard, and I've heard and own a bunch of them. It was $70.00 with the custom striker and since Saturday I have shown it to three of my hunting buddies and they all immediately ordered one from him (he should pay me on commission!). He makes them from any exotic wood you can think of including Purple Heart, Cocobola, Bocote, Curley Maple, Walnut, Osage Orange,Acrylic, etc, etc. That Zircotecall was georgousand just happened to sound the best to me at the moment but frankly they all sounded great to my ears.
Picked up a couple pairs of half-priced bibs from the booth ofOl' Tom out of Olive Branch, MS. They brought all their Mossy Oak Breakup stuff the the convention and sold it at half-price. These are fantastic, lightweight bibs that are obviously designed by a turkey hunter because that are loaded with features such as pockets for diaphram calls, strikers, pot calls, and box calls, two hidden lanyards for locator calls, waterproff from the knees down and in the seat. For $50.00 apiece my son and I both left with a pair.
Anyway, I look forward to posting and interacting with everyone through this turkey season, my 30th year to chase these crazy things.
Huntsafe
Mouthcaller
My 12-year old son and I attended the NWTF convention again this past weekend in Nashville. It is amazing how that thing has grown. I distinctly rememberattending the NWTF convention in 1981 because my turkey hunting buddy andgood friendwas in the Grand National Finals of the Senior division. That entire meeting and calling contest was held at the Fairfield Glade resort near Crossville, TN in a room that would be hard pressed to hold 200 people. There were only 4 or 5 exibitors selling calls or hunting gear. Now this conventionfills the entire exibit hall at the Opryland resort and thousands upon thousands of people attend Thursday through Sunday. Amazing the growth in the NWTF, which reflects broadly the explosion inturkey populations and turkey hunting in general.
I really didn't need to buy anything but came home with $300.00 worth of stuff. The prized find was the best friction pot call I have ever heard from Lon Trice (Lonzo's custom calls) in Bronwood, GA. It is a custom made pot call with a wood called Zircote which is from South America I believe. He uses a very hard bronzed glass for his calls and a different glue according to him. With a custom laminated one-piece striker that thing sounds more like a turkey than any friction call I have ever heard, and I've heard and own a bunch of them. It was $70.00 with the custom striker and since Saturday I have shown it to three of my hunting buddies and they all immediately ordered one from him (he should pay me on commission!). He makes them from any exotic wood you can think of including Purple Heart, Cocobola, Bocote, Curley Maple, Walnut, Osage Orange,Acrylic, etc, etc. That Zircotecall was georgousand just happened to sound the best to me at the moment but frankly they all sounded great to my ears.
Picked up a couple pairs of half-priced bibs from the booth ofOl' Tom out of Olive Branch, MS. They brought all their Mossy Oak Breakup stuff the the convention and sold it at half-price. These are fantastic, lightweight bibs that are obviously designed by a turkey hunter because that are loaded with features such as pockets for diaphram calls, strikers, pot calls, and box calls, two hidden lanyards for locator calls, waterproff from the knees down and in the seat. For $50.00 apiece my son and I both left with a pair.
Anyway, I look forward to posting and interacting with everyone through this turkey season, my 30th year to chase these crazy things.
Huntsafe
Mouthcaller
02-25-2009 | 07:50 PM
#2
Nontypical Buck
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 2,038
Likes: 0
From: Deep in the heart of Dixie USA
RE: Back on the turkey board - thoughts on NWTF convention
Know what you mean, Mouthcaller! I scratched a 20-year itch with an Albert Paul box up there. Almost won a Josh Shoemaker single-sider in the silent auction, too! I have several friends who make custom calls and it is real easy to get addicted to playing with those exotic woods. I make a decent box, myself and have built a pretty good collection by trading with them. If I can work out a couple of kinks, I might enter one next year just for the fun of it.
The convention was a blast! Being a hobbyist/callmaker, I was interested in meeting the legends in that field. Collectively, they are some of the nicest guys you'd ever want to meet. I met people like Albert Paul, Allen Jenkins, Eddie Salter, Bob Harwell, Lon Trice, and Josh and Al Shoemaker. I already knew Preston Pittman, but it was good to see him again. (Hope he's feeling better) I got to meet the guys competing in the Grand National Finals calling contest, too. Every one of those guys are so good that the judging is based more on who messed up than who was the most talented.
If you ever get to go, be sure to sit in on a seminar or two and some of the calling contests. The folks that are speaking KNOW what they are talking about and you can see some of the most talented callers that you ever dreamed of. The team calling finals was an absolute HOOT this year! DO NOT miss this if you ever go to the convention!
I found several peices of equipment that I added to my gear, too -- including a shoulder bag like I haven't seen before and a great deal on a set of LongLeaf camo. I aaaalllmost bought a custom skinning knife, too! They had just about everything there! As you can probably tell, I had a ball!
The convention was a blast! Being a hobbyist/callmaker, I was interested in meeting the legends in that field. Collectively, they are some of the nicest guys you'd ever want to meet. I met people like Albert Paul, Allen Jenkins, Eddie Salter, Bob Harwell, Lon Trice, and Josh and Al Shoemaker. I already knew Preston Pittman, but it was good to see him again. (Hope he's feeling better) I got to meet the guys competing in the Grand National Finals calling contest, too. Every one of those guys are so good that the judging is based more on who messed up than who was the most talented.
If you ever get to go, be sure to sit in on a seminar or two and some of the calling contests. The folks that are speaking KNOW what they are talking about and you can see some of the most talented callers that you ever dreamed of. The team calling finals was an absolute HOOT this year! DO NOT miss this if you ever go to the convention!
I found several peices of equipment that I added to my gear, too -- including a shoulder bag like I haven't seen before and a great deal on a set of LongLeaf camo. I aaaalllmost bought a custom skinning knife, too! They had just about everything there! As you can probably tell, I had a ball!
02-26-2009 | 04:27 AM
#3
Thread Starter
Typical Buck
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 836
Likes: 0
From: Jackson, TN
RE: Back on the turkey board - thoughts on NWTF convention
Barefoot
I would prefer to spend more time in the seminars but my son likes walking around and running all the calls. He's pretty good too for a 12-year old, as one of the callmakers asked me if he would represent them in competition calling. Don't know about that yet - we just love to hunt together - we'll see. I've been to the senior division finals several times and I, like you, can't figure out how they pick a wiinner. The gobbling and hooting contests are always favorites of ours also.
More and more I am becoming attracted to these custom calls and I envy you as a maker of box calls. I don't know much about the custom callmaking world, but it is easy to appreciate the workmanship and quality of the Lon Trice's pot calls. They areamazing and worth everyextra penny paid compared to mass-produced calls. I ran several of his calls and they all sounded great. Picking one became a matter of which exotic wood appealed the most to my eye.From your post above it appears Lon is a well-known callmaker. I enjoyed meeting him and talking to him about how he makes them, the glass and glue he uses, etc.
The other nice thing you don't get with mass produced calls is a man willing to stand behind them. Lon told me that if anything goes wrong with it, other then me backing my truck over it, to send it back to him and he would take care of me. Now that is something I really respect and appreciate.
I would prefer to spend more time in the seminars but my son likes walking around and running all the calls. He's pretty good too for a 12-year old, as one of the callmakers asked me if he would represent them in competition calling. Don't know about that yet - we just love to hunt together - we'll see. I've been to the senior division finals several times and I, like you, can't figure out how they pick a wiinner. The gobbling and hooting contests are always favorites of ours also.
More and more I am becoming attracted to these custom calls and I envy you as a maker of box calls. I don't know much about the custom callmaking world, but it is easy to appreciate the workmanship and quality of the Lon Trice's pot calls. They areamazing and worth everyextra penny paid compared to mass-produced calls. I ran several of his calls and they all sounded great. Picking one became a matter of which exotic wood appealed the most to my eye.From your post above it appears Lon is a well-known callmaker. I enjoyed meeting him and talking to him about how he makes them, the glass and glue he uses, etc.
The other nice thing you don't get with mass produced calls is a man willing to stand behind them. Lon told me that if anything goes wrong with it, other then me backing my truck over it, to send it back to him and he would take care of me. Now that is something I really respect and appreciate.
