Derby City Relic

In the music industry there are some musical instruments known as “Relics” . At Derby City we are using the same process to give our calls that aged and used look. We have started with a Derby  City Magnum in our flamed maple, slate over slate call . This call was used to bag this bird during the 2010 spring season. All “Relics” have our signature sound that is in our line up. We also have our Derby City Tracker in a “relic” look. These are calls you should not be afraid  to hunt with.

Brent Stoner’s Opening Day Hunt for 2010

Brent Stoner had a very successful Spring opener this year in Kentucky.  Brent used his Derby City Magnum aluminum call to bring in this nice gobbler. This bird ended up having 2 beards, each 10 inches in length.  Luckily, this hunt was caught on tape.  Sit back and enjoy Brent’s hunt.  Congrats on a nice bird.

Will Kaufman bags his first bird!

Jeff, and all those who aided in the development of your new line of calls,

Thank you.  I took my oldest son Will on an afternoon hunt on opening day for his very first hunt ever and wow, what an adventure.  There are three tracts of land that border the rear of our property and we had permission to hunt the two on the left and right.  We started on the left with absolutely no vocal responses to our calls from any bird and held out for two hours just in case one snuck in under the radar.  We then cut back to our property to check out what was going on over on the other side of our land and the opposite neighboring property.  I proceeded to set up a hen decoy while Will found a few tadpoles in the creek that he wanted to show me.  We fooled around in the creek for five minutes or so out of sight from a field that had full view of our decoy.  When I finally stood up from the creek and began walking to our spot I immediately realized I’d been made by two jakes that were eyeing the decoy.  I froze and waited for them to duck behind some tall grass and we high tailed it out of there with decoy in hand.  We moved 50 or so yards up a steep hill, replanted our decoy and began calling with our new Magnum call.  The birds were curious, just not as stupid as the guy who had just walked out in front of them just minutes before.  As they began to move from right to left we relocated quickly back onto the other property as the birds made their way to us, so we hoped.  We set up and started giving some soft purrs, yelps and clucks.  Moments later we heard two hens responding.  Will said, “There’s some turkeys dad, did you hear them?”  I told him that they were definitely turkeys, but not the ones we were looking for.  “Now we have competition,” I said.    Well, the Magnum aluminum over glass with old striker brought the competition to within ten feet of our blind and the largest of the two jakes to within 25 paces from us.  Will took the shot and the rest is history.

I appreciate the time you spent helping me choose the right call for my needs and getting it produced before opening day.  I received the same attention when I purchased my banjos from First Quality several years ago.  In my experience, whether it’s a $3000 banjo, a $60 game call or a couple of $2 finger picks you guys treat every transaction as if it were the most important one of the day.  Thanks again for your continued support in helping me provide lifelong memories for both myself and my family.

I also want to thank John Wade who first told me about Derby City Calls and give a very special thanks to my son Will for a memory I will never forget.

Regards,

Billy Kaufman

Louisville, KY

Opening Day Success

The opening day of Spring Turkey season in Kentucky turned out to be another exciting hunt for me.  This has been a great year, 2 hunts-2 dead longbeards (1 in Illinois, 1 in Kentucky).  The day started with a couple of longbeards gobbling on the roost.  They were on both sides of me and each was about 200-300 yards away.  I had scouted the area and knew where the birds should be that morning.  I set the blind up in a pasture field and set out my Peep-n-Tom decoy.  I called very softly with my Old Growth Spur.  The birds would answer back from the roost.  I decided to wait for them to fly down before calling any more.  I thought I was going to be dealing with some tight lipped birds, but one fired up down in the woods about 150 yards away.  He was on the ground.  I pulled out my Aluminum Magnum to let him know that I was there.  As soon as I played the call, I was cut off on both sides by gobbling.  I had the one down in the woods and 2 more in the pasture field to my right.  I called a few more series, they responded each time, then I decided to shut up and let them find me.  After 10-15 minutes, I see 3 jakes and 1 longbeard walking along the fence line.  I also have a hen pop out of the woods about 90 yards in front of me.  Another longbeard (the one that was hammering in the woods) came out and joined the other longbeard. 

The hen started to feed towards me and the other birds saw her and started my way.  The 2 longbeards came up over a rise and spotted my decoys.  They started to come in at a fast walk.  These birds were curious, but did not appear to want a fight.  They walked around him a few times.  The bird that was gobbling in the woods started to strut around the decoy.  Once he came out of his strut, I put him down for good.  He was 19 pounds, 10 inch beard, and 5/8 inch spurs.  This was a great start to the year.

First Illinois Spring Turkey Hunt

My first turkey hunting trip to Illinois turned out to be one of the most exciting hunts that I have ever had.  I had a game plan set up to hunt a corner where the farmer’s son had been seeing birds for the past two mornings.  I held tight to this original plan until I drove to another spot on the farm just before dark and had a longbeard gobbling to every little sound.  After roosting this bird, I called my friend Scott Cronin for some advice.  We concurred that I needed to set up on this hot bird.  Another close friend of mine, Brent Lynch, was going to sit with me the next morning.  Brent and I snuck in when it got dark and set up a Primos Vision blind in the middle of a cut soybean field.  All we had to do was try to get some sleep that night.

Brent and I got to the blind about an hour before daybreak.  We did not want to take a chance of spooking that bird off the roost.  I set out a Peep-n-Tom and Pretty Penney decoy and we sat in the blind waiting for the day to break.  Lucky for us, we had a mouthy owl in our area and he started hooting early.  When he started, he got the boys fired up.  Not one gobbler was roosted close by, four of them where in the area.  They gobbled continuously on the roost and did not shut up when they hit the ground.  I was using an Old Growth Spur slate/glass and Mahogany Magnum Aluminum/glass.  I called softly with the Old growth pot to let them know I was in the area.  All the gobblers stayed in a hardwood bottom, gobbling every time I called.  I stopped calling, not wanting the gobbling to attract live hens and take the birds the other way.  Too late.  We heard some live hens start calling from where the gobblers were located.  It sounded like the gobblers were heading away from us, so I broke out the aluminum mahogany and did some soft yelps and clucks.  After 10-15 minutes, Brent saw a hen enter the field.  Two more hens came out and we heard a booming gobble in the woods.  I told Brent he would be coming.  About that time, Brent’s eyes got big and he said, “Big gobbler, here he comes.  I said, “How close.”  Brent said, “He is right there.”  I peeked around the blind and the gobbler was in a sprint for the decoys.  He puffed up and strutted to the Peep-n-Tom.  He flogged it and brushed up against it, then he pecked him a few times.  Finally he stepped back just enough to allow me a shot.  He went down in his tracks.  The longbeard weighed 21 pounds.  His beard was 10 1/2 inches and he had 1 1/4 inch spurs.

Brent had a great time.  It was the first time he got to see a successful turkey hunt.  What a hunt it was.  Derby City Calls were very successful in bringing those birds to the field.  Good scouting, good calls, and patterning your gun all pay off.  These three things were extremely important in helping me fill my first Illinois turkey tag.