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

Derby City recently sent some call building supplies to students at Muhlenberg County High School.  Under the guidance of teacher Scott Cronin, these students have been busy building turkey calls since the beginning of February.  Mr. Cronin, his fiancee Morgan, and all of his students came by and spent some time at our booth on Friday, Feb. 19th.  Scott teaches a wildlife management class and always covers a unit on wild turkeys.  He wanted to have his students build turkey calls, but needed some supplies to get started.  Derby City was fortunate enough to be able to donate the materials to build these calls.  We appreciated Scott, Morgan , and all of the students for coming by our booth.  They are a great group of kids.  We look forward to helping them again in the future.

 Our good friends at Poorboys Outdoors came by the shop the other day and helped us by putting together a YouTube video to showcase our calls and strikers. Poorboys specializes in video production of outdoor hunts. They have a great website www.poorboysoutdoors.com check them out.

Derby City will be introducing its new trough call at the NWTF Convention  in Nashville.  It is called the Tracker.  This is a very easy Turkey Call to use if you are a new turkey hunter.  It has great rasp and is a very good call when you need to call softly to bring that big gobbler into gun range.  This call can also be personalized and comes with a standard striker.  However, we highly recommend upgrading to our signature Old Growth Striker.

Derby City Calls is gearing up to help fight breast cancer.  We are in the process of partnering with a local organization to donate money to help women beat breast cancer.  Derby City is “Calling for a Cure” with its special edition Magnum Turkey Call.  Derby City will donate a portion of the proceeds to James Graham Brown Cancer Center’s Mobile Mammography Unit.  Help fight for the cause with us.

Derby City Game Calls will be displaying at this years N.W.T.F Convention Feb. 18th thru 21st in Nashville, TN. We will be located at booth 1061.   We will have a large selection of Pot Calls on display along with a bunch of our famous “Old Growth Strikers”.  We will also be showcasing our new trough call along with musical instrument grade wood and supplies for custom call builders.  Come by and say hello to the gang and test drive our very first limited run “250 year old” California Redwood pot call.

Here’s a sneak peek at our first Custom run for 2010.  We are making these calls out of 250 year old California “Old Growth” Redwood.  We estimate to have about 30 pieces each of the Magnum and Spur designs. Both designs will be numbered and feature a striker with matching handle and our signature 500 year Old Growth dowell.   Once they are available we will post ordering information here on derbycitycalls.com

Check out some early photos of our custom build.

Rick's Bird - 22lbs, 9 1/2 beard, 3/4 inch spurs

Derby City Pro Staffer, Rick Denkhoff, ended a long year of chasing longbeards on a high note yesterday.  He closed the deal on the next to the last day of the fall season.  Here is an account of Rick’s hunt.

“December 10th, the next to the last day of Kentucky’s fall turkey season, was a great day.  The temperature was 28 degrees with a cold wind blowing.  I had been sitting for about two hours and was getting really cold.  If it wasn’t for my new hunting blind keeping that wind off of me, I would have been out of the woods way before I got a shot at this gobbler.  I was getting ready to pack up and head out when I finally heard some birds working their way towards me.  I was able to call in four longbeards using soft clucks and purrs with my Old Growth Magnum call and Old Growth Cherry striker. The birds came to within 25 yards and I harvested a 22 pound gobbler with a 9 1/2 inch beard and 3/4 inch spurs.  It has been a long season and I was glad to finally bag my first bird of the year.  I am looking forward to the 2010 spring season, using my Derby City Calls.”

Rick is a great guy.  He is a very humble person.  We are thrilled that he connected on a nice bird.  Congrats Rick.

Derby City Game Calls wants to thank Mike Bevan of Los Angeles California for his purchase of the Derby City Spur design Slate over Glass Turkey Call, upgraded with Old Growth Striker.  Upon follow up by phone from Brent Stoner of Derby City, Mike stated how impressed he was with the call and the striker and the sound it produced.  Mike told Brent that he was so impressed with his new call and striker that he threw his other friction call away.   Mike was in our neck of the woods here in Kentucky on Holiday and got in a little hunting of his own.  While he was here he ordered another DCC call, ( Magnum Slate over Glass ) and two more Old Growth Strikers.  Below you will find Mike’s comments in his own words on how the calls worked.  Thanks again Mike for the purchase of the calls, proud to add this one to the Kill Zone. 

Brent Stoner,  Derby City Calls

” Dear Brent,

Ment to call and thank you for sending me the call when I was in Clarkson but was hunting deer/turkey day and night. The call is fantastic. Got this bird using the call. Birds came in from all directions. Back in Los Angeles now and can’t wait to go back. I will be showing these calls to all my hunting buddy’s. Wishing you guys a wonderful holiday season.

Best Regards,   Mike Bevan”

Derby City Calls ended its first fall turkey season on a high note.  On Oct. 30th, 2009, the weatherman was calling for high wind and rain to move in with temperatures in the mid 70’s.  It is the last day of the season and I wasn’t going to let the weather stop me.  I hit the woods early and set up near a roosting site.  The wind was picking up, just as I heard a flock of birds moving through the woods.  I made some soft putts and few kee-kees, alternating between my Derby City Spur and Magnum calls.  I was also using one of our Old Growth strikers made from the old cabin wood we recently purchased.  Our calls worked great.

In a matter of minutes, I had 5 nice birds closing in.  The biggest gobbler passed to the right of me, a mere 5 yards from my blind.  Unfortunately, I was set up for a shot to my left and I could not pull off a shot without spooking all of them.  I had to let that big longbeard walk.  I was whispering to myself, “I know where you live and I will be back for you this spring, Tommy Bird!”  I sat still and waited for the others to move into position for me to get a shot.  I lowered the boom on a nice, big bodied, bird.  This bird, along with the hen from opening day, filled my fall turkey tags.  I have learned the hard way that the breast tastes better than an unfilled tag any day.

I love the fall turkey season.  Kentucky is blessed with 2 fall seasons.  I love to put fresh wild turkey on the table for Thanksgiving.  My family and friends enjoy it as much as I do.  I have a feeling that this year’s harvest will be the best ever.  Even though my fall tags have been filled, I can’t wait to meet up with “Ole” Tommy Bird this spring in his own backyard.

Derby City Calls- a great, proven turkey call.

Footnotes: for field staff and pro staff

8 birds taken this fall season with Derby City Calls

Best Bird – Dave Berry  

24 pounds 12 inch beard  1 1/2 inch spurs

Best shot- Scott Crume, nice bow kill

Best Review- Clark Bush (check it out on his site, All About Shooting)

Best Time hunting- Brent Stoner, and smallest Bird!

Best Bruise- Jim Dawson (nice one)

 Best Effort – Rick Denkhoff (better kill a bird in the spring or you go from Pro Staff to “No Staff”)!!

: No photo available…. check back in the spring!

Also, congrats to Jim on getting his first fall bird ever.  He was a trophy bird and a very close 2nd to Dave’s trophy.