In late February we had the right kind of weather to do our spring burn of the wild ferns. I helped a neighbor with his then we did mine.



And I got through a group of box calls for some clients in CA. The 5th one was built before these and didn't make the photo.

Then I got them all finished up and shipped in a French wine box.


They don't make boxes for crepes....

And my shop superintendant kept an eye on me the whole time.



Have a good weekend.

Pete

Turkeys should come running just to look at those calls, nice work.

Those are sweet looking calls?
How do they sound?
Are they available in the U.S.?

I will state flat out that I am not much of a turkey hunter .I never killed one in my life until last spring At the time I was 64 years old It was the first time I had ever used one of Swift's calls .He came right in and I shoot him right dead .They sound good and look better . I almost do not know if I should have it in the woods for fear of scratching it .up.It looks very nice sounds better and it calls in turkeys So I am glad I got one

Beautiful work

Nice !!!!!!!!

Beautiful box calls!
Man I'm just not brave enough to do some burning like that. I need too, but if it every got away, I would be put behind bars till my death. LOL
I have rough country that hasn't had a domestic animal on it for well over a half century with old grass and deadfall.

Nice turkey boxes.

Snowy...

around the Basque country it is a long tradition to burn these ferns in the spring to promote grass for summer grazing on communal lands. If you don't burn the ferns, you soon have blackberries, other scrub and pretty soon the birch forest begins. My piece is easy to control as it has a dirt road on 3 sides and we watch the wind. You have to call the cops and the mayor's office before 10 am the day you want to burn and do the paperwork months in advance, but still there are some fires that are set without permission that get out of control.

I too have a great respect of wildland fire. My neighbors are a little bit more casual about it.

Pete

Dog speak french!? Lol
Probably no wild turkeys there I spose

Those shop superintendents sure have long noses!

Always like to see your posts Pete.

How much for one of your calls? Man they're nice!

Interesting post as usual swift4me.

Anyone have a sound file of the boxes? Great looking calls! Raspy or along the younger sound? And do you have a website?

Thanks for the replies.

My dog understands English, French and some Basque. She is a smooth coat fox terrier and they do have some serious nose length, but they put it to use.

As for the calls, I don't know how to post a sound file, but my goal is always to find two birds in a call on the two sides. Because of wood grain and wall thickness you can almost always accomplish this. That is the difference between a production call and a good custom call. Every call is different but I like my calls to really sing loud, because most guys carry a slate or a mouth call for the calm days but a good box call can work in the wind or with a bird that is far away. That is my goal. Most don't know but finding the right grain in the wood and lid is a big job, but when it comes together it is great.

My calls sell for $140 including shipping to the states, and you only pay for the call if you like it. In 11 years here in France, and 25 years of call making, nobody has ever sent one back. Just sayin'

Pete

Nice pics, Pete.

Very interesting post! I'll bet your shop super runs a very tight ship!

trapdog1...

Yes she does. She bites my pant leg on the way to the shop... fights with the goats, kills a couple martens every year and tries to finish off foxes in snares. I don't take her on trap checks in the morning for that. She got into it with a badger one time and I imagined how I'd tell my wife that Harlowe wouldn't be coming home tomorrow. She has no fear with donkeys, goats or wild things.

Great dog.

Pete

As I stated earlier I am a CAUSAL turkey hunter on my best days . I never had a box call that I felt like I could sound like a turkey with .I got mine from Swift because I was interested in the fact it was made of chestnut wood and I liked the way it looked . But as Swift said I found out quickly that I could make it sing .It just made sounds that did not feel where coming from my hands.The first bird that I called to was on the third day of the season .I hunted for a short time opening day but it was nasty windy .To the point I did not feel safe in the woods I was not able to go the second day On the third day I I had one answer me so I got set up and I called three more times over a fifteen minute period .He was coming so I decided to let him find me rather than give away my exact position .He was about 30 yards away when I saw him Safety was taken off and I needed to move the barrel about 2 inches .A 24 lb bird with a 9 inch beard. I really do like how it sounds

Harlowe looks like a great shop dog! Cool looking breed as well, thank you for sharing about her.