Memorial for Cpt. Michael J. Medders

We were asked to make a memorial turkey tail mounting kit in honor of Cpt. Michael J. Medders by some great friends. This kit was donated by Shine Box and will be put to auction at his benefit this summer. It is made of Figured Maple and of coarse Purple Heart Wood. Cpt. Medders was killed in action in Iraq in 2008. He served proudly in the Army 3rd Calvary division "Brave Rifles." I will have to fix the call. I burned the 1st Calvary on the left side of the call. The call has our magnet system inside as well. God Bless his family and God Bless America.

Buckeye Burl and Figured Maple Shine Box

Just completed several of these beauties today and put one up for auction on ebay. I made 4 and only have one left. I get such great sound out of this wood combo I'm surprised I don't make them all the time. Good solid Buckeye Burl can be hard to find, but when I do get some it's fun to make calls with it. The pictures shown are of the ebay call. The winner of this ebay call also commissioned the wood burning of 2 full strut gobblers on the back.

Very Nice Minnesota Eastern Gobbler

Congrats to Hailey on her early season Gobbler!
Eric, Here's a picture of Hailey and her first turkey, taken during season A this year. She did some calling with the shine box you gave her at the Sportsman's show this season, and has come a long way on the touch of this little scratch box. It's a great fit for her hands, and she helped call this bird in, along with 4 of his friends.

This tom was 18 3/4 pounds, had an 8 1/2 beard, and 3/4 inch spurs.

Thank you again for the call

Shine Box Care and Use.

Call instructions,care and use
If you recently purchased a shine box turkey call there's some important things to remember. LITTLE PRESSURE is key when operating a scratch box call. Use the following steps to becoming a scratch box pro. It wont take long until you are making some of the truest hen sounds ever..
1. start with the call at a 90 degree angle on the striker (keep the flat surface of the call in contact with the round striker surface)
2. make sure the surfaces are cleaned with sand paper and fresh liberal amounts of chalk are used.
3. use minimal pressure to start your purr
4. increase pressure as needed
5. see February posts sound bites to view videos
6. start with minimal pressure and increase as scratching the striker

Ghost Bird

This call was made from Black Walnut and White Sap wood. I burned a gobbler head on the sap wood side and it POPS off the call. Great sound and great contrast of the wood burning against the White Sap wood. Thanks Larry for another great chunk of Walnut!

Box Call Lids

Just finished a great pair of box call lids for a good friend (and State Champion Box Call maker). These images are complete originals. Hand sketched, and then burned. One is made of Sassafras and the other Yellow Heart.

Another Shine Box for the line up

Black Walnut Burl & Box Elder Burl make up this beauty. The Black Walnut has a wonderful sound and good looks. Accented with (hard to get) Box Elder Burl. The wood combo makes a show piece. This one is definitely eye candy for the collection!

Shine Box How to

If you just purchased a Shine Box call there are some things to know and remember. First our design is best played with the striker in the palm of the hand (pressed between the pointer finger and the base of the thumb). The call should be held like a key in your dominate hand. Use very little pressure and slide the call over the striker towards the thumb. The sound will come easy. Too much pressure and your sound goes out the window. To see a video of this, search the blog archive for sound bites.

New Shine Box for the Premium Edition

This one is made of Yellow Heart, Gold Maple Burl, and Black Walnut. It has to be one of my new favorite color combos. Yellow Heart wood is definitely impressing me with its sound qualities and ability to blend with other woods. This one is for auction on ebay.

Eastern from the land of Ice & Snow

Brent H. called up this beautiful Eastern Gobbler on the first week of the season using his new Shine Box Call. Despite the snowy conditions he gutted it out, and it payed off. "Great bird Brent." Thanks for the picture!

How to Move without spooking birds

I just wanted to share one of my secrets on how to put the sneak on that monster long beard. I have passed this secret on to many first time turkey hunters around the U.S (watch and learn). Don't worry they never look at your legs!!!

Kansas Easterns

Here is a picture of my good friend (Rollie) who bagged these 2 nice Kansas Eastern's 3 weeks ago. Rollie used his Shine Box with one of our new slate strikers to call in one of his birds. Rollie has several grand slams under his belt and we are proud to have him using a Shine Box on his hunts. We have one more spot on our Pro Staff Rollie.

One that got away

Here's a trail camera picture of a Big'ol Iowa eastern gobbler that I battled with for 2 hours. We roosted him, called to him in a creek bottom, and finally got him to come up the ridge on to the logging road after 2 hours of calling back and forth. I tried the silent treatment 3 times and it finally worked. He crested the ridge and stayed 70 yards out, walking right in front of the trail camera gobbling. He stayed there for 15 minutes gobbling like mad until 2 jakes came running down the logging road and began a 2 on 1 all out turkey fight. The 2 jakes drove off the long beard and we never saw him again.