Bird Report around the U.S

Emails are coming in that most of the Midwest and South Eastern states have been behind due to weather. Die hard turkey hunters have been getting gobblers in the constant rain, sleet, and snow of this 2011 spring.

Pro Staffer Brian R comments on the pattern of the spring breeding season saying "Wisconsin and Illinois birds are just not in the breeding pattern yet, cold weather and constant rain have things behind!" 4-20-11
Pro Staffer Joel E in the Black Hills Sundance WY says "Rain, sleet, flash blizzard, and repeat. Winter kill may have taken a toll. Birds out here are just getting in the mood almost 3 weeks behind out here." 4-15-11
Pro Staffer Wayne A in Georgia said "Lots of rain and bad weather made for a slow start but things are picking up down here. Birds are getting interested and cooperating." 4-30-11

Send us your comments and reports to erice@shineboxturkeycall.com and get them posted.

2 Great Friends Bag their first Wyoming Merriams Gobblers

Soon to be Pro Staffers Don & Larry headed out to Sundance Wyoming with me last week to try and bag their first Black Hills Wyoming Merriams Gobblers. My brother Joel was going to be our guide on over 3,000 acres of private land. After a day and a half of hard rain and missed opportunities Don and I put the sneak on a nice gobbler and called him in gobbling all the way with in 30 yards. Don made the shot and rolled his 1st Wyoming bird. Later that day after a snooze in the Wyoming sun Don and Larry decided to climb up an additional 1800 ft of elevation to close the gap on the high roaming gobblers we had watched for 2 days. Joel and I dropped into the thick darkness of a Cedar laden washout area to chase the birds down low. After an hour a single shot rang out from the steepest slope of the property and Larry rang up his 1st Wyoming Merriams bird. 2 great birds, 2 great hunts, and 2 great new friends! Congratulations

Georgia Long Beard Falls to Maple Shine Box

Thanks Wayne A for the great picture of the 26 lb. Georgia monster. Keep'em gobbling and the stories coming. We'll get ya on the pro staff real soon.

Bing Cherry Shine Box takes another Minnesota Gobbler.

Congrats to Mike S of Minnesota on his 2011 gobbler. Mike was given a Bing Cherry Shine Box with a custom image burned on the front as a gift. Mike used his Shine Box To fool the the Eastern Gobbler. Thanks Mike! I have to say I've never seen a gobbler picture like this one. Sweet!

The Eastern Mangler Bags another Eastern Gobbler

I made a Juniper Shine Box Call several years ago and named it the "Eastern Mangler" I've taken many Eastern birds with this call and Fast Eddy's Iowa Eastern will be the last. I'm gonna retire it and give it to my dad. This call had a brother call cut from the same board that call was made higher in pitch for the Black Hills in Sundance this call was named the "Merriams Mauler" RIP.

Pro Staffer fast Eddy Bags his first Eastern Gobbler

Last week my father Fast Eddy, Older Brother Big Irv, and I headed to Iowa to hunt near Albia. Both Big Irv and Fast Eddy haven't taken Eastern Birds yet. Both of them have many Merriams birds under their belts but no Easterns. Despite Horrible weather the clouds parted on a Saturday night and the sun came out in full force. The woods was full of gobblers soaking up the evening sun and thundering their locations for us to set up for the next mornings hunt. We were set up and waiting the mornings gobble filled air. We battled with 2 gobblers about 75 -80 yards away in a creek bottom and we Finlay got one to crest the ridge we sat on top of. The bird crested the ridge and thundered us one gobble to let the lovely soft yelps know he was there. He spotted the 2 hen decoys and and walked out onto the logging road, and Eddy took his 1st Eastern Gobbler. 25 lb. over 1 inch spurs and 10 inch beard.

Later that day we put the Sundance sneak on a mouthy gobbler about 200 yards in a deep creek bottom. We carefully stepped within 40 yards of the Gobbler and I made some signature Shine Box Soft yelps and the tom thundered back letting us know he was less than 20 yards around a slight rise in the land. We sat down and Irv got ready. The Gobbler circled Irv staying out of his sight. A Whitetail deer followed the old tom and stepped right in line of the gobbler as if to take the hit for his turkey friend. Irv froze like marble to avoid the Tom & Deers eyes less than 20 yards away. The Turkey moved into the clear and he shot toppling the bird and sending the whitetail rocketing the air. The Bird lay motionless and we celebrated. We walked over to the gobbler and he was GONE!? we looked for 2 hours and found nothing. Next year Irv will have an Indian Creek Shooting Systems Black Diamond Strike Turkey Choke Tube and shoot Heavy 13.

Congrats To Konnor K in Minnesota with his 2011 Gobbler

Konnor K visited us at the 2011 Mpls Sportsmans Show in the NWTF room and we gave him a free Shine Box Call. After I showed him how to use his new Shine Box, Konnor promised to send us a picture if he bagged a gobbler. Well Konnor did! and thanks for the picture. Keep practicing with your call and in no time you'll be a Shine Box Pro there's a lot of sound yet to be discovered with your new turkey call.

New Shine Box to Special Edition

Shine Box Yellow Jacket. Is constructed from Yellow Heart and Ebony! The Core wood is Yellow Heart and the bottom, accent, and top plate are Ebony. It produces very true young hens tones higher in pitch would be a great Merriams call also. This is the first Yellow jacket produced and resides in Stillwater MN.

Another Black Hills Merriams falls to a Cherry Shine Box

Here is a great Black Hills Merriams taken 2 days ago with a Cherry Shine Box. Thanks Butch for the picture and the sweet testimony.
Eric and Shine Box Pro Staff,
I met you guys at the Black Hills Expo in March and bought a Cherry Shine Box Call and Eric custom burned a beautiful Gobbler image on it. I thought it was to pretty to use but took it on my hunt anyway. After using my battleship call for 3 hours on a group of 13 birds 150 yards away with no response I began to think I should move on. I remembered my new Shine Box in my vest and took it out of the velvet bag. I made a small run of yelps and clucks and watched 2 toms from that group turn their heads my way and look for the hen that made the yelps. "OMG! I thought!" as they peeled out of the group and came looking for the lovely sounds they heard, only thing it was me! Got the biggest of the 2 birds. Thanks Guys for the great SHINE BOX CALL!!!

Shine Box Wild Turkey Harvest Report

Eastern Birds...45
Osceola Birds...11
Merriams Birds...22
Goulds Birds...2
Rio Birds...14

Where's the Eastern Birds?

Lets get some pictures of those eastern birds harvested with a Shine Box. I've had several emails thanking me for the great call and what a great job thier Shine Box did, now lets get some pictures of those eastern birds sent in birds sent in..

Youth Group takes a Black Hills Merriams With a Shine Box

Thanks Casey for the Awesome photos! Keep'em gobbling and the photos coming. Taking kids hunting and involving them in the hunting heritage will help us preserve our hunting rights. What you do is greatly appreciated and the look on those kids faces say it all!!
thanks
Eric

First reported Black Hills Merriams of 2011

A beautiful Black Hills Merriams taken with a Shine Box Call. Keep up the good calling and good luck in the field.

Another Oseola taken with a Shine Box Juniper

Thanks Billy for the pictures and the permission to use your testimony! Another Florida Osceola harvested with a Juniper Shine Box. Here's what Billy had to say about his new Juniper Shine Box.
Eric, took my son-in-law Turkey hunting this Weekend, he hasn't shot a bird in five years, and he finally got the chance after I called the bird across an open pasture to within gun range using old faithful, yep the Shine Box Juniper did it again. You can see the excitement on his face, and needless to say he will soon be a Shine Box follower as well! Keep up the GOOD WORK.

Wild Tail feathers for turkeys

Donate your unused Wild turkey tail feathers for a GREAT cause. If you send us 5 tail feathers from your old turkey tail fan we will create specific artwork and donate the pieces to the NWTF to help raise funds for the Wild Turkeys!!!! If you take the time to wrap them and send them securely I will send you a free standard turkey call, picture of the art work, and a letter stating where your feathers went and how much it raised for the NWTF. Just think of the idea. Hunters like you and me really can make a difference for the NWTF and help support the Jakes programs. You can use that tail sitting in the garage for a great cause and know that you helped the NWTF. Any of the Sub species will work Easterns, Merriams, Oseolas, Rios, and Goulds will work. HELP BE A PART IN CONSERVATION OF THE WILD TURKEY Contact me via email at erice@shineboxturkeycall.com for more info. Please be sure to label the tail feathers with the sub species when sending.

Tail kit with a face or 2

I just finished a turkey tail kit with a personal touch. A good friend/turkey hunting guide out in South Dakota commissioned this one of a kind Tail mounting kit. It just goes to show how the important the people in our lives are! Thanks and I hope you enjoy it!!

Capital City Strutters St.Paul MN

We put together a very nice American Butternut call for the Capital City Strutters Chapter banquet just the other day. I burned the front with a very nice full strut gobbler with his tail cocked to one side and the NWTF logo on the back. I also burned turkey tracks across the entire call. This was their 16th annual banquet fundraiser and I hope it made your chapter some much needed extra funds. Thanks for the invite and hospitality and great Tinuccis food!

Blue Mahoe Call

Another call made for the MN Sportsman Show was the figured maple and Blue Mahoe!
Not as blue as was hoping but still looked sweet and sounded better. This Mahoe wood is so rare and hard to get it was worth making several calls from it. enjoy!

New calls from the MN Sportsman Show

Here are a few calls made just for the MN Sportsman Show last week. It was a great turn out for the show and the NWTF room. Shine Box graciously accepted their invitation to showcase our calls & spread the word about Scratch Box calls. We have the Macadamia Nut calls which many wood workers thought was a tight grained lace wood but were surprised when they were informed that it was macadamia wood. It sounded awesome. Next is a Figured Black Walnut with Elm Burl on top and bottom.