Black Hills Cedar Custom Turkey Call

The last of the Black Hills cedar calls to come out of the shop this year. It was made for competition and has killer sound and range. Paired with maple and purple heart it has major looks as well.

Padauk Turkey Call custom burned.

This call went out to a great friend over at Millcreek Valley Game Calls. A MAG series Shine Box made of a solid core of Padauk. 2 hand burned gobblers front and center. this call has serious range for a scratch box too.

5 gobbler Scratch Box Turkey Call

Cedar Shine Box with black walnut and maple. on it's way to Oregon. This one has 5 gobblers burned on the call 3 on the front and 2 on the back. Also a MAG series call.

A complete custom tribal turkey call. A signature MAG series scratch box made from Yellowheart and Padauk. Good friend Chris asked for a tribal turkey head design that wrapped the call. Looks SHARP and a screamer of a call.

Mahogany Turkey Call

Another "Racer" series short box made of Honduran Mahogany, Osage Orange, and Ebony. A single tail feather graces the lid along with some ebony inlay.

Shine Box turkey Call Racer series Short Box

Started my run of "Racer" series short box calls. I usually make about 20 a year. Here's a beauty made of Honduran Mahogany, Padauk, and Yellowheart. I hand burned some killer tail feathers and a single gobbler in the center of the lid.

Grim Reaper scratch box turkey calls

Made these to Black Maple scratch boxes for a good buddy down in Georgia this spring. He wanted 2 different reaper images hand burned in them. Here's what I came up with

I'm back again

Sorry for the long absence! It's been a busy summer and fall for Shine Box. I've been pumping out the box calls and killer wood burning. I'll get to posting some pictures.

Shine Box Turkey Call is back on track.

Hey every one sorry I've been away for a short time. Turkey season is all complete and I'm back to work in the shop. The turkey postseason is a busy one with orders pouring in so If you want a shine box call place one as soon as ya can. My call log book is filling up for the rest of the year. I got a ton of great 2012 season pictures to post as well as some new pro staffers!!

American Beauty Turkey Call

Just completed this American Holly and Buckeye burl call the other day and it's hot. Holly sounds super sweet and this baby will hit auction maybe next week if someone doesn't take it off my hands by then.I loaded up the front and burned 2 big old gobblers on its face.

Yellow heart Scratch Box Turkey Call

Just posted this yellow heart figured maple call on ebay. It is inlayed with black walnut and maple. I dressed the front with a full strutter crossing a low spot in a barbed wire fence. good luck!

NWTF Competition grade Scratch Box Turkey Call

Just wrapped up a small run of 4 figured black walnut calls. I paired them up with some killer yellow heart and mahogany. They were labeled 1 through 4. best of luck fellas.

Gobbler trio done on African Cherry

I did a live burning of this beautiful call at the 2012 Minneapolis Sports Show last week. The call sounds awesome and I gave the MAG striker a nice touch by wrapping the strikers 3 side with a close up of a gobblers head. total burn time wa 2 hours. Good friend Campbell from Texas snapped this one up before it hit the table to be listed for sale. Good luck buddy!

"Gator Call." Scratch Box Turkey Calls

I was asked to burn a swimming gator on a call by a good friend from Texas. Here it is burned on figured maple.

NWTF Show Quality Turkey Call the "Dead Red" Call

I made a call about 3 years ago out of poplar and Padauk and called it the "DEAD RED" I decided to remake it this time using some killer red dyed buckeye burl. The call body is still a solid core of poplar with a red buckeye bottom and top plate. Padauk and maple grace the belt line and padauk inlay accents the face. I put a couple full strutter's on the front of course. The striker is solid padauk with the mag system, here are some before and after pictures.

66 Butternut Scratch Box Call

I found a sweet timber of Butternut in the rafters of my garage that had been there for over 60 years. My father dated the wood back as far as he could when lived at the family homestead and remembered seeing it up there for atleast 40 years. My mother remembered her dad using it to make door trim when she was in her teens. That year was 1946. "What a SCORE". 66 year old air dried butternut would make a lovely sounding call. Here's a scratch box I just made out of it and paired it up with some super black walnut and yellow heart. I played on primary color YELLOW. The butternut being soft tan the walnut being dark brown and the stark yellow of yellow heart ties it together very well. The sound well anyone knows that air dried wood make the loveliest sound!! I'm gonna make more of these for sure, any call I make gets the wood species burned on the bottom I'll burn these calls 66 Butternut.

Padauk Beauty Scratch Box Turkey call

Here's a creation for a good friend done on a RED canvas. This scratch box call is made of a solid core of Padauk with Holly/Ebony inlay and figured maple bottom. WOW DUDE this one is smoking. I didn't need to burn an image on this one to look great but you know me "I like to burn!" Plus this wood smells like CAKE when it burns!! "I Like CAKE!" Padauk makes a very nice sounding call when paired with the right striker material. Thanks Troy!!!

"THE MEAN GREEN" Turkey Call

A special thanks to Pennsylvania Mel at Wood Dynamics for the special green dyed buckeye burl. Mel creates some of the BEST stabilized & dyed wood products in the country. We talked about some of my projects this year and Mel was on board! He made up some intense double dyed green buckeye burl and shipped it out to me to create a new run of Shine Box Calls. I'm calling them "THE MEAN GREEN" here they are. The Burl is paired up with Ebony and Maple accents. "SHARP!" These calls produce a nice mellow tone only his buckeye burl creates. not to high not to low. Thanks MEL looking forward to working with this coming year let turn some heads!

Wild Turkey Fanatic Scratch Box Call

I made a small run of figured maple white oak calls last year and had one left over so I decided to dress it up and put her on ebay. I burned a pair of full strutters and was happy with the look of the call. The tails wrapped nicely over the white oak and burned clean. Sometimes when you transition burn over multiple species of wood they burn differently depending on how hard or soft they are.
I looked at the call for about 20 minutes and thought it needed something more. I grabbed the white oak striker and sanded it down to 600 grit and started to draw on it. A side view close up of the gobblers face and tail were exactly what it needed. Oak is tough to burn on due to the open grain but the smooth surface worked out and took a clean image.
This call went to a friend I met at the 2012 NWTF National Convention in Nashville this year. Fred is a combat proven war veteran and full time turkey slayer. I look forward to making your custom box call and custom burned lid.
Thanks Fred for your service to our country.

2012 MN NWTF Competition Gobbler Box

This Long Box Call was made for the 2012 MN NWTF state conventions call making competition. I decided to make a GOBBLER box. The call body was made of a solid core of Northern California redwood burl with maple accents and ebony end caps. The lid was made of padauk with matching maple and ebony accents surrounding red abalone shell inlay. A gorgeous call!!!
I had the idea for something different in this box call. I knew that the redwood may be to soft to get decent hen sound so i decided to try and tune this call to the sounds of a mature gobblers thunderous gobble and make it a gobble box! I was successful. This call was to be entered in the decorative open class. If the call was played by the judges like a traditional long box it would be way to low and raspy for a good score on sound but that chance was on I was willing to take. I decided to burn nothing but gobblers on it. I visioned a strutting pair of longbeards bumping and positioning for dominance. I could see in my mind the gobblers head tucked back tight against the body and the lightning speed of his head belting out that thunderous gobble we all hear. I was very happy with the out come of this call.

Weather Reports from Shine Box Pro Staff around the U.S.A

South Eastern Region.
Poor ole turkeys. The weather down here is changing so fast they don't know whether they are coming or going. For that matter, neither do I.
One morning I go to the woods to listen, the next morning I go back and I couldn't hear one gobble if he did, for the sound of the frost crunching underfoot. Then the next day its nice and warm again.
Oh well. The tracks are where they're supposed to be, the guns are patterned and the calls are chalked, and opening day is only a month away.
Let the games begin!
Wayne Allen Pro Staff Georgia.

North Midwest Region
Best winter ever! Temperatures have been in the 40's for months unheard of!! we are used to -20 & -30's through January and February old man winter must be in Florida!. Very Little to no snow. Just got a dusting but I saw the southern part of our state got several inches the other day, but the 35-40 degree weather will melt it fast. We should have a great survival rate this year and more hens means more broods!
Joe Hanson Pro Staff Norther Minnesota

Midwest Region Door County WI
Weather has been abnormal here. Temps in the 30's-40's have had some snow but melting as fast as it comes. Been seeing a good amount of turkeys in the Cherry Orchards more than normal, maybe due to the lack of snow letting birds search for food. Been seeing Gobblers strutting their stuff already to.
Donald Munch Pro Staff Sister Bay Wisconsin.

Western Region Wyoming
Temps have been right around 30 -40 degrees in the western black hills area. Raining today? have had dusting's of snow but definitely not a normal winter. Been seeing good amounts of birds they're not snowed in and are mobile for this time of year. A good thing we need a good survival rate this winter. last year was not good. Winter finally showed in the last 2 days with a good 11-13 inches on the ground.
Joel Eschedor Pro Staff Sundance Wyoming

Western Region Black Hills SD
Windy and Cold. Slight rain and snow. Weather has been up and down in the Black Hills area.
Jondean T. Rapid City South Dakota

2012 NWTF Custom Burned Core Package Art Easel

Here's the 2012 NWTF Core Package Art Easel that I customized for the North Metro Longbeards Chapter in Minnesota. It took 4 hours to burn this big old gobbler on the top face of the easel. What a sharp looking piece that should catch any ones eye who walks by it. thanks Larry for the sweet platform to burn an image. If you are interested in getting your chapters core package art easel customized just shoot me a call or email.

6th Wedding Anniversary Gift Custom Burned Stargazers

Just completed this 6th wedding anniversary gift for a northern Minnesota man. He contacted me and asked if I could burn his wife's favorite flower stargazer for a gift. Seeing wood is the 6th wedding anniversary gift to give what a better way than to commission a wood burning. William asked if I could add some color to the image and I said no problem. Wood burning takes on another dimension when color is added. Soft pink, white, and red were added to enhance the flowers. Looks very nice!

Thanks for the support William I hope she loves it.
Eric

2012 NWTF Grand Nationals Call making Competition Scratch Box Turkey Call Entry

Here's the picture of my 3rd Place call in the 2012 NWTF Grand Nationals. This call was entered into the decorative scratch box division. The call was made of Birds eye maple, ebony and buckeye burl from Wood Dynamics. The gobblers on the front are the size of a quarter. The back of the call has a gobblers head burned into it. This call had my signature magnetic striker system also. I entered this call in the Minnesota State competition before it was burned for the Grand National competition. Funny it didn't even place in Minnesota and takes a 3rd in Nashville? The sound was about a 7 out of 10 to my ears I felt the looks were good so I burned images close to the Midwest Open 2nd place call. It was sharp and brought in over $150. on the silent auction! pretty cool.

Grim Reaper Turkey Call Lid

Here are the photos of "The Reaper" Long Box Turkey Call Lid.
This custom lid is constructed of Poplar and features the Grim Reaper with a harvested Turkey over his shoulder. I burned a nice gobbler over the reapers robe and my signature gobblers head in the lids handle. I used barbed wire as a outer and inner boarder for this lid. Thanks Trey for the Idea!

How to use a Shine Box Turkey Call

If this is your first time using a scratch box style turkey call you're in for a new kind of turkey sound. Scratch boxes date back to the early American times and are considered the great granddaddy of the working box call.
Any quality friction call will operate with the slightest amount of pressure!! Shine Box Scratch Call should be played with the striker held in the palm of the hand and the call held like a car key just off a 90 degree angle tilted away from the caller. VERY little pressure is used to make the call skip along the chalked surface. any question please contact us. We will have some you tube links up soon to help out.

2012 Midwest Turkey Call Making Competition. 2nd place winner!

I was told I needed to compete in the 2012 Wisconsin Midwest Call Making Competition back in the late fall. I didn't plan on it because of the calls I was working on for the MN NWTF state competition and my first time entries for Nationals. I decided to go for it and spent hours looking over hundreds of color combos that I'd created and remembering the sounds produced by various exotic/domestic wood combos. I selected 5 pictures of calls I made in the past year and printed them on a sheet of paper. I asked 12 people to select the call that caught their eye the most. It was very clear one color scheme stood out over the rest. Construction began!
I went to my Sponsor (Rockler) first and selected a pen blank of Gold Dyed Big Leaf Maple Burl then I hit the scrap bin in hopes to find a piece of Yellow Heart with the grain going the right way. I found one scrap piece with the grain close enough that I would get nice sound. I was given a small scrap piece of Blood Wood from a friend at War Bird Custom Calls and began construction. When it was complete I had this beauty. I hand burned a tom gobbling on the back with 2 tiny full strutter's on the front.
The call was carefully escorted to the Wisconsin Competition by Chris from Walls Calls. I took a 2nd place in my division and scored a 2012 Outstanding Rookie call Maker of the Year award. Thanks Chris for purchasing my call and giving it back to me. I did find out how much you paid for it!! This call also has a doppelganger that will appear somewhere else this year??

2012 Minnesota NWTF Sanctioned Turkey Calling Contest

Congrats to My daughter Adriana (age 6)on her second place finish in the Poult division of the 2012 State NWTF turkey calling competition. Adriana had to produce the following sounds, plain yelp of the hen, the cluck, and the purr. She use a 5 piece black walnut call with a yellow heart lid made by me. After her 2nd place win she asked if I could burn an image on the lid for her. I said "sure honey what do you want". she said " I would like a dragon and a unicorn and a killer whale!!!". Well a 6 year old has quite an imagination. I have to say that this will be a first a Dragon, Unicorn, Killer Whale call LOL!!!! Stick around I'll have photos of this when it's done

2012 NWTF Minnesota State Convention 3rd place winner

This Call was a new design For Shine Box and done for the sole purpose of the state call making competition.. I went away form my traditional 2 piece design and constructed this 19 piece design all made of wood. The wood combo is as follows Macadamia wood from the Oahu Hawaii, Ebony, South American Box Wood (sound board), and American Holly.

This call was hands down the most difficult scratch box call I've ever constructed. With 19 pieces means lots of glue seams to make perfect!!! 3 weeks to slowly glue and sand each piece to fit perfectly to pass the judging eye. After tuning to a smooth medium tone and sanding down to 600 grit I burned a single full strut gobbler on the front wrapping the image up onto the top of the call. The striker was solid Macadamia Wood with my signature magnetic striker system.
I was very let down that it only took a 3rd place due to the amount of effort and time I had into the call, but the silent auction price did speak volumes bringing in more than the 1st & 2nd place winners combined. Some NWTF convention silent auction bidders couldn't believe how seamless the call was and loved the sound of the South American Box Wood. It was a 1st place winner in my mind. I did however wonder how my entry for nationals would've done at the state convention I'll never know.

2012 NWTF Minnesota State Convention 2nd Place Decorative Open Division

Here's my 2012 NWTF Minnesota Decorative Open Class 2ND place winner. It is a short box call made of South American Box Wood, Curly Koa, Yellow Heart, and Afzalia Burl. The lid is yellow heart. This turkey call is completely custom burned by hand. The lid has a side view of a gobblers head with a Whitetail deer burned over it. Then there's a full strut gobbler burned over the White tail deer. The handle of the paddle has a frontal image of a gobblers head.
The side of the box call has a slab crappie in the weeds chasing 2 minnows. the opposite side has 2 chickadees and cherry blossoms (my wife's idea). The total burn time was 28 hrs. it has a nice high raspy tone.