Recommendations from a Call Maker
A champion craftsman reveals the calls he hunted with this past spring. Surprisingly, many aren’t his creations.
Bob Fulcher has an outstanding reputation for building award-winning custom turkey calls. They include expertly crafted long boxes, short boxes, trough calls and scratch boxes, all adorned with his signature two-turkey-feathers artwork.
His custom callmaking career is heavily decorated. A few accolades include NWTF Guardian Life member, multi-time Grand National Custom Callmaking Champion and Champion of Champions. Fulcher is in the Callmakers Hall of Fame (inaugural class of 2023). He’s a full-time custom call maker with a long list of continuous orders, and he’s an excellent turkey hunting guide.
Although Fulcher carries one or two of his own calls on every hunt — such as a beautiful hardwood slate trough call and long box — he favors carrying calls built by his friends instead. Fulcher knows his calls have been proven repeatedly, so he’d rather enjoy the work of fellow call makers while in the turkey woods.
“Comfort, style, tone, pitch, volume, appearance and ease of use are all individual preferences every hunter thinks about when selecting their favorite calls,” he said. “But I have a lot of friends in the callmaking world who I have a lot of respect and admiration for. So, being friends with a call’s maker helps me decide what is going into my vest on any given spring.”
Fulcher often carries a beautiful hand-painted, checkered and inlaid short box made by Scott Basehore of Denver, Pennsylvania.
“Scott Basehore won the first NWTF Grand Nationals Callmaking Championships in 1994. He was a huge inspiration to me as an up-and-coming callmaker, and he still is today,” Fulcher said. “He is a big supporter of my work, and I of his.”
Fulcher runs mouth calls made by Mark Six of Simpsonville, Kentucky. His favorites are the Patriot and Fireball models.
“Mark won the World Championship Callmaking Competition Diaphragm Category five years straight, which is quite impressive,” Fulcher said. “His calls are stretched looser than most commercial calls. They are very easy to operate. I like the raspy sound in his calls, too.”
Fulcher likes to tote a stunning hand-turned trumpet call crafted by Seth Hamon of Mansfield, Texas.
“Seth makes woodwind musical instruments such as bagpipes and custom game calls as his full-time job,” Fulcher said. “His talents transfer well to crafting high-end trumpet yelpers. Seth won the Best of Class III — Tom Turpin Award for his trumpets at the 2024 Grand Nationals.”
Fulcher loves to use a wingbone call on any turkey hunt. He recommends ones made by Kevin Rouse of Dandridge, Tennessee.
“Kevin has won the Grand National Charles Jordan Award for best-sounding wingbone twice in his career,” Fulcher said. “All of his air-operated calls are expertly crafted. This year, he won Division 10 — Wingbone Yelper (thread wrapped only) with an amazing entry.”
Fulcher also carries an Osage pot call with a crystal surface and hardwood striker made by Jon Hoff of St. Clair, Missouri.
“Jon is a champion call maker who makes great-sounding pot calls,” he said. “The one I own has great sound quality in tone, pitch and break-over ability. Hoff’s calls are excellent for producing authentic sounds, and his craftsmanship is outstanding.”
Contact Fulcher at fulcherbob@msn.com or (937) 270-3299 to request a custom call or to contact any of his call-making friends recommended in this article.