These are examples of the box calls I make. The upper call shown has a box of Sitka spruce and features my own smooth design with painted artwork on the lid handle depicting the tail plummage of a Merriam's wild turkey. The lower call has a box of Honduran Mahogany and is made in the Neil Cost style. Both calls have lids of Eastern Red cedar. These calls are pleasingly designed and beautifully finished but they are made to be hunted. Calls come with case, chalk, and instructions. Please browse through the menu at the left.

Opening morning, 2005, this longbeard left his hens to check out this butternut and cedar call

 

Custom-made heavy vinyl case inluded with each call

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Below is partial text from the About page - click here for the full text

Hi, I’m Dan Wittenberg, a box call maker in Spokane, WA.  For a few years now I have been making long box calls for my friends and for myself.  What started as an effort to duplicate a great-sounding long box call has grown into a line of effective box calls. Some of my donated calls have sold at NWTF banquet auctions for as much as $300.  I have had several requests from people wanting to purchase a call. So, with this web site I am now offering my limited production for sale. Each call is hand-crafted one at a time by me and represents over ten hours of labor for each call that turns out good enough for me to take hunting.   These calls are not just pretty.  They call turkeys.  They locate them AND they bring them in.   

   The late great Neil Cost, probably the most noted custom box call maker ever, is the originator of this long box design.  He also referred to them as paddle box or boat paddle calls.   Each call I make is a tribute to his legacy.  My humble attempts to emulate his style and sound eventually produced a call that looks good and sounds good to the turkeys.  I have become a firm believer in the uncanny ability of these longer boxes to reliably reproduce true sounds. 

Versatility is the strong suit of this call, the longer sound-board giving the caller a wide range of sounds.  You can make the sweet clear yelp of a young hen or sound like a raspy older hen indicating multiple opportunities for the lovesick tom.  You can make very soft hen-talk or crank up the volume and get gobbles from phenomenal distances.   It makes realistic yelps, clucks, cuts, purrs, and jake gobbles.  Some can kee-kee.   I have noticed that I can get better sounds from these paddle boxes than I can from diaphragms, slates, and shorter boxes.  I get into many more conversations with hens now that I use a long box and I sometimes get gobbles when no other call will.  The beauty of this call, though, is its ability to bring in the wary tom all the way to the gun.

   When I started making calls, I made them in Neil Cost's style with comments and signature on the lid.  I have since made cosmetic and ergonomic design changes including a more flowing and rounded look, an exterior clear finish, and painted artwork on the lid handle depicting the tail plumage of a Merriam’s wild turkey.  Both styles are available.  See the Products page for pictures.

      Each call comes with a custom-made leather-look padded vinyl carrying case with a chalk pocket, chalk, and instructions.  It will be inscribed, signed, and dated by me.  I would be pleased to personalize the call to the buyer.  

     All of these calls have lids of Eastern red cedar that has been carefully selected for grain orientation and attractiveness. My calls are carved from a solid piece of select wood. No glue is used. Woods available for the one-piece hollowed out body of the call include:

                             Butternut

                             Sitka Spruce

                             Honduran Mahogany

                             Yellow Poplar

                             Eastern red cedar