Quaker Boy’s Chris Kirby Talks Turkey Calls
John E. Phillips 04.23.13
Author’s note: Chris Kirby, the president of Quaker Boy Calls (http://www.quakerboy.com), has won every major turkey calling championship in the nation including the U.S. Open, the World-National, and Grand National Turkey Calling Championship. He is also the creator of the Mossy Oak Turkey THUGS (www.mossyoak.com) line of calls.
There’s more to the Turkey THUGS line than the unusual name. The word THUG is an acronym for “Today’s Hunters Uniting for Good.” The turkey hunters who buy the Turkey THUG products are hunters who want to help support men and women of the Armed Forces who come back to this country injured. People who buy Turkey THUG products love to turkey hunt, love this country, and love the men and women who serve in the military. Mossy Oak donates a portion of the proceeds from Turkey THUG and Deer THUG products to the Outdoor Recreation Heritage Fund, which supports paralyzed veterans and their families.
This year, Quaker Boy is offering a new Half Moon Pro Pack, a three-pack of diaphragm calls. Most backer reeds on the back of a diaphragm call are straight, but my dad, the late Dick Kirby, who founded Quaker Boy, came up with the idea of the half-backer reed several years ago. The idea of the half-back reed is to keep your tongue in the middle of the call and force air down the center of the call, making it easier to use than other diaphragm calls. The Half Moon reed rests on your tongue. You really want to blow the call on the middle portion of the reed to produce the best sound. By channeling the air down the middle of the call, the call turns over easier to produce the basic yelp.
In the Half Moon Pro Pack, we have the Ghost, the V-Cut and the Nasty Old Hen calls in the Half Moon design. The Ghost has the half center cut out of the longest reed to allow the hunter to put a lot of rasp in his turkey calling. The V-Cut is a traditional cut where three different parts of the diaphragm come together in the middle, producing plenty of rasp. The Nasty Old Hen is the raspiest of the three calls. It has two notches cut out of it. The Half Moon Pro Pack calls are some of the raspiest-sounding calls Quaker Boy ever has produced.
The THUG line also contains friction calls. The new Glass is a fiberglass call with a carbon striker, making the call waterproof. This call gives you the high-pitched ringing sound of a hen turkey that will pierce dense cover and reach-out and touch a gobbler at long ranges. There’s also the Box, a basic compact turkey call that has new lids heavier than they were a year ago and produces a better tone quality as the call turns over to make a hen yelp. We also offer the Little Friend, a push-button call made of oak that every hunter needs to carry. I’ve been hunting my entire life and can use all the different styles of turkey calls, but I still carry the Little Friend with me every turkey season.
John, the 2008 Crossbow Communicator of the year and the 2007 Legendary Communicator chosen for induction into the National Fresh Water Hall of Fame, is a freelance writer (over 6,000 magazine articles for about 100 magazines and several thousand newspaper columns published), magazine editor, photographer for print media as well as industry catalogues (over 25,000 photos published), lecturer, outdoor consultant, marketing consultant, book author and daily internet content provider with an overview of the outdoors.
Phillips has been a contributor to many national magazines, has been affiliated with 27 radio stations across Alabama serving as their outdoor editor and wrote for a weekly syndicated column, "Alabama Outdoors," for 38-Alabama newspapers for more than 13 years. Phillips was Outdoor Editor for the "Birmingham Post-Herald" for 24 years. Phillips was also the executive editor for "Great Days Outdoors" magazine for 3 years.
The author of almost 30 books on the outdoors, Phillips is a founding member of the Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA) and an active member of the Southeastern Outdoors Press Association (SEOPA). Phillips also is the owner of Night Hawk Publications, a marketing and publishing firm, and president of Creative Concepts, an outdoor consulting group.
Phillips conducts seminars across the nation at colleges in freelance writing, photography and outdoor education besides teaching courses in how to sell what you write to writers' groups. Phillips received his photography training as a still-lab photo specialist for six years in the Air Force. He was the chief photographer for Mannequins, Inc., a Birmingham modeling agency, for 11 years.
While serving as 2nd Vice President of the Alabama Wildlife Federation, Phillips was in charge of all press releases for the organization as well as serving as Chairman of Alabama's Big Buck Contest, which he founded more than 30 years ago. He also was president of the Alabama Sportsman's Association for three years.
Phillips is the recipient of a Certificate of Merit from the Governor of Alabama and the Department of Conservation for his work in the outdoor field. Phillips is vitally interested in the outdoors and travels the nation collecting personalities, stories and how-to information for his articles and features.
EDUCATION: B.S. degree from the University of West Alabama with a physical education major and a history minor.
EXPERIENCE: 10 years parttime and fulltime physical director for YMCAs and 34 years as a freelance writer, photographer, editor, book author, lecturer and daily-content provider for websites. Currently, Phillips is a field editor for Game and Fish Publications; serves on the editorial board of Grandview Media; is a regular contributor to 12 internet magazines and a daily content provider for 8 websites.
WRITING AWARDS: Runnerup - Best Outdoor Magazine Feature - 1981 - SEOPA; Certificate of Merit - Awarded by Alabama's Governor for writings on conservation; Most Outstanding Sports Writer in Southeast - 1983 & 1984; Best Outdoor Feature in Alabama, 1987 - Alabama Sportswriters' Association 3rd Place; Best Book of the Year - 1989 - SEOPA; 2007 - inducted into the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame as a Legendary Communicator; 2008 - received award naming him 2008 Crossbow Communicator of the Year from the Crossbow Manufacturers' Association; 2009 - GAMMA Honorable Mention for Consumer/Paid Best Essay for July/August 2008 in "Southern Sporting Journal."
