Name: Dennis C. Poeschel
Address: 3148 North 78 Street; Milwaukee, WI 53222
Phone: 414-447-7788 Fax: 414-447-7495
E-mail: callmaker@sbcglobal.net
Personal Website: www.wildfowlcalls.com

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 Wildfowl Game Calls

Dennis Poeschel was born and raised in Milwaukee Wisconsin near Lake Michigan. Waterfowling is a popular activity there and ducks are plentiful. This fact and a love of birds in general sparked a desire to carve birds and decoys as an art form. Dennis is a competitive decoy maker and competes on the IWCA show circuit with his work. He has won many ribbons and best of show awards over the years and has his work featured in major magazines and newspapers around the country.

His love of ducks lead to an interest in duck hunting and from that the calls associated with waterfowling. "The more I looked at duck calls the more I wanted to try my artist hand at them". Having a strong design and engineering background he felt he could build a better mouse trap (or duck call in this case). "I know of nobody that made their own calls that could offer me words of wisdom for getting started". Dennis went back to his college physics books and other books on woodwind instruments (reed instruments) from the local library for information. With the study of sound waves and a solid understanding of fluid motion (air is considered a fluid ) he was able to understand what was needed in making the call do what he wanted it to do. Many months were spent fine tuning the designs until one day he hit upon that perfect call sound that he was looking for.

"Time is always a problem, and with a love of both carving and call making it limits my production. Call making is an avocation and restricted to evenings and weekends. I have a full time job running a manufacturing facility for a fortune 200 firm. Although this requires extensive time and commitment the call making and bird carving is a great outlet to relieve the daily stresses".

All calls are the Arkansas style using a mylar plastic reed. Dennis has designed several calls allowing him to best fit the needs of the hunter to the requirements for the calls use. To best fit a call he requests the following: How it will be used? Will the hunter be in open water or flooded timber? How loud of a call is desired? Is the person an experienced caller? Will the call be used as a competition call? A few minutes on the phone allows him to get the information needed to fit the person to the call. "Calls are like guns in that we all have our favorites and value different features as being more important".

A custom quality call does not come out of a box and fit every hunter and every situation the same. The best chance Dennis has in making a person a call that they see as having a great value for the money is to talk with that person and then make the call with them in mind.

Goose calls are made with the same approach as are my duck calls. Each is made for the hunter based on needs and ability. Three designs are available. Closed chamber call, a semi-flute with an extended reed and a full flute with a short reed.

The closed chamber call is an old standby design and style for those hunters who don’t wish to learn using a flute style. The semi flute is an easy blowing call and has a great tone. The full flute is a total range call that an experienced caller will really love. It covers all the bases and has a very mellow tone quality.

All the woods used are of the finest quality. Highly figured woods are purchased from across the country in an effort to offer not only a functional call but one of real beauty as well. Dennis will use both domestic as well as imported exotic woods. Dennis stocks over 24 different woods at any one time and is always purchasing more. Call for details on special requests or to find out just what is available.

In almost all cases the calls are finished using an oil/urethane hand rubbed finish. This soaks deeply into the wood and offers years of protection. Three or more coats are applied and allowed to soak and dry between applications. Both internal and external surfaces are finished to insure a life time of quality service.

"I really enjoy making the fancier calls as well as the more traditional hunting style call. Fancy calls include detailed carvings, laminations and checkering (not always all on the same call). Although production is limited commissions are accepted and done as time allows. Prices for these calls are set based on the amount of time and detail placed into each piece.

In 1996 one of my carved calls won "First Place Honors" in the International Call Makers Show sponsored by Landmarks Gallery located in Milwaukee, WI.

These calls are designed and tuned to the exact same tone standards as all my hunting calls. Just because the call is made more for show then to work the purpose of the call is of foremost importance. The detail in the carving and finishing is meant for the collector . These are not designed for field use in that they often contain fine detail work and painting that could be rubbed or worn from the call over time from excessive handling".