Name: Anthony Barnett
Address: P.O. Box 674; Seymour, TN 37865
Phone: 865-604-7827 Fax:
E-mail: barnettsignaturecalls@yahoo.com
Personal Website:

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 Barnett Signature Calls

Anthony Barnett has enjoyed hunting all his life, but his interest in turkey hunting didn't peak until the early 1990's. It was during this time frame that the State of Tennessee focused its efforts on restoring the wild turkey population. As a small boy, Anthony fondly remembers seeing his first wild turkey in the eastern Cherokee National Forest. This area was known as one of the last strongholds of the native eastern turkey populations in Tennessee.

If you ask Anthony how he got started making turkey calls, he will quickly tell you he was inspired by his uncle's old cedar scratch box that he made a copy of when he was 9 years old. This was the only type call he was familiar with until was an adult. He was amazed at how few scratch boxes where on the market for the modern turkey hunter. So when he began making calls for his hunting friends, he started with none other than the old pattern scratch box. Anthony is a firm believer that no other turkey call has the distinct sound like the scratch box.

Anthony's scratch boxes are based on 2 different old-time patterns. The first being the "long scratch", which is about 5 inches long and has a familiar shape that most of the older turkey hunters would recognize. The second is a "2 X 4" pattern, which is a pocket-type scratch box designed with and without a hole in the front. Scratch boxes without the hole will produce more of a swallowed note. These calls can be made in a variety of domestic or exotic woods, but the majority of them are made with eastern cedar or California redwood. Each scratch box call is hand tailored and tuned to the customers liking and come with or without ink art. Each call is also signed and dated by Anthony.

Although Anthony's passion is the scratch box, he does make some of the traditional style box calls on a limited basis. Box calls are tuned for hunting and can accurately reproduce the yelps, cutts, and cackles of the hen. Each box is adorned with ink art and some with hand painted designs for those that collect. A variety of woods for the box calls include cedar, cherry, poplar, persimmon, walnut, butternut, ironwood and American chestnut.