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Name:
Russell Lynch |
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Bud
and Betty Custom Calls
A lot has changed since those early years
of hunting and making calls as a teenager. Russell is now married
and has served 8 years in the United States Marine Corps from 1980
– 1988. After serving for his Country he moved to South Carolina.
He lived in several locations to include Charleston, Spartanburg
and Pauline where he resides today.
Each call is hand-crafted by Russell and his been field-tested on all sub-species of turkeys with great success. He uses the finest wood in his construction and finishes them just like a fine gunstock. He works hard to ensure the customer will enjoy the beauty, quality and most of all, the ability to duplicate the sounds of the wild turkey. Nothing excites him more than to build a call and hear a customer tell stories of how they successfully called in and took a bird with his calls. |
Russell
Lynch grew up around Little Rock, Arkansas and spent much of his
teenage years hunting squirrel with many of his close friends. One
particular day when he was hunting alone he happened up a flock
of turkeys and felt it was his duty to inform his friends of what
had taken place in the woods. With excitement in his eyes he told
his friends, many of who thought he was crazy. After all it was
1972 and turkeys just didn’t exist in that part of the land.
That following season many of those that doubted him were soon convinced
when his best friends dad took the first bird out of that flock.
Still, his preference of hunting was squirrel while turkey hunting
took a back seat. However one particular morning would change all
that when Russell heard the sounds of a turkey not far from his
location. With no call in hand and only a 16-gauge shotgun he tried
his best to sneak upon that bird only to see it get spooked and
fly away. That one encounter with the wild turkey got him started.
The
following day Russell took to the shop and attempted to make his
first turkey call. It was a scratch box call made from mahogany.
The looks of the call were crude but at least it made some type
of turkey noise. That next spring he shot his first bird at age
16 with the call and gave it the name of Lynch’s “Jet”
Slate Call.
Since
his departure from the USMC he slowly got back into turkey hunting
only to find that many changes had taken place. Especially notable
was what the market presented in the way of turkey calls. Russell
has over 40 different turkey calls that he has purchased through
the years but he will tell you there are a big difference in calls
made in the early 70’s and what is available on the market
today. Being thoroughly disgusted with what was available, he decided
to start making his own line of calls again.
Now,
after what seemed to be 4000 board feet of black walnut lumber he
has started producing the “Bud & Betty” turkey call.
“Bud” being his son’s nickname and “Betty”
his daughters. His first calls were made specifically for him and
his friends, but as time passed he started building them for the
public. Russell will admit he has not re-invented the wheel with
the design of his calls but they are unique and high quality. His
ultimate goal was to bring back some of the old-time craftsmanship
that he remembers from the early 1970s calls. Today this is evident
with his (3) NWTF National First Place Championships (2002, 2003,
and 2004) he has won for his glass, aluminum and scratch box calls.|
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