Name: Ralph Permar
Address: P.O. Box 74; Old Zionsville, PA 18068
Phone: 610-965-6640 Fax:
E-mail: permar@ptd.net
Personal Website:

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 Custom Wild Turkey Calls

Winner of the NWTF National Convention,
Tom Turpin Award, 2004, 2005 and 2008

Ralph's interest in call making history, along with his interest in turkey hunting led to his desire to learn more about how these birds were hunted in the late 1800s and first half of the 1900's. During his study of that era's turkey hunting masters and their calls, Ralph decided to make his own suction type yelper. Experimentation had him trying all kinds of materials, man-made and natural. After some time his calls improved to the point where they would imitate the yelp of a hen turkey.

Ralph says the people most influential to his call making are Earl Mickel for his encouragement, Larry Proffit for his mentoring skills, and Parker Whedon for his knowledge of turkey hunting, vintage calls and warm hospitality. He had the honor of visiting with Parker and examining calls, first hand, that normally are only seen in books on the subject.

Ralph's calls are known for their quality of sound and the ability to break in just the right place, which is so important to imitating the wild turkey yelp. The smooth draw of his yelpers is another characteristic commented on by hunters and collectors who own these calls.

Ralph makes many different styles of yelpers. He has his own original designs but also creates interpretations of vintage yelpers. His turned barrel calls have custom mouthpieces, and brass ferrules stamped with the call's number and maker's initials. Calls have consecutive numbers according to style. Low production and high quality make these calls very collectable.