Name: Durk Stark
Address: 807 Don Drive; Pepin, WI 54759
Phone: 715-402-0250 Fax:
E-mail: yelpermaker@hotmail.com
Personal Website:

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 Custom Wingbones By Durk

Few call makers today specialize in making just a single type of call. Durk Stark is one of those unique people. Durk only makes wing bone yelpers and does a great job in doing it. A special education schoolteacher by vocation he makes calls as a side business and hobby. He became interested in making bone yelpers after reading an article in a “Turkey and Turkey Hunting” magazine. During a Thanksgiving family gathering he remembered the article and collected the bones from the turkey that was served for dinner. From these he made his first call and as you might say the rest is history.

Durk lives with his wife and daughter in a great area for being in the outdoors. Pepin, Wisconsin is located in the northwestern part of the state and has everything a person could want that enjoys nature. I was told of him sitting in his backward and listening to the turkeys gobble as they go to roost and of him working the birds with and owl call. When it comes to hunting Durk concentrates now only on turkeys. His style is somewhat unique in that he only hunts using a bow. He does not hunt at all with a shotgun. He will guide for friends using the more traditional shotgun approach. But when it comes to his own hunts he is a purist and loves the challenge of using only the bow.

Durk’s first calls were given way as gifts to friends and landowners that allowed him access. In fact the first caller he made was even put together backwards. It worked however, and that just added to the fuel he needed to keep him going. Over the years many improvements have been made and today his calls are sold around the country. It was in 1997 that Durk named his call business and now offers his calls under the name “Custom Wingbones by Durk”. Although, as I stated, he only makes wing bone yelpers, he does make several different styles. The “Lil Jake” is a two-bone call that imitates the higher pitched yelp of a jake or young hen. It’s a great call to use to make the Kee-Kee run because of it’s high pitch. The “Sweet Jenny” is also a two-bone caller and a little longer than the Lil Jake. As a result it is easier to master. “The Original” is a three-bone call and is the style of the first calls made. It produces the widest range of tones and has a higher volume than the two-boned calls. The “Boss Tom” is a large three-bone call that has the most volume. It produces the deep yelp of a gobbler. This call will give any box call a run for the money, even on a windy day.

I asked Durk what his long-term goals were as a call maker and got one of the most interesting answers to date. He said he wanted to be recognized as being a quality call maker. He wants his work to be appreciated by people that know quality calls and quality work and he wants his calls to remain priced so that people can afford to have one and use it.

Durk sells calls from bones that he has obtained, but he will also make calls for you from bones harvested from your own personal bird. It’s a great idea and a wonderful way to have a long lasting memory of your past hunt. He will also decorate these calls and add any information about the bird that you might like. Weight, beard or spur lengths are just a few examples of things that can be offered. Before just sending him the bones, make sure you contact Durk so he can explain what information will be needed. There are a few legal issues that he must take care of before he can accept your materials. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources requires him to have this information on file before he can accept the material. If your taste is more in the collectors market, then he has a number of fancy calls to choose from. These calls feature a high gloss finish, custom artwork, wooden display boxes and each call is signed and dated. These are great calls that any collector would be proud to show in their collection.

UPDATE: Durk recently took 1st place at the 2006 MN NWTF convention in the wingbone cateogry and honorable mention in the 2006 Midwest Nationals wingbone category. Durk also produces limited edition calls on occasion. The first of these calls are normally donated to one of the local National Wild Turkey Federation chapters and they often bring quite a mint. Be sure to shoot Durk and email and order one of the calls while they last.