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Name:
Al Willis |
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Al
Willis Custom Calls
Like most call makers, Al grew up hunting turkey at an early age and never was please with the calls that were available on that market. This is what ultimately led him to start his own line of calls. Al prefers to use the box call and yelper out in the field, but his favorite call to make is the box call. Box calls present the biggest challenge and they give him the opportunity to work with a variety of woods.
You can also find Al Willis listed in Earl Mickel’s book, “Turkey Callmakers” Past & Present |
Al
Willis started making calls in the late 1970’s under the name
Al Willis Turkey Calls. Several years after that he teamed up with
a partner Philip Mullinax and formed the “Keowee Game Call
Company. During this time frame Al and his calls began to receive
some recognition by several notable outdoor writers from “Southern
Outdoors, Sports Afield and Turkey Call Magazine”. Al still
operates Keowee and produces a full line of calls. He also makes
custom calls under the name of Al Willis Custom Calls.
In
the past several years, Al's calls have been turning some heads
at the NWTF Grand National Working Call contests. In 1999 he placed
2 points out of First Place in the Gibson Award contest. In 2000
he placed in the top 5. In 2001 he placed in the top 10. At this
year's NWTF Convention in Charlotte, he finished one point out of
First Place with the one sided box and 3rd Place with the double
sided box. Helping charge the popularity of his calls Al’s
Grandson (Brandon Greene) won the Dixie Classic Junior Division
Open in 2002 with his one-sided box call. He also placed in the
GA State Jr. competition.
Al
makes a variety of calls. Most common are his boat paddle box, and
his one-sided box and regular size box. Another favorite for Al
to make is his double slate (hand tuned) and glass over slate. He
uses an array of woods which include; cherry , holly, ebony, walnut,
mahogany, eastern red cedar, butternut, applewood, mimosa and willow
and black locust. If your looking for something that is more collectible,
Al will customize you a matched set of his boat paddle & regular
box upon request.|
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