Rodd Vandiwall had quite a year. Rodd is an accomplished outdoorsman, archer, deer hunter and all-around great guy. He took his first spring gobbler this April while participating in the Skyquest Outdoors 2007 Turkey Camp held in Appanoose County, Southeast Iowa. The Skyquest Turkey Camp was offered to hunters of all skill levels with a pledge of assistance for any needing someone to guide and call for them. Rodd took advantage of help from his Pastor, Dr. Jack McCullough, the Camp Director and co-founder of Skyquest Outdoors. Pastor McCullough’s son, Seth, is co-founder of Skyquest Outdoors and call maker/founder of Bully’s Wild Turkey Calls. The turkey camp was designed to provide an outstanding experience in the turkey woods blended with Christian Fellowship and an evangelistic witness for Jesus Christ. On the first day of camp, Pastor McCullough called for Rodd using a combination of Bully’s and Daybreak calls to lure to Rodd’s gun a 25.5 # tom with a 10.5" beard and 1.5" spurs. It was Rodd’s first spring bird and we told him it was a trophy of a lifetime. But to our surprise and delight, Rodd soloed on an Iowa late season tom using the Daybreak slate call he was given in Turkey Camp. That second bird was a 25.5 # tom with 10.5" beard and 1.25" spurs. Two birds-of-a-lifetime in one season. And according to Rodd, the late season bird he tagged was the smaller of two toms which came in together to his calling. Way to go, Rodd! You won the “Biggest Bird Down” award in the Skyquest Turkey Camp and Biggest Bird Taken honors for Daybreak Turkey Calls in 2007. Great season!!

The Best Compliment Paid a Daybreak Call in 2007.

Ruben Perez, professional outdoor photographer, writer and waterfowl guide (www.SeaduckHunt.com), posted an account of the harvest of his first of two 2007 Massachusetts longbeards on the Custom Calls Online Discussion Forum on 5/9/07 (www.customcalls.com). It was quite a story and quite a compliment coming from a professional like Ruben. It was an additional compliment to be associated in the account with distinguished call maker and my personal friend, Marlin Watkins, as Ruben rehearsed his use of a pair of Daybreak friction calls along with a Watkins’ longbox and a Watkin’s turned trumpet to gain the upper hand on his trophy longbeard. Just 8 days after posting that story, Ruben emailed me the following brief report: “This morning your call took part in the quickest turkey hunt I've ever had. I arrived at the farm at 9:30 and saw two toms behind the barn about 100 yards from where I park. I had no way to get into a shooting position without them seeing me, so I walked all the way around to a spot that has a stone wall leading to the woods. When I got there, I pulled my Daybreak Pistachio crystal and purred and yelped very softly. They both rang off a gobble! I gave a string of excited clucks and laid the call down....here they came through the opening in the wall. I shot the lead bird, hunt over 5 minutes from the time I stepped out of my car!!” Thanks, Ruben, for the compliments offered and the confidence you showed in your Daybreak Calls.

The Highest Honor Bestowed on a Daybreak Call in 2007!

I came into the call making community only recently and have been received with a great deal of warmth and respect by people who owed me nothing. The large spirit and open arms with which I have been received has inspired me to reciprocate when I am asked to do something that will help others in this arena. In that spirit I provided a Daybreak Pistachio slate call for Vaughn Mayle to use in his quest for the title of top friction caller at the Grand National Calling Competition in Nashville, Tennessee in February. For several years Vaughn has been competing in and routinely placing in calling competitions in his home state of Michigan as well as several neighboring states. I had the privilege of being one of the judges for the Michigan Open Calling Competition last year and it was there that Vaughn told me he had qualified for the Grand Nationals in the Friction Calling Competition. He felt that a Daybreak Call might help him strengthen the one area which judges in the qualifying competition had suggested was his area of greatest need. I was pleased to give him the use of a Daybreak Call which he used in the Grand Nationals to take Fifth Place after being called back for a call-off to break a three-way tie in the competition. To take one of the top five honors his first time in the Grand Nationals bodes very well for his future competitions. I was honored to have been able to help him by providing a tool which was a significant part of his calling performance in Nashville. In fact, having a call used by one of the winners of the Grand National Friction Calling Competition was the highest honor bestowed on a Daybreak Turkey Call in 2007. Congratulations Vaughn and I hope you will have a Daybreak Call in your tool box in many succeeding competitions.

Greatest Privilege in 2007!

On February 3, 2007 I had the privilege of speaking to a crowd of over 800 outdoor enthusiasts gathered in the Iowa State Fairgrounds. The event is an annual affair sponsored by the Iowa Association of Regular Baptist Churches. In addition to being one of the workshop speakers in an afternoon filled with educational programs, I was privileged to speak to the entire crowd at the conclusion of a wonderful game dinner that evening. I spoke of being drawn to Christ as my personal Savior when I was 13 and responding to the call of God to preach when I was 16 and of the privilege it has been to serve Him in full-time Christian service for the last 32 years. I wove that all into my account of God’s superintending influence in my life that allowed me to grow up the son of a carpenter and to have worked with wood since I was 12. I spoke of hobbies that included refurbishing vintage guns which allowed me to gain an understanding of checkering and putting museum grade finishes on rifle and shotgun stocks. Even my hobby of reloading ammunition and accurizing rifles taught me to place a premium on precision and attention to detail. So as I looked back on what it took to win the friction class of the Grand National Call Making Competition in 2006 it was a long road and there had been many influences that converged in that win in 2006. It did not just happen. I asked everyone there to think about how God had worked to bring them to that event that night and to understand that it was no accident that they were listening to a man appeal to them to trust Christ to be their Savior from sin. Each of them needed to consider God’s superintending influence in their lives to get them there. I told them that each time someone asks if I intend to go into call making full-time I respond the same way. I tell them that at the end of my life, I would rather be known for having helped souls into heaven than for helping turkeys into eternity. For that reason, sharing my faith in Jesus Christ with that crowd of outdoorsmen was the greatest privilege associated with Daybreak Turkey Calls in 2007.

Gary L. Anderson, call maker

Daybreak Turkey Calls