The call came in today. I was very excited to see it. It is even better than the pictures. The feel and sound of it are awesome. Not sure what you guys did to the handle but it is very unique and unlike any other that we have.
We will do our best to get one with it this coming season then it will be in a glass case with a light shining on it. When our kids or anyone else ask us about it we can share with them the many different memories and stories you guys helped develop over the past few years.
I will tell you the story of how he got into all this in case he never shared it with you.I apologize for the length of the post in advance but this is the short version. Dad always loved hunting of all types. He hunted his whole life. He would tell us stories of Turkey hunting with his uncle. Adam had never Turkey hunted much and I never had at all. I went deer hunting with dad a lot when I was small and with us not having any land to hunt after moving to New Orleans I gave up on hunting all together. After moving to GA as a teen I was not interested but Adam would go deer hunting with him all the time.
Fast forward 15 years. One day out of the blue I watched a Turkey hunting show (which was nothing like me) and thought "that looks like fun". I called dad and started asking questions then Adam. Dad was excited that I had an interest in any type of hunting. Next thing you know we were going to the NWTF show held in Birmingham that year and I was hooked. I thought that with dad being good with wood working that making calls might be a good hobby for him so I started asking him and Adam about that. For those of you that do not know dad very well he could build anything and when I say anything I mean anything. He built hotels, gas stations, office complexes, custom homes, dog houses, mantles, cabinets, entertainment centers and so on but his passion was wood working. I really think if you told him to build a wooden replica of the Tower bridge in London he could have done it on time and on budget and been better than the original. He started really getting into call building. I introduced him to the Old Gobbler online community and next thing you know he was telling me about a new start up named Osage Roost and spending a good amount of his time with you guys. Adam took the baton of call making with dad and before you know it they were spending a lot of their time making calls. I had a chance to make a pot call with dad overseeing me and giving me pointers (it is always in my vest). I wanted to learn to make box calls from him but we never got that chance. and you guys know the rest of the story.
I only got to go Turkey hunting once with dad. By the time I started Turkey hunting he was not in good enough health to go but this past season Adam and I talked him into going. We set up a blind and drove him into it early before day break. It was cold and the wind was blowing 20 miles an hour. We could not have heard a Turkey if it were inside the blind and overall it was the worst conditions for Turkey hunting I have ever been in. However, we sat there until lunch and he was determined that he would get one to come in. He was like a kid going for the first time. We did not get anything but that memory was one that I will have forever. He must have tried 15 calls out and after a while it was more of a Turkey Calling Exhibition and shooting the breeze session more than anything.
With dad being sick over the past 10 years and getting worse over the past 5 I had conditioned myself to try to take in every minute with him especially at special events, holidays, etc...trying to ask every question I could think of ranging from hunting, marriage, business, character, being a dad, being a man, etc... It was not lost on me that day that it could very well be not only the first but the last and only time I would go turkey hunting with him. I can remember everything about it and always will. You guys here were a big reason he had that passion and that I now have that memory.
Simply stated. Thank you.
Scott Mims
