This story begins in 2011 when I was fortunate enough to purchase a beautiful, homemade Wooden Hen turkey call from our very own joebuck (Joey Buchannan for those that don't know). I'm not a very good, or incredibly dedicated turkey hunter but I've enjoyed owning this call. You can just feel the passion for turkey hunting that Joey has and puts into these custom made and personally tuned calls. It has been my privilege to carry it afield several times even though I have no trophy pictures to share.
Fast forward to October 2012 when a tornado swept through my property tearing up everything in it's path. Our home and my truck were severely damaged, the shop and my wifes car were totaled. Of course there were many trees down and a lot of fence chewed up too along with scattered/destroyed tools, equipment, etc. just a colossal mess!
Thankfully I have some great friends and many stopped by to lend a hand getting things back together. Through it all there has been one fellow that has given more of his time and energy (and the loan of equipment) than I could ever return. At a time like this you really find out who your true friends are and he has been better than family to me. So, I was trying to think of something I could do to show my appreciation when I remembered the Wooden Hen!
My buddy is a dairy farmer that is transitioning to crops (the last few years have been very hard on dairymen) and his only passion, other than farming, is turkey hunting. With this in mind, I contacted Joey to see if he would take my name off the call, put my friends name in it's place and refinish it. He jumped at the idea and I put it in the mail the next day.
Well, the big day was today! I arrived home tonight to find the call had returned in brand new condition, proudly displaying my friends name! Joebuck even threw in a genuine Wooden Hen patch (yes, yes, I'll be giving it up too).
I can't wait to present this call to my friend tomorrow. I'm very proud to have this opportunity and want to thank Joey for making it perfect. We are fortunate to have him, and others like him, in our midst. He even returned the money I included to help with the cost. I'm humbled by his generosity.
So big thanks to you Joebuck! Who knows, maybe my bud will call a longbeard into bow range for me this year! If it happens I'll post pictures here!