My wife might think I'm a turkey at times, but yesterday I made a discovery that might prove her wrong.
We held a yard sale at our house today, so yesterday I spent the evening pulling out all the stuff out of boxes. We had gathered a bunch of boxes from friends and neighbors who just didn't want to deal with their stuff. After pouring through boxes of knick-knacks and other junk, I opened a box that had a duffel bag embroidered with a familiar logo... the NRA.
Inside I found emergency preparedness kits, old Cabela's "candle lanterns", a fold up shovel & sheath that laces through your belt, and more. But at the bottom of the bag I found two items that I had never seen, nor used... turkey calls.
I'm not usually on this part of the Hunt-Wa forum. I hang around the classifieds, the deer hunting forum, and the virtual campfire. But I thought you turkey hunters would appreciate this. These are the real deal...
The first one I pulled out looked odd to me (I guess since I don't hunt turkeys they all probably look odd). On the top of it is printed "Lee's Champion Gobble Box." It's wooden and has some markings on the side that tell what it's used for. It's fairly touchy... as soon as I moved the handle, it sounded like a turkey. As I studied it more, I found that it had been autographed by the designer himself, Ben Lee, from Coffeeville, Alabama (see photo). So, I've done a little research on Ben Lee
An Article from 1983 Sports Illustrated on Ben Lee:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1121500/What do you think this call is worth? I'm not really certain, but one sold on ebay in 2011
for almost $80! The second one I pulled out came in a little box. Printed on the box was "OLT Model CT-220 Crank Turkey Call." The box is in pristine condition and inside was another turkey call that looked all the more strange. (see photo). As I turned the crank, the strange looking box made a perfect turkey call. I was totally enamored that such a weird looking box could make that sound.
Interesting fact about P.S. Olt (started his business in 1904)... nicknamed the "father" of the manufactured call. See more here:
http://www.psolt.com/about/history.htmlWhat do you think this call is worth?
Well, after checking it out on the web, I was surprised to see prices
like $250 and up! See link below:
http://sportingspirit.com/index.html?trig=manuf&manuf=Olt%2C%20P.S.&startatsb=261#So, I guess the point is, I'm now the owner of two vintage turkey calls with some rich history... maybe it's time to look into gobblers. Or maybe one of you would like to own these two calls?