Tal Lockwood from the 70's

I grew up in a small town in eastern, South Dakota. Went through my 12 years of school in the same town and then went off to college and earned degrees in Biology and Public Administration. I worked for the Soil Conservation Service for two years, The Dept. of Game, Fish and Parks for 19 years, which entailed being a conservation officer, a regional supervisor and Supt. of Custer, State Park.

I was being promoted to the head job of the Dept in Pierre, but didn't want to be involved in the politics of the thing, so I took a job as regional supervisor for Ducks Unlimited and worked in North Dakota, Montana South Dakota and Wyoming. After about six years in the job I was promoted to Director of Field Operations for the Central Flyway and part of the Mississippi flyway until my retirement in 1997.

During my time as a conservation officer I was introduced to predator calling by Bob Henderson, who was working for Kansas State university and was going around the country promoting predator calling. I first tried it in 1957 to no avail. I knew it would work because one time while hunting jack rabbits with my brothers, I was lying on a snow bank along a fence line picking off rabbits with a 22 rim fire while they were being hazed out of a shelterbelt. One that I shot about 50 yards away began squalling and a short time later I saw a fox coming down the fence line from the opposite direction towards me. It spotted me however and ran back the other way. Anyway, I knew that the crying-had-attracted the fox.

I had bought a Burnham closed reed call after that and that’s when I tried it, but didn't stick to it and had no results.

Bob called in a coyote for me along the Missouri River breaks and I shot it with my 222. I aimed for the chest when it stopped 75 yards away and killed it, but upon examination I discovered I had hit it in the eye. I, as you would imagine was pretty shaky. At that time I was hooked on calling.

A couple of years later I moved back to Huron, SD and took up the same job as CO there. We had a huge population of red fox in that area and I began calling them with the call Bob made for me out of a J-15 Olt duck call. That's what he used. I had exceptional luck and began taking other people with me to show them and promote the sport. Later I began making TV programs on the sport and it sort of took hold.

One day one of my friends said I should make my own call. Well that’s when it started. I had a mold made for it and began production. However, not many sold in the beginning. But sometime later, when the fur price soared, hunters really became interested and started getting them from me and I also sold quite a few to the small gun shops around the country. There weren't many big places then, such as Sportsman's warehouse, Scheels, etc. I guess Gibson’s was my largest cooperate customer.

During the-sixties and seventies I called many hundreds of fox and coyotes.  About 10 years ago, even when I wasn't calling much myself, I was getting inquiries from the bigger stores and lots more hunters. That's when it really took off. I have had many letters testifying to the success hunters have had and how much they liked the call. The rest is history.

Sincerely,

Tal Lockwood