And The Winner Is ...
Judging from their trophies it was Mike Pentecost's Woodhaven Custom Calls.

by Fred Lutger

Mike Pentecost’s booth was a sure standout. The gold gleaming from his booth, Woodhaven Custom Calls, could be seen from across the hall. I talked to Mike the day before all the excitement radiated from his booth.

Mike Pentecost is a very upbeat, positive call maker with one focus, making a hand tuned custom call that is the very best sounding call a hunter can carry in the woods. Pentecost has been building calls for 19 years. He made it a full time business four years ago. Mike is concentrating on turkey calls and deer grunts. His next adventure will be duck calls.

Mike has been turkey hunting since his late teens. He started making his own calls when he found the store-bought calls he was buying weren't consistent, call for call. 

“If I lost or broke a call, I wanted to buy another that sounded the same. This wasn't happening, so I built my own,” explained Pentecost.

Mike's turkey calls include slate, mouth diaphragm and locator calls.

“I want to build the best call available, second to none. I want first class or no class. If the quality isn't there, it doesn't get packaged,” Pentecost empathized. “I work with a small staff. Each call is hand made.” 

Mike opened one of his Cherry Classic Slate calls and handed it to me. 

“Each call comes with two strikers. I hand pick the strikers for every call. I'll go through several to find the right match for that slate.” Also in the package was a lid. “That is a Surface Saver. Keep it on the call to protect the call surface while it's in your pocket. Each time you use the call you won't have to recondition the surface. Your next call will sound like the last one you made.”

 I tried both strikers, one make a sweet throaty tone. The second striker produced a distinct raspiness. I like that, one call I can carry that gives the sound of different birds with the quick switch of strikers.

And what is all the gold glitter in the Woodhaven Custom Calls booth? It's the three NWTF National trophies that were won by Woodhaven Callers, Kindell Keeton, Doug Crabtree, and Jim Pollard.

Jim Pollard (Winner of Grand National Calling Championship Senior Division) & Kindell Keeton (4th in Intermediate)

Kindell was 4th runner up in the Intermediate Division. Kindell is from Wilmington, OH. Doug Crabtree from Brook Park, OH needs no introduction to Bowhunting.net readers. Doug was covered by Bowhunting.net on his Grand Slam Turkey Quest in 2002 and 2003. 

This year at the NWTF Grand National Turkey Calling Championships, Doug Crabtree teamed up with reigning Grand National Champion Jim Pollard in the Team Challenge Division and they took home the third place trophy. 

And speaking of Jim Pollard, I think Jim is the highlight of the NWTF 2004 Show. Pollard won the 2004 Wild Turkey Bourbon/NWTF Grand National Calling Championship Senior Division for the third straight year!

Pollard moved to Helfin, AL to work for Woodhaven Custom Calls. With a team like Mike Pentecost (did I mention Mike won 4 awards in the working call making contest) and Jim Pollard building calls, the wild turkey doesn't stand a chance. 

Let me get in line now to buy one of these great sounding calls. With the amount of calls this small company will have to produce to fill the demand one might think the quality would suffer. But I know this will never happen. 

I like Mike's words, "first class or no class.”  And I'm sure with the pride Pentecost has in his company every call will be the best one Mike can make. 

Congratulations to Mike, Kindell, Doug, Jim and the whole Woodhaven Custom Calls Staff. You have raised the bar and that makes us all winners. 

Contact Woodhaven Custom Calls at PO Box 7, Heflin, AL 36264. Phone 256-463-5657. Visit the web sight at WoodhavenCustomCalls.com or email WoodHavenCalls@aol.com

Each slate comes complete with a  Surface Saver lid, matching strikers, conditioning kit and instructions.

I still have more to do and see at this show. I'm going to move along and I'll bring you more as soon as I can. 

Fred

Have questions or want to learn more about Woodhaven Custom Calls?

Contact: Mike Pentecost Woodhaven Custom Calls P.O. Box 7  Heflin, AL 36264

Phone:  256-463-5657 Fax:  256-463-2414 Email: WoodHavenCalls@aol.com Web Site: WoodhavenCustomCalls.com

Have questions or want to learn more about Woodhaven Custom Calls? Mike Pentecost Woodhaven Custom Calls P.O. Box 7  Heflin, AL 36264 Phone:  256-463-5657 Fax:  256-463-2414 Email: WoodHavenCalls@aol.com Web Site: WoodhavenCustomCalls.com