Dave Constantine
Turkey Call Maker - The Best Of The Best

by Fred Lutger

I was drawn back to the NWTF call making contest area again and again. I have a small turkey call collection and each year carefully pick a call to add to my collection. The calls are divided into two main categories, decorative and hunting. In the hall two circles of calls are on display.

Fred Lutger interviewing the NWTF's winningest turkey call maker ever, Dave Constantine.

The one circle has the hunting-working call category. These calls are judged strictly on the sound the call makes. Looks are not judged in this categories but it is evident the call makers do put a good deal of time on the calls appearance. Bidding on the floor is done by silent auction. 

Each call is examined and tested by the attendees and bids are written on the corresponding bid sheet. I was the winning bidder on a single sided box call made by Scott Berry. I don’t know Scott but I am thrilled to now own this call made by him. I use all my calls in my collection. I won’t retire the call until it generates a filled tag for me or one of my clients. (I guide turkey hunters in my home state of Illinois.)

The decorative category is by far the most fun for me. Call makers in this competition are the worlds best. Walk around this circle of calls and you know you are looking at the work of craftsmen that possess the skills and imagination it takes to produce world class pieces of art. 

The NWTF attracts the best call makers ever assembled in one location. And the best of the best is one carver and call maker whose calls have placed in the top three places more than any other maker.

That man is Dave Constantine.

I met Dave last year at the 2003 NWTF convention. He had entered several calls. Most had winning ribbons. His calls are very distinctive. I can look at Dave’s work and pick it out as one of his pieces. 

This year Dave entered six calls in 6 of the 16 categories and all 6 won ribbons. 

How neat is that! 

I asked Dave why he chose those six categories. 

“I pick the categories I feel suits my style of work.” 

By count Dave has won 81 awards at this national contest. That’s more than any other entrant. Constantine has also entered the hunting-working call competition where he also won three ribbons.

Being and avid hunter and outdoorsman, Dave gets his fair time in the woods. These outings inspire much of his work. Dave has developed three working box calls for hunters, the Beer Belly, Scooner and the Pilsner. These are hand made custom calls finely tuned to produce a yelp that can turn the wariest gobbler’s head. 

I picked one up and slid the paddle across the chamber edge. I wouldn’t give the call back. I had to have it. At the price of $75 I now have a call that gives me the unfair advantage over every wild turkey in this country! Well, maybe not. But I now own and have in my collection a David Constantine custom made box call. It will find an honored spot in my collection only after it has done its work in the field. 

Constantine started making calls in 1991. He entered call making competitions two years later. 

“I prefer to carve with hand tools, knives, gouges and chisels,” Dave stated. Dave works with various native and exotic woods that include Brazilian Cherry, Cedar, Holly and Yellow Poplar.

A week after last years convention, I attended a local NWTF fund raising banquet. I looked around at the prints and sculptures that were being auctioned off. There it was. It stood out like a beacon, a carved gobbler sculpture that shouted “Constantine”! 

I walked over to the table to verify what I already knew. This was a reproduced piece of art, cast from an original carving done by Dave. I ask Dave about it this year. “This is a marble resin casting make from my original carving. This carving is done a little different. I have to make the legs separate, etc to make the original cast. Each piece is then hand painted.” I was outbid on this piece but did pick up a nice framed print. This year Dave did give me a sketching of a fanning gobbler when I bought my call, a special he offered at his show booth.

If you would like to contact Dave Constantine:
E-Mail cp@dconstantine.com
or write Constantine Productions, PO Box 87, Mondovi Rt 4, Durand, WI 54736. Call 715-875-4546 
Check out Dave’s web sight at www.dconstantine.com

Next, a gallery of Dave Constantine's award winning decorative turkey calls.

Fred Lutger

If you would like to contact Dave Constantine: E-Mail cp@dconstantine.com Constantine Productions PO Box 87 Mondovi Rt 4,  Durand, WI 54736.  Call 715-875-4546 Check out Dave’s web sight at www.dconstantine.com