During the mid-2000s, my young teen-aged son, Zach, expressed an interest in making turkey box calls. By then, he already had a couple longbeards under his belt and was bitten by the bug. Hard.

I shared my knowledge with him and with a little guidance, Zach produced a half dozen box calls that would jerk a gobble out of a hen turkey all day long! The sound he captured was incredible. I was absolutely thrilled by his results. He sold every call he made.

I asked Zach to join me in my own fledgling business venture. I wanted him to produce turkey calls alongside me while I made Pennsylvania longrifles.  Doing business as, "Gobbler Knob Longrifles," my shop derived its name from another place dear to my heart. We talked often of this as Zach and I hunted the mountains of rural Northeast Pennsylvania listening to the music those gobbling turkeys made. I told him we would name his own venture, “Mountain Music Game Calls.” Excited by the prospect at first, his confidence eventually faltered.  He ultimately decided to pass. No matter how much support and encouragement I offered, Zach was afraid he would fail. So, Mountain Music Game Calls was moved to the back burner to simmer. During the ensuing years, I continued to successfully make box calls under the Gobbler Knob Longrifles banner.

After moving to Tennessee in 2009, Zach followed in my footsteps and became a certified Tennessee law enforcement officer. Early in a very promising career, Zach was involved in a horrific vehicle crash while responding to a domestic assault, in-progress. He suffered some very serious and career-ending injuries from which he never fully recovered. On June 15, 2016, Zach, who was just 26 years old, succumbed to complications of those injuries. He left a void in my life and our profession which can never be filled…

During a spring turkey hunting trip in 2023 to Nebraska with my good friend, Mike Larsen, and his son Wyatt, I was privileged to have a sideline seat watching Mike interact with Wyatt. Like me, Mike is a career law enforcement officer. His relationship with Wyatt mirrored my own with Zach on so many levels. Slowly, and without warning, an idea began to take shape and gained momentum.

During lulls in hunting we had, I talked with Mike about separating my call making from the longrifles side of Gobbler Knob Longrifles. By now, I was turning out pot calls (one of which lured a beautiful Merriams to Wyatt’s gun on this trip) and would very soon start producing deer grunt tubes. Predator and locator calls were also in the works. After a few discussions with Mike and Wyatt, I knew it was time.

Mike and I shared logo concepts about my vision. He helped me develop one which I felt captures the essence of my mission.  I try to include symbolism in my work whenever I can. It is with this in mind that I include the thin blue line beneath the double Ms as a symbolic tribute to Zach’s law enforcement legacy.  On Mike’s advice, I asked a mutual friend of ours to fine-tune our ideas. And just like that, Mountain Music Game Calls came to life.

June 15, 2023, marked the 7th anniversary of Zach’s death. I am happy and proud to announce the launch of my new venture on this anniversary. I do not possess the ability to adequately thank those involved in seeing this to fruition…

Each Mountain Music Game Call is painstakingly hand-crafted, one at a time, to bring out the most attractive feature of every piece of wood used in its construction. I handpick each piece myself.  When finished, Mountain Music Game Calls are not only striking, but authentic-sounding as well. They are award-winning and high-quality pieces of art.

And now, it is an honor to share this legacy…

In Zach’s memory, Mountain Music Game Calls will combine craftsmanship with art to showcase the most beautiful features and tonal quality a piece of wood has to offer.