Ronnie McGaughey From Arkansas

My name is Ronnie McGaughey. I live in Arkansas, although I grew up in Mississippi and lived in Georgia many years before moving to Arkansas. I have been making wingbone calls for 20 years or so. I do not make calls for sale, but nearly every friend that I have turkey hunted with over the years has one of my calls. I make them as gifts. I have developed a design/look that I feel it somewhat unique over the many years of trial and error.

One of them (one with two spurs on its leather lanyard), is most typical of what I make. It is dyed with a walnut stain I make. I make the stain by soaking walnuts (in husk) in water for several days. It leaches out a very dark liquid from the walnuts that will stain just about anything. I used this stain for dying traps when I was younger. That walnut stain does fine by itself--no sealer or anything like that. It may rub off a bit over time with use, but that just makes it look better to me.

The second call is likewise dyed in walnut stain. Back to the first, the color around the joints is epoxy with rock dust added for color. I grind soft rock of various colors (sandstone for most part) in a small grinder (as some indians did in making face paint) to make a powder which I add to the epoxy to achieve the desired color. I make most of my calls this way and no two are alike.

The second pic and third pic show a call that is made of bone dyed with walnut stain, but put together with sinew. It is probably not so durable as the others I make, but it is good for show. I like it because it is "all natural."

BTW, if you get a chance, check out my hunting page at http://ronmcgaughey.tripod.com. It will let you know something about me and my passion for hunting.

Ronnie McGaughey from Arkansas. Natural walnut stain with sinew for the joints.