Market Hunting
From time to time when duck call collectors gather, the discussion arises as to who was the father of the American duck call. Opinions are largely formed by what part of the country you live in or have the most interest in. Michigan collectors will claim Elam Fisher, while Illinois collectors can differ from F. A. Allen, Charles Grubbs, the Glodo brothers and even P. S. Olt. Missouri and Arkansas collectors may gravitate towards J. T. Beckhart, while Tennessee collectors will point to Victor Glodo. I think it would be impossible to give one man credit, however, there is a group of men who I think well deserve credit as the fathers of the American duck call. That group would be the market hunters around the turn of the century. Market hunters were providing table
Market hunting
Charles Shoenheider, Jr. of Peoria, Illinois. A typical market hunter of the Golden Age.
fare for the big cities in the north like Chicago and New York. When sportsmen realized the abundance of waterfowl in the regions around southern Illinois, Reelfoot Lake, and Big Lake, they saw sporting opportunities. Who better to take you afield fowling than a seasoned market hunter? These sports hired market hunters to guide them and run their fowling clubs. Along with their waterfowling skills, these market hunters brought along their duck calls. During these times, market hunters were about the only guys proficient with using a duck call. Generally, these calls weren’t used to call in ducks the way we do today. They were basically locator calls used much like the way we use crow calls today to locate turkeys. While maneuvering through the swamps, a market hunter would occasionally squawk a few notes on his caller to try and get a response from ducks rafting in the timbers. Oftentimes when hunting out of a blind, these calls were used to alert your ‘Judas Duck’ that it was time for her to start calling. As she called, these hunters would imitate her vocalizations and assist with calling the ducks into the decoys. When these rich sports from back East saw how well a duck call could work, they tried to buy one as a souvenir of the hunt. It did not take long for the market hunter to realize that these sports had just opened up another market for them: the duck call. It wasn’t just ducks they were sending up north, it was their callers. These old guides realized pretty quickly that if they made calls, they could make some good money selling them to the sports. Some, like Allen and Grubbs, operated on a volume basis, while others sold less and charged a big price for their tools of the trade. It has been stated that Nick Glodo was selling calls for $10.00 in the 1890’s. All the while, the Allen call was selling for $1.00 in the catalog stores. -31-