When Richard Shively got serious about calling and hunting turkeys decades ago, he was hit with sticker shock on a unique call he favored. So he began making his own to save money. And this year, Super Yelper, his own brand of scratch box turkey calls, turns 45-years-old.
Shively has won numerous call maker awards, and said he didn’t intend for his passion to become a business.
“I was just trying to make a turkey call for myself that was easy to use, and a bit different than what was widely available,” he said.
He donated a couple of calls to banquets raising money for organizations like NWTF in his early days.
“I was amazed at the prices hunters were paying for my calls at these events. It didn’t take long before I was getting asked about making calls for other hunters,” he said.
And just like that, his hobby turned into a business. And over the years, he’s made tens of thousands of Super Yelper calls, including numerous limited edition calls built from materials like wood removed during renovations from the USS North Carolina battleship in Wilmington.
He’s made his calls from numerous types of wood, and enjoys the slight variations of sounds each type of wood creates.
He made it a goal to continue building the calls for 45 years, and 2024 marks that year.
“I’d like to keep building them as long as I can, but I’ve been saying for the past several years that if I could make it to 45 years, I’d be happy,” said Shively (304-707-6168).
He likes scratch box calls like his Super Yelper for a number of reasons.
“Well, first, it’s easy to use. It’s a call that doesn’t take a lot of practice to get good at. Even beginners, with just a few minutes of practice, can realistically call turkeys within range when using a Super Yelper,” he said.
The uniqueness of it also appeals to him, and not just because he likes things that are different.
“I’ve sold tens of thousands of these calls, and my calls are in every state and several foreign countries. But it’s still the least-used type of call among turkey hunters worldwide. And that means that no matter where you hunt, those turkeys have heard every pot call, every box call, every diaphragm call. But most of them have never heard the unique sound of a scratch box call. So when you call to a gobbler that’s never heard that type call before, he’s probably going to come to it,” he said.
Find out more about Super Yelper scratch box calls at superyelper.com.
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