Name/Title
Chris JoslinEntry/Object ID
CTC001B00016Description
Chris Joslin was born in 1973 and raised in Sullivan, Missouri. Chris discovered turkey hunting at thirteen after listening to a man he knew as Turkey Fife at his church tell stories about the spring woods, the birds, and the language of calling. Those stories sparked a fascination that deepened the following year, when a friend called in a big gobbler for him on a spring hunt. That moment set the course for a lifelong passion for turkey hunting and, eventually, turkey call building.
Chris’s interest in wildlife and the natural world led him to pursue a degree in biology, graduating in 1995. He went on to build a career in research, where he developed the meticulous habits, analytical mindset, and attention to detail that would later shape his approach to callmaking.
He began tinkering with calls as a teenager, starting with pill‑bottle tube yelpers. After marrying in 2002, he moved on to building pot calls from kits, then crafting his own using Forstner bits and a drill press. He made many for friends and family but never sold them. The same pattern continued in 2007 when he began carving box calls from single blocks of wood—hollowing them out with a drill, sanding them by hand, and giving them away.
A cheap lathe opened the door to tube calls, crow calls, and grunt tubes, and in 2007 he bought a mouth‑call press and began building diaphragms. That work led him into calling contests and eventually onto the Knight & Hale prostaff. After stepping away from competition, he returned to building with renewed focus. He experimented with cane yelpers using cane he collected while hunting in the South, but the style never resonated with him.
Everything changed when he began turning trumpets. With a better lathe, a more refined ear, and the disciplined approach shaped by years in research, he found his stride. By 2026, Chris had sold more than 150 trumpets to hunters in over 25 states. In 2025, he won Best in Class in the trumpet division at the Southeastern Callmakers Competition and in 2026, a fifth-place finish at the NWTF Callmaking Competition, fueling his drive to keep improving and keep competing.
For Chris, callmaking is about far more than wood, cane, or craftsmanship. It’s about giving hunters a tool to speak to the wild turkeys that first captured his imagination as a kid. His hope is simple: that long after he’s gone, his calls will still be riding in vests, echoing through spring timber, helping hunters connect with the birds that shaped his life.Create Date
March 22, 2026Update Date
March 22, 2026
