Name/Title
Irving WhittEntry/Object ID
CTC001B00014Description
Growing up in the mountains of SW Virginia along the Roanoke River, Irving Whitt lived in nature's bliss. He started hunting at an early age, pursuing rabbits and squirrels until one evening in 1965. While squirrel hunting that evening, he saw something coming through the woods that he thought was a bear, but turned out to be a wild turkey. So began Whitt's obsession with turkeys. Whitt said, "There was one old timer in the 'upper hollow' nearby that hunted turkeys, and he taught me the 'Old Ways' to hunt mountain turkeys. At this time, we only hunted Turkeys in the fall. He taught me to call with my natural voice, and with a piece of river grass, as well as a wing bone call." At the age of 12, he saw his first box call and proceeded to make his first, hoping to make one that sounded better. In 1971, he moved to South Carolina and learned a new way of hunting: in addition to their tradition of fall hunting, they actually hunted turkeys in the spring. Whitt's thought was, "Awesome!
Then life became really busy with getting married, jobs, kids, etc. In the early 1990s, he began teaching his daughter the ways of hunting and decided to make a box call to use while hunting to get her first turkey. He was compelled to decorate it with carvings as he was doing with everything else. At the time, he had no idea how much his life would change by doing so. From that day forward, he has made an effort to work to perfect his work. As of 2026, Whitt has been a full-time custom Callmaker for 25 years, with many using IHW calls...boxes, trumpets, scratch boxes, and more. He competed for a couple of years in competitive callmaking and won many awards for his hunting calls, including First place and a Second Best of Show with his short box at the NWTF Nationals. He won the prestigious Neil Cost Award and Call Maker of the year in 2004. He also won numerous awards for his decorative calls. One of his most prized possessions is the "Outstanding Craftsman " award presented to him by Sporting Classics. His closing thought was, "Needless to say, I live a blessed life in this wonderful world of the American Wild Turkey."Create Date
March 22, 2026Update Date
May 23, 2026
