Name/Title
Marvin Breedlove III, Breedlove Custom Turkey CallersEntry/Object ID
CTC001B00026Description
Marvin Breedlove III grew up hunting and fishing the Roanoke River basin along the NC/VA border in both NC and VA with his father, paternal grandfather, and numerous older hunting club members of the various NC hunting clubs his father and grandfather had membership in over the years. Although Marvin was born too late to have hunted and fished with his maternal grandfather, a former market hunter, he still heard all the stories of that grandfather’s shooting and hunting skills, especially the turkey-hunting tales.
By the 1960s, the wild turkey in NC was nearly extinct, except in the Roanoke River basin. Seeing “gangs” of turkeys was common on sections of the Roanoke River where both the landowners and hunting clubs were protective. The best turkey callers to use for hunting turkeys was a common topic of conversation whenever there was a gathering of hunters discussing wild turkeys, and there were a few older hunters who could have spoken with authority, but it was noticeable they rarely spoke much. All the turkey callers discussed or passed around for individual inspection were homemade, typically handcrafted by the turkey hunters themselves. Wing bone callers, scratch boxes, snuff can tube callers, and the “famous” Roanoke River style trumpet yelpers, some constructed using the notorious thread spool, were the more common callers seen. There also were a few crude diaphragm mouth callers, usually made from melted-down lead tire weights.
Handling and inspecting these turkey callers motivated Marvin to have an interest in call making. His father was most helpful with his early call making efforts, but he also sought out several of the older turkey hunters for advice and instruction. Some of the older hunters were helpful, but generally most withheld any real, worthwhile, or meaningful information. They didn’t want other hunters in the turkey woods hunting “their” turkeys. At that time, mentoring younger turkey hunters wasn’t something they had interest in; there was only a code of silence they felt necessary to protect the few wild turkeys that then existed.
In the early 1970s, the state of NC initiated spring gobbler-only turkey hunting after Wayne Bailey was hired as the NC state turkey biologist. The NWTF was founded; then NC established a state chapter of the NWTF, and Marvin became president of the Eastern Piedmont Local Chapter of the NC NWTF, focused on chapter fundraising efforts to purchase cannon nets for the NC Wildlife Resources Commission to support Wayne Bailey’s wild turkey restoration efforts in the state.
It was during this time that Marvin began making turkey calls seriously, mainly to support the NC NWTF Eastern Piedmont Local Chapter's fundraising activities. Wayne Bailey, then Neil Cost, both good friends of Marvin, provided encouragement, instruction, and networking, along with Al Hall, another good friend. During that time, Marvin made wing bone callers, scratch boxes, and a few box calls. He did some of the illustrations in Wayne’s first book, 50 Years Hunting Wild Turkeys, although there’s a humorous story about how that honor was achieved. He did a pen-and-ink drawing for the NC NWTF fundraising efforts, from which numbered prints were produced and sold to support the purchase of more cannon nets. Marvin also coordinated the building of the first-ever limited-edition set of custom-made turkey calls, with Wayne Bailey, Neil Cost, Knight & Hale, Richard Shively, and Lewis Stowe as the contributing call makers.
In the 1980s, Marvin obtained a copy of Henry Davis’s book, The American Wild Turkey, and in it Davis provided detailed instructions on how to build a trumpet yelper. After reading the Davis book, Marvin became interested in trumpet yelpers. Encouraged by a friend, Jimmy Stephenson, who was responsible for what is now known as the Frank Harper Roanoke River yelpers being built, Marvin purchased a lathe to build his own trumpet yelper turkey callers. With Jimmy assisting with product testing and quality control, Marvin began building trumpet yelpers in earnest, experimenting with different designs and internal dimensions.
Later, several other call maker friends recommended Marvin contact Frank Hegler, a well-known trumpet call maker who also lived in NC, for assistance. Frank Hegler was a master machinist, and Frank’s recommendations for needed tooling were where he was most helpful. Later, in the 2000s, Marvin entered two trumpet yelpers in the NWTF National Call Makers Competition, where both callers scored in the top 10 that year in competition.
In 2018, Marvin retired from his position as a Career and Technical Education Middle School Teacher; then he immediately transitioned from teaching to making turkey callers. During his callmaking career, Marvin has built box callers, bamboo chalk cases, scratch boxes, trumpet yelpers, tube callers, and wing bone callers in numerous variations. He has also done some leatherwork, designing and building cases for callers he has made.
At present, he spends more time carving and decorating the callers he builds, especially scratch boxes and Turpin-style box callers. Marvin’s carved and decorated turkey callers are much in demand. At 74, as of 2026, he works considerably more slowly; his hands limit the work he can do, but he will continue to work building turkey callers for as long as he is able. Marvin lives in Raleigh, NC; he has a small workshop in the back of his garage, and his business is called Breedlove Custom Turkey Callers.Create Date
June 21, 2026Update Date
June 21, 2026
