K&H Ol'Yeller Sla-Tek

[BTH]

Had an original in the black pot when they came out. We sold them where I worked. Circa 2000. Good sounding call even back then. Really sounded good when you roughed the surface a bit with the stone that came with it. Called in a huge Person county gobbler with it and had my first miss at a turkey.

[jmart241]

I carry a green one with me all the time, have one in package yet to.

[Cruiser]

Big fan of Knight & Hale (the men), and collect their turkey calls.  The first couple Ol' Yellers were, in my opinion, the best.  The original Model KH158 Ol' Yeller was in a black pot, launched in 1999, and got its name from a hunt that the outdoor writer was on with Harold Knight; Harold used this prototype call, and due to the yellow ceramic surface, Phillips called it "Ol' Yeller" and it stuck.  The pot and Sla-Tek surface were all designed by Mike Battey ("The Call Doctor"), and is still one I use...I have a box full.  The second model released was the green pot, and the third changed to Model 158A in 2005...but was still the Sla-Tek surface, but in a yellow pot, and the call surface featured a  black circle and 'OL' YELLER' (in all caps).  The one you show is the fourth variant, Model 158B and it is no longer the Battey pot and surface.  There were at least 3 slightly different variants of that model, and in 2006 a camo version, Model KH158CAMO was released (rare!).  Also in 2006 came the UHT158 (Ultimate Hunting Team was UHT, part of their marketing strategy at the time) and the call had a cherry wood pot and pic of gobbler engraved in back of it.  The final Model KHT1010-T was released at the 2016 NWTF Convention, and was the Ol' Yeller Classic with a walnut pot.  Happy for any other information, corrections or additions anyone has to this.

Great timeline info , there ,  thanks