While visiting my in-laws in Rome, GA I decided to sneak out and make the pilgrimage to Lonnie Mabry's shop. I ended up spending about 3 hours talking turkey with him and thoroughly enjoyed it. He is a really nice guy, and to a novice turkey hunter like myself a wealth of knowledge. It took more self control than I knew I possessed to only leave with 5 calls 2 of which were for co-workers. The box call is purple heart and chestnut that came from a barn built in Northeast Tennessee in 1850. Three of the strikers had handles built from the same chestnut. The pots are walnut, mahogany and cedar. The wing bone call is my first call of that type, and I sound terrible with it. I'll keep driving my family and dog nuts practicing with it, and hopefully by spring I won't scare the turkeys too badly with it. If you are ever remotely near Waleska, I highly recommend stopping by for an hour or three. I have a strong feeling that it will be a regular stop for me whenever we go to see my in-laws.
