CALLING THE WILD: THE HISTORY OF ARKANSAS DUCK CALLS; A LEGACY OF CRAFTSMANSHIP AND RICH HUNTING TRADITION, chronicles and celebrates the collection of author and collector, Mike Lewis. This renowned collection is the largest private collection of Arkansas duck calls in the country. This epic historical photographic journal with some 700 images of one the most impressive collection of calls will be cherished for generations by all who revere waterfowling and the history of American art.
The vast numbers of migrating mallards, the most vocal of all waterfowl, along the Mississippi Flyway leads to an almost religious experience for duck hunters in the flooded timber and fields of Arkansas. Arkansas has long been known as the Mecca for duck hunting in the United States.
Backwoodsmen in the sunken lands of Northeast Arkansas around the turn of the 20th century early on adopted the duck call as a means to lure the talkative, but wary, mallard within shooting range. Creating duck calls that are equal parts function and folk art, Arkansas call makers have long stood at the pinnacle of their craft.
Perhaps as important is the connection with the history and lore of wildfowling. While early duck hunters relied on decoys and abundant ducks, the call, from its beginnings, has shown how the sport has evolved.
Duck hunting is entrenched in the state's culture, where Stuttgart is known as "the duck hunting capital of the world," and the site of the annual "World's Championship Duck Calling Contest" and hunters come from all over the world to hunt at this spot along the Mississippi Flyway.
--Mike Lewis "Calling The Wild"
Review :
"Calling the Wild is a tribute to Arkansas, the Duck Capital of the World and to its renowned call makers, past and present. It's a great arrangement of history and the best duck calling book ever written. This is a book that's been long overdue. Congratulations on an excellent job well done. - Jim Hunt Founding member Callmakers & Collectors Association of America
"On the pages of Mike's book you will see some of the very best representations of calls and call maker profiles that Arkansas has to offer on these beautiful pieces of American history. The skill these backwoods carvers exhibited with a simple pocketknife and only straight blades with a sharp point amazes me and call collectors as well as hunters worldwide." - Howard Harlan Collector, internationally known championship call maker and author. He is the most widely acknowledged duck call expert of our time. His efforts to authenticate the game call as a unique American Folk Art form has received worldwide recognition. Co-founder of the Callmakers and Collectors Association of America. His books include, Duck Calls - An Enduring American Folk Art (1988) and The Legacy of the American Duck Call (2012).
--Howard Harlan
"We need historians and we need storytellers alike in this wonderful tradition of duck call artistry. Mike Lewis masterfully combines both as he takes you on a journey through time and tale in the great state of Arkansas. This is a true deep dive into the craftsmen of duck calls of times gone by. A necessary classic for the serious collector, or anyone interested in our great American folk art! " - Rick Milligan Past President of Callmakers & Collectors Association of America and avid outdoorsman.
