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Foiles Migrators "Strait Meat" is an old waterfowl guide's term for only the important stuff, no frills—nothing extra.
Spectacular is about the only way to describe the past three years for Jeff Foiles, a dedicated Mississippi River duck and goose hunter and longtime Calhoun county resident. Foiles' unique brand of calls has captured the ears of the professional calling world with two world goose calling championships won on his Strait Meat Honker goose call and scores of regional, state and local calling contests on his duck, goose and, sandhill crane calls.
Foiles' early experiences with the winged, webfooted migrators of the Mississippi River Valley started when he was just 6 years old. His father, Burdette, would take him out to islands that dot the Mississippi River for a chance at the millions of ducks flying south for the winter. His first waterfowl feat was shooting two canvasback ducks with one shot. A few years later, Foiles, then 9 years old, harvested his first Canada goose. A difficult task for any adult at the time and even more impressive for a grade school boy. "Shooting a Canada goose was really a big deal. You would end up on the front page of the local paper for successfully hunting one down," Foiles said. As he grew more experienced with calling in ducks and geese, Foiles started modifying calls to meet his needs. One of his first calls was an old RS. Olt A-50 Resonate Cavity Goose Call. "I was mesmerized by the sounds of the old calls," said Foiles. "But I've never really had a call that I was totally satisfied with its sound. I knew there was something more to it." While the lure of waterfowl hunting kept him happy, it really wasn't enough to fuel a career, so soon after high school, Foiles decided to follow in his father's footsteps and become an ironworker. After working on numerous building and bridge projects, he would spend the off-season and free-time guiding at goose hunting clubs throughout southern Illinois, Michigan, Louisiana, Ohio and Canada. Foiles continued to tinker with calls, exchanging pieces of well-known calls, customizing barrels, tone boards and reeds, and even resorting to using some of his bridge-building tools in an attempt to add a unique sound to his customized calls. "There were many days you would hear me blowing one of my goose calls from the top of a building or bridge," Foiles said.
Accompanied by his loyal dog Cayne, Jeff Foiles sets up a decoy spread in a flooded field. The guiding and bridge building seemed to be a good mix. He was never very far away from the water, and when the construction season would wind down, the waterfowl season kept the paychecks coming. At least until one fateful day in August 1993 when things went awry. The blistering summer heat of August was tough on everyone, especially those who worked outside. Unfortunately, the heat became more than just annoyance for Foiles; it was nearly fatal. He was rushed to the intensive care unit at Wood River Hospital with a severe case of heat stroke. At one point, his breathing stopped, and he was clinically dead for a short period of time. Doctors managed to insert a tube into his lungs to restore his breathing and saved his life. Foiles recalled, "I was unable to work for a year. Even when I returned, I couldn't keep doing it. It was killing me." That's when he and his wife Andrea decided to bite the bullet and put everything into the business of waterfowl hunting. His strategy for his new company, Foiles Migrators, was simple—to create the best duck and goose calls in the business. "I wanted to make a call that anyone can blow and really sound like a duck or goose," affirmed Foiles. He was already perfecting designs for duck and goose calls using acrylic, a relatively new material for calls in a market that was dominated by inexpensive plastic and wooden calls.
"Wood is an okay material. In fact, my first custom call was made of wood, but when it gets wet, it expands and warps. Ultimately, the sound is affected," remarked Foiles.
He found that the acrylic was the most consistent among the plastics and resonated with the crisp tones that he desired. Even with a great call, without the approving nod of the waterfowl community, "Years ago nobody was really interested in these contests. Now everyone is interested in the money, prestige and reputation that a contest win can bring to the caller and call maker," said Foiles. In 1999, Steve Carter posted two major wins for Foiles, taking Illinois duck calling championships in two divisions using the Strait Meat Mallard Call. The following year, was very busy for Foiles Migrators with numerous first-, second- and third-place wins at nearly every major duck and goose calling contest in the country, including back-to-back wins at the Canadian classic by Craig McDonald and an international victory by Shawn Stahl at the 2000 World Goose Jeff Foiles with a nice bag of early Canada geese.
Each call is hand-tuned by Jeff Folles (above). As attested by the numerous bands, Calling Championship. This year was no different with numerous regional, state and local wins, including a near sweep of the top places at the prestigious Avery International Goose calling contest, with Matt Porter taking first, Shawn Stahl taking second and Jeff Foiles placing fifth. "I should have placed higher at Avery. Unfortunately, I was suffering from pneumonia," lamented Foiles.
With his calls' reputation in the competitive calling circuit firmly established, Foiles' phone has rarely stayed silent. During a recent afternoon, I interviewed Foiles and watched him assemble and custom tune calls. "I'm really trying to keep up with the orders," said Foiles, referring to the stack of letters from eager goose and duck hunters and call collectors. It seemed every five to 10 minutes there was a call from customers, fans, distributors, media and industry representatives trying to contact him. He's had to enlist the help of his wife Andrea and family members to keep track of the orders and phone messages. During a lull between phone rings, Foiles quickly assembled a call for one of his customers based on the letter writer's instructions. He first chose the requested color and style from bins of call bodies and stoppers. He then picked a rounded mylar reed and meticulously shaved tiny chips from it. "I pretty much can tell by feel when a reed is just right when shaving it," said Foiles. He assembled the guts (reed, wedge and stopper) of the call, inserted it into the barrel and gave it a test honk. Not quite satisfied with the sound, he adjusted the reed length by another fraction with a pair of scissors, shaved a seemingly imperceptible layer off the edge of reed and reassembled the call. A few
Jeff Foiles coaches Dave Martinez on the finer points of using the Strait Meat Honker. more test honks and clucks, a few adjustments of the wedge and reed, and the call emitted a thunderous volume of melodious tones that sounded like a raucous Canada goose honking right next to us. Call enthusiasts will be happy to know that each of his custom calls are personally tuned by Foiles. "I'm very concerned about satisfying my customers," he remarked. He related to me how he would go to great lengths to make sure his calls were exactly what the customer ordered. He even walks customers through the tuning process over the phone with their calls or gives them impromptu calling lessons. Some customers don't even bother with the phone or mail. Just ask Dave Martinez of Sylmar, California. Martinez, an avid waterfowl hunter, traveled across the country to spend two days gleaning goose calling tips from Foiles. "I can call the ducks and geese in fine," said Martinez. "I just need to learn how to get the attention of the judges in competition. That's why I'm here." "Bring up your air in between notes and let the notes roll," instructed Foiles as Martinez fervently blew notes, listened and intently watched Foiles' calling cadence and hand positions. With only a few modifications to Martinez's hand positions and air flow into the call, Foiles was able to tune Martinez's calling to nearly match the precise tones and calling sequences that have won many contests for the Strait Meat Honker. Although he has one of the most winning calls in the country in recent years, Foiles is not content to rest on his laurels. He continues to design new and innovative calls for hunters. "Look for a new line of waterfowl calls in 2002 and a completely new design for friction turkey calls," confided Foiles. Foiles continues his family's waterfowl tradition that goes back to his grandfather. Merlin, by passing his calling expertise on to his son Cole who is becoming another great competitor with eight junior duck and goose calling championships under his belt. Foiles feels that it's very important to teach young people about the heritage of waterfowl hunting. He volunteers his time to teach children about waterfowl and wildlife conservation at Camp Woodie, which is organized by the South Carolina Waterfowl Association. Foiles thanked the Department of Natural Resources for raising the level of competition in organizing the Avery World Goose Calling Championship and gave special thanks to his mom Dixie for always having breakfast ready every day of the waterfowl season.
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the call would not sell itself. So Foiles and several of his waterfowling colleagues decided to enter contests to prove the worthiness of his calls. In calling contest circles dominated by flute calls, Foiles felt that Strait Meat Honker, a short-reed acrylic call, had something to prove.
