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Will Primos and his wife Mary often take to the woods together. |
Will Primos
Will Primos was mesmerized by hunting and the outdoors at an early age. For the Primos family, working hard for a living and hunting even harder was a way of life. Spending valuable time with his family in the duck blinds of Mississippi molded young Will into an accomplished hunter and the man he is today. Primos learned firsthand about strong family bonds, dedication, loyalty and determination, while spending time in the great outdoors. These core values helped make Primos into a hunting icon and undoubtedly one of the most successful game call makers around.
A call maker is born
When Primos was 11 years old, something happened in the duck blind that changed his life forever. It was where he first heard his Uncle Gus work a duck call to absolute perfection. Back then, Primos truly believed his uncle could call a mallard duck right down the gun barrel, and this inspired him to make his very first call. From that point on, Primos practically lived in the woods and continued to tinker around with homemade game calls. He would modify his hunting gear with nothing but his two hands and backwoods ingenuity.
After watching a documentary about archery legend Howard Hill, Primos decided to add a shelf to his bow just like the one used by the actor who played Robin Hood. A carefully crafted piece of plywood from his father's shop enabled the young boy to accurately shoot his arrows from a makeshift rest. This simple modification made life dangerous for small game, but it also ignited a burning passion for bowhunting.
Primos continued to hunt throughout his high school and college years. After receiving his college degree, he immediately went to work in the family restaurant in Jackson, Miss. During this time, another influential person in Primos' life inspired him to start making calls again.
On a fall turkey hunt, Primos met a 50-year-old Eleanor Rossler who made and sold a variety of mouth calls. These calls were fairly popular among the hunters in camp, but the size and design made them somewhat difficult to use.
According to Primos, the calls were uncomfortable in his mouth, and he decided to start making his own.
"Without hesitation, I went straight home and began brainstorming about how to construct the perfect turkey call," Primos said. "My first line of calls was made from tin beer cans, which produced a very realistic sound.
Before long, area hunters started showing up on my doorstep wanting to buy these handcrafted calls. A local sporting goods store in town started selling my double and triple frame reed calls in 1976. As luck would have it, a turkey hunter from Pennsylvania bought one of these calls and things suddenly changed for me."
This out-of-state hunter actually owned a store in Pennsylvania and wanted to carry Primos' turkey calls. Primos realized that he could not keep up with the growing demand for his creations. By 1979, Primos had hired more workers and expanded his product line. Before long, his small company was cranking out a variety of friction calls, mouth calls and calling cases. However, Primos kept his restaurant job to supplement his income, which allowed him to support his family and grow his budding company.
Dedication and innovation
In 1983, Primos began marketing his products with an instructional audiotape. He hired a person to follow him around in the woods and record some of his spring turkey hunts. The tapes also included detailed instructions about how and when to use each call. Three years later, Primos videotaped a turkey hunt to promote his products. His first video, "Spring Turkey Hunting with Primos," was a major success. He later developed the "Truth" series of videos that covered just about every type of hunting. The "Truth" series eventually led to the popular Outdoor Channel television show called "Primos Truth about Hunting."
Despite his success, Primos continued to juggle both the restaurant and call manufacturing. He worked a grueling seven-day-a-week schedule that involved designing calls, conducting seminars, producing videos and managing the restaurant. Hard work enabled Primos to build and expand his business and currently, Primos Hunting Calls has more than 120 employees and manufactures 620 products in a 100,000-square-foot facility in Flora, Miss.
The company lives by a simple motto, "We are our own customers," which means employees of Primos hunt and depend on the quality of their own products to be successful in the woods. Primos and a team of his employees routinely operate calls right off the line to help maintain product quality.
NWTF member
Primos has accomplished almost everything a hunter could possibly dream of both in and out of the woods. He has chased monstrous bugling elk across the breathtaking mountains of the West and busted top-heavy bucks throughout the entire nation. However, those fired-up gobbling longbeards are still what makes his heart skip a beat, which is exactly why Primos is a committed member of the NWTF.
"I can remember a time when there were only isolated pockets of turkeys throughout the country," Primos said. "Now, thanks to the efforts of the NWTF and its partners, hunters can take advantage of prime turkey hunting opportunities almost anywhere you look. The strong spirit of its volunteers and the fundraising capabilities of this organization are second to none. Over the years, the NWTF has done an excellent job expanding turkey populations, promoting the sport and enhancing wildlife habitat. This is still what the NWTF is all about today and why I am a proud member." — Travis Faulkner