Duck calls paying off for Shelley

SILOAM SPRINGS — Will Shelley’s dream of creating custom duck calls came true in 2015 and has now garnered him national recognition.

Shelley began making duck calls when his wife Ashley Shelley, the owner of Southern Grace Shoppe, gave him a lathe for Christmas in 2014. A lathe is used to help shape duck calls, Shelley said.

“I just started playing around trying to make these duck calls,” Will Shelley said. “One thing led to another. I got my name out there, and it took off.”

At the time, Shelley had been working at Webb Wheel Products Inc. Shelley had been working at both jobs, he said. He would work a 12to 14-hour shift, go home and have dinner and spend time with his family, then work from 9 p.m. to midnight or 1 a.m. catching up on orders, Shelley said.

In 2018, Shelley decided that he could make Battle Creek Custom Calls work as a full-time business and it took off, he said.

Shelley has six different models of duck calls, he said. Along with duck calls, Shelley said he has made turkey calls and deer grunts, but he is primarily known for his duck calls.

He enjoyed hunting all of his life, Shelley said. His first love is deer hunting, but he has also been duck hunting with his father and older brothers.

“One day we were out hunting, and I wondered if I could make (duck calls),” Shelley said.

He spoke to his wife, and she got him a wood lathe to make duck calls. Over the years, Shelley’s duck calls have earned him numerous awards.

As early as 2016, Shelley began winning awards from the National Wildlife Turkey Federation (NWTF), he said. His first award was fourth place in the Hunting Duck and Goose Category Four that year, Shelley said.

Over the years, Shelley would continue to win awards for his duck calls in the NWTF, he said. Shelley won second place Best of Show in 2019, he said.

In 2020, Shelley won third place in the category of working Antler Calls, he said. In 2021, Shelley won two first place awards in the Hunting and Goose category for multiple duck calls, plus Call Maker of the Year Best in Show, he said.

This year, Shelley won first place in the Amateur Decorating Division and Amateur Decorative Call Maker of the Year, he said.

Shelley also won third place in the Decorative Pro Division and Champion of Champions as well as second place in the Whistle Division, he said.

Along with his awards in the NWTF, Shelley also won first place in the acrylic division in the World Water Fowl Competition, he said.

“I’ve been pretty fortunate and lucky,” Shelley said.

When looking at the future, Shelley hopes he will still be turning calls and doing what he does as well as developing new products.

“I get to make my own hours, spend time with the kids and family,” Shelley said. “I hope I can keep doing this as long as I can.”

(Submitted Photo) Will Shelley, the owner of Battle Creek Custom Calls, works to turn a barrel for a duck call.

(Submitted Photo) Shelley’s duck call helped him to win the Grand National Champion award for the amateur division from the National Wildlife Turkey Federation this year.