William W "Bill" Gabbard
It was the buck I had only caught on camera a couple of times and named Tall Tall Ten! He had just stepped out of the woods at 520 yards and paused long enough for me to identify him as he headed across the field toward the “Tripod Stand” only 150 yards from where he was. This would have been nice except for the fact that nobody was on the Tripod Stand and I was not comfortable taking a shot at a walking deer at that distance. After a short series of grunts on my Six-Gun Tube Call from Greens Run Calls, he changed direction and started walking straight towards me. He was walking parallel to a brush filled hollow with only a few places that are easily crossed, each time he came to a crossing he would pause but a short grunt on the call kept him moving in my direction. At 250 yds he paused - standing at an intersection of two roads through the field as if trying to decide whether to go the way he seemed to want to or continue toward the unfamiliar intruder that he could hear in front of him. The 154 grain Hornady SST launched from Elvira, my 40-year-old Remington 700 chambered in 7mm Weatherby magnum ended his decision-making process. Chalk up another one for the Six-Gun from my old friend Mark Six, owner of Greens Run Calls. This made at least the 6th buck this season that I had watched respond favorably to the call Mark, who I affectionately nicknamed “Lugnut”, had sent me several years ago.
Mark has been affiliated with Mossy Oak since 2001, initially through working with Avery Outdoors, then through Zink Calls and has been a Mossy Oak Pro Staffer since 2014. An accomplished Contest Caller, Mark started making friction Turkey Calls for his own use in 2002, later adding mouth calls to his arsenal. After numerous contests wins and requests for his calls, he started making turkey calls for sale in 2015. In 2016, he added Locater Calls and Deer Calls plus Long Box Calls that fall. His list of awards as a call maker is impressive including World Call Makers Contest 2017-1st Mouth Calls, 2018-2nd Mouth Calls, 2019-1st & 2nd Mouth Calls, 1st & 2nd Deer Calls, 2020-2nd & 3rd Deer Calls, and 2021-5th Long Box, 4th Locator.
Greens Run Calls currently lists long boxes, 2 styles of short boxes, pot calls, mouth calls, tube calls, buck grunts, doe bleats, & locator calls to include: owl hooters, crow calls, pileated woodpecker calls and coyote howlers. The pot calls and long boxes are some of the prettiest that you will see anywhere, and the tube grunt call “Six-Gun” that Mark gave me shortly after he introduced deer calls to his line-up is wild looking to say the least. Looking great and working great are two different things yet both separate the Six Gun Call from the rest of the pack.
I started using grunt calls back in the 1980’s after walking up on a teenager sitting by a big buck that he had just killed after it responded to a grunt call. I got the name of the call and immediately bought one just like it. Thirty some years later I was pretty well disillusioned with grunt calls. I had bought calls from nearly every maker out there and had limited success with them. A family member at one point went to work for a company that was making calls they promised to be the “Best Ever Built”. Knowing my general attitude towards calls, he gave me prototype of their latest and greatest. On the first day out, I watched a nice buck walk along as if he couldn’t hear the call (maybe he couldn’t). Over the years I had killed one buck that I knew for a fact had responded favorably to the call. I did see others respond favorably but also saw bucks run away at the sound of the call. My little brother, a much better hunter than I am, killed numerous bucks using grunt calls over the years, so I was convinced that I either didn’t have the right call or just didn’t know how to use them properly.
When Greens Run introduced their deer call line, I called Mark and conned him into sending me an early production tube grunt call. It arrived just in time for modern gun season that year in Kentucky and the results were shocking to say the least. Whether it is the longer hand turned wood barrel instead of the molded ones that most companies use, the type of reed, the tube, or the combination of them all, THIS CALL WORKS! I have never had a buck spook from this call and never had one ignore it. Most bucks search for the source of the sound, at the very least they stop long enough for me to get a good look at them or a shot. My little brother Mike sneaked up and joined me in the Redneck Blind a couple of years after I started using the Six Gun call and after one series of grunts it was obvious that I either had to obtain a call for him or risk having mine stolen. I opted for obtaining one for him. A similar situation occurred this season with my old friend Hank Patton.
I called two other bucks from over 500 yards this season and quit when they were so close that I was afraid that I was going to give away my position. Tall Tall Ten makes at least the fourth nice buck that I have taken that was responding to The Six Gun!
Mark and his lovely wife Dee Dee can be found at Outdoor Shows selling his beautifully crafted turkey calls. His website greensruncalls.com focus primarily on the Turkey Calls, but if you pursue the Whitetail Deer don’t overlook the Grunt Calls. Whether hunting with “Elvira” or a Muzzleloader this old hunter won’t leave home without also carrying a Six Gun from Greens Run Calls.
