34 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2018
One customer used to cut and
remove cedar trees with his grandfather
and uncle. After the gentleman's
grandfather passed away, the grandson
wanted a custom call made for his
uncle out of one of the last remaining
pieces of cedar that they had cut down
together. So, the call was made and
given to the uncle as a remembrance
piece of his dad that can be used and
handed down for years to come.
Hoover also wanted everything
going out of the shop to be 100 percent
handmade. "I decided I wanted to go
with wood throughout the call. It takes
a lot of extra time to do it this way, but
that's the fun of doing it." Hoover's
calls are unlike some in the call-making
industry, as he constructs the "guts" of
the call from wood instead of buying it
in a kit, then he fine-tunes the reeds to
produce the sound he wants.
Hoover is always trying new things
and pushing the limits on what can
be done and what he can make, from
carved black walnut root goose calls
with a set of handmade black walnut
root guts and a carved brass band with
an oil finish and the hidden goose in the
profile of the call barrel, to a Russian
olive predator call with dual-voice, or
a painted glass hedge turkey pot call
with matching striker, a hidden turkey
feather in the profile of the call and an
oil finish. Each call is a piece of art and
adding his own artistic touches to the
calls makes them even more personal.
"It's a God-given gift. I've been doing
art and working with my hands since I
was a kid," Hoover recalled.
Hoover has sold calls to customers
in California, South Carolina, Florida,
Minnesota, and Louisiana, to name a
few. "It's neat to meet the different
people from around the country. I still
really enjoy working with local people
and seeing them face to face. Some of
them stop by the shop just to see what
I'm working on, and that's a great
deal," Hoover said.
Every call Hoover makes also
includes his initials along with
"Colossians 3:23," which is another
trademark of Hoover's. "Whatever you
do, work at it with all your heart as
working for the Lord." Hoover does
his call making according to that
scripture, which goes along with the
passion and reasoning behind every
call he makes.
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Hoover chooses a piece of wood for a call from one of his bins of wood.
Shown here is a deer call Hoover made that can make buck and doe grunts and doe
bleats.
