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More information about Jeff Dagostino

Jeff D’Agostino - The Art of the Call National Champion callmaker and artist, Jeff D’Agostino, brings over three decades of award-winning craftsmanship to each of his handmade turkey calls, creating heirloom-quality pieces that are proven in the field and treasured for life. Jeff has been around turkey hunting and call making for most of his adult life “The “Art of The Call” was born from a simple belief; the tools of a turkey hunter should be as true and timeless as the tradition itself. Every call is a marriage of art and function — with intricate, hand-drawn wildlife scenes and yielding realistic sounds proven to bring turkeys within range. Special locations and moments in time drive my artistic inspiration and my tuning phase is laser focused on producing the best turkey voices.” “My callmaking begins with a pure appreciation of the animal and a desire to honor it in some humble manner. My process begins with the inside of the call,” he said. “I spend a lot of time tuning each call by measuring and adjusting each bone to find the exact voice I’m looking for. I love to find different voices; young hens, jakes, or mature hens & gobblers. While I’m not a musician, I do appreciate and work to understand the musicality of each of my calls.” Once the sound is dialed in, his artwork takes shape on the outside of the call. He began adding artwork to his calls in the 1980s with simple single line scrimshaw. Over time, using different art media, his art has evolved to highly detailed and intricate works that oftentimes include full color. “Adding realism through lifelike detail is my love, so I kept refining my techniques to get more and more detail, more realism, more life” he said. “That’s what you have in this (NWTF Legacy Callmaker Collection) call.” “Transforming natural raw elements (bone or cane) into works of art possessing realistic turkey voices is a great joy for me. It’s inspiring. There’s nothing like seeing the call come to life, seeing the joy on an individual’s face when they receive the call and when they inform me of their success afield.” West Virginia: Spring 1983, Monongalia County; D’Agostino’s passion for the wild turkey ignited…he called in his first gobbler. After an event filled morning full of wild turkeys calling and slipping through the timber, the mid-morning lull set in only to be interrupted with the spitting and drumming of a nearby gobbler. In quick order D’Agostino locked eyes with what he described as “a red, white and blue hood ornament attached to a black Volkswagen.” He harvested that gobbler, and sadly the taxidermist wouldn’t let him keep the wing bones. Undeterred, through his friends and hunting buddies he later found wingbones he could use and began building. D’Agostino is a grassroots NWTF member, and later became WV State Chapter President in the early 1990’s where he helped grow the state’s membership and made it a point to ensure the state’s NWTF members knew that WV generated funds were being used to support the wild turkey in WV. His core value persists; conserving wildlife habitat is the key to the wild turkey’s prospective sustainability. D’Agostino’s craft is recognized as among the best in national call making competitions earning him multiple NWTF Grand National Custom Callmaking Competition titles, first in 1997 in decorative wingbone, then top honors and Best in Class in the matched set category in 2024. In 2025 he followed up with another 1st Place & Best in Class - Decorative Division – Wingbone. “For me, callmaking is a passion. It has opened a lot of doors. Some of my closest friends are because of the wild turkey, through the industry, call making, and travelling to hunt. Those relationships are critical to me, and without call making and wildlife art, and being able to pursue my passions, I wouldn’t have those relationships.”

Awards for Jeff Dagostino

This contest has a long history of 20+ years. The awards listed below are for the most recent years only.

Other 2026 Entries by Jeff Dagostino

Division 1 Decorative Turkey Calls Category 11: Wingbone Yelper (open) User entered description: This custom made traditional 3 piece Wingbone Yelper was 100% hand-crafted by National Champion call maker & artist Jeff DAgostino. It is a 1 of 1 original call, and is #7 of 12 from his most recent limited edition. Jeff brings over three decades of award-winning craftsmanship to each handmade turkey call, creating heirloom-quality pieces that are proven in the field and treasured for life. The “Art of The Call” was born from a simple belief; the tools of a turkey hunter should be as true and timeless as the tradition itself. Every call is a marriage of art and function — featuring intricate, hand-drawn wildlife scenes and realistic sounds proven to bring turkeys within range. Special locations and moments in time drive his artistic inspiration, while his tuning phase is laser focused on yielding the best turkey voices for each call. There’s nothing like seeing the call come to life; joy on the recipient’s face; and learning of their success afield. Whether you’re chasing your next bird or collecting a piece of hunting heritage, “The Art of The Call” provides a legacy you can hold in your hand. • Call materials: wild turkey wing bones • Qualities: plays easily; has been tuned to exacting specifications yielding realistic wild turkey sounds. Can be played loud or soft and has a wide tonal range from clear to raspy. • Artwork: 100% hand drawn, full color, highly detailed original artwork. Depicts two strutting gobblers in a timber setting with an antler shed nearby. They are displaying for an adult hen which is depicted on the center section. This spring ritual is accented with dogwood blooms on the mouthpiece section. • Ferrules: Abalone Quartz with aluminum accent. • Lip Stop: Sealed cork. • Lanyard: custom made with bone hairpipe bead, silver beads and spacers along with silver feather accent and NWTF logo button. • Other: includes a functional display stand, Certificate of Authenticity signed and dated by the Call Maker / Artist and a protective pouch. Jeff is a 3 time NWTF Callmakers Competition National Champion. Go to Entry #115

Division 2 Hunting Turkey Calls Category 13: Wingbone Open User entered description: This custom made traditional 3 piece Wingbone Yelper is a 1 of 1 original call and was 100% hand-crafted by call maker & artist Jeff D’Agostino. National Champion callmaker and artist, Jeff D’Agostino, brings over three decades of award-winning craftsmanship to each handmade turkey call, creating heirloom-quality pieces that are proven in the field and treasured for life. The “Art of The Call” was born from a simple belief; the tools of a turkey hunter should be as true and timeless as the tradition itself. Every call is a marriage of art and function — featuring intricate, hand-drawn wildlife scenes and realistic sounds proven to bring turkeys within range. Special locations and moments in time drive his artistic inspiration, while his tuning phase is laser focused on yielding the best turkey voices for each call. There’s nothing like seeing the call come to life; joy on the recipient’s face; and learning of their success afield. Whether you’re chasing your next bird or collecting a piece of hunting heritage, “The Art of The Call” provides a legacy you can hold in your hand. • Call materials: wild turkey wing bones • Qualities: plays easily; has been tuned to exacting specifications yielding realistic wild turkey sounds. Can be played loud or soft and has a wide tonal range from clear to raspy. • Artwork: 100% hand drawn, black & white, highly detailed original artwork. Depicts a foggy morning lone strutting gobbler at a pasture’s edge under the outstretched branches of an old crab apple tree. The center section shows a highly detailed wingfeather pair. • Ferrules: Sycamore over dark blue mahoe with brass accent. • Lip Stop: Cork. • Lanyard: custom made with bone hairpipe bead, mottled black beads and silver spacers along with silver feather accent and NWTF logo button. • Other: includes a functional display stand, Certificate of Authenticity signed and dated by the Call Maker / Artist and a protective pouch. • Inventory #827 Jeff is a 3 time NWTF Callmakers Competition National Champion. Go to Entry #444