Eli Haydel was born in Raceland, Louisiana – in the heart of duck and goose country. Hunting was an important part of his upbringing, just like Cajun music. He combined these two passions to later become a champion caller. Today, Haydel’s is a family-owned and operated business that is recognized as a leader in manufacturing the finest quality game calls. Haydel’s is a company “for hunters, by hunters” and the majority of employees are also hunters and game callers.
When Eli Haydel entered a calling contest in 1975, he became very frustrated when his wooden duck and goose calls became swollen when wet and would not produce the correct sound. The mission was clear and he set out to develop calls from a non-porous material that would make it possible to use even when wet.
With an initial investment of just $400 and much determination, Eli created his new game calls from his garage and started handing them out to fellow hunters. While the early prototypes were somewhat crude, hunters did not care and were thrilled that the calls could “blow when wet”. This also became pivotal to how the game calls were marketed – he would take a fishbowl to each store and attach a rubber duck to the game call and submerge it underwater. A sign was attached to the fishbowl that simply stated “Blows When Wet”. The rest is as you say, history.
