Dan Thompson – Predator Calls

The Dan Thompson Calls

In Scandinavia, Dan Thompson’s PC fox call has for many years been the hunters’ favorite tool for hunting foxes. Professional hunters such as Swedish Ulf Lindroth and Danish Sandor Hestbæk Markus (Wildlife Consultant at the Danish Nature Agency) have for more than 30 years used Dan Thompson  predator calls for hunting foxes and other predators – both at home and abroad. Ulf Lindroth has even produced a film years ago with the title “Lockjakt på räv”, where the effect of Dan Thompson’s PC call is shown in practice.

Dan Thompson’s predator calls are incredibly easy to use, and for this very reason they have for many years been used on the Danish Hunting’ Association’s courses in the use of predator calls for fox hunting. The teacher on these courses was Sandor Hestbæk Markus, who shared his many years of experience with the students.

In the United States, Dan Thompson is known as a legendary predator hunter and his name is for many hunters therefore also synonymous with high quality hunting.you can say that hunting was in his blood, for at a very early age he was introduced to wolf hunting by his father, who was also a skilled hunter. It is clear to everyone that hunting was his great passion and for a period of his life he even lived in the desert, where he spent his time perfecting his skills, especially in predator hunting. It was these experiences that later led to the development of the iconic Dan Thompson calls that we all know today.

The torch is passed on

As a result of  Dan Thompson’s sudden death from a heart attack in 2011, the family faced a big problem. Who would continue the craft and brand that Dan Thompson had built up over a number of years? There was no one in the family who had a desire or the abilities to be able to take over. The family therefore asked John Haslem, who at this time had been in the company for several years, if he could be interested in taking over the production and driving the brand forward for the benefit of future generations of hunters. He thankfully said yes and was given all the machines and prototypes.

Then John threw himself into an adventure that has been his life ever since. With a solid base in the small workshop in the town of St. George north of Las Vegas John Haslem and his wife Jennette produce around. 8,000 PC-calls a year on the same machines that Dan Thompson left behind and which for many years has produced predator calls of the very highest quality. All the calls are made of the finest American hardwood, which ensures the clear and natural sound that makes Dan Thompson calls so popular.

Meeting the team behind Dan Thompson

In 2018, we participated in the Shot Show fair in Las Vegas and in that connection we had agreed to meet with John Haslem to place a new order for our customers in Europe. In many ways, this was a memorable meeting as it led to John and Jennette choosing us as a distributor of Dan Thompson Calls to the entire European market. We are incredibly proud of this agreement and we are pleased with the trust that John and Jennette have shown us.

In January 2020, we had the pleasure of visiting John and Jenette in St. George, where we experienced how unique the production is. John showed the production from start to finish, from round bar to predator call. We were also allowed to start the CNC machine ourselves and make our very own Dan Thompson decoy call.

From round bar to predator call

• The wood is cut into big rods
• The rods are then made into  round bars.
• The bars are cut into smaller pieces.
• The pieces are then rotated and milled on an old CNC milling machine, following a carefully coded program depending on the call.
• The calls are drilled out.
• The calls are sanded smooth, which highlights the patterns in the wood.
• The Reeds are pressed manually with a steel t-piece.
• Each call is quality checked in relation to its looks and shape.
• The calls are now sent to a partner who makes sure that they receive a coating in camouflage finish or a high-gloss varnish.
• When the calls return, every single one is hand-tuned and adjusted by John Haslem to ensure the perfect sound and lure effect
• Jennette finally puts on stickers, packaging and packs the calls for shipping to hunters around the world.

A memory from the meeting

John and Jennette had a box with PC-calls, which had been sorted out due to too large knots or even bullet remains in the wood. We had the opportunity to choose some of these calls to take home as a reminder of a great day. Extraordinarily, we were also invited home in private, where we saw John’s home office with Dan Thompson calls ready for shipping, prototypes, merchandise and the loose reeds that form a big part of the secret behind the unique sound.

We were proud and very humbled to visit John and Jennette, and to be able to offer the Dan Thompson calls around europe. It commits us to work hard every day, to live up to their trust and the story behind the name Dan Thompson Calls.