New course: video-based lessons, from most realistic turkey caller in the world

What would you give to follow turkey hunting legend Ray Eye around the woods, sit over his shoulder while he’s hunting, and have him think out loud as he tells you exactly what he’s doing? What if you could see and hear the turkeys, and watch what they do as they call to each other, and when they respond to Ray’s calling?

And what if Ray Eye gave you private lessons on the box call, slate call, and mouth call? What if he showed you exactly how much tongue pressure he puts on the reeds, and how to relax in order to make a more realistic sound?

Built using a lifetime of video footage (with excellent audio of real turkeys calling) and presented by one of America’s great storytellers, this is what you get in “Calling is Everything,” a new online class at www.eyesontheoutdoors.com.

The class is the first from Johnson Mountain University, the hunting school at Eyes on the Outdoors. “Eyes” is a multimedia website developed by Ray Eye and Mark Strand, longtime member of the outdoor media.

“As an owner of Ray’s DVDs and books,” writes class member Ron Freeman, “I am always in search of more knowledge from Ray. In the classes, you learn at your own pace. If you don’t understand something, just pause the video and go back over it again. If you’re still puzzled, send a message and it will be answered. The classes are in more detail than anything else I’ve ever seen. In a nutshell, if you watch the same turkey videos over and over – the guy calls a turkey in, bang he shoots, they celebrate, then the next hunt is the same thing. These are lessons on how to hunt turkeys, how to call them, in great detail. Well worth the money.”

With more than 50 years of real-world experience, Ray has been called “America’s premier turkey hunter” by the Wall Street Journal. He was named a “Great Outdoor Legend” by Outdoor Life magazine. He has been inducted into the “Legends of the Outdoors” Hall of Fame as well.

Every year, he travels to hunt turkeys from March through the first week of June, dealing with every situation you can imagine: bad weather, henned-up turkeys, too much pressure, being asked to go with groups of six people (because they want to watch how Ray does it), and more. Despite all the challenges, he calls in turkeys consistently, no matter what the weather or the turkeys are doing.

Ray has a long list of accomplishments in the turkey hunting world, including many victories in turkey calling competitions. But as they always say, real turkeys are the most important judges of all, and when it comes to sounding like a turkey, nobody compares.

Outdoor Life Editor Gerry Bethge recently wrote this: “Ray Eye has taught me most of what I know about turkey hunting. He called in my first bird back in the mid-80s and in one way or another we’ve shared the spring—and fall—woods ever since. Through the years, I’ve had the good fortune of chasing gobblers with some of the legends of modern day turkey hunting but can say with a heaping dose of conviction that no one sounds more like a turkey than Ray.”

Simply put, Ray Eye’s calling ability is amazing, and his teaching might be even better.

How it Works

Through a series of video modules, Professor Eye patiently walks you through everything he’s ever learned about calling wild turkeys. “Guess I’m getting old enough now that I don’t want to take this stuff to the grave,” he jokes. “We always talk about how I got my degree in Turkeyology from Johnson Mountain University, so it was easy to come up with a name for the school.”

Eye cut his turkey hunting teeth in the Missouri Ozarks, but has traveled more widely than any other turkey hunter, across the United States (including Hawaii) and Mexico. His system of scouting and roosting turkeys, setting up and calling birds has passed the tests of travel and time.

“I don’t try to tell anybody that their favorite hunting methods don’t work,” says Eye. “I just tell you, and show you, what works for me, has worked for me everywhere I’ve gone.” How well can you learn to call turkeys from studying videos? Just like you’re sitting over his shoulder, according to the Professor.

“Video is such an amazing teaching tool,” says Eye. “I’ve been building video projection seminars for years and bringing them to sports shows, conservation clubs, churches, anywhere they’ll have me. But a seminar lasts for an hour, and you can’t get into all the details that make such a difference.

“In Calling is Everything, I was not limited to a certain amount of time. We show entire hunts. You see birds come all the way in, with all the calling, and I talk over the top of it, so you know what I was thinking and why I was calling a certain way. After building the class, I think it’s the best way to learn how to call turkeys.”

Bill Waldron, another member of the class, jokes about hiding it from other hunters.

“The fewer people who know about the knowledge they will get from this class,” he says, “the more turkey they will leave for me to take.”

So How Much?

Lifetime access to the course, including all updates developed in future years, is just $97. You check out securely using PayPal (don’t need a PayPal account) and you’re instantly in the class room studying with Professor Eye.

If you have a question, ask via email:

Go to: www.eyesontheoutdoors.com and click: “Online Classes” to sign up.

For more details on the class,

Go to: www.eyesontheoutdoors.com/about-calling-is-everything.

It’s exciting when you bag a turkey, no matter how it happens. But when gobblers and hens are firing back at you and getting closer and closer, that’s the essence of the game. Those are the hunts you remember forever.

Those are the hunts you can create for yourself, consistently, after you study with the most realistic turkey caller in history.