Interview w/ Kirk McCullough for Splitreed by Ryan Barnes
SR: Who is Kirk McCullough in the waterfowling world?
KM: I’m just your average avid duck hunter. I’ve hunted most of my life. I started when I was 14 and just fell in love with the sport. I just got lucky enough to be able to do it all the time, and I want to be available to the younger people that are starting out to get some sort of idea on what kind of duck call to use and what is effective. I just want to make myself as available as possible; make it easier for them. When you don’t have anyone to show you it makes it kinda hard.
SR: You just turned 60, in roughly 46 years that you’ve been hunting, what is the biggest change that you’ve seen in the waterfowling world?
KM: The biggest change that I’ve seen would be the involvement of government and the regulations that have been imposed. Some things were maybe more needed than others, but I would say the biggest change overall is governmental control.
SR: Of all the hunts you’ve been on, what’s the most memorable one?
KM: My dad was not a big duck hunter but he was responsible for getting me started because the first time I went, I went with my uncle and him and my cousin. I had been hunting prior to that but had never been duck hunting. I guess my most memorable hunt was my first ever time duck hunting. We didn’t kill anything, didn’t see anything, but I would have to say that’s my most memorable hunt because it was so long ago and I can remember it like it was yesterday.
SR: What was the first call that you ever learned how to blow?
KM: It was a Cajun. I payed $2.50 for it. I got it in Pine Bluff. I bought it at the Arkansas Worm Ranch. I took it to school with me because my mom wouldn’t let me blow it in the house. I was probably 10 years old.
SR: When did you make your first duck call?
KM: In 2011 I started on it, in 2012 it was finished. It took me about a year. It was a threaded key-hole duck call, and we named it the “KM Custom Cut”. I took my design to about 10 machine shops and they all said they could build it; none of them could. I finally found a machine shop that could build it and I made about 60 of them.
SR: So you started with the KM Custom Cut, how long did it take you to master your design of the cut-down?
KM: Probably about a year and a half to two years before we actually got it down to where I thought it was perfect. I make that call now. It’s made out of ebonite. It’s a KM Custom Cut made out of ebonite with a threaded key-hole.
SR: Now you have a variety of cut-down calls that you make, what is your favorite call that you make?
KM: My favorite call to make would be the KM-BR. “BR” stands for blood runner. I built about 12 of those things about 5 or 6 years ago, and took one of them hunting and was astounded at what it would do, and now it’s the call that I hunt with every day. It’s also built out of ebonite. It has a flared key-hole, it’s very loud, has a very distinct sound, and the mallards respond to it better than anything I’ve ever hunted with.
SR: Why do you think that cut-down call is more effective?
KM: I’ve been asked that question a lot of times, and my response to it is always the same; it’s volume. I did not figure that out on my own, I saw it. I witnessed it happen. That’s when I realized the call that I was blowing at the time wasn’t loud enough. Everyone has their opinion about blowing a duck call, and one of them is that you don’t want to blow too loud, or that you need a soft call, and I don’t agree with any of that. I don’t know how fast a duck flies, but if you stick your head out the window of a car doing 20 or 30 MPH, you can’t hear anything but wind. And I’m sure a duck has that same problem when it flies, only hearing that wind go by its head. That’s just an assumption, but the volume of it is how you can get them in from greater distance.
SR: For someone who’s just learning how to use cutdown, what tips would you give them?
KM: To get one that is easier to blow, and to get something they’re comfortable with. And Practice! You’re not going to be able to pick it up and be able to blow it in two days, or three days- it’ll take you a little while to get used to it. All your facial muscles, your lungs, your esophagus, your throat, all of that stuff goes into play with a cut-down and it takes your body a little bit of time to adapt to that kind of call because you’re using different parts on your body that you wouldn’t use on a J-frame. And if it’s too hard to blow, send it back to whoever made it and say “Hey, this a little too hard to blow, can you make it a bit easier for me?” and practice and get confident with it! Because once I learned how to use a cutdown I never went back to the J-frame.
SR: Now obviously cut-downs are popular in the flooded timber and small duck holes, but would they have the same effect on big water? Or are they pretty area specific?
KM: No they’re not area specific. I hunt the woods and big water. I hunt the Arkansas River and the Mississippi River, I also hunt some bigger lakes, and I field hunt with it, I’ve hunted in potholes with them and they work great! You just have to change your calling style a little bit. You know, hunting the woods isn’t the same as hunting open water. But, to me, when you’re hunting open water, the louder it is the better it is. Especially when it’s windy.
SR: In your opinion, what is the most important element to killing ducks?
KM: The most important element to killing duck is to have a positive attitude! When you have a positive attitude about duck hunting, even on the days when you don’t kill anything, it’s a learning experience. It keeps you enthused, it doesn’t alienate those around you. Sometimes you learn more on the days that you don’t shoot anything than the days that you do. And I think another important element is to scout. Look around. Don’t go to the same place every day. Don’t lock yourself in. Don’t just drive 3, 4, 5 miles. Drive 40, 50, 100, 200 miles. Do whatever it takes. The further you get out there the more you get to see, and the more opportunities you get to kill ducks.
SR: Who is the best cut-down caller that you’ve ever hunted with?
KM: Lester Capps.
SR: You seem to talk give him a lot of respect, what made him so special?
KM: Lester was like the mentor of all of the cutdown calling in the state of Arkansas. There were people that used a cutdown call before him, but there weren’t people who could do what he could on a cutdown. He was really good at what he did. He just had a technique that was awesome. He was the forefather of what I call the “Cut-down Era” of waterfowl hunting in Arkansas.
SR: If you had to go back to a J-frame call, what call would you use?
KM: You know what, If I had to go back to a J-frame I’d just quit hunting.
SR: As a call-maker, what makes you feel the most accomplished?
KM: I’m not really a call maker, I am a duck hunter that builds and changes duck calls to hunt with. The most accomplished thing that I have done is built some successful hunting calls that work, and I was able to get them into the hands of people that had not used one before, and they said “Kirk these calls work, and I kill ducks with them”.
SR: If you could give one piece of advice to a new hunter, what would it be?
KM: To be respectful to other people while they’re hunting, and to go with somebody who has experience before they go on their own.
SR: Where do you think the quality of duck hunting stands today as opposed to 30 years ago?
KM: 30 years ago we didn’t have as many ducks as we have today. We had just basic equipment, basic clothing, we didn’t have the better stuff that we do today, which actually makes hunting safer. We have warmer clothes, better boats, cell phones. We didn’t have all that stuff 30 years ago. It would have been nice 30 years ago to have a cell phone in case of an emergency. We didn’t have a GPS, instead we were just guessing. There’s a lot of people who say that duck hunting isn’t as good today as it used to be, well I disagree with that. It’s better than it ever was! There’s more opportunity. And you need to get out there and go! knock on some doors, and don’t get discouraged. And that’s how you end up with good places to hunt.
SR: I know you’re a very outspoken advocate of hunting safety, what would you like to say about that?
KM: Safety is number one. Duck hunting can be a dangerous sport. You’re exposed to the elements, you’re in water, you’re hunting with guns. You always need to use good judgement, and good common sense when you hunt. Stay off water that’s too rough, make sure everyone in the boat has a life-jacket, let people know where you’re going, and if there’s two boats going to the same place, keep your boats near each other so if one gets in a bind the other is right there to help out. There’s a whole lot of people who don’t wear life jackets when they’re in the boat, and the only thing I have to say about that is- when somebody gets in the water and it’s dark and it’s windy and it’s cold, they’re a whole lot easier to rescue with a life jacket on. When you’re handling your guns, don’t shoot in front of people, always have it on safety, and when you go in a group always ask “Is there anyone who hasn’t handled a gun very much?” and if they haven’t go over some safety tips with them. When an accident happens, it’s over and done and you can’t go back and fix it. You don’t want to be standing at your friend’s casket shaking your head in disbelief wondering why you didn’t say or do something
SR: So just out of curiosity from that last question, what is your biggest pet-peeve that people do while you’re out hunting?
KM: I guess my biggest pet peeve out hunting is people not having their gun on safety if they’re not ready to shoot.
SR: Why do you think young hunters are getting such a bad reputation?
KM: I think it’s all perception. I hunt with a lot of younger people, from the ages of 16 to 45, I call them younger because I’m 60, and the younger hunters are better hunters than some of the people my age. There’s always people who try to blame other people but I think younger hunters get a bad rap that they don’t deserve. All I’ve got to say is that if someone doesn’t do something right, or do it the way they should, and you don’t take the time to explain it to them, and show them the right way, how are they going to know how to do it? I realize that there are a lot of disrespectful people in the world, but it all just goes back to spending time with folks and talking to them. I think that sometimes our younger hunters get criticized too heavily and they shouldn’t be. And most my customers are young, and they say “yes sir” and “no sir” and they thank me for things. And I also speak to them in that manner. But I think that if you don’t show the younger people the right way to do things, they’re not going to know how. In my whole hunting career, the most disrespectful people I’ve met have been my age. It wasn’t the young people. I don’t think the young people were ever trying to be disrespectful, I just think they didn’t know.
SR: It seems like there’s beginning to be a large generation gap in waterfowling, how do you think we retain hunters as we move from one generation to the next?
KM: I think it needs to work as a family deal. If the father hunts, and his son picks up where the father left off, and the son has children, and they pick up where he left off. And hunting evolves. Hunting is not like it was 40 years ago, and in some aspects I’m glad it’s not. It’s different today. There’s newer technology, there’s more availability, there’s better products to hunt with, there’s better ways to hunt, and as the generation changes it’s just an evolution of the whole dang deal! Nothing is going to be like it was when I was 14, nothing is going to be like it was when I was 30, it’s all different now. And there’s nothing wrong with change. Things need to change so things can progress. And I would hate to think that in the year 2019 things are exactly like they were 40 years ago. Because that would mean that humanity didn’t make any progress. And sometimes people misunderstand progress as a way of just shutting everything out. And on my Instagram page I talk about how things won’t ever be like it was 40, 50 years ago- and it’s not. But that doesn’t mean that it’s not good today, because we have better duck hunting and goose hunting than we’ve ever had.
SR: So does that mean you think that the caliber of hunter in today’s world is more “elite”?
KM: Yes! The caliber of hunter is more elite than what they were when I was young. When I was 30 years old, I was not the caliber of hunter that we have now at 30 years old. They’re all better equipped, they have access to information, and they can go places that we didn’t go when we were younger. And that’s just a fact. And there’s a difference between having high dollar gear, and being elite. To me, being elite means having good knowledge, being efficient, knowing how to utilize your equipment to be successful, and being successful consistently. That’s what elite means to me.
SR: You bring up the word “successful”, what, to you, defines a successful hunt?
KM: When you get there, get set up, and you hunt. It doesn’t mean 100 ducks stacked up on the ground, it means you got it done, it was safe, everybody had a good time, you got to see some ducks and geese, and whatever you shot was a bonus. I don’t associate killing with success anymore. I did when I was younger, but not anymore.
