| "Louisiana Hot" Tradition - Culture - Heritage |
This rice farmer makes handcrafted calls for ducks By Earl Manning |
 A piece of carefully sized red cedar holds each reed in just the right position. Each piece is cut and fitted by hand. PHOTOS EARL MANNING |
| When you search for colorful characters, look no farther than southwestern Louisiana. In Cajun Country, you'll find more unique personalities than you can count.
One of these is Mervis Saltzman from Gueydan. Some call him a legend in his own time. A former crop duster pilot, enterprising farmer, rice dryer operator, and custom farm worker, Saltzman "redefines" diversified. His varied interests don't stop. Waterfowling is Saltzman's passion, and he has passed it on to new generations. He, his son Kendall and his grandson Chris Potier are renowned waterfowl callers. Both Mervis and Kendall have won the state championship for calling speckle belly geese. Chris is a triple state champion, winning top honors in calling ducks, snow geese, and "specks" (also known as white fronted geese). |
"After dominating the state contest in Baton Rouge for seven years, we quite competing", says Mervis. "It hurts any contest if the same people win year after year." The veteran farmer and sportman is almost eqaually well known as a manufacturer of handmade calls. Each year he builds and sells 300 to 400 each of duck calls and calls for attracting specks.  |
His Chien Caille (pronounced "shang kai") duck calls fetch $20 each. Calls for speckle bellies are $25 apiece. Saltsman's speck calls feature reeds cut, sized, and shaped from Ace brand baby combs. "No other material works as well or produces a tone so true", he declares. Mervis fashions his duck calls from scratch and uses materials native to the area. Short segments of bamboo form the barrel of each duck call. A wedge of red cedar holds each reed in place. The brass base of a spent 10 to 16 gauge shotgun shell adds the finishing touch. "The duck call reeds are made of mylar plastic", says Mervis, "Otherwise everything is local material. We are just preserving a piece of Cajun Heritage." |
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Reprinted with permission from Progressive Farmer Nov. 1998 Volume 113 Number 12 © Copyright 1999 Progressive Farmer, Inc. |
Contact:
Chien Caille Duck and Goose Calls
Mervis & Kendall Saltzman
28212 Min's Road
Gueydan, Louisiana 70542
Ph: 337-536-6602
Ph: 337-536-9852
Email: calls@chiencaille.com
Gueydan
Duck Festival
Vermilion Parish
Tourist Commission
E-Mail: vptc@acadian.net
P. O. Box 1106
Abbeville, La. 70511
318-893-6600
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