Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Zink Wins National Award for Turkey Call Makers

Contact: Pete Muller at (803) 637-7698

 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The National Wild Turkey Federation honored Fred Zink with the Dick Kirby Award for Zink’s passion for providing hunters with premium turkey calls and his dedication to the NWTF’s mission.

“I have received many awards through the years, but I must say this one stands above all and means the most to me,” Zink said. “This award brings everything full circle. As I started learning how to call turkeys when I was 15 years old, Dick Kirby was the man on the cassette tape I listened to for hours at a time. Dick was a leader and pioneer [in the call making industry], and to even be considered for this award is a great honor.”

Zink accepted his award at the 43rd annual NWTF Convention and Sport Show. Mossy Oak is the official convention sponsor.

The award is named for turkey hunting legend Dick Kirby, who was the brains and heart behind Quaker Boy Calls. He also was one of the original members of the NWTF, serving nine years on its national board of directors in the 1990s.

Zink, an Ohio native and founder of Zink Calls, took to hunting at an early age. His callmaking company got its start in the world of waterfowl, but Zink’s line of premium turkey calls quickly gained a positive reputation of their own and became the official call of the NWTF in 2016. Through this partnership, each Zink turkey call bears the NWTF logo on its packaging and a portion of the sale from each call helps support the NWTF mission.

Avian-X Decoys, another of Zink’s companies, is the official decoy of the NWTF, also providing NWTF brand recognition and financial support to the conservation efforts.

“Fred’s commitment to the NWTF from both a personal and business standpoint has been instrumental in the recent success of the NWTF,” NWTF CEO Becky Humphries said. “We are thankful for his dedication to the future of hunting and wildlife conservation and know this award is the least of what we can do to say thanks for his contributions to our Save the Habitat. Save the Hunt. initiative.”

About the National Wild Turkey Federation
When the National Wild Turkey Federation was founded in 1973, there were about 1.3 million wild turkeys in North America. After decades of work, that number hit a historic high of almost 7 million turkeys. To succeed, the NWTF stood behind science-based conservation and hunters’ rights. The NWTF Save the Habitat. Save the Hunt. initiative is a charge that mobilizes science, fundraising and devoted volunteers to raise $1.2 billion to conserve and enhance more than 4 million acres of essential wildlife habitat, recruit at least 1.5 million hunters and open access to 500,000 acres for hunting. For more information, visit NWTF.org