If you’re a diehard hunter, you know the struggle: You’ve spent hundreds if not thousands of dollars on hunting calls, trying to find the really good ones. You know, the ones that sound great, last hunt after hunt and let you do all kinds of calls.
Bill Ayer was sick of throwing his money away on calls that were one-trick ponies or that just didn’t hold up. So he took what he knew about woodworking from his grandfather and hunting from more than 40 years in the field. He set out to make a duck call that was better than anything on the market.
Bill bought a lathe for turning and shaping the wood and started working with his hands. Creating high-quality handcrafted masterpieces was a family tradition. Bill’s grandfather was a Sicilian immigrant whose custom furniture business produced pieces still in use at Bill’s house today. His father worked steel after serving in the Marines. And his uncle, a cobbler, was so talented in working leather that he fixed up the gloves and shoes for the Bay area’s professional baseball teams.
Using the lessons he’d learned from the men in his family, Bill turned call after call. Each hunting call that didn’t meet his standards taught him what causes a call to work, what makes it fail and how to create a variety of sounds.
Working toward the perfect duck call started as a hobby. But over 10 years, Bill became relentlessly obsessed with building a quality call for the everyday hunter that could do everything really well.
After spinning up more than 50 prototypes, Bill created the duck call that could do it all.
His double-reed call could high ball. It could get low. It could lose the echo for the trees. It could refuge feed. It could Cajun squeal. It could do the bouncing hen. It was durable. And it was a standout design on his lanyard to boot.
Bill knew his call was a winner. Folks told him it was one of the best calls they’d ever blown. With a supportive hunting community behind him, Bill turned his obsession into a business: Slayer Calls.
“That’s the quality and the craftsmanship that I want to put into every call. For me, if I don’t sell 100,000 duck calls because I have to touch them all, that’s OK.”
Bill Ayer, CEO & founder
Bill didn’t stop with the perfect duck call. With the same obsession, he dedicated himself to designing a goose call and elk bugle that beat out everything else on the market. Just like Slayer’s original duck call, they’re 100% made in America.
Today, every hunting call that Slayer sells goes directly through Bill. The pieces are pulled together at Slayer’s CNC shop, according to Bill’s bespoke designs and exact specifications. Then Bill puts in the detailed work himself to ensure perfection. For each duck and goose call, he cuts and puts the reeds on. He hits sandpaper on the soundboard. He tunes it. He polishes the call on his lathe before boxing it up. So when you open your Slayer delivery, your hunting call is up to Bill’s ridiculously high standards. This is Slayer.
If you couldn’t tell, we’re obsessed with the sport of hunting. Slayer is committed to conservation and the preservation of hunting for generations to come, and we put our money where our mouth is by donating 10% of every purchase. We’re here for all the hunters who drag themselves through the mire in leaky waders, who freeze their rear ends off morning after morning in the blind, who dream about formations with wings cupped and landing gear down. Us too, buddy. Us too.
Slayer Calls is based in beautiful Eagle, Idaho. Bill and his growing team of employees and PRO Staff are outdoor enthusiasts and passionate conservationists obsessed with providing unmatched customer service and the best waterfowl and big game calls on the market. We stand by our quality. If you’re not obsessed, we’ll make it right.