what ever happened to Dennis Kirk ?

L

lonedog

New member
Anybody know what happened to Dennis Kirk. I know he sold out to Nite Lite but haven't heard a thing about him since ?
 
Is his products not liked? I have a DK open reed caller, its a black small one, it is one of the worst calls I have ever blown, it closes up and has a very badly designed air channel. If anybody wants it you are welcome to it, I will be glad to send it to somebody. Regards.
 
Is he a fictitious person? no really. He just all of a sudden appeared on the varmint calling scene out of nowhere.
What is his claim to fame other than selling mediocre supplies at a high price ? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
 
I bought a howler / open reed combo. Neither worked very well. I put a sceery open reed mouth peice into the howlers horn and turned out to be an excellent howler... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-006.gif

the DK mouth peices got thrown away.......
 
lonedog, i met dennis kirk at a sports show in suffern ny many years ago. he gave a talk/demo on turkey calling. i bought one of his turkey calls. he lived in upstate ny and seemed to have only the turkey calls and guided turkey hunts,so he was real. then his stuff turned up on nite lite. i dont know what happened to him maybe a google search will turn something up. bob kudile
 
wow! you guys are vicious! sounds like mr. kirk robbed some of you. the calls can't be that bad, can they? geez, give the guy a break. he's trying to make a living, i'm sure there are some kirk lovers out there. i'd never buy a call with a picture of the maker on the front of the packaging anyway. that's a sure sign it won't work. sceery is the only other one i can think of with the maker on the front, but i know sceery works.
 
Dennis Kirk's products had good and bad points. I agree his mouth calls and tapes were ineffective. I called in one coyote on the coon puppies tape and that was all I ever called with his sounds. However, about 15 years ago Dennis Kirk came out with a remote controlled e-caller that was a good caller ahead of it's time. It probably was the first remote unit. I called a lot of predators with one using other peoples sounds. He also had a paper back book about fox hunting that was a good beginners instruction manual 15 years ago. Today the Nite Lite (Dennis Kirk) products are behind the times. In his day Dennis was an innovator and may have ushered in the era of remote e-callers but he never had a complete set of good products (e-callers, hand calls, sounds) that todays top companies have.
 
I have met the man and have called him at his home on two occasions to discuss fox hunting when I first got started. He was very helpful with his insight and was able to get me on the right path for calling in the New York, PA. areas. He was very good at his coon and fox calling. I have used the black open reed call and own (2) that have been stated above when I first started calling and have called in numerous fox. I liked the call personally. He has a gray fox tape that in my opinion is the best tape for grays. I have called in reds, grays and coyotes with this tape. I still have it and just made a copy the other day so if it bites the dust I'm good to go. Take what others offer figure out what will work in the areas you call and have at it.
 
I have a NiteLite Wizard for night hunting. Its awsome. Kirks grey fox pup distress tape has called in a mess of fur for me including the only yote I've seen come to a call.
 
Good question, I've wondered the same thing about what Dennis Kirk is up to these days. One thing I'm surpised at is the negative comments and questions about his credientials. Those who think he just jumped into the predator calling scene to sell products don't have a clue. He was a professional caller before he ever sold a product. For the record, Dennis is one of the all time best fox callers in the country! For several years DK and his partner LIVED on what they called and trapped along with turkey guide fees. I would bet cash Dennis Kirk has called more Red fox than any of the "internet hunters" on this forum and ranks with the all time best eastern predator callers.

I talked to him several times on the phone solving certain problems I was running into in the field and met him in person at the National Predator Calling championship in Seward Nebraska in 1988. He put on a seminar and I stayed for an hour after picking his brain. Dennis is a walking encyclopedia of fox calling and was always happy to share the wealth.
 
Thanks for the post Rick-MI. I learned a lot from DEnnis in the late 80's myself. His remote e-caller was one of maybe the first remote caller and I killed a lot of predators with one before the digital callers came along. I spent a lot of time on the phone with Dennis back then and he always had time to help me out.
 
I too own one of the 1st of his e-callers, it was shipped to me right from the plant in California.
The caller has an excellent sounding speaker and the remote works quit well also.

Even tho I have only called one coyote with it using a Raccoon Fighting tape, it did call a couple dozen crows for me.
But I really only used it maybe a dozen times and now it just sits, waiting for the right person to come along and snatch it up.
 
For any one who is still wondering Dennis passed a few years ago. He left me with all the knowledge and love for the outdoors he had before he left as he was my stepfather since I was three. I rejoice in the praise some of you give, he was the best hunting/fishing/trapping/calling encyclopedia I ever had. I can’t step in the field without wishing I had soaked up more information from him. He was a true pioneer of the sport and taught so many people the tricks of the trade. Now with him gone predator calling has been very trying here in upstate ny. Can’t call him and tell him about my stands or ask him what I’m doing wrong makes it all the more frustrating. For the people who want to give his stuff away I would be more then ecstatic to have it.

KirkProdigy
 
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