Any discussion about the development of calling game—whether it be elk, ducks, predators or turkeys—cannot be complete without including Will Primos. The founder of the Mississippi hunting product company that bears his name, Primos has built not only a respected brand, but a legacy, on imitating mews, high-balls, howls and yelps to bring game into range. For more than 50 years he has shown hunters that calling not only works but is a lot of fun, too. In fact, he may be as well known for his long-running series of hunting videos, “The TRUTH,” as the calls he has made.

With calls such as the Hoochie Mama and Limb Hanger to his credit, along with hundreds of audio and video productions that demonstrate their effectiveness, Primos is an icon in the outdoor industry—though he’s quick to humbly shrug off that term. He prefers the focus be not on him but on the experience that calling brings to hunters.

“The goal wasn’t to be known or to be somebody who stood out in the hunting industry,” Primos says about his success in a recent interview with RMEF. “It wasn’t meant to be about me. It was meant to be about the love of all these wild places that wildlife call home. My thought was we need to give people the opportunity to love this.” 

A natural storyteller with the ability to relay the excitement and drama of moments in the field, Primos, along with his recording crew, gave hunters plenty of such opportunity. In the early 1980s, he was a pioneer in recording audio cassette tapes of turkey hunts that included calling instruction to fit the situation. The media format soon changed to video, and film subjects expanded to include ducks, deer and elk—the latter of which proved to be the most challenging.

“We’d gotten good at the turkey deal, and waterfowl was difficult but we could do it, but with elk we just couldn’t get it done,” Primos says. “I put a lot of resources behind learning how to video elk and call them up close.”

The problem was the tendency of elk to respond to Primos’ calling by approaching him straight-on. He preferred not to take frontal shots, yet they were the only shots that bulls coming to his calls offered. Primos hunted with one cameraman and did all the calling himself until a friend had an idea for a strategy that, at the time, was unconventional. The novel tactic involved taking a third person on the hunt who would be the caller and position himself behind the shooter and cameraman to draw a bull past the pair for a broadside or quartering shot. It worked, and Primos’ friend killed a bull on camera.

“The lights started going off,” Primos says. “We started hunting with three or four people to call the elk into the camera.”

The videos put viewers into the middle of the action as it unfolded in the backcountry, as well as the backwoods and backwaters. Fans and believers who learned to “speak the language,” as the brand’s slogan urges, boosted Primos products to the forefront of game calls.

With business success came a deeper objective: a commitment to conservation and to educating both hunters and nonhunters about the importance of healthy habitat.

“I recognized, as I began to hunt more and more, all the places that had a lot of game had great habitat,” Primos says. “The dots began to connect. As soon as I had the money, I became a Life Member . I just love the mission, that it’s about the hunt and the places elk call home.”

Primos’ dedication to conservation and enhancing habitat for big game, turkeys, upland birds, waterfowl and other wildlife only increased as he continued his work, and now, having taken a less active role in the company, he is focused on making an even greater difference in these areas. Earlier this year Primos launched The TRUTH About Conservation, a public awareness and fundraising campaign in collaboration with RMEF, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, Ducks Unlimited, the National Wild Turkey Federation, Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever. The primary fundraising mechanism is a firearm auction featuring a one-of-a-kind set of five side-hammer shotguns meticulously built by world-renowned firearm maker James Purdey & Sons of London.

The five side-by-side shotguns, which bear consecutive serial numbers and have an appraised value of $800,000, were commissioned by Primos in 2012 and took 11 years to complete. Rock Island Auction Company will offer them during the company’s Premier Firearms Auction in Bedford, Texas, as well as online, Dec. 5 to 7, 2025. Proceeds from the auction of the Will Primos Purdey Collection will be split among RMEF and the other groups Primos has partnered with in The TRUTH About Conservation. Rock Island has agreed to waive commissions associated with the auction of the Primos Collection so that all proceeds go directly toward conservation efforts. Considering the bid potential of the Purdey set, this is a generous gesture.

Hunters, firearm collectors and conservationists can learn more about the finely crafted shotguns and Primos’ involvement in the campaign at The TRUTH About Conservation. Interested bidders will find a link on the site to create an account for the auction.

“Will’s dedication to hunting and conservation is evident,” says RMEF President and CEO Kyle Weaver. “He is an example of it day in and day out, and not just by his support of RMEF that spans more than three and a half decades. He does so with his actions. We’re grateful for this concerted effort to benefit like-minded conservation groups that care and do so much for elk and many other wildlife species.”

For Primos, The TRUTH About Conservation and the Purdey auction represent the culmination of his life’s work in promoting hunting and the ways hunters conserve wildlife and its habitat. His passion has come full circle.

“Conservation organizations have been so much a part of my life, and RMEF is right up there at the top of the list,” he says. “I love these organizations and what they stand for because of what they gave me my whole life.”