Will Primos, Truth, and Giving Back

Outdoor legend champions conservation with Purdey Shotgun Set donation

Hand holding shotgun
 

By Tom Carpenter

If you hunt and you don't live under a rock, you know who Will Primos is.

In 1963, at the age of 11, Will crafted his first game call, a duck call, after a special day hunting in green timber with his Uncle Gus. "I was absolutely enthralled hearing him make that call sing. When I got home, I made my own call by copying my uncle's."

In 1976, while working at the family restaurant business after college, he started Primos Hunting. The initial focus was on turkey calls. They caught on.

Will Primos sitting in a chair

But Primos, born and raised in Mississippi, was a hunter of much more than the king of the spring woods. Waterfowl of course, whitetails, predators, upland birds … "anything that flew, crawled, walked or swam, I was after it," he says.

Primos' company grew, and far beyond just game calls, into hunting gear, equipment, accessories and clothes. Primos Yelpers became Primos Hunting Calls became Primos Outdoors.

Primos shotgun receiver

Like anything good, it didn't just happen. "I worked 24 hours a day, seven days a week," Will says. "We kept growing and growing. I would travel any time I had time off, go promote, go to shows, go give seminars."

No small part of that growth was a pioneering idea. In 1983, Will took his first real marketing step with instructional audio tapes of actual hunts. Then he started producing some of the first quality hunting videos combining real-life action and clear, concise instruction … and called them The Truth About Hunting.

Now, the tireless Primos is working to give back. "The truth is," he says, "hunters and anglers do more than any other group to protect wildlife and their habitats. I call it The Truth About Conservation."

"It dawned on me, one day, how important habitat was to where I went," he says. "I thought, 'How can I, with my resources, give back to conservation? I want to do something different, something special … I want to make an impact.'"

In 2012, when Will sold his company, he ordered the first of a remarkable five-gun set from the world-renowned gunmakers at James Purdey & Sons. The first gun was to be a 16-gauge, in homage to his father's beloved 16-gauge A.H. Fox, a shotgun Will owns to this day.

Primos shotgun barrel

"It became clearer and clearer," Will says, "that giving back to conservation was the purpose of getting that set of remarkable shotguns."

Will is donating the Primos Purdey Shotgun Collection to be auctioned, with proceeds to be split among five of the nation's leading conservation organizations: Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever, National Wild Turkey Federation, Ducks Unlimited, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation.

"The truth is," says Will, "that hunters and anglers do more than any other group to protect wildlife and their habitat." He wants to build awareness around that truth … and to give back.

At that time of the initial Purdey shotgun order, Will had the foresight to reserve five consecutive serial numbers for his vision of the five-gun collection from one of the top fine arms firms in the world.

The world-class collection was designed by Primos and hand-built over the course of a decade.

The set includes one gun each in 12, 16, 20, 28 and gauge, and .410 bore. The Will Primos Purdey Collection blends 19th century elegance and style with 21st century modern technology.

Two men holding Primos shotguns looking at them

Let's just say, no detail has been spared in these exquisite Purdey doubles. The collection has been valued at just shy of $1 million. It will produce significant and critical funding for conservation.

Rock Island Auction Company will offer the Will Primos Purdey Collection as the centerpiece of their Premier Firearms Auction on December 5-7, 2025, at their Texas facility, the finest brick-and-mortar auction venue in the world. Proceeds will be split to benefit the five leading conservation organizations chosen.

Wandering down an aisle at National Pheasant Fest and Quail Classic last winter in Kansas City, I had the chance to meet Will. My heart palpitated a little, my hands got a little sweaty … and then Will's warm smile and friendly chat made me feel like an old pal.

I felt like I was beside him in one of "The Truth" hunting videos I used to pop into the old VCR back in the day.

Will Primos is both a gentleman and a gentle man. He loves wildlife. He loves hunting. He understands the truth about hunters' role in conservation.

And now he is giving back. Again. Big time.




 

Tom Carpenter is editor at Pheasants Forever.

To learn more about Will, his love for conservation and the one-of-a-kind shotguns of The Will Primos Purdey Collection, visit thetruthaboutconservation.com.