Turkey Contest Calling: What you need to know!

So, its that time of year again. The so called waiting period between the end of big game season and the start of spring. This time of year turkey hunters are starting to transition from winter to spring, or big game to turkey and paying more attention to calls, gear and of course the turkeys. We have the NWTF convention that hosts the greatest contest in the land, the Grand National Calling Championships. This is a battle royale between the best callers in the U.S. and is extremely exciting to watch. This time of year I am getting questions about calling contests. How do they work? How do you get started in contest calling? Where can I learn more about contests, where and when are the local Sanction Contests?

First, lets start with what is a Sanctioned contest. In order for a contest to be sanctioned and also be a qualifying event for the GNCC, it must meet a few requirements. In order for a contest to be sanctioned by the NWTF, it must be hosted by a local NWTF Chapter. For instance the contest here in Colorado is hosted by the Poudre Valley Longbeards. In addition to that, the contest must also follow the GNCC official rules which has requirements for age and differs depending on what division you are in. The breakdown goes something like this…..not all sanctioned contests need to have all these divisions, but if they do they must follow the rules below.

DIVISIONS:

Poults Division - Must be age 10 or younger and a member of the NWTF JAKES at the time of the contest. These callers are allowed to use any turkey call at their disposal, including but not limited to Box calls, pot calls, and mouth calls. Contestants will be judged on 4 individual calls.

Youth Division - Contestants must be bewteen 11 and 15 at the time of the contest and have the same call types allowed as the Poults Division. Contestants will be judged on 4 calls. Also, the contestant must be a member of the NWTF JAKES group.

Intermediate Division - Contestants between 16 and 20 years of age. Contestants in this division will be given 4 calls to replicate for the judges (more on this to come later in the article) Must have an active NWTF Membership and number.

Hunter/Amateur Division - This one doesn’t necessarily have an age restriction but its more for guys and gals who are just getting started. If you have placed first in either a Hunter/Amateur, Pro Friction or Open you are not allowed to call again in this division. If its your first contest, or you are just starting into the contest circuit, this division would be my choice to enter. You can use any type of call that you like and you will be judged on four individual calls. All contestants must have an active NWTF Membership and number.

Pro Friction - As the name of the division says, this one is friction calls only. Most everyone I have seen in this division typically runs a pot call, but there have been great ones with box calls, but those seem to be rare. Like the other divisions, you will be asked to replicate 4-5 individual calls. The biggest difference is that any turkey vocalization is fair game in this division. The others may be more limited based on the assumed skill level of the callers but in the Pro Divisions you should be ready for anything.

Pro Open/Senior Open - This one seems to be the main attraction. You can use either diaphragm or friction calls, but in my experience the friction calls get lower scores compared to the diaphragm most of the time. Like the friction division all sounds are fair game so be ready for anything, and the competition will be stiff. Either of the pro divisions you could expect to be calling against some of the best in the world even at the local events. (they have to qualify somewhere)

There are some others that include Team air, Scenario, Owl Hooting, and Gobbling Divisions but I just wanted to focus on the main ones. If you want to see the rules for the other divisions the NWTF has them up on their website HERE.

CALLS:

In each contest you can expect that the call lists will be posted roughly the day before the contest. They will be listed by division so you can get some last minute practicing in. The breakdown below is based completely on my experience and shouldnt be viewed as asbulte.

Poults, Junior and Intermediate divisions: These divisions are for the kids and youngsters so typically you see more of the common calls. Plain yelp of a hen, cutting of an excited hen, fly down cackle, hen assembly yelp, cluck and purr would be my best guess on the main calls you would see in this division.

Hunter Division - Pretty much the same calls as above but maybe with a few others like Kee Kee run, tree call, and some others.

Pro Friction/Open - This is the big leagues and anything can happen. I’ve even seen gobbling in this division before. (that’s pretty rare but it happens) Typically, you can expect that its going to be anything on there so prepare accordingly.

JUDGING:

These contests are inherently objective and the scores you receive can and probably will vary greatly from contest to contest. It’s humans after all listening for turkey sounds, so one can expect some variance. Shortly before the contest starts, the panel of judges which consists of typically 4-5 individuals, will go behind the stage which is blocked from view and start to prepare the score cards. A judges meeting will be held where the MC or contest host will give a quick rundown of what to expect during the contest. From there, the action starts and each caller will receive a score for each of the calls. These scores will range from 1-20, with 20 being the best. It is the job of the judges to assess if the requested call was performed and how accurately it emulates a true wild turkey. This is where the objectiveness comes into play. You are never going to be able to predict which judges like your calling or hate it, and that’s just part of the game. It is the responsibility of the contest hosts to ensure they pick judges that have an ear for turkey calls. A few of the biggest contests I went to and judged back in Pennsylvania, the judges meeting was us being locked into a room and forced to listen to the treetop turkeys CD so we could better identify the calling on stage. (That sounds crazy, but to be honest I think it was beneficial) because lets be honest here, there are guys that actually have an ear for turkeys and ones that just think they do. It really comes down to experience and almost every one of us as turkey hunters have had different experiences in the woods, and believe it or not some of the worst callers I have ever heard in my lifetime were real, live, turkeys. To be fair, contest calling is a different thing than the same calling you would do in a hunting situation typically.

CONTEST PROCESS:

Ok…so now we have a pretty good understanding of what the contest is like, lets walk through the actual contest itself from Registration to awards.

Finding a contest: This can seem like a daunting task at first. Luckily, the NWTF helps you with that. A list of all the NWTF events are listed on their events page found HERE:. You can sort by calling events and by state. Find one that is close to you and contact the person listed on the event. They can tell you where the contest and, registration time and everything else.

Registration/Callers Meeting - I always try to get to these things about 30 minutes or so before registration starts (there can be a benefit to registering early and ill explain that later, That also allows for delays if you cant find where to register) When you arrive, you will fill out your registration. Typically your name address, phone number and NWTF member number. After that you are good for a while, go practice your routines and just relax, it could be a long day. The callers meeting is next, shortly before each division starts all of the callers registered in that division will be called together. Here is where you pick your calling order. Let’s say for isntance you are calling in the Senior open and there are 10 callers registered. Numbers 1 through 11 will go into a hat or bucket and each caller (sometimes based on registration order) will pick their number. (this is why early registration can help you).

Ok so you might be wondering why 11 numbers if there are only 10 callers, and that’s a fair question. Its because whoever picks the number 1 immediately picks another number as the first caller in each division calls, but doesn’t have that score counted. The way it was explained to me was it sort of sets the tone for the judges on what to expect from that divsion. Things to note, drawing number one isin’t bad, unless you also draw number 2, which is arguably the worst number to draw in any contest. Conversely, the higher number you draw the better so in this case number 11 would be the best number. The reason that is, seems to be that the judges will be more conservative in the early numbers holding 20’s until the end. You would think that it should be scored fairly across the board and you would be right, it should be but most all the contest I have went so the early callers dont score as well. As an example, I competed in a contest where the reigning GNCC champion was calling in the number 2 position and he got beat bad by some guys that were nowhere near his level in a contest that he had won the previous year.

One the stage: When your number is called, you would need to quickly walk up onto the stage but thats where the rushing can stop. Inherently your nerves will start to kick in, but take your time get your calls laid out on the table or wherever is best for you to get them and take a deep breath. Yes, everyone will have eyes on you, but for the same exact reason as ever other person that gets on that stage, don’t let it get to you. Go do your best and thats it. Once you get your nerves calmed down and your calls set, give the MC a look and a nod, and you are off to the races. The MC will say “Caller number XX, give me your best rendition of…….” Run through the routine you have practiced, complete the requested call, give a nod to the MC when you are done and get ready for the next. I try to keep it right around 30 seconds to a minute depending on the call and move to the next. Don’t take too much time. the judges will get bored and it increase your chances of making a mistake. Once you have completed all of the requested calls, exit the stage and wait for the contest to end. After each division, the scorecards will be handed to the contest organizer or host for the scores to be added up. In the case of a tie, the tied callers will be asked to come up and redo a few calls each to then be judged to break the tie. They will put your score cards out for you to look at then they will start announcing winners. Another thing to note, your highest and lowest scorecard gets thrown out and then the remaining gets added up. The final winners are calculated on the total of all those scores remaining.

Thats a basic breakdown of a contest, I hope to see you at one this year! Best of Luck!