I have called in contests in VA and MD, and judged a few local contests in MD - but it's been several years, so my knowledge is a bit dated.

Listen to tapes/turkeys to get the rhythms & pitchright. Far better is to get a veteran contestant to mentor you. For example, a coach could quickly tell you that your tree yelps may be either too raspy or too loud - something that you may have a hard time figuring out by yourself. Remember what tkycaller posted: you are calling to (biased) judges, not to turkeys. It's been oft repeated that a hen turkey could have a hard time competing in a contest...

Although most contests will allow you use the caller of your choice - master the mouth call: while you may do a very good rendition of a yelp with a box call,you might not score as well as the next guy who can do the same with a mouth call.My primaryturkey-hunting calleris a tube call - although itsounds "authentic" - it causes problems for some judges (imho) and I quickly learned to not use it in contests.

I recommend that you perform each call without adding any extra"frills" unless it makes sense to include them... (I would get irritated (= lower score) to hearpurrs added to a "plain yelp" - but that wasme).Istill remember this one caller (nervous?, but otherwise competent), giving usonly purrswhen he was asked for lost yelps... a zero.

But do not let me scare you off - calling contests add another dimension to the sport and are enjoyable events once you understand their underpinnings (marketing calls to the unwashed masses). Don't let low scores get you down, but seek to improve. While you may think being a "better" caller could only help you in the woods, it does not make necessarily make you a better turkey hunter -- I was sure prone to excessive calling in those days, lol. Live, learn, enjoy...
-fsh