I recently attended the US Open Qualifier at Bass Pro in Charlotte. It was the first contest I had ever been to and I taped virtually the whole thing. A lady would call each contestant in the mouth calling contest forward by their pre-drawn numbers and each had to perform 5 calls. They were: hen yelp, hen assembly call, kee-kee run, flydown cackle, and lastly purr and cluck. When each contestant had made the first call to their satisfaction they would nod at the lady and she would tell them to perform the next. Is that how most contests go? I was just wondering if I could attend more contests with different rules and formats or are they generally the same everywhere? Thanks as always guys.

I don't really know. I haven't ever been to a calling contest. I would like to start calling in them though. How hard did it seem? BB

Most of those guys can flat out call. Many are experienced in the "calling circuit" I would start out at some local competetions before trying something like the US Open just because a contest is totally different from calling a turkey. From what I could tell, one false squeak and your out. I'd definetly practice each call a ton before I'd enter one like that one even though it was only 75 bucks to enter.

I've been to the Minnesota state championship,and that is how it was run.The calls they had to make were drawn to see which calls they had to do. I think there were 10 different calls they drew from, and they had to do 4 plus their" best call."

Yep,That's pretty much how they are run.Only exception is some comps also have the callers choice as the last call.

I have been to a couple contests here in NY and they are very boring. Don't get me wrong, these guys call great, it's just the way the format is run. I have called in duck competitions before and they have a set calling sequence to follow as though you were actually calling to a flock of ducks from start to finish. You only have 90 seconds to do the routine.
I would like to see the turkey calling contest done somewhat in this fashion (with the exception of the 90 second rule).
Say, start out with calling to a bird on the limb and right into a flydown cakkle, from there into working the bird with yelps, cutting, kee kee's, purrs. I would say that you can do each series twice, as they do now, just in a format that starts to match a real hunt. Just my thoughts.

I called in my first contest last week, in the Hunter division of the Texas State Calling Contest (winner goes to national).

The format for the state/open was, two sequences of each: yelp, flydown cackle, assembly, kee-kee run, and cutting. The Hunter division was the same, without the kee-kee run. Each participant went to the stage in the order in which they drew, the announcer would announce each call, and you performed all your calls to the judges behind a screen.

It was pretty fun, although my actual calling is sort of a blur to me! I finished in the middle of the pack, and the five judges scored me anywhere from 30 to 59 points. The high and low scores were thrown out, and the remaining three made up your score.

Well Fowler...if cluckin and purrin isn't one of the calls ya'll had to do then I am movin to Texas.LOL. I can't get that call right and I want to call in a contest sometime.

Wholelotta,nothin says you cant cluck-n-purr on a scratch call of some type.I lost to Matt Morett at the Grand nationals one year and thats exactly what he did with a slate call and blew the field away!!

On the these calling contests, can you use more than one call? I know there are categories for mouth and friction, but like, could I yelp and cutt on a call, then change mouth calls and do a kee kee?? And another question, how do all these hand gestures come into play?? I"ve seen some snipits of contests on the TV and have never really understood what purpose all these hand motions play....I know when I call, I place a hand beside my mouth, but I do that more outta habit 1. to reflect some sound toward my ear so I can hear it better and 2. to pitch the sound out towards the gobbler...