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Turkey time: Cabela's to host calling contest
Photo courtesy of Luke Clayton – The proper use of a turkey call can net a hunter some tasty results.
By Andrew Snyder, asnyder@starlocalnews.com
An eruption of gobbles will come from Cabela's in Allen on Saturday when the store plays host to its first turkey calling contest.
The North Texas Open Turkey Calling Championship will offer cash prizes and gift cards to top turkey imitators, who will be split into separate divisions according to their method and experience level. The top prize, $1,000, will go to the winner of the open division, which is for contestants using a mouth call.
The contest begins at 1 p.m.
The friction division is for contestants using a slate or box call, which are struck to produce turkey sounds. The contest will also include an amateur and youth division, as well as an owl hooting competition in which contestants imitate the sound of a Barred Owl.
“If you can beat on a five-gallon bucket and make it sound like a turkey, you're welcome to enter,” Barnard said about the contest's amateur division.
The winner of the amateur contest will receive a hunting bow valued at $600.
Barnard has been a professional caller for 28 years and has helped organize similar events in the past. He said contestants at Saturday's calling contest will be asked to give four or five different turkey calls to five judges listening behind a curtain. There are 13 listed turkey calls – including “purrs,” “clucks,” “yelps” and “kee-kees” – the contestants can be asked to reproduce.
Barnard has been training the judges, who he said are seasoned and have judged contests before, by giving them audio of turkey calls to review. He said he wants to get back to a more “old-school” competition.
“Instead of callers trying to sound like other callers that have won,” Barnard said, “I want callers to sound like turkeys again.”
Saturday's event will feature an elite talent in Sadler McGraw, who won a world title in open calling and owl hooting last year. McGraw is among the 18 to 20 participants Barnard expects to take part in the open division of the contest, which he has been promoting through social media and personal letters to potential participants.
Anyone wishing to enter the contest has to be a member National Wild Turkey Federation or to purchase a membership at the registration table. An entry fee will also be required for each division.
A pair of raffles for shotguns will be held at the contest, one open to all present and another for contest participants only.
For more information on the contest, contact Barnard at 972-905-5757 or robert.barnard@rocketmail.com.
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