Competition Calls

[culpeper]

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Do the judges like what we call makers and hunters like, or do they like something different?  Why would competition calls be 'different' than any other great hunting call built?  When we see how so many of us prefer differing sound qualities....clear yelp...more rasp, less rasp, high pitch... and so on, would the National Competition for call making be different if it was held in somewhere North Dakota or somewhere in Maine?

[Greg Massey]

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I know from purchasing calls from T J and Marlin in person, they make calls especially just for the guys calling in a competition. They usually just sell those type calls to those guys. Now I'm not saying a competition caller can't use other type calls..

[BigSlam51]

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I kinda wonder about this with some of these state comps. Seems to vary from one comp to the other on what sounds the judges like. There's a couple comps that recently adopted the old school sound where there isn't much if any of a high front, and hardly any rasp. Then others like the opposite.

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[ol bob]

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On the National Competition level they have had judges that could not play some calls, so how could the competition be fair. I have heard they are begging for judges now.

[culpeper]

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I kinda wonder about this with some of these state comps. Seems to vary from one comp to the other on what sounds the judges like. There's a couple comps that recently adopted the old school sound where there isn't much if any of a high front, and hardly any rasp. Then others like the opposite.

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This is precisely what I have been thinking about and it's intersting to me anyway, how it has changed over the years.  When Mike Lapp, Don Chancey and Scott Baseshore were going head to head, the overall sound carried a clearer tone and no where near as much rasp as we hear nowadays.  Not wrong, or right...just different.  I know this, the calls by these three gentleman have been responsible for countless great turkey hunts and harvests!

I should have said that as a box call builder who has entered competitions for many years now, I am all too familiar with what can happen and while I do understand and accept that we are all human, I am not so concerned about the calling quality of the judges....not in this post anyway.

[3bailey3]

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I went to a NWTF pot calling comp. at my local Bass Pro a few years ago and was surprised by how many of the guys were using older Cody pots, both slate and glass..

[SS Calls]

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 Good luck with figuring that out Scott.  Take 5 sets of judges, and let each set of judges judge the same calls, and you'd probably get 5 different winners. As for killing turkeys, all the sounds you described kill birds, and the call that's the best one day, may not be best the next. 6 of 7 gobblers we killed this year were from a box call I just couldn't let out of my shop. The gobblers loved it though. lol.  Comps are fun, but we both know where the true judges of a call live. 

[Yoder409]

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Good luck with figuring that out Scott.  Take 5 sets of judges, and let each set of judges judge the same calls, and you'd probably get 5 different winners. As for killing turkeys, all the sounds you described kill birds, and the call that's the best one day, may not be best the next. 6 of 7 gobblers we killed this year were from a box call I just couldn't let out of my shop. The gobblers loved it though. lol.  Comps are fun, but we both know where the true judges of a call live. 

Pretty much spot-on.  Yep.

Judges are humans and, in that, are subjective, one to the other.  What sound, inflections and cadence one wants to hear may not match, exactly, the expectations of another.  As for what callmakers label a "competition call"............some of it, I think, is a sound that competitors look for.  Some of it is the consistency of the way the call runs to eliminate a possible flub-up.  I have a grand total of one "competition call".  And there was a little bit of hesitancy by the maker to sell it to me because I only compete in the woods.  But he was very gracious and let me take it home.  It's 150% hen and has the most consistent "bite" of any box call I own.  That call did very well in the woods competition this spring.

[GobbleNut]

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My impression for all of these upper-level competitions nowadays is that it is more about knowing the judges and their preferences more-so than the calls used.  The abilities of the callers are so close anymore that it comes down to the subjectivity of the judges, not calling ability.  I suspect position in the calling rotation plays a significant role, as well. 

[Greg Massey]

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In the end it's all about the score sheet... totals ..

[culpeper]

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Good luck with figuring that out Scott.  Take 5 sets of judges, and let each set of judges judge the same calls, and you'd probably get 5 different winners. As for killing turkeys, all the sounds you described kill birds, and the call that's the best one day, may not be best the next. 6 of 7 gobblers we killed this year were from a box call I just couldn't let out of my shop. The gobblers loved it though. lol.  Comps are fun, but we both know where the true judges of a call live. 

I agree Al

[Wvgobbler]

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Good luck with figuring that out Scott.  Take 5 sets of judges, and let each set of judges judge the same calls, and you'd probably get 5 different winners. As for killing turkeys, all the sounds you described kill birds, and the call that's the best one day, may not be best the next. 6 of 7 gobblers we killed this year were from a box call I just couldn't let out of my shop. The gobblers loved it though. lol.  Comps are fun, but we both know where the true judges of a call live. 

X2
I agree Al

[Matt k]

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I guess that’s why Darrin Dawkins logo says “judged by nature “

[trb136]

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Do the judges like what we call makers and hunters like, or do they like something different?  Why would competition calls be 'different' than any other great hunting call built?  When we see how so many of us prefer differing sound qualities....clear yelp...more rasp, less rasp, high pitch... and so on, would the National Competition for call making be different if it was held in somewhere North Dakota or somewhere in Maine?

I never understood why a callmaker would build something any different for a comp that they wouldn’t sell a customer. I know each callmaker has a sound in their head they want to get out of there call. I guess that’s what makes it unique. I think Al nailed it there are so many different opinions on sound.  I am judging Grand Nationals this weekend I know what I want to hear from a call..

[KYTURKEY]

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I judged the box call division for 10 years.  As far as sound goes though, I never went in looking for a sound. I went in looking for a call to hit my ear. No matter if it was raspy, clear or whatever. I was looking for a call to impress me.

I feel if a judge goes in looking for a certain sound, they will pass over really strong calls because it is not of a certain sound. You MUST have an open mind going in to be 100% fair.

Patrick