Photo by J.J. Reich

Blue-ribbon buys

Turkey calls worth their weight in gold

Turkey calls that win blue ribbons and gold medals at the NWTF Grand National Turkey Call-making Competition are the best money can buy.

Why? Because you’re getting a call that has been evaluated and crowned as the best call in its category by a prestigious and nit-picky panel of expert judges. Because you’ll own a call from a callmaker at the top of his game. And because a majority of the proceeds from the sale of these winners fund NWTF’s conversation and hunting heritage efforts.

At the Grand National competition, callmakers from across the country enter their individual works of art in hopes of gold, along with a healthy serving of pride, prestige and personal accomplishment.

Turkey calls are submitted to one of two divisions. Calls entered into the Hunting Turkey Call Division are expertly crafted to possess the right tone, pitch and break-over ability required to most accurately mimic wild birds. Calls entered in the Decorative Turkey Call Division often don’t look like turkey calls at all, but instead are fine works of art that resemble woodland owls, brilliantly-painted American bald eagles, or other images from nature.

Blue-ribbon medals are awarded to the best calls in several different categories, such as “Friction Pot (Slate and Striker)” or “Decorative Box (Laminated or Inlaid).” After blue ribbons are announced for the best in each category, additional high honors for “Best in Class” and “Best of Show” are awarded.

Buying Back Gold

At the 2009 Grand National Turkey Call Making Competition, rookie Gregg Guthridge of St. Marys, Pa., won first place in “Friction Call (Carved and/or Painted)” category within the Decorative Turkey Call Division.

Guthridge entered a full-body wild turkey sculpture entitled “First Snow,” depicting a mature gobbler on freshly fallen powder. The medal-winning slate call was embedded in the gobbler’s back, and the striker handle was incorporated into the head of the gobbler with its peg stored inside the sculpture’s body. This was the first call Guthridge ever entered into the annual contest. The custom carved call took 202 hours to complete, including over 50 hours of hand-painting each individual body and tail fan feather.

During the silent auction, Guthridge bid on his own call, and paid $1,200 to get it back.

“I didn’t enter the competition to make money,” Gregg explains. “It’s more about the personal satisfaction and professional recognition from the call-making community that comes with winning a blue ribbon. Plus this was my first big win and I want to keep this particular call as a family heirloom. It’s a thrill to have people look at something cool that you made, and say ‘Holy cow, that is awesome!’ For me, all these reasons are worth the price, plus the money goes to the noble efforts of the NWTF, which are also extremely important to me.” — J.J.R.

Every call that wins gold in this fiercely-competitive contest is placed on the auction block and sold. Call makers elect to donate 50 percent or 100 percent of the sale amount for each call to the NWTF. Some calls are sold in a silent auction, while others are sold during an exciting live auction. Calls bought during either auction range in price from $20 to more than several thousand dollars. In 2009, Dwayne Worley of Roswell, N.M., submitted a decorative box call that sold for $5,150!

The amount of money donated to the NWTF by auctioning off blue-ribbon calls is quite impressive. Add additional funds raised by registration fees and sponsorships, and you’ll understand why this annual fundraiser is one of the Federation’s most important fundraisers: The grand total netted in 2009 was $128,000.

To buy this year’s latest and greatest blue ribbon calls, attend the Grand National Turkey Call-making Competition at the Annual NWTF National Convention and Sport Show. Your next chance is Feb. 18-21 at Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville, Tenn. — J.J. Reich