NWTF Announces 2025 Grand National Calling Championships Hall of Fame Class

"For nearly 50 years, the Grand National Calling Championships have been a staple of the NWTF Convention and Sport Show,” said NWTF co-CEO Jason Burckhalter. “The NWTF recognizes the mark these individuals have made on turkey hunting and calling, working to preserve our hunting heritage, which in turn benefits the conservation of the wild turkey. We salute these three individuals who will be inducted into the 2025 GNCC Hall of Fame class and look forward to recognizing their achievements in the turkey calling world."

Voted on by former GNCC champions and previous Hall of Fame inductees, three individuals have been selected for induction in 2025: Ernie Calandrelli, Mark Drury and Jim Pollard. The induction ceremony is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025 at Nashville’s Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center. This free event in the Governor’s Ballroom is open to the public to honor and celebrate these three outstanding champion callers. The induction will begin at 4 p.m. following the GNCC Senior Open Finals, the Super Bowl of turkey calling.

From 1977 in Hershey, Pennsylvania, site of the first GNCCs, to today’s grand contest in Nashville as a prelude to wild turkey hunting seasons across the country, many great callers and supporters have played a pivotal role in promoting the sport of competitive turkey calling and cut a path for future outdoorsmen and women. Without their efforts to champion wild turkey hunting and calling, millions of hunters who pursue the wild turkey each spring would not have the opportunities available today.

The 2025 class of the NWTF Grand National Calling Championships Hall of Fame features:

Ernie Calandrelli started his outdoor experiences in 1956, exploring the western New York landscape with his father and uncles, and his foundation for teaching and helping others dates back to these early adventures. The fire to compete and help others was fueled by early encounters with Paul Butski, the late Dick Kirby and Ben Rodgers Lee. Placing second in his first amateur turkey calling contest in 1977 set the stage for a decade of competition calling success. He competed 10 times in the Grand Nationals, finishing third in 1987. Ernie also won the U.S. Open Gobbling, Pennsylvania State, Appalachian Mountain Regional, Potato City Open and three New York State Opens, plus the World Goose Calling Championship. In total, Ernie has won or placed in more than 100 contests across the United States and Canada. He has also judged and emceed the Grand Nationals 15 times, along with all the major calling contests and many state and open competitions.

Ernie was a significant member of the Quaker Boy product design team through his career. For 35 years, he served as the director of public relations at Quaker Boy, during which time he shared his passion for the outdoor lifestyle through seminars, video productions, trade shows, print, and social media. As one of the original life members of the NWTF, Ernie continues to passionately share the NWTF message and mission.

One of the most recognizable faces in the outdoors industry, Mark Drury enjoyed a long, successful contest calling career. He captured the 1992 World senior title, along with five other World contest triumphs and more than 150 state, local and regional wins. In 1989, he and his brother, Terry, started Drury Outdoors, which went on to produce some of the most memorable deer and turkey videos, television programs and online content in the industry. In 1993, Mark started M.A.D. Calls, a highly successful game-call manufacturer. In 2016, Mark and Terry were inducted into the Legends of the Outdoors Hall of Fame. In 2019, he, Terry, his daughter, Taylor, and nephew Matt were inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, becoming the first outdoors/hunting personalities ever inducted. In 2022, he and Terry were presented the national Lewis and Clarke Award for conservation.

This legendary caller won four Grand Nationals Senior titles from 2002 through 2009, plus two World Championship Turkey Calling Contest Senior championships. He’s also a six-time New York state champion and two-time North American champion, and has 60 more wins in local, state and regional contests. Jim is on the Mossy Oak and Kluk Custom Calls pro-staffs, and operated his own call company — Pollard’s Elite Calls — for 11 years. A longtime supporter of the NWTF, Jim is also an avid bowhunter and trout fisherman.