Top Turkey Callers Battle at World Championship

“We had a really good competition this year,” said Kenny Weiss, the event organizer. “The number of competitors was up about 39 percent from 2022. The number of competitors increased in all divisions from last year. We had callers coming in from as far as Pennsylvania and Iowa to compete here this year.”

After two days of intense competition with multiple ties in major categories and numerous close contests, Craig Wolfe from Auburn, Alabama, won the World Championship in the Open Division during the NWTF-sanctioned event. Wolfe earned $1,000 for the effort.

“To these callers, the title means more than money or prizes,” Weiss said. “That title of world champion by their names could open doors to more sponsors and opportunities. It was intense competition with many callers defending their world championship titles and former World champions trying to regain their titles.”

To win the World Open Championship as the best all-around turkey caller, entrants must demonstrate skill in making several specific calls as assigned by the event staff. Wolfe won with 475 points. The residential home builder won the same competition during the 2021 World Championship contest. He has competed for 13 years.

“It feels great to win this event again,” Wolfe said. “A lot of good callers from all around the country came to compete. Some callers had to drive long distances to get here. It’s very humbling to be around such great callers. I didn’t think I was going to win, but after I did my sets, I felt pretty good about it.”

Only two points separated the top five competitors in the Open, each just a half-point behind the person ahead. Jared Lowe came in second with 474.5, while Wayne Dozier, who won the World Open Championship in 2022, placed third with 474, followed by Jesse Martin with 473.5 and Jon Miller with 473.

“We had some very tight competitions this year with the best callers in the world,” Weiss said. “The scores were close in all the divisions, making it really tough on the judges. In some of the finals, we had to do call-offs to break ties. The people who came to watch saw a lot of great talent.”

In one of the tightest competitions, Louisiana native Bruce Saale won the World Championship Friction contest by one point. That put $1,000 in his pocket. In this competition, callers could only use friction calls. To settle ties, four of the top six competitors faced “call-offs” to decide who came out ahead.

Saale and Phillip Bryant tied with 471 points. During the call-off, Saale won with 475 points to Bryant’s 474. Steve Morgenstern came in third with 470.5, followed by Josh Pruitt with 468. Dustin Jones and Mitchell Johnston both scored 463.5 points in regular competition, but Jones won the call-off 466.5 to 464.5.

Fifth-place finisher in the Open competition, Miller won the World Championship Gobbling title and $550. Miller runs Nature Creations Taxidermy by Jon Miller in Morganton, North, Carolina. He only works on turkeys. Miller placed fourth in the Junior Division in 1995 and won the Nationals in 2002 and 2004 in the Intermediate Division. He also won multiple North Carolina state competitions and other events, but never won a World championship in Gobbling.

“It’s a great contest and we appreciate all the people who helped put it on for the callers,” Miller said. “The more people we can get to know about it, the bigger we can grow it. I hope we can continue growing it each year.”

Only four points separated the top five callers in the category. Miller scored 238.5 points. Mitchell Johnston tallied 236.5 for second place. Right behind, Kerry Elliott took third with 236. Dozier landed in fourth with 235.5, followed by Josh Pruitt with 234.5.

“The competition was very tough and the contests were very tight,” Miller said. “All the people were great callers. I was just hoping for good, clean runs and to do as well as I could on stage without any slips. In every category I entered, I felt really good about my calling.”

Competitors in the Owling competition also faced a call-off. These competitors needed to make various owl calls for the judges. James Harrison won with 243.5 points and collected $600. Jason Conrad and Brandon Rich tied with 237 for second. In the call-off, Conrad won with 237.5 points to 236.5 for Rich, who finished third. Bob Huber and Cody Harrison tied for fourth with 236 each.

In one of the most entertaining categories, teams compete in the Two-Person Team Challenge. In this event, two people act out specific scenarios given to them by contest officials. In these scenarios, competitors must act like turkeys and perform various calls and activities that turkeys might do during each situation.

“For me, the Team Challenge is the most interesting for turkey hunters because it’s so real,” remarked Eddie “the Turkey Man” Salter with Eddie Salter Game Calls (theturkeyman.com) of Evergreen, Alabama, a former World champion who served as the event emcee. “In that competition, we hear more turkey sounds as well as many other kinds of sounds from the turkey woods. The competitors are very creative.”

Dozier teamed with Lowe to win the Team Challenge with 488.5 points. They earned $875. Team Harrison, Cody and James, took second with 485.5. At first, Team Harrison tied with Martin and Elliot with 485.5. In the call-off for second place, Team Harrison scored 491.5 points, the highest in the contest. Martin and Elliot finished third. Johnston and J.R. Lanham finished fourth with 482, followed by Steve Stolz and Conrad with 480.

In other competitions, anyone of any age could compete in the Amateur Division if they had never won a previous championship. Easton Phillips won with 218.5 points, Nathan Taylor and Mason Johnston tied with 214. In the call-off, Taylor scored 217 while Johnston tallied 214.5 for third. Russell Sherling finished fourth with 210 followed by Ben Dozier with 206.5.

Competitors from 16 to 20 years old could call in the Intermediate Division. Chase Roberts won with 216.5 points. Jacob Mole took second with 209.

For the Juniors, those callers from 11 to 15 years old, Ethan Jones won with 221 points. Bo Bartlebaugh took second with 220.5. Tristan Williamson finished third with 208.5.

Youths 10 years old or younger competed in the Poults Division. Easton Phillips won with 162 points. Mason Johnston finished second with 158, followed by Lee Spears with 157. Ben Dozier finished fourth with 155. Eli Taylor rounded out the top five Poults with 152.5 points.

Sequestered behind curtains, the judges did not know the names of the competitors. The judges, including many former champions, only heard contest officials call out assigned numbers for each competitor. Some of the judges included Preston Pittman with Pittman Game Calls

(www.pittmangamecalls.com) of West Point, Mississippi, Don Shipp of Clinton, Arkansas, and Terry Phillips from Arkansas.

“This contest has been growing for the last few years, and we had a few more people come to watch and listen this year,” Salter observed. “The callers get better every year. Turkey hunting has been near to my heart. I just hope we can continue to grow turkey hunting and get the turkeys coming back. We have a lot of conservation organizations, like the National Wild Turkey Federation and others, that put their money where they mouth is by doing things to help turkeys.”

For more information, call Weiss at (251) 605-6077 or send an email to kennyweiss73@yahoo.com. On Facebook, search for World Turkey Calling Championship.