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NWTF Hunting Turkey Call Competition Rules
19th Annual Grand National NWTF Hunting Call Competition – Division II
2017 Rules, Announcements and Categories
(Open to all call makers)
CHARTER
The basis for this competition is to determine each call’s stand-alone merit of how well it performs in the hands of a hunter. The judges of this competition will be a qualified panel of experienced turkey hunters who will grade each call on the prescribed criteria. Please note that this is not a contest to determine who the best caller is, rather it is a contest to determine the best call in each specific category.
While it is expected that call makers can run their own calls with great precision, the question with turkey hunters is, how simple or easy the turkey call is to use and how much does it sound like a turkey. In determining and selecting the best hunting turkey call each year, the NWTF strives to ensure fairness and impartiality without prejudice towards commercial or custom call makers or with the design of any call entered in the hunting call competition. Criteria for determining and selecting the best call places equal emphasis on sound quality and tone, ease of use, versatility and its ability in attaining what is commonly referred to as a break over. (Crow and Locater calls will be judged a bit differently.)
I. ANNOUNCEMENTS AND RULES
The purpose of the hunting call competition is to select the most consistent, user friendly and best sounding calls. Entry into the event is open to commercially manufactured or custom, handmade or hand tuned calls. Special awards named in honor of Henry Gibson, Neil Cost, Jeremiah Stevens, D.D. Adams, Tom Turpin,
Don Chancey and Charles Jordan will be given. In addition, the 2017 NWTF Grand National Champion Hunting Turkey Call Maker of the Year will be recognized.
All entries will be sold on either the silent or live auctions at a 50/50 split (unless entry fee waiver is elected for 100% donation) at the 2017 NWTF National Convention. The 50/50 split entitles the call maker to 50% of the auction bid and the remaining 50% goes to support the NWTF. Name recognition and competition placement (if applicable) will be displayed with each entry at the auction.
Please submit a brief description of the call(s) you are entering. Information must include the call makers name and address along with a description of call including types of materials used in the call and any information that will enhance the sale should the call be selected for the Grand National Custom Call Auction. Information should be submitted on a 5” x 7” note card or a half-page maximum.
General Hunting Call Competition rules:
1. All call makers are required to pre-register with NWTF Headquarters all entries they plan to enter in the 2017 competition. The pre-registration deadline for all entries should be received no later than
Jan. 13, 2017 at NWTF Headquarters.
2. On July 6, 2016, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service announced that a ban on the commercial trade of ivory went into effect. This ban prohibits the sale of ivory. Therefore, we are prohibited from allowing any call to be entered in the Grand National Custom Call Competition that is made of or has ANY ivory on the call.
3. Entries must be original works and must have been completed during or after March 2016. Entries must be signed and dated by the call maker.
4. All call makers are limited to two entries per category.
5. Call makers are responsible for selecting the category in which they wish to enter each call. The NWTF reserves the right to place any call in a different category than the one designated by the entrant if the NWTF believes the call is more correctly suited to a differing category/class.
6. The call maker or their designated person may deliver pre-registered calls in person to the Grand National Custom Call Registration Desk outside the Exhibit Hall – Ryman B4 from 3-8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 15.
· Call makers unable to attend the convention may mail their pre-registered entries to be received by NWTF Headquarters no later than Jan. 13th. All entries will be opened at the convention site.
· If you are mailing your calls and registration to NWTF Headquarters, please DO NOT place your registration form inside the package you are mailing. INSTEAD, Place your registration form in an envelope and tape it to the outside of the package and mail to: NWTF Grand National Hunting Turkey Call Competition, 770 Augusta Road, Edgefield, SC 29824. Packages can be sent Priority, UPS or Fed Ex. ALSO, if you are mailing your calls, please place a note on the outside of each call to indicate what division and category you intend for that call to be placed in. This will help speed up the process at convention when staff are placing calls on tables in respective categories.
OR
· If you are not mailing your calls, please send your registration form to: NWTF Grand National Hunting Turkey Call Competition, PO Box 530, Edgefield, SC 29824.
7. It is the call maker’s responsibility to place an acceptable insurance value on the entry for shipping purposes, as the NWTF will not be held responsible for any loss or damage to entries that are beyond the control of the contest.
8. All entries will be required to remain at the Convention until Sunday, Feb. 19, 2017. Buyers will be allowed to pay for and pick up calls bought beginning 6 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 19.
9. Entry fees
· NWTF Member entry fee is $20 per call. Please note all entries are 50% supportive unless the call maker specifies the entry is 100% donation. If entry is 100% donated, entry fee is waived, and NWTF retains 100% of proceeds from the sale of the call.
· NON-NWTF Member entry fee is $30 per call. Please note if a non-member submits 2 or more entries NWTF will provide a free NWTF membership ($35 value includes 6 issues of Turkey Country Magazine). Please note all entries are 50% supportive unless the call maker specifies the entry is 100% donation. If entry is 100% donated, entry fee is waived and NWTF retains 100% of proceeds from the sale of the call.
10. Checks will be mailed out from NWTF Headquarters after the convention.
11. Restrictions: Calls made with box turtle or turtle shell are not permitted.
12. Call makers wishing to place business cards near their pieces may do so after judging is completed and ribbons have been placed.
13. A special live auction will be held on select calls. This prestigious event will start at 9 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 18th. Bidding on all silent auction calls will begin on Friday, Feb. 17, 2017. The silent auction on the hunting calls will begin to close at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 18th. All calls will be sold to the highest bidder or will be considered sold when the “Buy It Now” price is utilized.
14. Call makers may place absentee bids by filling out the bidding form and including it with their registration form. This amount will be the starting bid price and if this bid is not surpassed the call will be purchased by the call maker for the absentee bid amount.
15. Winners of the 19th Annual Grand National Hunting Call Competition will be announced about 9 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017, during the 14th Annual Premier Custom Call Auction in the Delta A Lobby.
16. Outstanding Youth Hunting Turkey Call Maker of the Year Award. This award will recognize an outstanding youth call maker 17 years of age or less at the time of the convention. The winner will receive a Youth – National Champion Medallion with ribbon. In addition, all youth call makers will receive an Honorable Mention medallion with ribbon for participating. Call maker must indicate on their registration form that they are entering as a youth contestant.
17. NEW: Amateur Hunting Turkey Call Maker of the Year Award. We are making a change from Rookie to Amateur this year. An Amateur is any call maker who has not won a 1st place in a category. Beginning in 2017, call makers who have not won a 1st place in a category can enter as an Amateur in that category. Once a call maker wins a 1st place in that category, they will not be eligible to enter that category as an Amateur call maker in future competitions. They can however compete in the other categories as an amateur until they win a 1st place. The Amateur Hunting Turkey Call Maker of the Year will be determined by judging the 3 – 1st place winners of Categories 4, 9 and 13 and will be eligible to win Grand National Hunting Call Maker of the Year as well.
18. Judges and selected call makers will be asked to be available to meet with contestants and answer questions from noon-1 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17th at the Hunting Call area.
19. All first time “rookie” call makers will be given a HM ribbon for entering a call.
DISTINCTION OF CLASSES AND CATEGORIES FOR DIVISION II – HUNTING CALLS
Entries are limited to two calls per category and should be the original work of the entrant and completed during or since March 2016.
Class I
Category 1 – Short Box: Hinged-lid design; traditional double-sided design e.g. (Cost, Lynch, Turpin). Short box dimensions are as follows: length of call 10 inches or less, sound chamber 5.5 inches or less with slight variations.
Category 2 – Long Box: Hinged-lid design; long paddle design e.g. (Eminence fence post caller style, Cost style boat paddle). Long box dimensions are as follows: length of call 11 inches or greater, sound chamber greater than 6.5 inches with slight variations.
Category 3 – One Sided Box: Hinged-lid design e.g. (Lynch fool proof).
Category 4 – Box Call Open Amateur – Entries can be short, long or one-sided design.
Class II
Category 5 – Slate and Striker
Category 6 – Glass and Striker
Category 7 – Other Friction Call and Striker (i.e. aluminum, copper, rock, etc.)
Category 8 – Double sided pot call (can be any combination of surfaces) and striker(s)
Category 9 – Friction Call Open Amateur – Entries can be pot calls, scratch boxes, push pins, troughs, and tongue designs
Class III
Category 10 – Turned Trumpet Call: Turned or machined barrel with mouthpiece, mouthpiece is not required to be turned.
Class IV
Category 11 – Wingbone Open: Minimum of two or more wingbones or various materials such as wingbone/rubber tubing/cow horn are permissible.
Category 12 – Jordan Style yelper: Three-section glued yelper with internal chambers of various sizes; may include 1 wingbone mouth piece. The second and third sections can be any material other than wingbone consistent with Charles Jordan-style yelpers.
Category 13 – Air-operated Yelper Open Amateur. Entries may be wing bone design or turned barrel or Jordan Style.
Class V
Category 14 – Scratch Box Design
Category 15 – Push-Pin Call
Category 16 – Trough Call and Striker: e.g. (Ray & Ira Chisholm, Pap Nelson, Ben Lee). Depth of trough must recede a minimum ¼ inch or more to qualify and the ends must be open.
Category 17 – Tongue Call and Striker
The following categories are not part of any class:
Category 18 – Grand National Champion of Champions Box Call: Stand-alone category (limited to past Gibson Award Winners; limited to hinged-lid design calls only, short, long or one-sided or combination). Category 18 is not eligible for the current year Gibson Award or Best in Show (Neil Cost) Award. All calls entered in this category will be sold on a 70/30 (callmaker/NWTF) basis.
Category 19 – Box Call Sets: Must include one Category 1 type box and one Category 2 type box. The winner of this category will receive a first place medallion and will earn the Don Chancey Award.
Category 20 – Crow Call
Category 21 – Locater Calls (any locating call other than a crow call. This can be any kind of call that could be used to locate turkeys -- i.e. tube, owl, woodpecker, coyote, hawk, train whistle, etc.) Please see notes below:
Category 22 – Deer Call – (grunt tube design)
II. JUDGING
A panel of five judges will individually rate each entry. Scores of each call are totaled following the removal of the high and low score. The winner of each category will be determined by the highest score. The preliminary round of judging will begin at 10 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 16. The lead Regional Director will serve as facilitator. Judging normally takes about 4 hours.
Categories 1-19
The following characteristics of each call will be scored.
· Ability to produce turkey-like sounds. Examples include, but are not limited to, yelp, cluck, kee-kee, cackle, cutting of the hen, purr, putt, gobble, tree call.
· Ease of use to produce turkey-like sounds -- i.e. how simple or user-friendly the call is to use.
· Tone, pitch and sound quality.
· Break over or roll over.
· Versatility: the ability to obtain a vast range of turkey like sounds – i.e. both spring or fall type calls, gobbler or hen sounds, including the ability to sound like more than one turkey.
Categories 20 - 22
The following characteristics of each call will be scored.
· Ability to produce the sound of the animal or object the call is meant to mimic.
· Ease of use to produce the sound of the specific animal or object.
· Tone, pitch and sound quality.
· Projection quality – i.e. loudness and clarity of the sound of the call.
The process of how calls are judged are as follows:
1. Based on the five (5) criteria, the panel of five judges will individually select a minimum of three (3) calls with a maximum of five (5) calls per category during the preliminary rounds. These selected calls will advance to the final round.