Ryan Barnes – Does Contest Calling Make You A Better Waterfowler?

Being both an avid waterfowler and competitive goose caller, Ryan Barnes was inspired to write an editorial for Split Reed about the debate over whether or not competitive goose calling makes you a better hunter.

Well ladies and gentleman, it’s here. The dog days of the off-season. For most waterfowlers this is a time of acquiring new gear, bullshitting with buddies about past shoots, watching baseball, and dreaming of the upcoming season.

However, if you’re like me, this is the beginning of calling contest season. Actually, contests started a few months ago in February with The Mississippi Valley and The Great Salt Lake Calling Championships (I participated at the latter). And a few more have come and gone with lucky callers collecting prize money.

For contest callers, this is a time where we snap more reeds, ruin more guts, blow through more corks than we probably ever would during hunting season. We sit in sheds, basements, and garages going deaf trying to hit that extra quick-spit, or get that last step-up into our routine. And once we’ve done all that, we empty our pockets to fly or road-trip all over the country trying to take home a prize and, if we’re lucky, a little money for our troubles.

A Great Debate

I’ve noticed, and practically so has everyone else in the waterfowling world, that there always seems to be this difference of opinion behind those who take their calls to the stage, and those who simply take their calls only to the blind. Does blowing in contests make you a better hunter? Do the countless hours of listening to Robbie Iverson or Jim Ronquest trying to help you get that edge on your opponent help you get that edge over the birds? I know a lot of people who would argue yes, and I know even more people who would argue that it doesn’t.

My camp falls with those who say it doesn’t. I’m sure anyone who’s hunted geese knows that Tim Grounds taught that all you needed was a honk, a cluck, and a moan to kill birds, and he wasn’t alone in that belief. Grounds pretty much believed that being a world champion didn’t make an ounce of difference in your ability to kill geese. Ironically Tim Grounds also created (with the help of his son Hunter and other prodigies using his calls) one of the strongest contest calling dynasties in history.

Scott Threinen, of Molt Gear Calls, on the other hand, disagrees with that belief. On different podcast interviews he’s been on, when asked about what’s most important to kill waterfowl, he adamantly argues the cause that being hot on a call is what allows you to kill birds. Now, whether you agree with that or not, Scott hunts and guides out of Minnesota, and every goose hunter I’ve ever met out of that state can run a call- so in order to be successful and have a lifelike spread, you’d better sound good.

One of my friends I often find myself competing against from the midwest says that everyone can blow a call. If you’re just “average”, the birds have heard it, and won’t give you a second glance. He says that in order to be a successful guide, and hunter, you need to be able to handle yourself on stage. It sells the clients, and it allows you to really have a versatile range of notes to work with when calling birds.

There’s no denying that fact. Contest calling does give you an advantage over others when it comes to which notes to use when others aren’t working. On those days when the geese just don’t want to close in that last 80 yards into the spread, you can reach into the contest routine and pull out a hiccup, a double-spit, or some other notes to try to get those birds into the kill hole. The same thing works with ducks. When they’re being pesky, swinging wide, not wanting to commit, you can take a few tricks out of the contest bag to try to get them to make that last swing into the decoys.

Be that as it may, here’s a few things good calling can’t do. You can be the best caller in the world, but that doesn’t mean you can change a bird’s mind if they’re already en-route to the “x”. Now, rumor has it Fred Zink about called a goose into a Walmart parking lot after a hunt. Whether that’s true or not is beside the point, but I would like to know the answer.

Good calling can’t make up for a bad hide. I’ve been in a blind with some of the best callers on the west coast in a winter wheat field that was feeding close to 500 geese the day prior. We sounded damn good, but because it was so hard to hide, we couldn’t get anything to finish and ended up having to make some serious mid hunt adjustments. Good calling also doesn’t make up for hunting IQ. I help guide for a guy who has killed more waterfowl than I’ve probably ever looked at. He has goose bands rolling around on the floor of his truck because they no longer fit on any of his three band-filled, pointless lanyards. Why are his lanyards pointless you might ask? He doesn’t blow a note on a call. He just has a feel for the birds, puts in his time scouting, and knows where, how, and when to hunt. That’s why he kills so many birds. No need for a call. Just a need for good land, and the ability to be where they want to be.

Now there is a certain advantage that does come to contest callers. Making connections. I’m not sure if I can speak for everyone, but the vast majority of contest callers I’ve met, talked with, gotten pointers from, have all been great people. And, they’ve all been willing to trade contact information to share hunts. Contest calling helps you get out there and meet the big names in the industry and get to know how they hunt, and what makes them successful. This is an advantage you don’t get when you just sit home talking about how you “would rather kill your judges” or how you “can’t put a trophy on the grill” (for the record, if you’re the guy who makes those comments, you would probably shit your pants on stage).

All in all, you can make tons of arguments as to why contest calling does or doesn’t make you a better waterfowl hunter. For me personally, I don’t think it really matters if you’re a world champion or you’re just really good at the basics, if you’re where the birds want to be, and you’ve got a good hide, you’ll kill ‘em. Either way, if you haven’t tried contest calling and would like to, give it a shot. It’s a great atmosphere with other fun people with the same interests. And hey, who knows, maybe by the time you’ve gotten up on stage and ran it to the light, you’ll be on your way to Stuttgart or Easton with a new found passion for waterfowling.