Post-COVID Contest Calling

Ryan Barnes for Split Reed

Calling contests, like pretty much everything else this year, has come to a screeching halt. The only contests that have happened this year have been the Mississippi Valley in Burlington, Iowa, and the Great Salt Lake in Utah. COVID-19 has had quite a toll on an already ‘dying’ sport. However, Kile Jones, with the help of some other influential figures in the contest calling world, used some brainpower and technology to hold online calling contests via Facebook during this pandemic. So far a myriad of live duck, live goose, and even speck contests have been held via these online contests. Giving contestants a certain number of days and times to submit a video of them performing their calling routines for each round (so long as they made the cut). Each round takes a few days to judge due to the given amount of contestants (some contests reached 80 or more callers, a staggering number in today’s world of contest calling), and then a post was released with those who were “called back” for the next round. Most were free to enter and had amazing prize packages. From multiple gracious donations from companies including Dive Bomb Industries, Stanfield Hunting Outfitters, and many others. It showed the contest calling world that calling competitions can be done from right in your backyard! Something worthwhile doing as you’re quarantined during a global pandemic.

In the meantime, the traditional calling contests that were slated to be had, either were canceled due to lack of funding, COVID-19 regulations, or sponsors having to pull out due to financial burden. The World Goose Calling Contest was canceled and the World Duck Calling Contest is still hanging in limbo. Which begins to beg the question, could you just hold them online?

It isn’t any secret that contest calling has been going downhill since the 2000s. Especially the world of contest goose calling. But did Kile Jones find a way to remedy this? Instead of paying $500-$1,000 for some weekends to go to an in-person contest, you could just make a few videos, choose your best routine, and wait for the judges to post your score in the comments, all from the comforts of your backyard. In the instance where payment is needed, we have Venmo, PayPal, CashApp, and other sources to send money for entry-fees all over the country. And for those who worry about the fact that the judges know who’s calling when they can see the video; multiple world champion callers and judges have been emphatic that even behind the curtain, they still know who’s calling on stage in a traditional contest.

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So is this going to be another “new normal” thing? Or is it something that will go away once life returns back to normal, post-COVID? It’s been speculated back and forth on podcasts and on social media whether this will remain a permanent or long-standing factor in the world of contest calling, or whether we’ll return to bullpens, stages, and long car rides and flights to get to contests around the country. One does have to acknowledge the fact that while most contests around the country are getting anywhere from 5 people regularly to 20 at the most (usually at Roger’s Grand National due to the high payout, and the World Goose Calling contest), it’s quite the shot in the arm to see turnouts of these numbers where people don’t have so much invested with these online contests. There’s not as much risk factor. The idea of driving 10 hours, spending $350 in gas, $200 in hotel rooms, $100 in entry fees (depending on how many contests you enter) all for a $500 gift card, and a case of ammo, might not be that appealing anymore. But entering a contest on Facebook for $10, walking out to your backyard or driving five minutes to a nearby park, blowing a routine, posting it up, and having the possibility of winning what has recently been about $1,000 has a lot less risk and a lot more reward. Something that has a lot more appeal to just the everyday waterfowl hunter.

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However, the true competition callers out there, the ones that have traveled all over and spent each weekend of their summer grinding it out from contest to contest know that the thrill of traditional contest calling will never go away. The World Duck Calling contest in Arkansas is too deep-rooted to be replaced by an online event, and the same goes for Easton, Maryland with the World Goose and other contests held there. The actual in-person contests may be on a lifeline, but the hope from Kile Jones and these online contests was to show that contest calling isn’t designed just for the Jim Ronquests and Hunter Grounds’ of the world. It’s designed for the people who want to get out and have fun, mastering a craft that will make them better waterfowl hunters.

It’s the hope of all contest callers that post COVID-19 contest calling becomes even more alive and well than it was during quarantine. We all want contests to pop up in every state, with a large and competitive turn out each time. And what Kile Jones did hopefully showed that it’s very possible to do.

And it may also be possible to mix online and in-person contests together. Give the sport a way to keep growing. So what will post COVID contest calling look like? Probably not a whole lot different. Maybe a few more online contests, and hopefully a few more guys throwing their hat into the mix for in-person contests. Because, after this passes, the online stuff will have helped build their confidence enough to step on stage. But the goal for all of it is to not only get life back to normal but get contest calling back to normal.