EDGEFIELD, S.C. - For the fourth time since 2004, the turkey calling tandem of Mark Prudhomme and Kerry Terrell won the Team Challenge at the Wild Turkey Bourbon/NWTF Grand National Turkey Calling Championships in Nashville, Tenn.
Every February, callers from all over the nation flock to the National Wild Turkey Federation’s National Convention and Sport Show to compete in the championships. This year’s convention, sponsored by MidwayUSA, took place Feb. 18 to Feb. 21, and had more than $25,000 in cash and prizes going to the top competitive callers in nine divisions. Seats filled up quickly with onlookers anxious to see and hear the terrific turkey talkers.
"I’m just happy to do it again," said Prudhomme, who teamed with Terrell to win the Team Challenge in 2004 and each year since 2008. "Scenarios change from year to year and we just modify what we do on stage accordingly."
In the Team Challenge, callers are asked to re-create assigned scenarios that hunters might possibly face during a spring turkey hunt. Teams of two callers imitate sounds of wild turkeys, barred owls, crows, pileated woodpeckers, coyotes and more. A panel of seven expert judges score each call and the slightest mistake can virtually eliminate a team from contention.
"We seem to think alike and our calling blends well," said Terrell. "I hope we stay together as a team for a long time."
Prudomme, from Georgetown, S.C., and Terrell from Brooklet, Ga., represent Knight and Hale Game Calls. The pair used mouth diaphragms, owl hooters and even a natural-voice, cricket imitation by Terrell, to cement the victory.
"Winning a title at the Grand National Turkey Calling Championships is like reaching the summit of a mountain. There is no higher place among the turkey calling’s elite," said George Thornton, NWTF CEO. "The atmosphere in the room during the trophy presentation is electric. Raising the first-place trophy at these contests means that you have beaten the best callers in the world."
Each year, thousands of outdoor enthusiasts and NWTF supporters rally at the NWTF National Convention and Sport Show. The event features the Grand National Calling Championships, seminars from hunting pros, more than 550 vendor booths, top entertainers at evening functions and more.
The NWTF is a nonprofit conservation organization that works daily to further its mission of conserving the wild turkey and preserving our hunting heritage.
Through dynamic partnerships with state, federal and provincial wildlife agencies, the NWTF and its members have helped restore wild turkey populations across the country, spending more than $306 million to conserve 14 million acres of habitat for all types of wildlife.
For more information about the NWTF or other convention highlights, call (800) THE-NWTF or visit www.nwtf.org <http://www.nwtf.org> .
About the NWTF: The National Wild Turkey Federation is a nonprofit conservation organization that works daily to further its mission of conserving the wild turkey and preserving our hunting heritage.
Through dynamic partnerships with state, federal and provincial wildlife agencies, the NWTF and its more than 350,000 members have helped restore wild turkey populations across the country, spending more than $306 million to conserve 14 million acres of habitat for all types of wildlife.
The Federation works to increase interest in the outdoors by bringing new hunters and conservationists into the fold through outdoor education events and its outreach programs - Women in the Outdoors, Wheelin’ Sportsmen, JAKES and Xtreme JAKES.
The NWTF was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Edgefield, S.C. According to many state and federal agencies, the comeback of the wild turkey is arguably the greatest conservation success story in North America’s wildlife history.
Visit www.nwtf.org <http://www.nwtf.org> or call (800) THE-NWTF for details.
