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U.S. Open Winners
In an event that seemed virtually devoid of any media coverage, short of a couple of message board postings, the U.S. Open Calling Championships were held last weekend (Mar. 4 & 5) at the Bass Pro Shops in Harrisburg, Pa. The event was sponsored by Bass Pro, Mossy Oak and Quaker Boy Game Calls.
Chris Parrish won the main competition after finishing fifth just weeks earlier at the Grand Nationals. (Oh, did I forget to mention, he also won the Champion of Champions Division at the Grand Nationals for like the third or fourth time the other week!) Also making a strong showing was one of the "old men" of the competitor crew and still one of the best callers I've ever had the privilege to hunt with, Walter Parrot, who like at the Grand Nationals two weeks before, finished fourth in the Open. I do believe Walter's won virtually every turkey calling contest known to man—several times over.
This year's Grand National winner, repeat champ Matt Van Cise, finished a strong third in the Harrisburg event. Mark Prudhomme claimed the runner-up spot, while New Jersey's (Yeah, New Jersey!) Larry Scartozzi rounded out the top five.
Here are the complete results:
Open Division Finals
1. Chris Parrish Centralia,MO
2. Mark Prudhomme Georgetown, SC
3. Matt Van Cise Grand Valley, PA
4. Walter Parrott Smiths Station, MO
5. Larry Scartozzi Sparta, NJ
6. Sadler McGraw Camden, AL
7. Billy Yargus Ewing, Mo
8. James Harrison Hillsboro, MO
9. Jeff Frederick Mindoro, WI
10. Steve Stoltz St. Louis, MO
11. Jim Pollard Heflin, AL
12. Brian Gulvas Vandergrift, PA
13. Daymon Davis Danville, PA
14. John Egolf Schellsburg, PA
15. Brett Berry Bristolville, Ohio
Friction Division
1. Pat Strawser Millersburg, PA
2. Jim Pollard Heflin, AL
3. Larry Scartozzi Sparta, NJ
Youth Division
1. Dakota Clouser Danville, PA
2. Alexa Miller Tylersville, PA
3. Jimmy Pollard Knoxville, PA
Owl Hooting Division
1. Mark Prudhomme Georgetown, SC
2. James Harrison Hillsboro, MO
3. Daymon Davis Danville, PA
Here's a little behind the scenes information on the recent calling events. First, Jim Pollard, who no doubt proved his metal by becoming the first man to win 3 Grand National Championships in a row is down in his back. As a matter of fact in Nashville, Jim spent most of his time waiting to call laying on his back behind the stage. I would assume that his ability to exhale has been greatly hurt by his injury.
Look for both Sadler McGraw and Billy Yargus to continue their rise to the top of the heap. Both of these men work very hard at calling and put the time in to be a couple of the best.
As is typical, after a caller wins the Grand National, his time starts getting eat up by media requests, celebrity hunts, trips to Letterman and so forth. Here's where this stuff gets interesting to me. Pollard, for the most part is kind of a wallflower. Plus, he came out of no where to really start posting big scores. Therfore, for one reason or another he missed out on alot of the media frenzy after his first 2 Grand National wins. By the time Jim won his 3rd title however, no one could discount his talent or his ability to get on camera and do a great job of educating wanna-be callers. This all adds up to one thing. The offers started coming in and his time to practice was diminished slowly but surely.
Over the next couple of years you'll see the same thing happen with Van Cise just as we've seen it happen with every Grand National winner who has claimed multiple crowns.
Parrish, Parrot, Bishop, Butski, Rhom, the names change but the reason behind their decline does not. Less time to practice because of work!
Perhaps the one caller who has somewhat bucked this trend has been Chris Parrish, who by the way makes calls, therfore giving him more time to practice and experiment with different materials or latex. Oh yea, he's also very talented.
As hard as it is for most of us to understand, once the goal has been reached or the mountain climbed, it's hard to get yourself back to that point in your life when you were hungry for success. It takes a tremendous amount of dedication, hard work and most importantly time.
Posted by: John Brown Jr. | March 12, 2006 at 11:10 AM
Great input John. I know you have had the chance to hunt with a lot of these guys on camera and have seen first hand, how their time does get eaten up once they make that name for themselves.
Posted by: Doug Howlett | March 12, 2006 at 03:18 PM
Hey Doug and John,
The calling circuit has alot of new faces on it now, that's for sure. I'm just glad the friction division is finally getting up to where it should be. It was a great event at Grand Nationals this year, and I'm sure will be one of the premier events in the future. After all it's the friction call sales that built these big companies, and friction is also what's used by most turkey hunters. Not to mention the high dollar collectors market is full of friction calls, not mouth calls. When you get into the friction calls, you're talking about thousands of potential new grand champions, when you talk about the mouth calls there are realistically 10 to 20 people who will carry the trophies off.
Pat Strawser
Posted by: Pat Strawser | June 12, 2006 at 09:18 AM
Hey Pat. Great to catch you on the board. You're right, the friction division holds a lot of promise and perhaps a lot more interest as well.
Maybe we'll get you on the board in the future and you can offer other guys some advice on how to improve their calling.
Posted by: Doug | June 15, 2006 at 06:17 PM
Hey Doug,
I'd be glad to help you and get more involved with your board.
thanks
Pat
Posted by: Pat Strawser | July 17, 2006 at 12:44 PM
Hey Pat,
I was told to get ahold of you about using turkey calls In The area of Turkey Valley in Juniata County Pennyslvania. I am Shane Morgans nephew and his wifes dad owns some land out there and we wanted to know the best calls to use and some good tips from you. We talked to a gentleman at the Creme Stop if that helps. Hope To hear From You.
Thanks, Levi
Posted by: Levi | October 24, 2007 at 10:06 AM