THREE RIVERS AREA — Brad Allen of Judsonia began learning how to use a duck call at the age of 6 when he went on hunting trips with his dad.
Another father-son outing was their annual trek to Stuttgart for the World’s Championship Duck Calling Contest that they started going to in 1988. On Nov. 7, 2010, Allen took the title of champ at the 75th annual World’s Championship Duck Calling Contest, beating out 69 callers. He won a prize package worth about $16,000 that included cash, a War Eagle Boat, a ring and various other prizes.
Allen said he’s been competing since 1998 and had finished in the top 10 at the world championship contest. For the 2010 competition, he said he decided to try something different, and it worked.
He asked Harry Milton “Butch” Richenback, the founder of Rich-n-Tone duck calls, to hand cut a call just for him.
“Among duck-call makers, he is a legend,” Allen said. “He hand cut a call for me, which is a throwback to the old school; it’s like a tailor-made suit. Making duck calls used to be an art; now it’s more scientific.”
In order to qualify for the world competition, Allen said, a caller has to win other competitions. He won the Arkansas State Championship, which qualified him to go to the world competition.
Allen said he had owned his new “tailor-made” duck call for only nine days when he won the state championship.
“Brad is one of the most humble people you will ever meet,” said David Kirkpatrick of Killer Kallz. “His dedication to the sport never wavered over the years. He studied other callers’ strengths and turned himself into a world champion.”
Allen, a physical therapist in Searcy, is originally from Beedeville, where duck hunting is a common sport. He said the competition calls are much different than the calls a hunter would use.
“There are different competitive calls that we do on stage,” Allen said. “They’re louder and more aggressive then what you’d use in a hunting scenario.”
He also said that in a competition, some of the calls are a hail call, greeting call, feed call, come-back call and a lonesome-hen call.
“It’s a matter of practice,” Allen said about fine-tuning one’s duck-calling ability. “It’s basically a woodwind instrument, but you’re not playing music with it; you’re calling ducks.”
According to the Stuttgart Chamber of Commerce website, the first National Duck Calling Contest was held on Main Street in Stuttgart on Nov. 24, 1936, in connection with the annual Arkansas Rice Carnival. The contest was sponsored by American Legion Post No. 48.
The first contest was a far cry from the present-day event, but it was the beginning of the now worldwide contest, which attracts thousands of sportsmen annually from all over the United States, the website states.
Allen said the Arkansas Duck Calling Classic, the state competition, will be held Friday in Stuttgart.
“Register at the Chamber at least an hour before it starts [at 9 a.m.],” Allen said.
For more information, visit the Chamber website at www.stuttgartarkansas.org or call (870) 673-1602.