Like a ventriloquist with duck decoys. That’s how Brad Allen describes his world’s championship duck calling.
Allen, who lives in a log home on 8 acres just outside Judsonia, has been calling in competitions since 1998.
“I started duck hunting when I was 6, and the calling part is always what fascinated me,” Allen said. “I tried to learn everything that I could.”
As he grew up duck hunting near his childhood home of Newport with his father, Bill, and friends, Allen would get help on his calls. One particular hunter, Phillip Vance, was an expert caller, and Allen would listen to the calls and copy what he heard.
“I would use anything I could keep my hands on, whether it was a tape or a record,” Allen said.
A hunting club next to his childhood home occasionally had ducks get into the rest areas. Allen would sneak over and get as close as possible to listen and pick up on the subtle changes in sound. In 1988, Allen’s father first took him to the World’s Championship Duck Calling Contest in Stuttgart.
“Every year, we’d go to the contest for a father/son trip, but I really had no aspiration of competing in it,” Allen said.
But his dad’s friends kept telling him how good his calls were and encouraged Allen to start competing. He was already headed to the University of Central Arkansas for college but decided that he’d begin competing once he graduated.
“I tried and realized I wasn’t nearly as good as I thought I was,” Allen said.
Allen describes duck calling as trying to bring the duck decoys in front of you to life. The caller reproduces sounds as he watches the way the ducks in the air react to calls. Contest calling, Allen said, is much different than what is used during a hunt.
“It’s much louder and more aggressive that what you’d actually do,” Allen said. “It’s mainly about controlling the duck call. You’re skirting on the edge of disaster for 90 seconds.”
During a contest, Allen and other competitors are required to do a 90-second routine that includes a hail call, greeting call, feeding call, comeback call and a lonesome hen.
“You run through the scenario like you’re actually calling them in,” Allen said.
Allen is at his strongest using the comeback call, which he said takes a lot of the “hot air” he’s blessed with, thanks to a 6-foot, 4-inch frame. He said he considers his feeding call to be his most improved call, which he tweaked with techniques he picked up from world champion caller Trey Crawford.
After years of hard work, Allen went on to win the Stuttgart contest in 2010 and again this year.
“I practice just as much now as I did before when I was learning, if not more,” Allen said. “Every year, I feel like I’ve improved, but there’s still a lot of room for improvement.”
Allen still gets out and duck hunts, too, but it’s getting a bit harder to sneak away. In July, Allen married his wife, Melissa, near their home in Judsonia.
“It’s all new to her; she’s not an outdoors person,” Allen said. “I try not to torment her too much with all of it.”
At first, Allen didn’t think Melissa was going to come to the world’s championship this year.
“I said, ‘That’s fine, you’ll be miserable,’” Allen said.
But Melissa and her father sneaked into the contest to watch Allen and surprise him.
“It was her first time seeing me in a contest, and I won,” Allen said. “It was pretty neat.”
When he’s not practicing calls, Allen works full time as a physical therapist at a clinic in Searcy. When Allen entered college, physical therapy was a hot career path. He’d grown up playing basketball and being a strong student in his science classes, so physical therapy seemed like an obvious fit.
“It’s a great field because you feel like you’re really helping people,” Allen said. “I like the way you get to know the people you’re helping. Doctors are usually in a hurry and jump from one patient to another, but I get to know them on a personal level.”
Allen sees a lot of back and neck injuries, but he tends to patients of all kinds. His wife also works in physical therapy, out of a clinic in Augusta.
If it’s not work or practicing calls, Allen tries to get outside as much as possible. He’s also a proud Razorbacks fan and cheers for the New England Patriots, if only to aggravate his nephew, who is anything but a fan. And if you’re curious, no, Allen is not a fan of Duck Dynasty, though he realizes he may be the only person in White County who doesn’t watch the show.
To improve for next year’s competition, Allen spends time in the shop of RNT (Rich-N-Tone) calls in Stuttgart. Owner and former world champion duck caller Butch Richenback listens to Allen’s calls and critiques them.
“A lot of hunters who have never been to a calling competition will go and say, ‘That’s not realistic. … That would scare the ducks off,” Allen said. “But contest callers know the difference.”
In his log home, his love for his sport is obvi
ous from his collection of antique calls to the mounted ducks on the wall. Then there are the trophies from his contest wins. It’s a big leap from the boy who had no interest in entering a contest.
“I’ve come a long way, but you never stop learning,” Allen said.
Staff writer Emily Van Zandt can be reached at (501) 399-3688 or evanzandt@arkansasonline.com.