Judsonia man captures duck-call title 2nd time

He bests Conway caller to win boat, $9,000

Stuttgart gets quacking for the annual Wings Over the Prairie Festival and World Championship Duck Calling Contest.
Stuttgart gets quacking for the annual Wings Over the Prairie Festival and World Championship Duck Calling Contest.

— For the second time in three years, Brad Allen of Judsonia won the World’s Championship Duck Calling Contest on Saturday.

Allen, 39, a physical therapist, outpointed David St. John of Conway to win the world’s premier duck-calling title, winning a prize package worth about $20,000, including $8,000 in cash, an extra $1,000 from RNT calls, a War Eagle boat, decoys and Winchester Blind Side shotgun shells. He also won in 2010, and finished third in 2011.

“It’s an honor to win it twice,” Allen said. “You’re competing against so many great callers, and it seems like it gets tougher and tougher every year. It’s an honor to be up there with those guys[the finalists] at the end. To win it twice feels great.”

Rob Bevins of Belle Blaine, Iowa, was second runner-up, followed by Jonathan Morton of Trumann, Brent Calhoun of Griffithville, Mike Benjamin of St. Cloud, Minn., and Tyler Merritt of El Paso.

Two first-places and a third-place in three years make Allen one of the most consistent callers in the past 15 years. Winning his first title required beefing up his feed call. For that, he got assistance from Trey Crawford, who won the event in 1993. Winning it this year was a matter of maintaining his concentration, he said.

“You usually know during the first few notes when you’re onstage,” Allen said. “If your call sounds good, you have a confidence boost right there. It’s just a matter of getting up there and putting three routines together and hoping the judges like it.”

Bill Free of Stuttgart has served as chairman of the Wings Over the Prairie Festival and World’s Championship Duck Calling Contest for 10 years. He said this year’s event is in the top five in terms of participation and revenue. He said it was because of what he called “Chamber of Commerce” weather. It was cool and clear the entire weekend, which encouraged visitors to spend a lot of time at the festival.

“It seemed that everybody was upbeat and having a good time,” Free said. “There were a lot of people that came here to enjoy the weather and the atmosphere of the festival. Everybody left happy.”

The festival, which began Nov. 17 with the crowning of queen and junior queen mallard, also marked the beginning of duck season.

“Its amazing how many people come for duck hunting, to see the festival and duck callers, to see the products and to see old friends that they haven’t seen since the beginning of duck season last year,” Free said. “It’s almost a reunion of sorts for duck hunters and callers. It’s Stuttgart’s way of bringing people together.”

Arkansas, Pages 18 on 11/25/2012

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