Class Winners

The Charley Burke Award

Best of Show Hunting Turkey

Charley Burke gave over 30 years of his life to the NWTF as a regional director in Wisconsin. During his tenor he accomplished so much for the organization and the wild turkey, but is also recognized as the founder of the NWTF’s Grand National Custom Callmaking Competition. Working with names like Earl Duckett and Mark Warmath, and with the support of early NWTF leaders, this contest was molded into the biggest callmaking competition and showcase in the world. Burke’s calm demeanor, great leadership, dedication to call makers and love for the NWTF were all successful means for this competition to grow year after year. Not many will know how much work goes on behind the scenes to make a competition of this magnitude run successfully, but Burke ran the original competition with pen and paper, while calculating the very first scores and awards this competition gave. As the competition evolved and grew, Burke and his team of hand-picked staff members and volunteers spent many nights into the early morning hours calculating winners so that anxious call makers could see who the next big winner was. It is only fitting that one of the most prestigious awards be named after the grandfather and founder of this great competition.

2006 - Michael Lapp (Honey Brook, PA)

2007 - Scott Basehore (Denver, PA)

2008 - Michael Lapp (Honey Brook, PA)

2009 - Niles Oesterle (Dardenne Prairie, MO)

2010 - Ed Terefencko (Pottsville, PA)

2011 - D. Marlin Watkins (Summitville, OH)

2012 - D. Marlin Watkins (Summitville, OH)

2013 - Gary Anderson (Grafton, OH)

2014 - Clint Corder (Mulberry, TN)

2015 - Jeff McKamey (Ooltewah, TN)

2016 - Ryan Hershberger (Goshen, IN)

2017 - Bob Fulcher (Huber Heights, OH)

2018 - Riley Corder (Belvidere, TN)

2019 - T.J. Johnson (Independence, KY)

2020 - Clay Townsend (Fairmount, GA)

2021 - Scott Witter (Lockport, NY)

2022 - Tim Bullock (Forest City, NC)

2023 - Billy McCallister (Sylvania, GA)

2024 - Caden Roberts (Knoxville, TN)