Frequently Asked Questions

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What has changed this year?


We have created a callmaking committee to help with future rule changes and Turkey Hall of Fame inductee nominations and decisions. This committee is made up of the following people. Rick Powell, Tim Beach, Danny Ellis, Brent Rogers, Scott Basehore, Chris McDonald, Dave Cirincione, George Denka, Earl Duckett, and Galen Braddy as the chairman of the committee. Please note that this committee will only make decisions for the Turkey side of the competition and NOT the waterfowl. Mark Warmath will continue to make decisions for the waterfowl side of the competition.


Turkey judges will no longer be allowed to deliver calls for callmakers in the competition. This includes cross division entries. So if you are judging in any division, you will not be allowed to enter calls in another division. This is to protect the integrity of the competition. This rules does not apply to our waterfowl divisions.


We have split the hall of fame into three different Hall of Fames. One being the turkey callmakers hall of fame, another being the Turkey competition Hall of Fame, and the last being the waterfowl competition callmaker hall of fame. Each Hall of fame will induct members differently. Callmakers who have entered both sides of the competition will be part of the hall of fame where they achieved their success.


All named trophies are much bigger and nicer this year. It is about time for recognition to be paid when it is deserved.


We increased the first place prize for all 3 categories in division 5 (Wildlife Art) from $250 to $1,000.


We added back the Best of Show award in the wildlife art competition and will continue to have the "People's Choice Award". Every convention attendee will be eligible to vote.


To prevent our servers from overloading in the online auctions this year we have made the decision to close down the duck auctions a day later (Sunday the 23rd of February). We will also be adding more bandwidth to our servers to handle the traffic that complicated our auctions last year.

What is the registration deadline to register entries?

The deadline to enter your competition pieces depends on whether or not you are attending the convention. If you are not able to make it to this years convention and plan on shipping your entries to the NWTF headquarters, we must have those entries before the truck leaves for convention. So if you are shipping your entries, the deadline for us to receive those entries at the NWTF headquarters is close of business February 3rd, 2025. If you are planning on attending convention and can check your entries into the contest on Tuesday February 11th, 2025 between 2pm and 6pm at the Gaylord Opryland Events Center, then your deadline is the 10th of February at Midnight.

Where do I ship my entries and will you let me know they have arrived?

If you are shipping your entries you will need to ship to the following address by February 2nd, 2024 (This date is subject to change so please check back)

NWTF Callmaking Contest
ATTN: Kevin Alley
770 Augusta Rd.
Edgefield, SC 29824

Yes, you will be notified by email when we receive a package from you. Alternatively you can also check your account to see that we have received your calls. New this year, we will be unpacking all packages and tagging all entries before loading calls onto a pallet to be shipped to convention in our convention trucks. We will let you know if we notice any visible damage to your calls or artwork.

When do you open auctions for bidding?

After all calls have been received and the judges have determined the winners. We do it this way because sometimes a callmaker has no intention of entering the call they register. The contest should not be used to acquire what the market value is for any piece entered.

Is judging fair?

We do our best to select judges that are not biased. With that said, a judges opinion is always subjective. When they score an entry, the score they give is their opinion on the piece they are scoring and NOT the callmaker. We are able to see every score a judge has given and review those after the competition has been completed. If we feel a judge has been unfair, that judge is replaced the following contest year.

Is the competition in the Gaylord Opryland Event Center again?

Yes. The last few years were an overwhelming success with our own spot at the convention. The space is much bigger and everyone that was asked after convention was pleased with the change. Never in the history of the competition have we achieved such positive feedback about the location of the competition. As far as I have been told, we will be out there from now on. This year however, there will not be booths with us. Instead, there will be a dog show once again.

Are you bringing bid sheets back?

No. Online auctions are way more efficient. We understand that some are inconvenienced by this decision and we apologize for that inconvenience. However, it has become too difficult to proceed with the bid sheets. Online bidding opens up the bidding to wider range of people, is prone to less human error, is faster, and has a lot less stress to deal with from everyone involved.

When will I receive the items I win in Auctions?

Live auction items must be picked up after the live auction has completed. Online auction items will be packed up on Saturday afternoon, shipped back to the NWTF headquarters, and picked up by the company who does the shipping for us. You should expect delivery in 1-3 weeks after the auctions end on the weekend of February 23rd, 2025. As always, if you need your calls sooner please give us a call and we can try to get your calls out sooner. There will be an additional charge charged to the buyer for shipping once your items are shipped. Insurance will be added on each package for the final value of all calls that are shipped. The second charge for shipping is separate from the cost of the calls purchased and is calculated at the time the items are shipped. Local pickup is not possible as the NWTF contracts the shipping out to a third party.

What is the schedule of events for the competition?

Please understand that while we do our best to make these dates and times final, sometimes things are added and changed. These changes are beyond our control. Please check back here often to see any changes. We will post them here.


  • Monday February 3rd 5:00pm EST - Deadline for calls being mailed to headquarters and registration deadline for mailed calls.
  • Monday February 10th 11:59:59pm EST - Deadline for calls to be registered if you are bringing your calls to in-person checkin
  • Tuesday February 11th 2:00pm - 6:00pm CST - in-person checkin of calls at the Gaylord Opryland Event Center outside the Delta Portico
  • Wednesday February 12th 7:00am - 6:00pm CST - Calls are Judged (No Callmakers allowed)
  • Wednesday February 12th 8:00pm CST - Estimated time the winners are posted
  • Thursday February 13th 2:00pm CST - Online Auctions Start
  • Thursday February 13th 11:00am - 1:00pm CST - Workshop seminar (TBD)
  • Thursday February 13th 1:00pm - 3:00pm CST - Workshop seminar (TBD)
  • Thursday February 13th 3:00pm - 5:00pm CST - Workshop seminar (TBD)
  • Friday February 14th 8:00am - 10:00am CST - Workshop seminar (TBD)
  • Friday February 14th 10:00am - 12:00pm CST - Workshop seminar (TBD)
  • Friday February 14th 1:00pm - 4:00pm CST - Awards Ceremony & Live Auction (No tickets needed, Live bid Paddle required to Bid)
  • Saturday February 15th 3:00pm CST - Callmaking area starts closing down and packing up
  • Saturday February 22nd - Various Times - Turkey Online auctions close The weekend after convention is over
  • Sunday February 23rd - Various Times - Waterfowl Online auctions close The weekend after convention is over
  • February 24th - March 17th - Calls are shipped out to online auction winners (About 30-50 packages a day in no specific order. You can request expedited shipping by calling us)