Jeff-Widgnwhacker-Wallis
08-17-2005, 07:36 PM
http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/571/prostaffnewsheader1dd.jpg
Tyson Keller wins South Dakota Goose Calling Contest
http://img122.imageshack.us/img122/2037/tysongoosewinpng7ru.png
Article by,
JERRY THOMS
For the Argus Leader Published: 08/14/05
Tyson Keller certainly wanted to win first place in the state goose calling contest in Sioux Falls last Saturday.
Doing so would be his third time taking that top prize, this time with a check for $500.
Keller did win the state championship and then, a few hours later, also took first place in the Northern Prairie Open Goose Calling Contest. He beat 12 other goose callers from all over the country. This time he received $1,000, the most money ever offered in a South Dakota waterfowl contest.
That Keller, a 24-year-old native of Pierre, even knows how to blow a goose call is and isn't a surprise at the same time.
"Growing up in Pierre, I was surrounded by thousands of Canada geese flying overhead right in town, resting on Capitol Lake, and feeding in the nearby fields," Keller recalls. "But, as a kid I had no one in my family to take me hunting and absolutely no one to teach me anything about goose calling."
"So, what I learned about hunting and calling I picked up pretty much on my own by watching the local geese closely all year long then hunting them nearly every day on the outskirts of town during the season."
Given all these early influences, Keller's entrance into competition goose calling five years ago and his rise to a contest-winning stature now seem natural.
He says the key to contests is practice.
"Practice every day of the year as often as possible," Keller said. "In my case, I still go out to Capitol Lake in Pierre and listen to the Canada honkers there as they fly into and off the water or are swimming and talking to each other and the birds in the air.
"I isolate specific goose sounds, try to duplicate them on my call, then string them all together into a series of vocalizations that I know honkers will respond to in the field."
In any waterfowl calling competition, a contestant hasjust90seconds toimpress five judges with authentic goose talk. These judges are almost always hunters and are usually past or present competition callers, too.
"Many goose calling contestants often tend to sound pretty much alike because the required routine has to follow a general format that includes all the basic sounds Canada geese make," Keller said.
"Consequently, a winning routine should have some emotion built into it sort of like a musical performance with high and low notes all in a certain rhythm to create excitement that will bring in real geese and impress judges."
Though Keller is a full-time graduate student at the University of South Dakota where he is finishing a master's degree in business administration, he also works part-time for Memphis, Tenn., based Avery Outdoors, the national supplier of waterfowl hunting gear.
Keller regularly conducts dozens of goose hunting seminars open free to the public and sponsored by retail stores that sell Avery Outdoors hunting products.
"Any hunters who want a seminar on waterfowling just need to contact an Avery Outdoors retail store to set a place and date," Keller says.
"In my seminars, I try to help the average waterfowler become a better hunter," he said. "I give some guidelines on scouting for geese, interpreting goose activity, camouflaging in the field, setting up decoys, and of course more effectively calling Canada honkers into shotgun range."
Congrats Tyson, from the entire Avery Pro-Staff Family! :D
Tyson Keller wins South Dakota Goose Calling Contest
http://img122.imageshack.us/img122/2037/tysongoosewinpng7ru.png
Article by,
JERRY THOMS
For the Argus Leader Published: 08/14/05
Tyson Keller certainly wanted to win first place in the state goose calling contest in Sioux Falls last Saturday.
Doing so would be his third time taking that top prize, this time with a check for $500.
Keller did win the state championship and then, a few hours later, also took first place in the Northern Prairie Open Goose Calling Contest. He beat 12 other goose callers from all over the country. This time he received $1,000, the most money ever offered in a South Dakota waterfowl contest.
That Keller, a 24-year-old native of Pierre, even knows how to blow a goose call is and isn't a surprise at the same time.
"Growing up in Pierre, I was surrounded by thousands of Canada geese flying overhead right in town, resting on Capitol Lake, and feeding in the nearby fields," Keller recalls. "But, as a kid I had no one in my family to take me hunting and absolutely no one to teach me anything about goose calling."
"So, what I learned about hunting and calling I picked up pretty much on my own by watching the local geese closely all year long then hunting them nearly every day on the outskirts of town during the season."
Given all these early influences, Keller's entrance into competition goose calling five years ago and his rise to a contest-winning stature now seem natural.
He says the key to contests is practice.
"Practice every day of the year as often as possible," Keller said. "In my case, I still go out to Capitol Lake in Pierre and listen to the Canada honkers there as they fly into and off the water or are swimming and talking to each other and the birds in the air.
"I isolate specific goose sounds, try to duplicate them on my call, then string them all together into a series of vocalizations that I know honkers will respond to in the field."
In any waterfowl calling competition, a contestant hasjust90seconds toimpress five judges with authentic goose talk. These judges are almost always hunters and are usually past or present competition callers, too.
"Many goose calling contestants often tend to sound pretty much alike because the required routine has to follow a general format that includes all the basic sounds Canada geese make," Keller said.
"Consequently, a winning routine should have some emotion built into it sort of like a musical performance with high and low notes all in a certain rhythm to create excitement that will bring in real geese and impress judges."
Though Keller is a full-time graduate student at the University of South Dakota where he is finishing a master's degree in business administration, he also works part-time for Memphis, Tenn., based Avery Outdoors, the national supplier of waterfowl hunting gear.
Keller regularly conducts dozens of goose hunting seminars open free to the public and sponsored by retail stores that sell Avery Outdoors hunting products.
"Any hunters who want a seminar on waterfowling just need to contact an Avery Outdoors retail store to set a place and date," Keller says.
"In my seminars, I try to help the average waterfowler become a better hunter," he said. "I give some guidelines on scouting for geese, interpreting goose activity, camouflaging in the field, setting up decoys, and of course more effectively calling Canada honkers into shotgun range."
Congrats Tyson, from the entire Avery Pro-Staff Family! :D