GNCC Hall of Fame

NWTF Grand National Calling Championships Hall of Fame Inductees

Voted on by former GNCC champions and their peers, these individuals have been inducted into the GNCC Hall of Fame, which began in 2019. GNCC Hall of Fame induction is held annually at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville during the NWTF Convention and Sport Show. From 1977 in Hershey, Pennsylvania, site of the first GNCCs, to today’s grand contest in Nashville, many great callers and supporters have played a pivotal role in promoting the sport of competitive turkey calling and cutting a path for future outdoorsmen and women. Without their efforts to champion wild turkey hunting and calling, millions of hunters who pursue the wild turkey would not have the opportunities available today.

	Billy Yargus (2024) Hannibal, Missouri A product specialist, call maker, pro-staffer with WoodHaven Custom Calls, and a National pro-staffer with Mossy Oak Camouflage, Billy started calling in 1996 and has won three Grand National Senior Division titles, in 2008, 2015 and 2016. He also won the 2016 World Championship Turkey Calling Contest and has many other state and regional victories, including six Mid-America Open wins, six Missouri State championships, two World Championship Two-Man Team titles, the 2004 U.S. Open championship, and the Mossy Oak All-American turkey calling championship in 2012.
	Eddie Salter (2024) Evergreen, Alabama The “Turkey Man” is one of the industry's best-known callers and hunters. He's a two-time World champion, winning in 1985 and 1989, and has taken many other calling titles, including seven Southeastern Open Turkey Calling Championships and six Alabama State Championships. Eddie is also an educator, mentor and call maker, and he entertained generations of turkey hunters with his appearances on numerous videos from H.S. Strut and others. He was named one of the top-10 sportsmen in the United States in 1986 and 1989.
	Chris Kirby (2024) Springville, New York President and owner of Quaker Boy, Chris is one of the few competitive turkey callers to win the Grand Nationals Senior Division (1998), World Championship Turkey Calling Contest (1995) and the U.S. Open (won four times). He also won two Masters Invitational Championships, won or placed in 75 contests across the country, and made 11 consecutive GNCC Senior Division finals. As a call maker and video producer, he’s influenced generations of turkey callers and hunters, and he continues to be a staunch supporter of the NWTF mission.
	Matt Morrett (2023) Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Morrett began his turkey calling career at age 6. Inspired by his father, Tom, Morrett competed in his first calling contest in 1976. In 1987, after competing for 10 years anywhere within driving distance, Morrett won the NWTF’s Grand Nationals Junior title. That year, he also won his first World Friction championship and U.S. Open Friction title. Also that year, he began working with Hunters Specialties (HS Strut) and stayed with the company traveling the country and developing products until 2012. In 1990, Morrett won the Grand Nationals Senior title. He went on to win four more World Friction titles and two U.S. Open championships, and then ended his calling career by winning the 2006 Master’s Invitational title in Pennsylvania. In 2012, he went to work for Zink Calls/Avian-X Decoys as vice president of sales and marketing. He’s taken his 30 years of experience in the hunting industry to work for the Pennsylvania Game Commission as director of the Bureau of Marketing and Strategic Communications, giving back to the resources that have given his career and life so much
	Mark Prudhomme (2023) Georgetown, South Carolina Prudhomme holds a record 17 overall GNCC titles (one Gobbling, five Owl, five Champion of Champions, six Team Challenges). He’s also won eight World Championships, including four World Owl Hooting champion and two World Gobbling titles. He’s a two-time NRA World Game Calling champion, a two-time U.S. Open Owl Hooting champion and two-time Grand American Turkey Calling champion. He's a seven-time South Carolina State and Open Turkey Calling champion, and holds multiple titles from North Carolina (two N.C. Owl Hooting titles, four N.C. State Open Turkey Calling titles, an N.C. State Natural Voice Turkey Calling championship and three N.C. State Open Gobbling titles). Prudhomme is the only caller to win the S.C. State in every game call category (turkey, owl, duck and goose). He was the first runner-up at the World turkey contest, twice the first runner-up at the U.S. Open turkey competition and made the cut for the GNCC Senior Finals 10 times. A 40-year turkey hunting veteran, Prudhomme is also a renowned custom call maker, and won the 2021 Tom Turpin Award. He has co-chaired the NWTF GNCC Committee since 2018, and has judged many World and Grand Nationals contests.
	Ricky Joe Bishop (2023) Warm Springs, Georgia Bishop has turkey hunted for more than 40 years and started calling competitively in the late 1980s. His wins include the 1994 and 1995 NWTF Grand National Senior championships, the 1997 and 2001 NWTF GNCC Two-Man titles, the 2002 World Two-Man Team championship, the 2002 U.S. Open title, and the 1999 and 2002 Grand American championships. He’s also won the Mid-America championship and has many more wins and top-three placings in more than 100 contests across the country. Bishop has served on the pro-staff of many major outdoors companies, including Realtree, Lohman and Flambeau. He’s designed outdoor products for more than 27 years, and has patented more than 12 products and brought many others to market. He owns a company that has built diaphragm calls for most of the major manufacturers for the past 25 years, with more than 1 million calls produced.
	Lewis Stowe (2023) Belmont, North Carolina Stowe was a renowned call maker and won multiple turkey calling titles in addition to two runner-up finishes at the NWTF Grand National Calling Championships, in 1978 and ’79. Stowe’s accomplishments include wins at the World Championship (1981, ’82), North Carolina State Championship (1977, ’78, ’81, ’82), Georgia Open and Friction Championships (1980) and South Carolina Open Championships (1976, ‘77, ‘79, ‘80). He also won the National Amateur Champion title in 1976. Stowe placed second at the National Championship (1977 and ’78), second at the Mid-Atlantic Championship (1979), second at the U.S. Open (1977), third at the World Championship (1978) and was Southern Open champion and Southern Appalachian Open winner. Stowe, who passed away in May 2022, created the acclaimed Stowe-Away All-Weather Slate and Cob Turkey Caller.
	Tucker Crisp (2023) Natchez, Mississippi Crisp holds 11 GNCC titles, including the first Champion of Champions (1997), three Gobbling championships and seven Owl wins. His other titles include: World Natural Voice, two World Gobbling wins, four World Owl championships, two Mississippi State turkey calling titles, five Mississippi Owl wins, the Louisiana State Open, the Louisiana State Open Friction, the Gulf States Classic, four Gulf States Classic Owl wins, the Levi Garrett Turkey Calling title and the Levi Garrett Gobbling contest
	Chris Parrish (2022) Centralia, Missouri Parrish’s win list is extensive: three World Senior titles (1994, 2004, 2009), two Grand Nationals Senior titles (2000, 2001), three U.S. Open titles (1999, 2006, 2007), plus nine second-place finishes at Grand Nationals. The list goes on: 10 overall GNCC wins (two Senior, three Team, five Champion of Champions), four Mid-America open titles, Two King of Calls in the World Championships, three World Team championships, one North American Open Championship and 10 Missouri State championships.
	Preston Pittman (2022) Pickens, Mississippi With nine GNCC titles (Gobbling, Team Challenge, Champion of Champions), Pittman has accrued unbelievable success in the world of turkey calling. Other titles include: 1983 World champion, World Natural Voice Turkey Calling Contest, World Two-Man Team Turkey Calling Contest, World Gobbling Turkey Calling Contest and World All-Call Turkey Calling Contest. He is the only person to hold five different World titles. Pittman has also won seven National Championships, nine National Champion of Champions and is a U.S. Gobbling Champion.
	Ray Eye (2022) Hillsboro, Missouri A legendary competition caller, Eye has won multiple contests, including the 1980 GNCC Owl championship. Other competition accomplishments include: more than 100 state, national and regional turkey calling wins and places, including the National Turkey Calling title, Yellville, Arkansas; the Levi Garrett All-American Open championship; the fourth runner-up in the 1982 Grand National Seniors Division; and a top-five finish at the World Turkey Calling Championship. A conservation communications giant, Eye has spent nearly 40 years educating hunters on outdoor radio shows
	Joe Drake (2022) Fortson, Georgia Drake started his calling career in 1982 and has accrued more than 100 open championships. His accomplishments include: 1999 GNCC Team Challenge winner; 1987 World champion, eight-time Georgia State Champion, six-time Georgia Open Champion, 2004 U.S. Open Friction Champion, seven-time Southern Open Champion, three-time National Champion, eight-time Georgia State Champion, seven-time Appalachian Open Champion and nine-time Grand American Champion. Drake placed in the top five at the Grand Nationals nine times. For the past 20 years, Joe has also judged or was the master of ceremonies in many Grand National Calling Championships events.
	Tom Stuckey (2022) North Augusta, South Carolina An NWTF member since 1973, Stuckey won the 1981 GNCC Senior title. He began calling in contests in 1970 in Pennsylvania and won his first contest in 1971. He’s a 10-time Ohio State calling champion, and won or placed in 66 contests. He began selling turkey calls in 1977 with Ben Lee calls and went to work for Penn’s Woods Calls in 1981. In 1983, he was hired by Hunter Specialties and started HS Strut along with good friend Ray Eye. He’s spent 41 years selling turkey calls. Stuckey has spoken to countless state and local chapters and has judged many calling contests, including all the majors. He has also emceed the GNCC numerous times.
	Richard “Dick” Kirby (2020) Orchard Park, New York A barber by trade with an unrivaled passion for the wild turkey, Kirby began making his own turkey calls in the mid-1970s and incorporated Quaker Boy Game Calls in 1981. Innovator, designer, visionary, Kirby would guide Quaker Boy with a strong faith in God and a love for his fellow turkey hunters. A two-time Grand National Senior Division champion and a Champion of Champions title-holder, his coaching tree of professional turkey callers he helped would eventually contain dozens of Grand National champions. His son, Chris Kirby, accepted the award on his behalf.
	Denny Gulvas (2020) DuBoise, Pennsylvania The 1983 NWTF Grand National Champion would become one of the most respected experts on turkey vocalizations. Gulvas’ groundbreaking video productions and years spent as a seminar speaker helped educate a generation of future competitive callers and turkey hunters, alike. Most notably, he would mentor several future Grand National champions, including six-time Senior Division champion, Matt Van Cise. Since the late 1970s, he has built turkey calls for his Gulvas Wildlife Adventures line.
	Paul Butski (2020) Niagara Falls, New York As the first three-time Grand National Senior Division champion, Butski set the bar for competitive turkey calling in the mid-1980s. His promotion of turkey hunting and calling through his seminars, television and other media outlets inspired many competitive callers and turkey hunters that followed him. He produces his own line of turkey calls under the Butski and Maestro Game Calls lines.
	Walter Parrott (2020) Farmington, Missouri Parrott would begin calling competitively in 1977 and go on to make history, becoming one of the most successful callers of all time. His five Senior Division titles (1987, 1989, 1992, 1996, 1997) has only been surpassed by Matt Van Cise of Pennsylvania. A seminar speaker as well as an original member of Bass Pro Shops’ Red Head Pro team, Parrott spent many years with Knight & Hale Game Calls where he helped design and perfect numerous calls.
	Ron Jolly (2020) St. Joseph, Louisiana Beginning in 1987, Jolly produced over 30 feature videos and numerous instructional videos for companies such as Primos Hunting, Woods Wise, Quest and Ol’ Man Treestands. He would also serve as executive producer and creator of "Outdoor Alabama" television show. Jolly would go on to become an accomplished, award-winning outdoor writer whose work has appeared in numerous publications.
	Harold Knight (2020) Cadiz, Kentucky The barber by trade partnered with David Hale to form Knight & Hale Game Calls in 1971 and helped build the company into one of the most successful call companies in America. A master wildlife communicator, Knight would become one of the call industry's foremost innovators, responsible for mentoring numerous Grand National champions and influencing generations of turkey hunters. His support of competition callers led to more than 50 GNCC titles under Knight & Hale sponsorship.
	David Hale (2020) Cadiz, Kentucky A driving force in wild game call making and a farmer by trade, through a chance encounter with Harold Knight, Hale helped form the iconic Knight & Hale Game Calls company. Hale was an early pioneer of outdoor video, educating and entertaining untold numbers of turkey hunters, while inspiring a generation of outdoor producers and media personalities. His support of competition callers led to more than 50 GNCC titles under Knight & Hale sponsorship.
	Rob Keck (2019) Edgefield, SC NWTF founder Tom Rodgers asked Keck, former NWTF CEO, to develop a calling competition for the fledgling conservation organization, and Keck’s vision and attention to detail quickly made the GNCC one of the best. Keck used the most qualified judges and offered prizes never before seen, and his vision turned the GNCCs into the Super Bowl of turkey calling.
	Ben Lee (2019) Coffeeville, Alabama Lee, a caller and call maker from Coffeeville, Alabama, became an ambassador for competitive turkey calling and turkey hunting. He won five World Turkey Calling championships and many other contests, judged several GNCCs and introduced thousands of people to turkey calling. He remains one of the most admired, beloved and influential turkey callers of all time.
	M.L. Lynch (2019) Homewood, Alabama An author and one of the most influential call makers of all time, Lynch forged a legacy in turkey hunting and call making. His Foolproof Box call was one of the earliest calls sold in mass numbers, and it became the first call of countless turkey hunters.
	Gene Smith (2019) Daytona Beach, Florida Without Smith’s photographs and writing, the GNCC’s early years would be a footnote. As the first editor of Turkey Call magazine, Smith spread the word about the competition. His stories and images captured the excitement of the event and helped build and grow the sport of competitive turkey calling.
	Terry Rohm (2019) Perry County, Pennsylvania Rohm, a Pennsylvania native, won the first two GNCC Senior titles and the first Owl competition. He comes from one of turkey calling’s most famous families, as his father, Dale, is a well-known call maker, and brother Robbie is also a Grand National Champion.