Contest Rules

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Entry Fee 

  • A $250 entry fee is required with registration.  

Requirements/Eligibility

  • Contestants must be at least 21 years old on or before the day of the GNCC contest. 
  • 20-year-old contestants who will turn 21 on or before the day of the GNCC contest are allowed to call in the Senior Open Division at NWTF sanctioned calling contests to earn preliminary qualifications for the GNCC contest.
  • Contestants must be current members of the National Wild Turkey Federation.
  • The first-place winner of a State or Open Division at a qualifying NWTF Sanctioned contest between January 1 and December 31 the year preceding the Grand National Calling Championships is eligible to compete in the Senior Division Preliminaries. If the first-place winner of a State or Open Division at a qualifying contest has already qualified for the following year's GNCC Senior Division Preliminaries or Finals, the second-place winner of that State or Open Division contest will then be eligible to advance to the GNCC Senior Division Preliminaries for that year only. If the second-place winner has already qualified and there were 5 or more participants in the division, the third-place finisher will receive the qualification and so on until a qualifier is determined. (updated 11/1/2022)
  • Previous Grand National Senior Division and Champion of Champions champions are eligible to compete in the Senior Preliminary contest. Past champions of Head-to-Head, Intermediate, Youth, Junior, Amateur, Owl Hooting or Gobbling divisions are ineligible for automatic placement in the Senior Preliminary contest. 
  • Previous World Calling Contest Open Division champions are eligible to compete in the Senior Division Preliminary contest. (updated 11/20/19)
  • The reigning NWTF Senior Division Grand National Champion from the previous year is automatically qualified to call in the Senior Finals division and may call in the preliminary if he or she desires. Their score will not affect the top twelve (12) scores of the preliminary round. 
  • The previous year's two winners of Team Air and Friction Challenge are eligible to compete in the Senior Open Division preliminaries (11/1/2022).
  • All finalists (top 12) in the previous year's NWTF Grand National Senior Division Championships are automatically qualified to compete in the next year's Senior Open Preliminary competition. (updated 6/20/24)

Preliminaries

  • The Senior Open preliminaries will be held Friday, February 16, 2024, at 12 p.m. in the Governor’s Ballroom.  
  • A mandatory preparation meeting and roll call beginning at 11:30 a.m. will be held in the Governor’s Ballroom at the front of the stage for all Senior Division preliminary contestants.

Time Limits

  • There will be a one-minute per-call time limit (five calls, five minutes; six calls, six minutes, etc). The clock will begin on the first note of the first call and stop on the acknowledgment of the caller that they are finished with their last call.
  • The NWTF reserves the right to use a clock showing the time remaining. A 3-point penalty will be added to the final score of any contestant going over the time limit.

Calls

  • Contestants will be judged on five (5) calls in the preliminary contest. The Senior Finals will consist of three mini-scenarios (two compulsory calls in each mini-scenario for a total of six calls) (11/20/23).
  • Calls will be posted in front of the calling contest stage at 5 p.m. the day before the contest.  
  • The preliminary calls will be selected from among the following: plain yelp of the hen, cutting of an excited hen, adult hen assembly call, fly-down cackle, kee kee run, kee kee run of a lost hen, kee kee run of a lost young gobbler, cluck and purr, yelp of an excited hen, tree call, fighting purr, gobbler yelp and gobble.

Scoring

  • In the Preliminary Contest, judges will score on a 1-20 scale for each call, with 20 as the highest score possible.
  • Scorers will calculate each judge’s score after each caller finishes.
  • The highest and lowest scores from the seven (7) judges will be discarded.
  • The five (5) remaining scores will be calculated for a final score.

Finals 

  • The Senior Division Finals will be held Saturday, February 17, 2024, at 12 p.m. in the Governor’s Ballroom.  
  • A mandatory preparation meeting and roll call beginning at 11:30 a.m. will be held in the Governor’s Ballroom at the front of the stage for all Senior Division Finals contestants.  
  • A new number will be drawn by each of the top twelve (12) finalists and the reigning Grand National Senior Division Champion immediately before the Senior Finals competition begins. The contestant drawing number one (1) will immediately draw a second number. They will call in both positions. Only the score derived while calling the second calling position will count for score. Please note: If number one (1) is not drawn by a contestant, then a re-draw will be held until the number one (1) is drawn.
  • The Senior Finals will consist of three mini-scenarios selected from these five potential scenarios:

     

    Mini-Scenario 1: Single hen wakes up on a limb and flies down 

    Compulsory calls: Tree call, fly-down cackle 

     

    Mini-Scenario 2: Content spring hen feeding 

    Compulsory calls: Cluck and purr, plain yelp of a hen 

     

    Mini-Scenario 3: Lost fall hen calls to a flock 

    Compulsory calls: Kee-kee run, assembly yelp 

     

    Mini-Scenario 4: Mid-morning excited hen 

    Compulsory calls: Yelp of excited hen, cutting 

     

    Mini-Scenario 5: Young pair of gobblers square off in the fall

    Compulsory calls: Gobbler yelps, fighting purrs 

* Ties in the Senior Open Finals will be broken using one mini-scenario (two compulsory calls) that was not used during the Finals. 

 

**Prizes

  • Prize money will be 80% of the entry fees collected for the division and distributed to the five (5) highest-scoring contestants. Trophies will be awarded to the top five finishing contestants.