An unknowledgeable observer might have thought they heard a seagull screeching, a lamb mewling or even a monkey screaming, as seven competitors took to the stage as part of the Canadian Elk Calling Championships on Saturday.
The event took place at the 44th annual Red Deer Sportsman and Outdoor Adventure Show, which drew thousands of people to check out boats, hunting supplies, adventure travel and guest speakers from Friday to Saturday at Westerner Park.
Each competitor in the elk calling competition had what is called a grunt tube and a variety of mouth calls or reeds to imitate elk in the wild, including calls that would be made by a calf, cow or bull elk.
Red Deer resident Darwin Chambers, a biologist for Ducks Unlimited, has been doing calls since he was a teenager. He said it’s a hobby that doesn’t cost must to try.
“For a seven or eight dollar investment with a reed you can get started. You’ll sound like a chicken for a while, but for the most part it gets better,” Chambers said.
It’s the first year the competition has taken place, with amateurs at shows all across the Prairies competing to get to the finals in Edmonton in March, with a top prize of $1,500. The top three at each local competition go on to the finals.
Chambers took first place in the Red Deer competition and won a trophy and $500. He said one of the hardest parts of the competition was doing the calls in front of an audience.
“Normally when we’re doing this we’re by ourselves or with a couple of good hunting buddies. We’re not in front of a couple of hundred people,” Chambers said.
The Canadian Elk Calling Championships competition was put on by the Wild Elk Federation, which is a conservation group created in 2006 and based in Leduc, with chapters across the Prairies.
Judges looked for competitors to be able to do a variety of different calls, rather than something repetitive. Many competitors hone their skills by listening to tapes and video of real elk, as well as trying out their calls on elk in the wild. The skill is used by hunters to lure their prey.
Greg Nielsen, of Seba Beach, said he’ll sit on his couch at home and try his calls.
“Typically I’m at home on the couch watching hunting videos, screaming back at the TV, until my wife shuts me down” said Nielsen, who works as a camp director.
“I typically have to do it when she’s not in the house or she’s in a real patient mood.” He won third place and $100 at the Red Deer event and is looking forward to the Edmonton competition.
He figures the competition will be stiffer, but even if he doesn’t receive an award he’ll at least pick up some other sounds he can use in the woods.
Clive Sinclair, of Rimbey, won second place and $250. The carpenter has been doing calls for 20 years and hunts using a rifle and a bow.
The youngest competitor in the event was 11-year-old Donnie Dixon, of Didsbury, who had only started learning to call elk the night before the competition.
“I just saw it and just decided that looks cool,” Dixon said. The 11-year-old doesn’t yet hunt, but he has his own pellet gun and does biathlon.
sobrien@www.reddeeradvocate.com