Birds, BBQ Combo for Champion Duck Caller

Imagine the PGA Tour kicking out Tiger Woods because he’s won too many major championships.

Or the NBA barring Michael Jordan after he won his first three titles with the Chicago Bulls.

Getting banned for being the best sounds bizarre, but that’s the world of championship duck calling.

Trey Crawford, general manager and a partner in Whole Hog Café in Bentonville, won his first world championship on his 17th birthday in 1976, his second in 1986 and his third in 1993. He’s the only man in the history of competitive duck calling to win three world titles, three Arkansas state titles, a U.S. Open title and the Champion of Champions crown.

Crawford teamed up with Wayne Betts of Rogers to win the 2000 Champion of Champions title at the Wings Over the Prairie Festival in Stuttgart, the duck-hunting Mecca where he won all his other competitions.

The title won against seven former world champions officially made him ineligible for any future competitions and now the fields have become so crowded he also may be the last to ever receive such a ban.

“As competitive as it is now,” Crawford said, “there probably won’t be a three-time champion. It would be a rarity for someone to win three again.”

Since he’s been “retired” from individual competition, Crawford and Betts have built a successful business selling Betts Championship Calls.

Betts, who makes the calls in a shop at his house and has more than a dozen championships to his name, sells about 1,000 of the wood or acrylic calls annually that range in price from $25 to $150.

Both Betts and Crawford have fulltime jobs that limit their time to promote the calls – relying on the Internet, trade shows, some catalog sales and word-of-mouth – but they have established a respectable share of the industry where the leading manufacturers sell around 3,500 to 4,000 per year.

Crawford knew Betts for 20 years before the 2000 competition and when Crawford had a disagreement with his usual duck call supplier, a well-known company in Stuttgart, he asked Betts at the last minute for a call.

He won with Betts’ call and the two have been working together ever since.

Fringe Benefits

Crawford, who won a $1,000 savings bond and a 30.06 rifle for his first world title in 1976 and $20,000 in cash and prizes for his win in 2000, made a career out of his duck hunting expertise.

For 17 years he was a highly sought-after hunting guide and was in such demand he eventually quit because he was losing so much time with his family.

He worked as a guide from 125 days to 165 days a year beginning with the first seasons in Alberta, Canada, and working down the Mississippi flyway.

Crawford counted major corporations among his clients, among them companies like Jimmy Dean Foods, which Crawford said had a $1 million budget just for hunting.

While the demand led Crawford to stop taking guide jobs, his reputation as an expert hunter and caller still keeps him in free boots, camo and lead.

Crawford has endorsement deals with Remington Arms, NatGear Camoflage, Flambo Decoys, LaCrosse boots, Legend Boats and Mud Buddy Motors.

“I haven’t had to pay for any shotguns, shells, clothing, boats or motors or decoys in a while,” Crawford said. “Believe me, it’s nice.”

In exchange for free product – a perk the companies have also extended to his 16-year-old son Charles – Crawford does field tests, travels to trade shows, magazine and catalog ads and testimonials.

“I do anything I can to increase their sales,” Crawford said. “They take good care of me. It’s nice to not have to go to the sporting goods store every year to buy new gear. I can just pick up the phone and a couple days later that brown truck rolls up at my door.”

Although Crawford is a master of the duck call from the “hail” to the “close-out” settling them on the water, he said that’s still no guarantee.

“There are times when I feel awful confident about my ability to call ducks,” Crawford said. “There are times I feel like I’ve never done it before. They can make you look like the superstar duck caller of the world or they can make you look like a complete amateur. It’s all about where you are and what the ducks want to do.

“If you’re in the place they want to be, you’ve got ’em. If not, you better be good at blowing a duck call.”

From Birds to BBQ

Unfortunately for Arkansas hunters, the best duck call on earth can’t make it snow up North and the sport’s outlook in the Natural State has become “dismal,” Crawford said.

Within the last seven to eight years, Crawford said the mild winters of the upper Midwest have turned North Dakota and South Dakota into a “huge breeding center” where ducks don’t have to go far for food and less than two inches of snow cover aren’t enough to make them fly South.

Once the hunting seasons up North end, there’s no pressure for ducks to move either.

The commercialization of duck hunting along the Mississippi flyway stretching from Minnesota to the Delta has also created huge pressure that has contributed to the decline, Crawford said.

“It’s now a money sport,” Crawford said. “It’s not a blue-collar sport anymore. It’s become such a ‘thing’ to do it was something a lot of people got into thinking it was an easy way to make a penny and it doesn’t work that way. Those so-called outfitters/guides aren’t around anymore.

“If it wasn’t for the demand on me I’d probably still be doing it, but I’ve had all I can take.”

Crawford still judges competitions occasionally and also is tutoring five up-and-coming duck callers, one of whom just earned his first top 10 finish at a world championship.

Crawford has channeled the same passion for duck hunting into the world champion barbeque at Whole Hog, where he puts in 70 hours a week.

He was friends with Whole Hog founders Ron and Steve Blasingame and Mike “Sarge” Davis and jumped at the opportunity to get involved when they told him Brian Adams and Kevin Jacobs would be opening a franchise in Bentonville.

Nearing its two-year anniversary in Bentonville, Whole Hog and its catering business has been a huge success in Northwest Arkansas with sales in excess of $840,000 in 2006 according to city tax records, and a new location that just opened in Fayetteville’s Fiesta Square. 

“Life is good,” Crawford said. “They told me, ‘This is yours. Do what you have to do and make it a success.’ That’s why I’m here at 5 in the morning and don’t leave until 7 at night. So far, so good.

“Northwest Arkansas has opened their arms to us. I wish I could have done it 10 years ago. I may not have to do it after another 10 years. You never know.”

How to be a Champion Duck Caller

Trey Crawford, general manager and partner in Whole Hog Café of Bentonville, shares the secret to his world championship duck call, which he calls “The Four Cs.”

Comfort – Nothing can happen without this. Whether it’s a putter or a duck call or a racecar, if you’re not comfortable operating it, you can’t control it.

Control – Being able to manage your air presentation into the call makes the difference. Voice inflection and lung capacity are unique to each hunter it helps to have the call tuned for the individual. The more you blow the call, the more control you have.

Consistency – Record your calls and compare them. The cadence of the tones from top to bottom and the length of the notes play a heavy part in competition. Consistency makes you a better duck caller, which in turn makes you a better hunter.

Confidence – When you’re comfortable with a call, can control it and are consistent, you’ve already won something. Once you’ve bagged some ducks, confidence builds. Remembering what works and applying it again makes it all come together.