And so ends another world championship

[msd1228]

I figured I should post a quick rundown of the world championship from this year as I'm sure there's a few people wondering how it all went down.

First, let me say that the level of talent there is simply on another level (as one would expect, I suppose). There were very few callers who didn't bring the absolute total package. A major highlight for me was watching the kids call - those little guys and gals call better than 99% of the adult men I've ever heard.

Although I'm not usually one to step down a level, being as it was my first year calling at worlds I decided to enter the men's division, rather than pro. I wanted to get a taste of how things worked down there and since I've refrained from taking up any pro-staff offers I figured I might as well take 1 run at men's and then move up from there. There was 15 callers in men's on day 1. After day 1 I was in first place by 4 points - I called pretty clean, but felt like I could have done a bit better job on my first and 2nd bugles - my cow calling was no issue. I knew that if I called clean on day 2 I should take the division down. On day 2 I came in with a different mindset; I knew I wanted to leave absolutely everything I had on stage - I couldn't have lived with not finishing first if I felt that I hadn't given it absolutely everything I had. Unfortunately, that decision ended up costing me the championship. Once again, my cow section went great, but my over aggressiveness caused me to over blow my second and third bugles. Don't get me wrong, they bugles still weren't BAD, but they were not perfectly clean like I needed them to be. My lip bawl to high note got away from me a bit, and my low note bugle jumped up an octave because I just gave the reed a bit too much tongue. When the final scores came out Dirk edged me out by 1 point (174 to 173) giving me a 2nd place finish. I keep playing it back in my head that if only I had taken the same conservative route that I did on day 1 I would've taken it down, but like I said, I would have been filed with too many "what ifs" if I hadn't have gone full tilt and not won, so I can live with the fact that, ultimately, I beat myself. I look forward to joining the pro division next year - that division is going to be at an all time high with regards to talent.

The pro division had 14 callers on day 1, and lets just say the judging from that division's first day had a few people scratching their heads. I don't think a single person in there ranked the top 6 the way the judges did, but, then again, each of us is listening for something a bit different than the next guy. The biggest surprise was, undoubtedly, the fact that Rocky did not make day 2 for the first time in the competition's 26 year history. I personally had Rocky anywhere from 3rd-5th place, but the judges saw it differently. I had Corey and Brian ranked 1st and 2nd (I couldn't determine which one would be first or second, I just knew that they were the best 2 callers from day 1, in my opinion). At the conclusion of day 1 calling I personally had the rankings as follows: 1st/2nd Corey Jacobson and Brian Langley. 3rd-5th: Rocky Jacobson, Jason Phelps, Travis O'Shea (Again, no particular order, I figured any of those guys could hold any position from 3-5). 6: Matt Brimmer. I spoke with Rockey afterwards and he had it ranked the same as I did.The judges saw it differently - 1st: Matt Brimmer. 2nd (Tie): Corey and Brian. 4-6: Jason Phelps, Lance Sellers, Big Al Morris. As I said, there was some major "huh??!!" going on after that announcement, but that's the nature of competition that is subjectively judged. Day 2 fell much more in line with how everyone else viewed things. Corey finished first, Brian 2nd, and Big Al 3rd. Jason, Matt, and Lance finished 4-6, but I can't remember the exact order. It was interesting watching Corey and Brian fight it out - there was no question that those 2 guys were first and second, and as far as I could tell, it all came down to 1 tiny mistake. Corey's routine was literally flawless - he didn't so much as miss a single note, whereas (and I may be wrong, but again, this is all subjective), I thought Brian's opening bugle wasn't as clean as it had been on day 1, and in my mind that one tiny, tiny mistake was the difference maker.

All in all it was a fantastic time and I met more amazing people than I could begin to count. Its pretty cool to go to an event knowing nobody, and leaving feeling like you've made new friends from all across the continent. On a personal level, it was nice to get the validation that I had been working on all the right things and had crafted a routine that displayed all of the things the judges wanted to hear. Its one thing to have won the Canadian championship the past couple of years, but quite another to finish at the top when the competition level is as good as it gets. I can't wait for next year, and I encourage anyone who is thinking about giving it a try to get down there - you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. The event is absolutely top notch and the people you will meet are even better. Until next year...

[ElkNut1]

Shane, great review, I enjoyed your detailed account! Sounds like you did great in the Men's Division, Dirk is a very good caller!

Sounds like a bunch of ups & downs there for the Pro Division?? Congrats to Corey Jacobson on another great performance, I'm sure it's well deserved! Thanks again for taking the time to share!

ElkNut1

[PHELPS GAME CALLS]

You called great and I hope to see you next year. Yeah I was surprised day 1 shook out the way it did.

I had a great time and was pleased to make the finals (even though I was hoping to make the top 3). Oh well, a few tweaks to the cow routine and hopefully next year I can pick up a few more points. Corey and Bryan called excellent!!

[msd1228]

Hey Jason, I wish we had've found more time to chat, aside from the little 15 second exchange we had... everything was a bit of a whirlwind before and after the calling. Next year we'll definitely have to crack a cold one and chat a bit. I thought you called great on day 1 - there was no question you should have advanced to day 2. On day 2 I could sense some frustration in your body language, but man, finishing where you did with the talent in that division on the first try is insane! Like you said - a little tweak here and there and a guy is right in the thick of things. Pro division is going to be beyond ridiculous next year....there's gonna be some guys not making day 2 who would absolutely destroy the competition in any other event. I can't wait.

[WapitiTalk1]

Absolutely outstanding showing from Phelps Game Calls (Jason) and Wapiti River Outdoors (Trav and Shane)! Congrats gentlemen and thank you Shane for the detailed rundown/tale of the tape. Heck, I'm a bit honored to have used some of your calls (from both of your outfits) . Gotta end my congrats with a high five to Jason Phelps and thank you for representing the Evergreen State so well in the big show.

[ElkNut1]

So Jason, Travis & Shane are you guys hitting the Circuit so to speak & enter in other Calling Contests to help you shave the pressure of calling down a bit so the Worlds isn't too intimidating? I know there's lots of pressure at the big one to perform flawlessly! Thanks.

ElkNut1

[PHELPS GAME CALLS]

I wish I had the time available to call in the ISE "best of the west" but just don't have enough time available.

[ElkNut1]

Jason, yes the SCI one would be a good one! I've seen the top callers there in the past, you would do well bud!

ElkNut1

[under H2O hunter]

Congratulations to all the competitors. Especially Corey Jacobsen and Dirk Durham those two are simply awesome to talk to and pick their brains when it comes to calling. I am not surprised that they both won. I think this is Corey's 8th world title. Last year at the Denver International Sportsmans Expo I was talking with Corey about calling and his competitions. He was very humble and gave me some great advice which was " It doesn't matter how you do on stage, the real test is out in nature." He also told me to focus on three very basic things. 1) Locate bugle 2) Challenge Bugle and 3) Cow calling. He said that if you can master those three things you'll be successful 99% of the time.

[Wapiti]

Hey Guys and Gals !!

Wow what a great time we all had and like others have said it's like we all one big family down there all striving for the same ending !! Even though the judges didn't send me to the finals I walked off the stage knowing I hit my routine just like I had wanted to and practiced it !! Here's a run down to how it all goes as your number is close to getting called.

Each division goes up and each person draws a number and that is the order you will call in. Well the nerves start from there as we all wonder who's before you and who's after you !! LOL. Sitting in your chair each caller ahead of you makes you more nervous and you start to shake and your hands are sweating, then you start to get dry mouth and you take a sip of water and look around at the other guys still waiting and wonder to yourself.......is that Jason guy nervous, is his mouth dry are his hands sweating and is he shaking.......then Jason takes on a slurp of water.......wwhhheeewww he is feeling the same as me !!!! Speaking of Jason congrats buddy on a great finish and it was a pleasure hanging and just talking with you over and over again ! I'm am looking forward to a great friendship with you.

Myself I'll tell you guys how I was feeling. My nerves just as described above while I was sitting there watching and then my number was called you start your walk to the stage and there are three stairs I remember seeing buy somehow I'm on the stage and don't even remember going up any stairs !! LOL. Yep you are in the spot light now. Then you hear the announcer caller #7 Cow sounds please ? You think to yourself for a split second " Man I hope something comes out and it sound like an elk !" As you settle into your cow talk your nerves start to slowly go away........except this time I got more nervous which I usually do not and my hands were shaking furiously. So in my mind I'm telling myself to calm down your doing fine and you keep on making your cow sounds and the clock just fly's by and the buzzer goes of and 45 seconds felt like 5 !!

Now you have a few seconds to take in air and a few deep breaths and this helps calm you down ! My bugle routine was very technical as I really like to give the judges all different bull sounds.
So I start off with a lipbawl scream ending in a fast chuckle then I got into a whine of a bull followed by a slow quiet to fast loud to slow quiet chuckles that are my trademark sounds. Next was a voice growl to high note with a thumping finish( Honestly my high note was quivering a bit and I didn't like it ) Next was my bull calling cow bugle which is a very short but aggressive bugle that ends with a sharp yyeeeww at the end followed by fast chuckles, A bark was slipped in there at that point and then on to a high note with a growl type finish then it was onto the bugle I had been waiting to let out for a whole year since my last visit to worlds last year !! My standard high note location bugle which extended the high note and started it on the right side of the audience and it ended on the left side of the audience ending it with a hard thump type ending !!! Boy oh boy did I nail that last bugle !!!! That last bugle was as good as anyone in the pro division could have wanted as it was loud and crystal clear and my note never wavered at all !! It to me was a very solid performance.

That was a little look into how your feeling at one of these events.

Paul you asked if any of us were coming down to any of the other events and funny as it sounds I just asked Shane that last night. I personally will be coming down to one of the Best of the West contests but I'm not sure which one yet. Maybe I'll pick the one closest to you and we can meet up finally as we have lots to chat about !! LOL

I would like to say congrats to Corey as he deserved the win this year as he called great ! Jason your a class act and it was a pleasure calling with you ! Shane Donner called great and I know he will be a force in the Pro division next year !! Actually the Pro division should be the strongest class of callers that it possibly has ever been ! I can say everyone in there can and probably will win at some point as the calling from everyone is at such a high level.

The only thing I would like to see is to have more people come out and try there luck in any of the divisions. There is a place for everyone. It's not all about winning as it is being a part of a group of fantastic people !! Come on out and call with us !!

Travis

[msd1228]

Trav mentioned the other day that he wouldn't mind hitting up one of the Best of the West shows this year, so we may try to sneak down for one if we can find the time - if there's one in Montana or Idaho then the distance wouldn't be too bad. I'll call Canadians one more time - I'd like to win 3 times in a row, but after that there really isn't much more to prove in that forum. Truth be told, I really don't get nervous calling on stage; even at world's I was cool as a cucumber. My downfall was allowing myself to believe I needed to ramp the aggression of my bugles up on day 2 to put an exclamation point on things - that was the 1 mistake that ultimately cost me. That's the cool thing about it all though, everyone, even the winners, will walk away having learned some little thing that will make them a better caller for next year. Whether it be realizing a person needs to simplify what they are doing, adding a different sound into the mix, modifying a bugling style, or, in my case, not allowing yourself to change a recipe that had you had success with. Heck, it may even be something as small as realizing that the judges don't particularly care for one sound, but seem to really like another sound (Which is subjective, but it seemed easy enough to piece together if you compared score cards with other people and saw people doing similar things getting similar scores)

Its no secret that everyone has their own style. Some people may be a bit similar, but everybody is totally unique. Its really fun to be able to sit and listen to guys that are masters of their style in person, rather than on a video - video just doesn't do justice to some of the nuances you can hear in person. For example, its no secret that Corey has thunderous barks and chuckles, but I swear the stage shook when I was able to hear it in person. Everyone thumps their barks and chuckles, but he thumps them so hard its like a sledgehammer hitting you in the head. Also, Rocky's final bugle on day 1 was, quite honestly, the most intense sound I've ever heard a human being make with a diaphragm reed. His bugle was about an octave below what you would consider a high note and the frequency he was hitting damn near blew the hat right off my head. My entire head rang during that bugle. During his routine, Trav hit a clean high note that was so piercing it almost hurt your ears. Corey and Rocky both approached him afterwards and asked him WTF that was - they both said that was a high note in a class all of its own. Jason and Brian were ripping incredible lip bawls - they were both the class of the pro division with respect to that sound. I felt that cow sounds were what really separated the competition and no 2 guys sounded even remotely the same. Cow sound scores were definitely what raised the most eyebrows during the weekend as they are even more subjective than bugling. You can easily tell if a guy pooched a bugle (in most cases anyways), but judging cow sounds really seems to come down to what style the judges prefer. Some like long mews, some like short chips, some like loud and whiny, others like soft and mellow.

At the end of the day, iron sharpens iron, and with the talent level still trending upward, its going to be extremely interesting to see what new things people come up with. Just thinking about next years pro lineup is insane. Corey, Brian, Rocky, Jason, Joel Turner plans on coming back next year (he couldn't come this year due to work commitments), Big Al, Trav, Matt Brimmer, myself...Like I said, there will be guys not making day 2 that would demolish the competition in any other venue. Its really exciting stuff for sure.

[msd1228]

My nerves just as described above while I was sitting there watching and then my number was called you start your walk to the stage and there are three stairs I remember seeing buy somehow I'm on the stage and don't even remember going up any stairs !!

This is hilarious. Oh the stairs. The room you call in is more or less silent - you could hear a pin drop. Both days when I walked up on stage and put my stuff down what was it that was going through my mind? Was it that I needed to nail this routine? Not flub a bugle? Nope. It was "THESE STAIRS ARE SO LOUD!" haha.

[Glacier Country]

Congrats to all of the callers and their fine showing. I wanted to go, but the company I work for will not let any of us off in December. It sure is nice to meet up with old friends and make some new ones. It would have been nice to meet some of you guys. Congrats again. Troy

[Gselkhunter]

The thing that always struck me was walking into the hall, just the shear number of famous people talking elk. Going from booth to booth catching up with people I had gotten to know from past years. Some of my favorite, Mike Lapinski, Mark Carlton, Glen Berry. Then it was off to work the Hunter's Specialty booth and pretend I was equal to all the other people there. The Joy of helping kids learn to make their first sound out of a mouth call knowing they were going to drive Mom and Dad crazy. That was elevated on times when my own son could join me[Keaton called in competition also].
Then you would walk into the Auditorium where you would have to call and wait to draw numbers. Looking around the room and seeing that much raw talent is over whelming to say the least. Then you get your number hoping you would draw between 4 and 9 to give you the best shot with the judges. Not too early so they are hyper-critical or too late so they are bored. Then worry about who you had to follow knowing it could make you sound great or poor. Yes the mind games you play on yourself. In the first few years it was very hard to walk up on stage and not lose your lunch. The wait to call was hard enough but after time I learned to block out the crowd and the judges and just focus on my program.
My down fall was I could never just do the standard calling set, I always had to ad-lib from things I had learned in the field that the judges didn't care for.
What great memories I walked away with. The thing I will say is anyone in any division that can walk up on that stage and call has true courage because it is not an easy thing to do.

[flystrait]

Congrats to all that went and competed! Nice showing from several. I agree that controlling your nerves is a big part of competeing at any level. I beleive that everyone feels the same way as Trav described no matter how good you are my hats off. I have called in a few as well and it gets a little better for me each time, but I definately am not able to shake all the nerves. It looks like the competition is steep and will continue to get more and more in my opinion. I attended the 2012 worlds as a spectater and thought that the judging was good and any one of the top three could have actually won, so anyone that makes it to any placement by far are great callers in any division IMO.

So now that they switched the dates how was the attendance for the show?

[BrentLaBere]

Congratulations guys. Thanks for the run down. I can only imagine how intense that would be.
Anyone know if they will be posting video or audio of the competition? I always like listening to it and practicing in the off season.