Cape Central student wins national turkey calling championship

Cape Central High School student Chase Roberts began his journey in competitive turkey calling at a young age.

At 9 years old, Roberts attended a seminar promoting the activity at Cabela’s in St. Louis. Roberts’ curious mind got the best of him, prompting him to ask several questions and try out a few of the techniques on his own. Following a recommendation from the man leading the seminar, Roberts entered into and won his first turkey calling competition that day.

Now, after seven years of competitive calling, he can claim the title of national champion.

Chase Roberts competes at the National Wild Turkey Federation's Grand National Calling Championships on Feb. 16 in Nashville, Tennessee.Courtesy of Cape Girardeau Public Schools, file

Roberts took the top prize at the National Wild Turkey Federation’s annual Grand National Calling Championships, which is described on the event’s website as the “Super Bowl of turkey calling competitions”, Feb. 16 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort Center in Nashville, Tennessee. His championship victory came in his first year competing in the intermediate division for contestants between the ages of 16 and 20.

“It felt really good. I’ve been working at it a long time,” Roberts said. “I’ve gotten second twice and top five in the last five years. It’s finally felt like all the hard work has finally paid off.”

At the competition, contestants are required to perform four separate randomly selected calls to an anonymous panel of judges. Roberts described preparation for the competition as a “big mental game”.

“What it really comes down to, because of the stage, all the lights up there, they have cameras that will move around in your face and for a lot of people, that really gets them. Once that rattles them, they can’t really get back in order,” Roberts said. “You have to block out all of that, just go practice your run, do the run that you have practiced and block out all the other distractions.”

To get his mind right, before hitting the stage to compete, Roberts listens to music. Although he has competed in multiple national calling championship events, the 17-year-old said he still gets nervous before performing.

“I listen to music all the way until I walk up on stage just to clear my head as much as I can,” Roberts said. “I’ll always have that nervous feeling just walking up there but, for the most part, I really do feel confident in myself that I can go out there and win it every year. That’s the main goal but you always just have that little nervousness that builds and will never go away.”

With the pressure turned up after winning the title this year, Roberts is prepared to practice even harder to win again next year.

“I need to do the same thing that I did this year and then some,” Roberts said. “Try to improve on what I did this year and win by more. There are more guys that are moving up into my division, and it’s just more competition next year and throughout the rest of the years. It will take more practice and improving on the things I’m already good at. ... Honestly, I feel like there’s more (pressure). Everyone knows that I can win, I’ve just got to go back out there and show it’s not just a fluke and I can do it more than one time.”

For more information about the NWTF’s Grand National Calling Championships, visit https://your.nwtf.org/gncc.