TRUE PARROTT: LOCAL TURKEY CALLER CLAIMS FOURTH GRAND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

If impression is indeed the best form of flattery, Walter Parrott's outdoor talent must really be "gobbled up" in the right company.

Appropriately named, Parrott, a Fredericktown resident, is more like a Rich Little. But instead of impersonating celebrities, Parrott performs the likes of Excited Hen, Cluck and Purr, Fly-Down Cackle and Hen Yelping.

Parrott proved last weekend he is the best at reproducing wild turkey calls, winning the Grand National Championship in Atlanta, Ga. In winning, Parrott became the first person to win the title four times. A $5,000 check and trophy accompanied his performance.

He has also won the World Championship, U.S. Open, World Friction Championship and Masters Invitational. He is the only person in the United States to have won every major turkey calling competition.

His impressive resume has also helped land him a syndicated television show, "Ultimate Deer and Turkey," his own turkey calling video, and positions on the pro staffs of Knight and Hale Game Calls, Realtree Camouflage and Red Head Pro Hunting. He has his own line of bird callers with four turkey diaphragms and a crow call.

Like most success stories, Parrott, 40, had a humble beginning. He started hunting turkeys 30 years ago.

"I started practicing as a youngster because I was afraid to call in the woods cause I might scare them off," said Parrott.

He began mimicking the sounds of tame turkeys around his farm in Doe Run. The mimicking just never stopped.

"I didn't know it would all lead to this," said Parrott. "It just came out of my love of turkey hunting and wanting to be around people who like to talk about it and trying to learn as much as I could about it.

Parrott was introduced to turkey calling competitions about 20 years ago. He won a door prize at the first competition he went to in Fredericktown and competed the second time.

"I didn't do too well with the mouth diaphragm, but I won the friction," he said. "I won $15."

He added, "When I won the first contest I didn't say I was going to try to win all the contests I could."

But the awards started coming and Parrott did recall telling a reporter in 1985 that he wanted to win all the big ones.

He accomplished that goal in 1995, winning The Masters after placing second three times.

To win the recent Grand National Championship, Parrott had to perform six mouth calls that were drawn in advance and beat out 40 participants, including the defending champion as well as current World Champion. Performing in front of an audience, Parrott was judged by a panel hidden behind a curtain backstage.

He said he's probably best known for his Hen Yelping, but notes, "To be successful you have to have down all the calls. You can't be weak at any of them because they're judging you on an individual basis."

Parrott emerged with his first Grand National title since 1992, breaking a deadlock of three titles with Paul Butski of New York. He also won in 1987 and 1989.

Parrott likens turkey calls to fishing lures. Like lures, calls have different effects.

"Somebody just beginning needs to start with a friction caller," said Parrott. "At the same time they need to have a mouth diaphragm."

The diaphragm fits in the roof of the mouth and is controlled with the tongue. "It's similar to a reed instrument," said Parrott.

And for turkeys, it's like music to the ears.

Parrott still hunts and often meets with success.

"It can definitely help you the more you sound like a turkey," he said. "You don't have to be a world class caller to get a turkey; good woodsmanship plays a big part. A combination of the two gives you a real good chance of being successful."