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Matthew Presley, 22, of Front Royal, Virginia ,won the World Open Championship as the best all-around turkey calling championship during the National Wild Turkey Federation sanctioned 2025 World Turkey Calling Championships, held June 6-7 in in Mobile, Alabama. Photo Credit: John N. Felsher
Matthew Presley, 22, of Front Royal, Virginia ,won the World Open Championship as the best all-around turkey calling championship during the National Wild Turkey Federation sanctioned 2025 World Turkey Calling Championships, held June 6-7 in in Mobile, Alabama. Photo Credit: John N. Felsher
Turkey Hunting

World Turkey Calling Championship Brings Fierce Talent

Already a seasoned competitor, Matthew Presley won his first all-around turkey calling championship at only 22 years old during the National Wild Turkey Federation sanctioned 2025 World Turkey Calling Championships, held June 6-7 in in Mobile, Alabama.

John N. Felsher June 24, 20255 min read

The new champion from Front Royal, Virginia, won the World Open Championship as the best all-around turkey caller at the event. To win this competition, entrants must make several specific calls assigned by the event staff and scored by the judges.

“I didn’t think I was going to win,” the new world champion modestly said. “The calling was very strong from everyone. I don’t think I heard one mistake from anybody. It feels absolutely amazing. I cannot thank my family enough. My older brother came in second. I could not have done this without him. I pushed him and he pushed me.”

Matthew scored 470 while his brother, Tyler tallied 468.5. J.R. Lanham and Dustin Jones tied with 465.5, but Lanham won the tie-breaker call-off 467 to 465.5. Mitchell Johnston took fifth with 465.

“I’ve been calling in contests since I was six years old.” Matthew acknowledged. “I practice all year. My dad made box calls and got me into turkey calling. His father got him into it. This has been a family tradition. I’m just absolutely blessed to be here and to have the success I’ve had.”

“All the callers did very well in a very tough competition,” commented Kenny Weiss, the event organizer. “These are the best callers in the world. We had some extremely close scores and several ties that had to go into multiple tiebreakers. The competition was mighty tight.”

Russell Andrews of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, won the World Gobbling Championship with 238. He’s also the defending Grand National Gobbler Champion. He’s a part owner of Black Label Game Calls (205-454-3464, blacklabelgamecalls.com) with Jesse Martin.

Russell Andrews of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, won the World Gobbling Championship during the National Wild Turkey Federation sanctioned 2025 World Turkey Calling Championships, held June 6-7 in in Mobile, Ala. Photo Credit: John N. Felsher.
Russell Andrews of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, won the World Gobbling Championship during the National Wild Turkey Federation sanctioned 2025 World Turkey Calling Championships, held June 6-7 in in Mobile, Ala. Photo Credit: John N. Felsher.
Russell Andrews of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, won the World Gobbling Championship during the National Wild Turkey Federation sanctioned 2025 World Turkey Calling Championships, held June 6-7 in in Mobile, Ala. Photo Credit: John N. Felsher.

“I’ve won a few state titles, but never a world championship, so this title means a lot to me,” Andrews remarked. “I tried to really focus on spacing out my gobbles, having pauses and wanting it to be as realistic as possible. In the woods, turkeys might wait three or four seconds before gobbling again because they’re looking around. I really focused on that.”

Nick Wilson finished second in Gobbling with a score of 235.5. Mitchell Johnston took third with 235. Matthew and Ryan Greathouse tied for fourth place with 233, but Greathouse won the tie-breaker call-off 237 to 234.

In the World Friction Championship, Michael Strawn from Aliceville, Alabama, won the title with 475.5. Strawn came in second during the 2024 contest. This year, Jason Conrad finished second with 472.5, followed by Hayley Newell with 472. Hudson McGarity tied for fourth with Stanley Wymbs. Each scored 471, but McGarity won the tie-breaker 473.5 to 472.

“It feels good to win the world championship,” Strawn said. “I put a lot of practice into it and just focused on the basics. All the callers that competed in the finals called very well. It was a tight competition. I guess the judge liked something a little different this year than in 2024. I was fortunate enough to please the judges this year.”

Also with Black Label Game Calls, Kaleb Payton of Central City, Kentucky, won the Owling Division with a score of 236. Payton won two previous world championships and the Grand Nationals five times.

Kaleb Payton of Central City, Kentucky, won the Owling Division during the National Wild Turkey Federation sanctioned 2025 World Turkey Calling Championships, held June 6-7 in in Mobile, Alabama. Photo Credit: John N. Felsher.
Kaleb Payton of Central City, Kentucky, won the Owling Division during the National Wild Turkey Federation sanctioned 2025 World Turkey Calling Championships, held June 6-7 in in Mobile, Alabama. Photo Credit: John N. Felsher.
Kaleb Payton of Central City, Kentucky, won the Owling Division during the National Wild Turkey Federation sanctioned 2025 World Turkey Calling Championships, held June 6-7 in in Mobile, Alabama. Photo Credit: John N. Felsher.

“I’ve always used my calls that I build,” Payton stated. “I stick with almost the same routine, but I did add a few things this year. I knew I had put my A-plus game in operation and come out with guns blazing.”

Tyler Presley finished second in Owling with 235.5. Shane Martinez finished with 234. Jason Conrad tied for fourth with Hudson McGarity at 233.5. Conrad won the tie-breaker 240.5 to 234.

In the most challenging and popular event, two-person teams compete in the Team Challenge. In this competition, the callers must work together as if they were turkeys to act out specific scenarios as assigned by event staff. They must coordinate their activities and make many other calls besides turkey sounds, such as fighting turkeys, crows, hawks and human-made sounds.

“The Team Challenge is the most fun and most difficult of all the competitions because they have act out the two scenarios, one for the fall and one for the spring,” Weiss explained. “The teams must make a variety of different sounds.”

The team of Mitchell Johnston and Jon Miller won the competition with a score of 476. They incorporated such calls as coyote howls, owl hoots, squirrels barking, hawk and crow sounds and other sounds one might hear in the woods at the designated time.

In the most challenging and popular event, two-person teams compete in the Team Challenge. In this competition, the callers must work together as if they were turkeys to act out specific scenarios as assigned by event staff. The team of Mitchell Johnston and Jon Miller won the competition by incorporating such calls as coyote howls, owl hoots, squirrels barking, hawk and crow sounds and other sounds one might hear in the woods at the designated time. Photo Credit: John N. Felsher.
In the most challenging and popular event, two-person teams compete in the Team Challenge. In this competition, the callers must work together as if they were turkeys to act out specific scenarios as assigned by event staff. The team of Mitchell Johnston and Jon Miller won the competition by incorporating such calls as coyote howls, owl hoots, squirrels barking, hawk and crow sounds and other sounds one might hear in the woods at the designated time. Photo Credit: John N. Felsher.
In the most challenging and popular event, two-person teams compete in the Team Challenge. In this competition, the callers must work together as if they were turkeys to act out specific scenarios as assigned by event staff. The team of Mitchell Johnston and Jon Miller won the competition by incorporating such calls as coyote howls, owl hoots, squirrels barking, hawk and crow sounds and other sounds one might hear in the woods at the designated time. Photo Credit: John N. Felsher.

“We didn’t really practice our routine,” Miller advised. “We just strategized it. We just knew what we were each going to do. We call around each other enough that we just know and roll with it. We hunt and we’re in the woods all the time, so we know what turkeys do.”

“We plan who is going to do what right before the contest begins,” Johnston echoed. “We wrote down who was going to do what and put that in our short-term memory bank. Jon got me into competitive turkey calling when I was 16 years old. For us to do this together, makes it extra special because we’ve been lifelong friends.”

Wayne Dozier from Dickinson, Alabama, the defending three-time Open World champion, and Jared Lowe took second with 474. Shane Martinez and Matthew Presley followed with 471. Russell Andrews and J.R. Lanham finished fourth with 464.5. Ryan Greathouse and Brad Holmes scored 462, but Greathouse won the tie-breaker.

In the Amateur Division, Russell Sherling won with a score of 168.5, followed by Christopher Stumbo with 166. Alex DeBord finished third with 165.5. Chandler Kimbrough landed in fourth with 164.5. Chris Nelson and Sawyer DeBord tied for fifth with 163, but Nelson won the tie-breaker call-off 165.5 to 163.5.

For the third year in a row, Chase Roberts won the Intermediate Division for ages 16 to 20 years old with 169.5. Ethan Jones took second with a score of 165.5, followed by Tristen Hargreaves with 161.5.

In the Junior Division for youths 11 to 15 years old, William Ridgley won with a score of 167. Easton Phillips and Mason Johnston tied for second with 166, but Phillps won the tie-breaker 166.5 to 166. Lee Spears landed in fourth place with a score of 163.

For the Poults, youngsters 10 years old and younger, Jaxon Wale won with 166.5. Sawyer DeBord and Boone Miller tied for second with 165.5, but DeBord won the call-off 169.5 to 165. Seth Mitchell finished fourth with 164.5, followed by Maryellen Dozier with 163.

The panel of judges sat sequestered behind a curtain to do the scoring. Before each competition, every caller received a different number. The judges did not know the identities of any of the competitors as they evaluated each call by the number.

The panel of judges sat sequestered behind a curtain to do the scoring. Before each competition, every caller received a different number. The judges did not know the identities of any of the competitors as they evaluated each call by the number. Photo Credit: John N. Felsher.
The panel of judges sat sequestered behind a curtain to do the scoring. Before each competition, every caller received a different number. The judges did not know the identities of any of the competitors as they evaluated each call by the number. Photo Credit: John N. Felsher.
The panel of judges sat sequestered behind a curtain to do the scoring. Before each competition, every caller received a different number. The judges did not know the identities of any of the competitors as they evaluated each call by the number. Photo Credit: John N. Felsher.

“Everything went excellent with a lot of great callers,” remarked Preston Pittman, a champion turkey caller and owner of Pittman Game Calls (662-492-5800, www.pittmangamecalls.com) from West Point, Mississippi. “It was some of the best calling I’ve ever heard. The scores were so close with the quality of callers we had. Anybody could have won. As a judge, we’re listening for any slight mistake. I wanted to be able to picture a turkey hen in the woods.”

The contest featured a total of 144 calling positions, but some people competed in multiple events. In all, 105 different callers representing 21 states competed in the contest.

“For a turkey hunter, there is nothing like coming to a contest, meeting these people, shaking their hands, getting their advice, and truly experiencing it live,” Pittman opined. “I highly encourage anybody out there to come to some of these big contests and be a part of it. People can pick up a lot of good tips.”

The top five callers during the National Wild Turkey Federation sanctioned 2025 World Turkey Calling Championships, held June 6-7 in Mobile, Alabama, show off their plaques. From left to right, Kenny Weiss, the event organizer; Matthew Presley, first place; Tyler Presley, second place; J.R. Lanham, third place; Dustin Jones, fourth place; Mitchell Johnston, fifth place; and Kenny Weiss Jr., event staff. Photo Credit: John N. Felsher.
The top five callers during the National Wild Turkey Federation sanctioned 2025 World Turkey Calling Championships, held June 6-7 in Mobile, Alabama, show off their plaques. From left to right, Kenny Weiss, the event organizer; Matthew Presley, first place; Tyler Presley, second place; J.R. Lanham, third place; Dustin Jones, fourth place; Mitchell Johnston, fifth place; and Kenny Weiss Jr., event staff. Photo Credit: John N. Felsher.

For more information about the World Turkey Calling Championship, call Weiss at 251-605-6077. For complete results, look up World Championship Turkey Calling Contest on Facebook.