The 38th Annual Louisiana State Duck and Goose Calling Contest will be held on Sunday, August 27, 2006 at the Gueydan Civic Center* in conjunction with the 30th Gueydan Duck Festival.  The contest is sanctioned by the World Championship Duck Calling Contest Committee of Stuttgart, Arkansas.  The winning duck callers will be eligible to represent Louisiana in the 71st World Contest on November 24-25 in Stuttgart.  See Rules of the contest for details of eligibility and procedure for competing. 

Onsite registration will be open at 8 AM and close at 12:30 PM -- no exceptions.  Preregistrations are recommended.  The duck calling competition will begin at 1 PM with the Junior Division.  The goose calling competition in the blue/snow and specklebelly categories will follow the presentation of the awards and prizes for the duck calling contest.  All callers registering for the contest(s) will receive a Louisiana Wildlife Federation waterfowl logo T-shirt and be eligible to draw for shotguns, duck and goose hunts and other valuable merchandise prizes donated by contest sponsors.  The registration fees are $15 per contest entered, or $35 to enter all three categories of competition.  Only Louisiana residents are eligible to compete in the state contest.

There are 3 divisions in the duck calling competition: Junior (under 14 years of age); Intermediate (14-16 years of age); Senior (17 years of age and older).  There are 2 age divisions for the goose calling categories: Junior (16 years of age and younger) and Senior (17 years of age and older).  Girls and boys and men and women will compete together.

1st , 2nd and 3rd place plaques will be awarded in each division.  All winners will receive state champion jackets.  The winner of each division in the duck calling category will be eligible to receive an expense aid of up to $300 to cover some of the costs to compete in the 2006 World Championship Duck Calling Contest.  Reimbursement will be available upon verification of participation and submission of receipts to confirm expenses.

Preregistration is available by completing and mailing this form or faxing or emailing: full name, birth date, home address and phone #, contest category/categories entered (duck, blue/snow, specklebelly) to 225/344-6707; lwf@lawildlifefed.org or pmcdaz71@aol.com prior to August 21.  For faxed or emailed preregistrations, the entry fee must be paid at the contest registration table before 12 Noon on the day of the contest.  Mailed preregistrations should include the above information per each contestant and mailed to:

Gueydan Duck Festival  
Phil McDaniel
32604 La. Hwy 714
Gueydan, La. 70542

A check to cover the entry fee(s) should be included and made out to Gueydan Duck Festival Association.

Last year's winner in the senior division of the duck calling competition for the second consecutive year was Phil Green of New Iberia, followed by Jason Campbell of Iowa, LA and Jerry Landry of Youngsville.  The intermediate duck division was won by Slade Norfleet of Luling, followed by Chris Daniels of Lake Charles and Bobby Jorden of Lafayette.  The junior duck division was won by Bo Bourque of Gueydan.  Ryne Ray of Minden was second followed by Austin Hebert of Lafayette. 

In the goose calling competitions, James Meyers of Sulphur repeated as winner of the senior blue/snow goose calling category followed by Nathan Lopez of Lake Arthur in second place and Bill Daniels of Jennings in third.  Thomas Roy of Lafayette won the junior blue/snow division followed by Chris Daniels in second and Austin Hebert in third place.  Bill Daniels took first place in the senior specklebelly competition followed by Nathan Lopez in second and Scotty LePretre of Gueydan who placed third.  Ian Woods of Jennings repeated as the winner of the junior specklebelly competition with Chris Daniels of Lake Charles taking second place and Thomas Roy third.

The 38th Annual Louisiana State Duck and Goose calling contest is hosted and conducted by the Gueydan Duck Festival Association in cooperation with the Louisiana Wildlife Federation.  Event chairman is Phil McDaniel.  For more information about the contest, or to learn about sponsorship opportunities, contact McDaniel at 337/536-9841; cell 337/230-2250 or email pmcdaz71@aol.com, or the Louisiana Wildlife Federation at lwf@lawildlifefed.org.

Thanks to the following businesses whose support helps to make this contest possible: Farm Bureau of Louisiana, G & H Seed-Gueydan, Budweiser, Avery Outdoors, Louisiana Fish Fry, Dave Smith Decoys, Edward Jones (Robert Hackett), BELLSOUTH, Paradise Louisiana.