Quacking And Honking At Warsaw Central Park
WARSAW — The 7th annual Lakes Festival opened at 9 a.m. Saturday, June 11, with the Northern Indiana Lakes Duck Calling Competition at Warsaw Central Park. This competition is the only one in Indiana.
Duck calling competitions take place all over the country with at least one per year in every state. Contestants participate in several categories of duck and goose calling.
The Northern Indiana Lakes Duck Calling Competition consisted of four goose and four duck calling categories. In each category, the four subcategories included novice, open, two-man and state.
The novice category was for the beginner duck-callers and young adults. The open category was open to anyone.
The two-man category featured pairs of duck-callers performing their calls together. The state category was for contestant from Indiana, winners of which will go to the World’s Championship Duck Contest in Stuttgart, Ark.
Five judges relied on sound only to score the contestants. The judges were in a booth and so were not able to see the contestants.
Competitors used a device called a “duck call” to recreate the quacking of a duck or the honking of a goose.
Each routine lasted 90 seconds. A routine was judged based on how well it mimicked a hunting situation and how realistic the calls sounded.
Staring out louder as if the ducks or geese were far away, the calls became quieter as if the ducks or geese would approach the hunter.
The event was organized with the help of Ducks Unlimited, an organization that aims to conserve and restore wetlands and wildlife habitat.