The fact that the call comp thread got yanked is a joke. Musta hit too close to home.
I'm just curious, why do you think it's a joke? Because Stoner's a judge and y'all were bashing him (and the other judges) with no real merit to do so, or is there facts out there that prove the judges show bias, or is it just the perception of some people based on the guys that win? I honestly don't know, that's why I'm asking. I know if I was a judge, took it seriously, and tried to be as unbiased as possible (which I assume the judges do, because I have no reason to think otherwise) and there were people bashing me for no reason, I wouldn't want it up on a public forum either. If you (or anyone else) were a judge and it was you (or anyone else) who was coming under fire do you think the mod's would have left it open for you to be bashed and criticized, I find it hard to believe they would. Just because someone who wins might be friends with a judge doesn't mean they should be criticized for choosing that person if they truly felt it was the best call entered. I don't have a dog in this fight in any way, shape, or form, I've never entered my calls in a contest (maybe one day I will to see how judges THINK they stack up against other competitors) and I've never met anyone on this forum (except for Austy, who lives down the street from me), I've exchanged PMs and texts with, or have bought calls from probably 50-75 guys on this forum on both sides of this conversation. Please don't take this post as being for or against one side, I'm just trying to make sense of it all and get facts straight and if there's something I'm missing please inform me. My thought on the comps is this, 1) We all have different opinions of what a call should sound like; a call I used to kill a bunch a birds might have a sound that Austy, or McKamey, or Al, or Stoner, or Rickey doesn't care for, and that's ok, we all look for different things in a call and we all hear things a little differently. 2) When I read the "why do callmakers build" thread, I don't see a single response that says "I build calls to win ribbons." Everyone gave a much deeper response, whether it be their way of combining their love of turkey hunting and art, a connection to someone they met, or simply "to kill turkeys." I know, personally, I would much rather have 100 pics or stories from customers of dead turkeys than a materialistic medal or ribbon. If a call aids in someone taking their first turkey, or a very significant bird in their life, then the call and call maker has had a greater impact on that person than any medal ever could and I think all call makers share this thought. If you're a call maker and have good customers and your calls have been used to kill birds but your salty about not winning a ribbon then maybe you're building for the wrong reason, just my opinion. I hope this post doesn't offend anyone, as that's not at all my intent.
