It seems like the youth movement is growing by leaps and bounds in every sport these days. First it was kids getting drafted from high school right into the NBA, then players going into the NFL after one or two seasons of college ball, where does it end? Likewise in the world of competitive duck calling, young blood is beginning to take charge. Take for instance, the most recent World Duck Calling Contest which was won by nineteen year old, Jody Niccum who hails from Olathe, Kansas. Suffice to say that he is well over a decade younger than the past two champions, Jim Ronquest and John Stephens.

Although Niccum is young he is no stranger to those judges at the World Championship having been there two previous times. It’s no small feat to qualify for the top event in Duck Calling. One must WIN a regional event, which is no easy task. Once that is accomplished the competitor has to survive three elimination rounds competing against numerous seasoned veterans and prior World Champions. Heck just about everyone in Stuttgart, Arkansas where the event is held is some sort of duck calling expert!

This past November, the college student from Kansas overcame the odds, stress, and put his talent on stage for everyone to hear. Finally after the final routines were blown for the judges, it was Jody Niccum’s name that was announced as the 2007 Champion. In addition to the monstrous Duck Call shaped trophy, Jody picked up a check for eight thousand dollars, a new War Eagle boat, a custom championship ring, Seiko watch, and several cases of shotgun shells. It was a culmination of his dreams but not something he acquired easily.

Niccum like most duck hunters got his start at an early age tagging along with his father. He remembers gaining access to blinds by hanging onto bags of floating decoys since the water was over his head at the time. Of course having an older brother, Cory who was placing well in duck calling contests helped to influence young Jody. “Even though my dad didn’t blow in the contests, he was always there driving my brother and I to a contest somewhere,” recalls Jody. The brothers even paired up on team events for several years earning more than their share of cash and prizes.

In fact Jody admits to having won eight or nine shotguns and a wall full of trophies over the past six seasons. Some of his titles include wins at the following; 2006 Kansas State Duck Calling Championship, Illinois River Regional (which qualified him for the World’s in 2007) and the North Star (Minnesota) Regional which put him into the lineup for his first trip to the World Championship in 2005.

Currently Niccum has the current Champion’s automatic berth for the 2008 event, thus he cannot compete in any regional duck calling events. Still, he stays on the road traveling to different states in search of “open” events. In fact he aspires to gain a world title in the goose calling arena to go along with his duck calling resume. Already in 2008 he has won a goose calling event that paid one thousand dollars and took second place in the World Open All Around held earlier this year in Russell, Kansas.

Whether it’s a concert pianist or a duck caller, practice is the key to success. Jody stated that he blew a duck call for twenty or thirty minutes daily prior to any regional event. Once he qualified for the World’s he stepped up his practice to an hour or so of serious calling. Then one week before the start of the Stuttgart event, Niccum practiced daily for two or more hours on his RNT duck call. Although he utilized only one call, the MVP model from RNT Calls, he would regularly replace the reed to get the optimum sound he felt was needed to impress judges.

Few people in the high levels of duck calling achieve success purely on their own accord. Jody was no different. Sure his brother helped start him on his way, but Jody picked up tips along the way from some of the sport’s best. Previous champs Mike Keller and Butch Richenback took him under their wings at various times teaching him the idiosyncrasies of the duck call and how to blow various routines that judges listen for.

Still like most contest callers, Jody is a hunter at heart. He likes nothing more than hitting the marsh in his layout boat in search of Mallards or digging into fields to hunt Canada or Whitefront geese. He admits that although fooling a duck can be tough on a day by day basis, it’s a totally different scenario when he gets on stage. “In contest we blow a super loud hail or comeback call, along with a rolling feed call to impress the judges,” he admits. “But when I am hunting I don’t use any of that, I actually do more soft calling,” said Jody. Ducks are more forgiving; blow a foul note (pun intended) and you might still shoot ducks, but one wrong note in a contest and you are done!

The 2007 Duck Calling Champion has no illusions of grandeur on his mind. Niccum has no plans to design his own line of calls, sign up to endorse and promote waterfowl products, or make any profit off of his notoriety. No, in his words, “I just want to go to school and hunt!” Well said Jody!