By Chris Avena
Hunter Wallis is a nine-time Grand National Turkey Calling Champion and a highly respected figure in the world of turkey hunting. From a young age, he developed a passion for calling, mastering various techniques that have earned him numerous state and national titles. While he excels in stage-calling competitions, Hunter believes that calling in the woods is a completely different challenge, requiring adaptability and an understanding of a turkey’s natural behavior. His expertise goes beyond just winning contests—he uses his knowledge to educate and inspire fellow hunters, sharing insights on the best calls, setups, and strategies for a successful hunt.
When it comes to turkey calling, Hunter emphasizes the importance of selecting the right call for each situation. He prefers using a glass call for aggressive "run-and-gun" hunts and a mouth call for closer encounters, allowing for subtle, realistic sounds. He also stresses the significance of proper setup, urging hunters to stay concealed and position themselves strategically when working a bird. Through his YouTube show, Rogue Hunts, and his social media presence, Hunter continues to showcase his skills and passion for turkey hunting, all while helping others refine their calling techniques and improve their success in the field.
Beyond competitions and personal hunts, Hunter Wallis is committed to passing down his knowledge to the next generation of hunters. Whether through seminars, social media, or his YouTube series Rogue Hunts, he strives to educate both seasoned and novice hunters on the finer points of turkey calling and hunting strategy. He understands that calling is only one piece of the puzzle—patience, scouting, and understanding turkey behavior are equally important for a successful hunt. With his continued pursuit of the Senior Open title at the Grand National Turkey Calling Championship and his dedication to promoting ethical hunting practices, Hunter remains a true ambassador for the sport, inspiring countless hunters to refine their skills and deepen their appreciation for the wild turkey.
Chris Avena: You started Turkey Calling at a pretty young age.
Hunter Wallis: I have been turkey hunting for as long as I can remember. At a young age, I guess I just took an interest to the calling side of the whole thing and got into a couple contests. I think the first one that I called in, I was five or six years old. It was just a little fair contest. I called on a box call, and I didn't do too well. After that, I kind of hung it up for a couple of years, I was still turkey hunting with my dad and I was calling a lot. I really was obsessed with it, so I got back into it. I picked up mouth calling, I think by the time I was nine, I entered into another fair contest and won that one. And from there, I just started calling in a bunch of different contests, sanction contests and I won some state titles. Then went on to the Grand Nationals. It was just a snowball effect ever since.
Chris Avena: So, you say that you won SOME state titles? You won 10 state titles.
Hunter Wallis: Yeah, quite a few state titles. Yeah, I've been really lucky and blessed to be competitive at it.
Chris Avena: Is there a difference between calling on stage in front of a crowd and calling in the woods for a turkey?
Hunter Wallis: Yeah, there's definitely a difference. I think that calling on stage, you're picked to do set calls. Obviously, in the woods, you could throw the gauntlet at them. So, calling to a turkey and calling to a judge are two totally different things. A turkey is sometimes not as picky as a human's ears. But there is definitely a difference. I think, calling to a turkey is a little bit more fun obviously because you get the reaction out of them, and obviously you're hunting them, so it’s just a lot more fun. But, calling in a contest is a lot of fun too. They are both exciting. The cool thing about it, being up on the stage and calling in front of an audience definitely has its adrenaline rush, and calling a turkey has a big adrenaline rush too.
Chris Avena: Do you adjust the type of call or the style of your call throughout the course of the season? Do you use a different call in the early season as you do in the late season?
Hunter Wallis: For myself, not really. Sometimes, just scenario throughout the day, maybe I’ll switch to a two-reed call for just a little bit quieter sound. If I am working a turkey, I've got him to break a hundred yards or so, and then he kind of hangs up. I'll just switch to something that's a little bit easier to make some super-soft calls on. But for the most part throughout the season, I'm blowing the same calls day in, day out. The only time I'll switch to a new one is if I've worn one out. But for me, I switch back and forth between. I’ll use a glass call for kind of running and gunning and trying to strike one up, and then once I’ve got one struck up, I just stick with a mouth call. I’m straightforward. I just run a three-reed batwing 90% of the time. Sometimes a two-reed batwing, but a batwing call is kind of where I’ve settled in, and it just works for me.
Chris Avena: That seems to be your favorite.
Hunter Wallis: Well, when I first started, I learned on was just a standard kind of split-V cut, and I liked that for a while. And then, I don’t know how I got into the batwing thing, but once I started blowing the batwing, that’s kind of what I’ve settled in on. And a lot of people don’t realize it takes the right cut just to produce the best sounds possible. The right cut is kind of different for everybody. You go on the Grand National stage, and just about everybody up there has got some little difference in their call. So, for me, a three-reed batwing is awesome. Other guys can run a ghost cut phenomenally, and I can’t even make a sound on a ghost cut. So, I think something that a lot of people look past is kind of finding the right cut for them.
Chris Avena: There are so many calls out there. There are the box calls, the glass calls, the mouth calls. How do you decide what’s going to pull in a turkey?
Hunter Wallis: A lot of it’s situational. And it also comes down to what you can run the best. Not everybody can run a mouth call. For the most part, everybody can run a friction call. Some people are better on a pot call than they are a box call. I think on windy days the friction calls are going to be a little bit better at cutting through the wind and stuff. For me, I think whatever you can sound the most realistic and most natural on is kind of where you want to settle in. You don’t have to be the greatest caller in the world to kill turkeys. But I think you’ll see when you can recreate the most natural sounds possible, you’re going to notice a difference in your hunting, and you’re definitely going to pull in a few more turkeys. So, it’s hard to choose, and that’s why they make vests with a lot of pockets so you could have every one of them in there. Some days I’ve seen turkeys that won’t gobble to a mouth call as well as they’ll gobble to a pot call, and they’ll come to the pot call the whole way, just gobbling their butts off on that. So, it’s super situational and kind of weather-dependent. In my opinion, whatever you find the most natural is what you want to settle in with.
Chris Avena: When you’re out there and you’re calling, and you have that one tom that’s gobbling back, but he’s skeptical, and he just won’t come into range, it comes down to preference of call. How do you entice him? You get a gun with a longer range?
Hunter Wallis: Yeah, exactly. Yeah, grab a rifle. But I think something that has worked really well for me is just toning down your calling a lot. That is something that people don’t realize is turkeys, when they are out there just doing their daily business, feeding around and stuff, they’re always making little subtle noises, just these little tiny clucks, little purrs, and soft yelps. They’re always making noises that we can’t hear all the time, and turkeys can hear that. So, when I’ve got one that’s kind of hung up at 80, 90 yards, even 100 yards, whatever it is, I always tone my calling way down. And in some situations, I’ll totally stop calling to try to break them. But when they’re hung up right there gobbling and just kind of looking, looking, looking, I think something that’s worked for me in the past is really making it like I’m a hen, not paying attention to him, and I’m just feeding around, just as quiet as I possibly can and as natural as I possibly can. Because I think a hen, if you’re trying to sound like a hen feeding, in his mind, sometimes he’s thinking, “Well, she’s not that interested in me. She’s just kind of feeding around over there, so I’m going to have to walk another 30 yards and get closer to her so she sees me.” So, I’ve had that work for me a lot. And sometimes I’ll throw in some Jake yelps to make it sound like there’s a Jake there, another gobbler. But a lot of times it’s hard to break them out of that but toning down your calling and maybe throwing in some gobbler yelps or anything like that’ll possibly help that situation.
Chris Avena: So you play hard to get?
Hunter Wallis: Yeah, pretty much. That’s the best way to do it.
Chris Avena: What’s some of the most common mistakes that people make when they’re turkey hunting?
Hunter Wallis: I would say that everybody is guilty of making mistakes just about every time we walk into the woods. People do not realize how important the setup is. As we are walking through the woods, we always hear turkey gobbling and the first thing that we think is that we have got to rush to get set up, and sometimes we do, when the turkey’s are close. You might bump them if they are that close. But if you could sit back and let a turkey gobble on his own and just figure out the absolute best possible setup you can get is and stay as perfectly hidden as you could possibly get. That is probably the best strategy. This way, when the time comes that the Tom does show up, there is no way that he can see you and there’s nothing in between you and the Tom that is going to obstruct your field of view. I believe that this is key. Like I said, sometimes we just get tunnel vision when we hear a turkey and start calling to him right away. Just slow yourself down and really analyzing the situation. I believe that is something that people sometimes mess up on.
Chris Avena: I found that a lot of times when you're out in the woods, turkeys always seem to show up just after the season ends or just before the season starts.
Hunter Wallis: Oh yeah, they are definitely guilty of that one.
Chris Avena: What advice would you give to somebody that is just starting to get out and hunt turkeys? Is there a particular call that you would suggest to start or basic turkey hunting tactics?
Hunter Wallis: I would definitely start with the friction calls, because they are a lot easier to master. Some people believe that they cannot call at all, but that’s just not true. You train yourself to do it. They also have push-button electronic calls that anybody can use. So yeah, I would start with some type of friction call, whether it be a box call or a pot call. From there, I would try to buy 10 mouth calls, and get them all different styles and all different cuts. Once you’ve tried each one, which are totally different, I would definitely start with something that's a little bit lighter, such as a two reeds mouth call - really easy to blow, to figure it out. But I would definitely try to pick out a bunch of different styles of calls, different cuts. And once you figure out the best one for you, then I would kind of dive into that. So, you know, you’ve tried a batwing, you tried a ghost cut, you tried a combo cut, you’ve tried a split-V, and the one that you can run the best is a split-V, well then get online and try to order three or four split-Vs and figure out which specific call is best for you. It is a process of elimination and it may take a little time but that is a good starting point.
Chris Avena: You have already won 9 Grand National championships, 2 World Championships, 2 US Opens, 10 Pennsylvania State Champs. What’s next?
Hunter Wallis: Most of my Grand National titles are youth titles, and I’ve won the team deal twice. This year I was third in the Senior Open, and that is my goal now. I have not won the Senior Open yet, so I’m working toward that one. I would really like to get that one under my belt.
Chris Avena: Well, that's definitely a challenge and it's quite an accomplishment.
Hunter Wallis: Turkey calling is something that you've got to be obsessed with to really love it, there is no doubt in my mind I’m totally obsessed with turkeys. Turkey hunting and turkey calling. So, it's pretty neat, a pretty neat hobby.
Chris Avena: Turkey hunting is a little different than most types of hunts. It’s more of an offensive hunt, where you are proactively calling them in.
Hunter Wallis: Yes, it’s definitely a whole different. It’s pretty cool when you get to, that one-on-one, talking to each other basically, is the element that I think makes it what it is. That’s why we love it.
Chris Avena: Where can we find you online?
Hunter Wallis: I’m on Facebook and Instagram. My handle is just Hunter Wallis. And then the last couple of years here, I started my own YouTube show. It’s all turkey right now, but I’d like to get into big game and waterfowl and the whole nine. That is called Rogue Hunts. That’s on Instagram, Facebook, and all of our videos are posted to YouTube. So, if you get some time and want to check out some cool turkey hunting, I’d love for you to come on and check out some of our stuff.