Written By: Josh Webb
Growing up in a time of P.S. Olts and double reed Yentzens, three-time world duck calling champion Trey Crawford, vividly recalls the day his heart was won over by waterfowl. “As a five-year-old, I was introduced to my first duck hunt with my dad and two of his closest friends Jack and Fred Johnson from Greenwood, Mississippi. The first group of ducks that I saw those guys work, they picked up those Olts and lit them within ten feet of me sitting in the front of that boat.” The boat, covered in burlap, sat tucked away in McIntyre Scatters not far from his childhood home of Greenwood, Mississippi, an area steeped in waterfowl tradition.
Early in Crawford’s life, his family moved from Mississippi to their neighboring state of Arkansas. This move allowed Crawford to be exposed to the competitive circuit of duck calling, and he immediately turned his attention to mastering the sounds a duck call could produce. Proudly using his double reed Yentzen duck call, Crawford competed in the junior division of a local contest at the ripe old age of nine. As the night progressed, Crawford would go on to win his first contest title. That same night his brother and father would win their respective age brackets to complete the Crawford sweep.
After the celebration, a man from the crowd approached Crawford’s father that would change the way Trey looked at competition calling forever. “Chick Major pulled my dad to the side and said he wanted to build me a duck call.” True to his word a few short weeks later Chick invited Trey and his father down to his shop in Stuttgart and immediately began to put forth an effort to turn the talented young man into one of the greatest that has ever walked the stage in competition duck calling.
Over the next few years, Crawford spent a large part of his time tucked under the wing of Chick. Chick taught him how to use a single reed call for competition. He learned to be confident with himself on stage. And as a teenager, he was able to honor his mentor in a fashion that is nearly impossible to wrap your head around. A memorial competition was held in honor of Chick Major’s passing in Stuttgart, Arkansas. Then, just sixteen years old, Trey took the stage and won the memorial event on a Friday night, the day before his seventeenth birthday. Proudly taking the stage the following morning in the Arkansas State calling competition, Crawford would once again prove victorious and had now found himself qualified for the World Championship that night. Remembering all he had been taught in years past by the late Dixie Mallard call maker, Crawford capped off the birthday weekend with a win in the Worlds. And, as expected, emotions ran high when Crawford exited the stage as the new world champion. “I cried like a baby.”
That night as Crawford stood among the best in the world he made a promise to himself to set a feat that no other competition caller had ever accomplished. “I wanted to be the only three-time champion of the Arkansas state competition, the World competition and the Champion of Champions competition.” With family and friends supporting him Trey would go on to accomplish the feat and also become the only person ever to win the World Championship in three consecutive decades as he claimed World titles in 1976, 1986, and 1993. These wins allowed Crawford to leave a legacy on the stage that is unrivaled by any other man. But having the heart of a real competitor Crawford found success again. In 2000 he won the title as Champion of Champions to fully complete the goal he had set decades before.
Now as Crawford looks back on the days of calling competitively he proudly yet humbly states, “It was a goal that I wanted to achieve, and it gives me a lot of pride to know that I am the only man who has ever done it.”
A lifelong duck hunter and competitive caller like Trey Crawford is extremely hard to find. He is a true pioneer in the both aspects and continues to give back every chance he gets. He can often be found hiding behind a panel as a judge in major calling competitions as well as sharing his knowledge with up and coming competition callers.
Finding Trey can prove to be difficult once summer turns to fall unless of course, you want to take an incredible road trip. Trey guides duck and goose hunts about 170 days out of the year beginning with early September birds in Saskatchewan and eventually making his way south with the migration through Montana, Oklahoma and of course Arkansas. Like I said, men like Trey Crawford are hard to find!
