Hunter’s Specialties’ Pro Al Morris Wins the 2009 World Elk Calling Contest
Secrets of Elk Calling
 Editor’s Note: Hunter’s Specialties is extremely proud of its pro, Al Morris of Payson, Utah, who started working part time for Hunter’s Specialties in 2001 and became a full-time Hunter’s Specialties’ pro in 2005. Not only did Morris and his partner, Garvin Young, win the World Coyote Calling Contest this year, but Morris recently won the 2009 World Elk Calling Contest, making him the first person to win two World Calling Contests in separate species events. Contestants in the professional division must make specific calls, such as cow and calf calls, barks, whistles, growls and screaming bugles for the judges. The World Elk Calling Championship helps raise awareness of elk habitat and the conservation initiatives of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.
Question: Are there any new secrets you’ve learned about elk calling?
Morris: Yes, in the last few years, I’ve changed my philosophy about how to call elk. Instead of depending on my ability to call-in bulls, I’ve concentrated more of my efforts on how to call-in cows. I’ve discovered that if I can call cows to me, the bulls will come-in following the cows. The real challenge to elk calling is learning how to manage and call to older cow elk. In the last 5 or 6 years of my career, I’ve been much-more successful trying to call-in cows and having bulls respond to that type of calling than directing my calling at the bulls. Too, I’ve found that by having better-quality calls, like the new calls Hunter’s Specialties makes with the new Infinity Latex and all the other Hunter’s Specialties elk calls, I’m far-more successful.
Question: What did your winning the 2009 World Elk Calling Contest mean to you?
Morris: This contest is one I’ve wanted to win for a good portion of my life. I want written on my tombstone one day, “Al Morris was a good elk caller.” Winning this World Elk Calling Championship validated my efforts to become one of the world’s best elk callers, a goal I set for myself in 1983 when I first learned how to call elk. I’d always dreamed of being the best elk caller to ever put a diaphragm elk call in his mouth. And now 16-years after  entering my first World Elk Calling Contest and trying as hard as I could, I finally can say that on the day the 2009 World Elk Calling Championship was judged, I was the best. That’s a title and a championship nobody ever can take away from me.
Since I’ve won two world championships this year, I’ve achieved what I set-out to do when I first started calling elk and coyotes. I’m a very-competitive person and always have been my entire life. Winning a title of best in the world is the crown and the glory for any athlete of any sport. Although I’m proud of my accomplishment, I’m also proud to be working for a company that provides the calls that have allowed me to live this dream. Hunter’s Specialties makes world champions and world-champion calls.
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