On Call With Rodney Eckstine

(from NWTF Turkey Call Magazine)

By Matt Stewart

Editor

Rodney Eckstine was on the cusp of national prominence in 2016 but still searching for a missing link.

He had placed fourth in the NWTF Grand National Calling Championships Friction Division finals, and then he made the cut again in 2018 and 2020 (top 13 out of nearly 40 callers) in Nashville, but it still wasn't enough.

"The bottom line was I had to get better one call at a time," he said. "If I had a call that's not scoring high enough, I tried to turn it around and make it my best call the next year. You have to compete against yourself, and do your best to sound like a hen or gobbler in the

situation the call is in.

"In 2022, Eckstine finally broke through at the Grand Nationals, winning the Friction Division title. Then, in 2023, he won it again ... turning his lowest-scoring call the year before into his highest-scoring the following year.

"When you're on stage you have to really concentrate on each call," he said."Paint the scene; get within yourself and picture what the turkey is doing in that situation and imitate the call, doing your absolute best to bring that across to the judges "When I won it a second time in 2023, it was even more rewarding, to know it wasn't a fluke. It was confirmation that I was doing things the right way."

It was a long journey to get that point for Eckstine, who had won eight Pennsylvania state calling titles, multiple U.S. Open Owl Hooting Division championships and the Open and Friction divisions, as well as five Masters titles over three decades. It all started when his dad took him turkey hunting at 13 in the early 1980s. Eckstine vividly recalls that first experience of a turkey gobbling and harvesting a 17-pound jake with a 5-inch beard. He remembers his father using a Perfection3D Omega mouth call to lure the young gobbler in.

"I've hunted many turkeys since then, and I can't tell you the weight or beard length on any like I can on that one," he said. "It was a special day, and I'm thankful for my dad taking me out. Across many decades since, I've met so many wonderful people in the sport and that tops any award or title I've won."

Success in the calling circuit also equates to success in the turkey woods. Eckstine believes the key to him w inning national titles also can lead to better calling in the woods.

"The difference is putting emphasis on bringing the turkey out of the call, and not just being able to run a call

well," he said. "A lot of people run a call well, but you've got to do something with it. You have to be in that moment. People can do a good kee-kee run, but are you putting the emphasis into it, is that turkey really saying, 'I'm lost, where is everybody?' Do you have that pleading in it to

bring the situation across?"

Eckstine and his wife now run the Bean and Biscuit Coffee House in their hometown of Greencastle, Pennsylvania(note: some of the

best cookies and pastries you've ever had). He does additional work with turkey calling sponsors Prominent Outdoors and ESH Custom Calls along with Pat Strawser Custom Calls.

From a curious kid who just wanted to become more proficient in sounding like a turkey after that first hunt, to a Grand National Calling championships winner, Eckstine has experienced about all a turkey caller can. Now he's happy defending his back-to-back Friction titles and sharing the moment with others

as he's able (a long with helping wrangle nine grandchildren).

"I want to be a good steward of the NWTF, calling and hunting, and help promote it and enjoy what God has given us with the wild turkey," he said. ~