Welcome to Kenmare

Feature Stories (Vol. 109 No. 42--10/17/2007)

19th Annual GooseFest
October 20-27, 2007

GooseFest opens with World Goose Calling Champion

Demonstration in the park Saturday at 3 pm

By Caroline Downs

GooseFest opens just as it should Saturday afternoon when Shawn Stahl of Allegan, Michigan, begins calling the geese to town.

Stahl, who has won more than 20 goose calling titles including the 2000 World Goose Calling Championship and the 2002 World Team Goose Calling Championship, will demonstrate his skills in Kenmare at 3 pm Saturday in the City Park. Everyone is welcome to attend and invited to bring their own favorite waterfowl calls to practice Stahl’s tips and enter an informal GooseFest goose calling contest.

Because he was born in southwest Michigan, Stahl began life as a deer and small game hunter in a state that sells nearly 750,000 deer licenses a year. "The popularity of deer hunting is what really got me into waterfowling," he said. "At the age of 14 (at the time in Michigan you had to be 12 to start hunting), I got tired of fighting the crowds of pumpkins on state land during deer hunting. I’d sit there on the stand and see hunters all around while ducks flew overhead."

He continued, "So I asked my dad, who really was more of a recreational hunter, what I needed to do to waterfowl hunt. The next morning he bought me a state waterfowl stamp and got a dozen paper mache duck decoys out of the attic. I took the family lab and springer down to a pond about a half mile down from the house the next morning. I didn’t have waders so I had to tie the decoys to the brush along the shoreline. I shot two teal that morning."

From that moment, he was hooked and spent whatever time he could time at a nearby refuge that offered a public draw hunt. "I spent most weekends during the season hunting there with a buddy and his dad or whoever else would take me," he said.

Stahl began perfecting his calling technique in the 1980s, after seeing a television show that featured Sean Mann, a World Champion Goose Caller. "Up to that point, the only calls I knew about were resonate cavity calls and a flute called Big River," Stahl said. "My lanyard consisted of an Olt 800 and a Ken Martin goose call. The sounds [Mann] produced were like none other, and it was that day which inspired me to become a better goose caller."

He practiced on his own and attended events to learn from other callers, including a "Goose Festival" in a neighboring town where he heard several of the best callers from the Midwest, including Tim Grounds.

Stahl started entering contests by the mid-1990s to improve his own calling and discovered success. "[I finished] in the top five in 56 of 60 goose calling championships, using six different calls from four different call makers," he said, which included more than 20 titles. "I retired from singles goose-calling contests in 2002 to focus on helping others improve their calling and hunting skills."

As fun as contests can be, however, Stahl still enjoys the challenge of calling in the field. "To me, it adds to the overall experience," he said. "It’s a way you can have a direct impact, either negative or positive, in the hunt."

He hopes to share some of his passion and tips for waterfowl calling with hunters of all ages and skill levels on Saturday, and he would like to hear from the crowd. "I prefer questions," he said. "That way, people get more out of it and it’s directed at what they want."

GooseFest organizers are planning to hold a calling contest among the hunters who attend Stahl’s presentation, with the intention of including the contest as part of the GooseFest activities each year if there is interest. Saturday’s contest will be informal, and anyone who wants to try their luck is invited to join the fun.

Stahl will be making his first trip to the Kenmare area for this visit. "I hunted around Goodrich last fall and filmed a TV show for Waterfowler TV there," he said, adding that he wasn’t certain of his schedule for the rest of GooseFest week. "I may stay around and hunt a few days. It’s just going to depend on how plans fall into place next week."

He wants to meet as many hunters as possible at Saturday’s event. "I’m just a regular guy that got lucky and won a World Goose Calling title," he said. "Now, I get to travel around, hunt and talk to fellow waterfowlers!"

Stahl’s demonstration will begin at 3 pm Saturday in the Kenmare City Park. In case of inclement weather, the session will be held at the Memorial Hall.