Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Going quackers at the New Zealand Duck Calling Championships

By Allison Hess
Junior reporter - digital·Bay of Plenty Times·
10 Jul, 2016 04:10 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Tauranga hosted this year's New Zealand Duck Calling Championships, attracted 20 of the best callers from around the country - including 10-year-old Luke Spargo - to duel it out. Watch them in action, and reporter Allison Hess giving it a go, here.

More than 20 duck callers from around New Zealand competed to charm the judges, not ducks, at the national duck-calling competition in Tauranga.

On Saturday duck callers descended on Tauranga to pit their quacks against each other for the chance to head to the world championships in the USA.

They had 60 seconds to blow a greeting, pleading and feed call plus a lonesome hen call.

Competitors change pitch and tone with their hands cupped around the callers, every blow mimicking a different duck call.

The youngest competitor, local 10-year-old Luke Spargo, got involved with duck calling through the championship organiser Adam Rayner.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The Greenpark School pupil loved duck calling and seeing ducks come to him because of the noise made through his caller.

"They come straight to you and then you shoot them," he said.

The first time he tried calling two years ago he sounded nothing like a duck, he said, but after practicing at least once a week he was confident enough to enter into a competition.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"It's pretty cool."

Luke's favourite part of it all?

"Seeing the ducks fall out of the sky and make a crying noise and hit the water. Oh and eating them."

Another youngster was 14-year-old Holly Irvine of Nelson, who was getting in some practice before heading to the USA for the junior world duck calling championships.

For her the passion started when she was 7, when she was too young to shoot but wanted to "be like dad".

When she started it was hard but after working at it, it became easier. She has competed in multiple competitions since.

"The best part is seeing the reaction of ducks in the sky come towards you when they hear you calling," Holly said.

Defending champion Hunter Morrow, from Wanaka, said duck calling had been his "weird obsession" since he was a little boy.

He won the national championships last year and travelled to Maryland, USA, where he placed 5th in duck calling.

"It was a dream come true, to compete and compete against my duck-calling idols," he said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"It was bloody good."

He said it was great seeing such young competitors getting into it.

"To me that's awesome, it shows the sport is carrying on, that people are still keen on it."

The competition drew a crowd at the Loaded NZ shooting range outside Tauranga city.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

$1m buyers crazy for Hare Krishna barn with cars in the lounge - 'my busiest open home in three years'

Bay of Plenty Times

'Sustained period of cruelty': Starship doctor slates child protection agency failings

Bay of Plenty Times

Mighty ponga trees save driver as car plunges towards stream


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

$1m buyers crazy for Hare Krishna barn with cars in the lounge - 'my busiest open home in three years'
Bay of Plenty Times

$1m buyers crazy for Hare Krishna barn with cars in the lounge - 'my busiest open home in three years'

Stunning Bay of Plenty home used to be a Hare Krishna workshop.

15 Jul 08:10 AM
'Sustained period of cruelty': Starship doctor slates child protection agency failings
Bay of Plenty Times

'Sustained period of cruelty': Starship doctor slates child protection agency failings

15 Jul 06:00 AM
Mighty ponga trees save driver as car plunges towards stream
Bay of Plenty Times

Mighty ponga trees save driver as car plunges towards stream

15 Jul 05:23 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP