Great Salt Lake Regional Winners. Left to right: James Carlson, Rob Strong, Tony Baker.
February 17, 2026
By WILDFOWL Staff
Every year the contest season kicks off at the Western Hunting and Conservation Expo with the Great Salt Lake Waterfowl Calling Championships in Utah. The contest is held at the Salt Palace Convention Center in downtown Salt Lake. This year callers traveled from both sides of the country to come compete, ranging from Pennsylvania to Washington, and many other states in between. The contest is made up of junior duck and goose calling contests as well as novice duck and goose calling contests which are held Friday evening, followed by the open, state, and regional contests on Saturday morning.
On Saturday, the day started with the Rocky Mountain Regional, followed by State Goose, Live Duck, State Duck, Open Goose, and the day finished with the final contest, the Great Salt Lake Regional. Three duck callers punched their tickets to Stuttgart, while multiple others went home with loads of prizes and checks.
One of the highlights of the contests was watching Bryson Batty, a longtime competitor at the Great Salt Lake Waterfowl Calling Championships, win State Duck. An emotional win for Batty which brought cheers and excitement from everyone in the crowd.
Other moments of note were watching Rob Strong, long-time supporter of the contest punch his ticket to Stuttgart in the final regional of the day, and Josh Elchynski winning Open Goose with three clean rounds of pure goose music. Adam Glass also had a great weekend, winning the first regional, live duck, and taking second in Novice Goose.
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The contest was an overall success, with competitors from across the country going home with big checks (literally and figuratively), and big prizes.
Junior Duck Junior duck winners. Left to right: Tyan Smith, Wyatt Major, Lane Bushman. 1st – Wyatt Major 2nd – Lane Bushman 3rd –Tyan Smith Junior Goose Junior Goose winners. Left to right: Peter Aul, Cody Robinson, Tyan Smith. 1st – Peter Aul 2nd – Tyan Smith 3rd – Cody Robinson Novice Duck Novice duck winners. Left to right: Jake Farley, Rob DeCosta, Lane Bushman. 1st – Rob DeCosta 2nd – Jake Farley 3rd – Lane Bushman Novice Goose Novice goose winners. Left to right: Adam Glass, Khio Lor, Peter Aul. 1st – Peter Aul 2nd – Adam Glass 3rd – Khio Lor Rocky Mountain Regional Rocky Mountain Regional Winners. Left to right: Rob Strong, Adam Glass, Bryson Batty. 1st – Adam Glass 2nd – Robert Strong 3rd – Bryson Batty Utah State Goose State Goose winners. Left to right: Ryan Barnes, James Carlson, Tate Douglas. 1st – James Carlson 2nd – Ryan Barnes 3rd – Tate Douglas Live Duck Live duck winners. Left to right: Chance Wadsworth, Adam Glass, James Carlson. 1st – Adam Glass 2nd – Chance Wadsworth 3rd – James Carlson Utah State Duck State duck winners. Left to right: Logan Wren, Bryson Batty, Jeremy Crowther. 1st – Bryson Batty 2nd – Logan Wren 3rd – Jeremy Crowther Open Goose Open goose winners. Left to right: Josh Elchynski, Chance Wadsworth, Peter Aul. 1st – Josh Elchynski 2nd – Chance Wadsworth 3rd – Peter Aul Great Salt Lake Regional Great Salt Lake Regional Winners. Left to right: James Carlson, Rob Strong, Tony Baker. 1st – Robert Strong 2nd – James Carlson 3rd – Tony Baker
