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Kelly Haydel

-KELLY HAYDEL
www.haydels.com

Kelly Haydel, Vice President of "Haydel's Game Calls, Inc.", and part-owner of this family business located in Bossier City, Louisiana, has accrued a vast knowledge of game calling experience. Although only twenty-nine years old, he has been calling game for over twenty of those short years. His father, Eli Haydel, taught him the skills that made him a champion caller, as well as an experienced guide. In 1979, at the age of seven, Kelly began competing in duck calling contests. By 1986 he had won numerous contests such as the "Texas Regional Open", the "Gueydan Duck Festival" (which is known as the duck capital of America), and the "Louisiana State Contest" which qualified him for the "World Duck Calling Contest".

Although he has extensive experience in contest calling, Kelly is very adamant about the hunting style (meat calling) contests. In fact, this is the style of calling that the Haydel family has adopted into their philosophy of game calling. One of the contributing factors in mastering this style of calling has been developing the ability to determine variance in pitch. Kelly, along with his father and two brothers, all have musical backgrounds and they firmly believe that this training has helped them to recognize those different pitches.

He has worked for the company in various aspects since it began in 1981 until he graduated from Louisiana State University in Shreveport with a degree in Psychology and emphasis in education. After teaching elementary school for several years, he decided to join his father and older brother, Rod, in the company business. He was appointed as Sales manager and has already made quite an impact in this capacity. However, Kelly's desire to work with children is still evident and he constantly seeks avenues in which he can incorporate his own job into something that would benefit our youth.

He works closely with children through various organizations such as South Carolina Waterfowl Association's "Camp Woodie" and the "Ducks Unlimited Greenwing" programs, and has instructed waterfowl calling clinics for over fifteen years. Just in the past few years he was given the opportunity to work with children at both the Memphis and Oshkosh " Ducks Unlimited Great Outdoors Festivals". A good deal of this time was spent teaching children about waterfowl identification, as well as how to use calls to sound as realistic as possible.

Although his heart may belong to teaching our future hunters, he is still very adept in working with adults as well. Don't miss the opportunity to hear, or speak, with this dynamic young man. Remember, he comes from a family of game callers and the knowledge and/or experience he has learned qualifies him as one of the best!

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