Ep. 120 Chemistry, Calls, and Canada Geese with Chance Wadsworth

Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard sit down with Chance Wadsworth, owner of Quill Creek Championship Calls, to talk goose calling from the inside out—how a chemistry background helped him design the Mach One, why he refuses to sell a call he hasn’t proven at a high level, and how contest calling sharpened the way he hunts real birds in Wisconsin. The conversation covers mentors, stage nerves, field philosophy, traffic hunting, and the kind of repetition it takes to actually get good.

Episode highlights

• How Quill Creek started — Chance launched the company in 2024 after roughly two years of prototypes, testing, and refining a goose call he felt confident enough to take on stage.
• Built like an experiment — with a chemistry background and CAD-based design, he worked through more than a thousand call combinations to understand how length, wall thickness, contour, and overlap affect both sound and feel.
• Mentors matter — Chance credits Tim Steele and Mike Benjamin for helping him build the foundation and accelerate as a contest caller.
• Field calling vs. contest calling — the crew breaks down the difference between stage performance and practical hunting, and why some contest calls still absolutely work in the blind.
• Why he cares so much about calling — in traffic situations, when birds are not already committed to the food, Chance believes calling becomes a huge part of the game.
• Wisconsin goose hunting realities — leasing fields, learning roost patterns, hunting cut corn and beans, and why he believes leaving spreads out too long can educate birds.
• Advice for new contest callers — be okay with not winning, use YouTube and good mentors, put in the work, and understand that progress comes from repetition.

If you care about goose calls, competition, and the crossover between stage skill and real-world hunting, this one is packed with practical insight and a lot of heart.