Ever since he was given his grandfather’s old duck calls at eight years old, John Stephens has been enamored with duck calling.
Stephens began calling lessons from the legendary late Butch Richenback when he was 11. Now Stephens is the president and owner of RNT Calls, the business Richenback founded in 1976. There, Stephens creates some of the most premier duck calls you can find. His artistically crafted calls are not only good-looking but championship-winning.
He was the youngest to ever qualify for the World’s Championship Duck Calling Contest at age 13, and eventually went on to win the World’s Championship for the maximum of 3 times in 1995, 1998 and 2005. In 2015, he became the Champion of Champions. During his competition years, he never finished below the top five.
His custom, handcrafted and private line of calls, J. Stephens Calls, are some of the most sought after calls in the industry, and it is important to him that the heritage and craft of duck calling continue with integrity for years to come.
This is evident with his work at RNT Calls, where they spend hours creating and testing new calls through innovative manufacturing techniques. Stephens is working every day to make the best possible duck-calling machine available.