As a 15-year-old back in 1983, Al Morris needed only a few days to figure out how to mimic the sounds that would bring big bull elk running to him. It took him a little longer to figure out what the judges of elk calling contests wanted to hear.

"Human ears like to hear certain things and it isn't the same things elk ears like to hear," said Morris after winning his first World Elk Calling Championship after 15 tries. "The competitions aren't so much calling to elk as they are about calling to the judges. Humans like higher, prettier notes. Elk just want to hear something that sounds like another elk."

Morris, a resident of Springville, won his first world championship by one point. He has finished second in the competition five times and lost by one point three times.

The Leupold/Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation World Elk Calling Championships were March 7 in Fort Worth, Texas, as part of the Elk Foundation's Elk Camp & Hunting, Fishing and Outdoor Expo.

"It has been an awesome journey for a big kid from Utah," said Morris, who got his first taste of calling when his father read about using a turkey diaphragm call to make elk sounds and ordered the kit.

"UPS pulled up with the diaphragms and something that looked like a vacuum hose."

Morris, who also was an elk hunting guide for 15 years, uses a whiffle bat instead of a hose these days to broadcast his bugles and grunts, with great success.

Morris took the championship at the Best of the West Elk Calling contest during the International Sportsmen's Expo last weekend in Sandy.

Last February, he won the Northeastern Elk Calling championship, a title he's won several times.

Morris' calling skills are not limited to elk. Back in early December, he won the World Coyote Calling Championship at an event in Colorado.

"As far as I know I'm the only one to ever hold calling championships for two species at the same time," he said.

It's no surprise that his skills landed Morris a job at Hunter's Specialties, a national hunting resource business. He has appeared on numerous television hunting shows and informational DVDs on game calling.

While he has found a career doing what he loves, Morris is glad to have finally added the world elk calling championship to his trophy collection.

"I like to tell people I'm the Utah Jazz of elk callers. Stockton and Malone will always be known as some of the best players ever, but they never got a championship," he said. "Guess I can't say that anymore."