Predator Call

Last spring, I had the opportunity to turkey hunt with Jon Allen, General Manager, Nikon Sport Optics.  We had a great time and a friendship developed almost immediately.  While hunting turkeys, Jon and I started talking about the virtues of the perfect predator calling riflescope.  A few months later at a Nikon Shoot in Kerrville, I met Jon LaCorte, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Nikon Sport Optics.  Over the next month or two, the two Jons and I visited on the specs of the predator calling scopes.  I was finally able to put my hands on one of three prototypes at the 2009 Shot Show in Orlando, Florida and brought the 3-9×40 Coyote Special in Mossy Oak home with me.

As soon as I returned to Texas, I mounted the scope on my Savage Model 10 Predator Hunter and went to the range.  The first shot impacted the target 2.5″ to the right and 1″ low.  Since the riflescope features precise hand-turn 1/4″ click adjustments, I moved it 10 clicks to the left and 8 clicks up.  The next shot cut the vertical line one inch above the bullseye.  I fired two more shots and that produced a .6″ group in spite of a 20 mile per hour crosswind.

The characteric that makes this scope different is the reticle.  Instead of the usual crosshairs, the vertical and horizontal lines are interrupted by a 3″ open circle.  With my .223 shooting one inch high at 100 yards, I simply put the target inside the circle and squeeze the trigger.  When we first began conversations about building a riflescope for calling predators, my primary concern was to develop a product that would reduce target acquisition time.  With this scope, you simply see the target area in the open circle and shoot, there is no need to find crosshairs or look for a dot.

Two weeks ago, I met up with a couple of buddies for a New Mexico coyote hunt.  We hunted three days and in spite of  30 plus per hour winds one afternoon, called in 30 coyotes.  The moon was full but did not seem to slow down the responses; if they heard the call, I think they came.  The bright nights did make the dogs very active at noon and early afternoon.  On two occasions, I had coyotes run over the caller and on three occasions, had them within 5 yards of me or the hunter. The COMPUCALLER III electronic game caller worked flawlessly.  Temperatures from 15 to 78 degrees did not seem to affect it’s ability to deliver a high quality sound that the coyotes could not resist.  We made an average of eleven stands per day, I never recharged the battery on the caller for the entire hunt.

I just returned from the 2009 Shot Show held in Orlando, Florida, though attendance appeared to be down, the enthusiasm of the crowd was not.  I spent most of my time with Savage Arms, Nikon Sport Optics and Mossy Oak, as you would expect, traffic was heavy at these booths.

There was interest in Savage’s newly introduced Accustock which will be standard on most of their bolt action models in a short time.  The Accustock is simply defined as a 3D aluminum block/rail that is molded into the synthetic stock creating an extra stiff foundation.  This system should really benefit the shooter who is using shooting sticks or a bipod.

The Coyote Special riflescope was the hot item in the Nikon Sport Optic booth according to the folks at Nikon.  I had a hand in the development of this scope, as I wanted a product that would help reduce target acquisition time.  After fifty years of shooting with crosshairs, this new aiming system will require a period of adjustment.

It seems that the interest in predator calling continues to grow.  I am sure that there are many reasons for this growth and another is a weak economy; predator and varmint hunting are inexpensive.

Paula, who had just purchased a COMPUCALLER III for her husband’s Christmas present, caught me after church yesterday morning.  “That caller I purchased is the best machine ever built or we have the dumbest foxes in the country.  Two nights ago, nine hunters loaded up in a pickup and drove down in the pasture.  We called twice and killed two foxes!” I responded, “Chances are it was a little of both, that is a really good electronic game caller and perhaps those were young foxes.”  It seems that when a young predator “locks on” to a sound that he/she thinks is an easy meal nothing else seems to bother them. 

Across most of the country, it is time to pull out the predator calls and begin calling critters.  While there are a few hunters who call predators year round where legal, most of us wait until it cools off and the brush and trees loose some foliage.  Most of the country that I hunt is covered with a very good turf of knee high grass, making it almost impossible to see a critter responding to a call.  As a rule, I like to wait until the first of January because the cattle graze the grass short enough to increase my visibility.Good luck and have a safe and productive hunting season,

Make your hunting trip more interesting by bringing along patented predator calls. The sport will seem so much easier if you use the calls, but they actually make the hunt more challenging too. Using the calls means you have to keep a watchful eye on what animal comes along.

You will need to be alert for any response to your call. And since these are small callers, they easily fit in the palm of your hand. Then you can easily slip them into your pocket as you await for any action.

Springtime is the favorite season for most folks as it signals a new beginning.  Trees grow new foliage, flowers are blooming and critters are giving birth to little ones.  While I will admit that I love the spring with it’s greenery and gobbling  turkeys, my favorite season is the fall.  Fall is when I begin predator calling and I will not stop until early March when it warms up and new growth vegetation limits my visibility.As a rule, I begin hunting the first of October in New Mexico.  This year my starting date was delayed as the vegetation was too tall to effectively call coyotes.  I respect the coyote enough that I do not want to call to him until I have most of the advantages in my favor.  I would rather not call a coyote up and educate him than to call him up and let him get away.

Since I missed most of the month of October, I guess that I will just have to make up for it by hunting more in November, December, January and February.  The popularity of predator calling is undeniable.  For this reason, I have been contacted by many companies in the hunting industry to introduce hunters to this great game.  While we have been the leaders in this area for many years, it looks as though the months of January and February will be extremely busy.

I want to wish each of you a successful, safe and happy hunting season.  Hunts are not always remembered by the kills, rather the camaraderie and sights along the way.  Fall is here and it is time to get it started.

See you outdoors!   

It is rare that a day goes by that someone does not call or come by wanting to know how to call critters that have become “call shy” from too many folks calling to them.  Let me be the first to say that I don’t make a living calling up and killing critters, especially coyotes that are “call shy”.  If possible, I avoid those areas that receive excessive calling pressure.  I must admit that from time to time, I do enjoy the challenge of trying to call a coyote that “has heard everything in my sound library”.  Here are a few tricks that I employ when trying to call a coyote that is probably going to make a fool of me.

Do something different.  Try to find what sounds or calls have been used in the area and avoid them.  As a rule, most callers are using the cottontail distress and yellowhammer woodpecker sounds.  I would suggest that you try deer distress, canine distress, fox distress or another unusual distress sound.  If electronic predator calls have been overused in the area, I would recommend using hand calls.

Less is more.  Use less sound and less volume.  Shorten your calling sequences to 10-15 seconds and spend more time between series.  I would suggest that you call for 10-15 seconds at medium to low volume and then shut up for at least five minutes.  On the second series, I would call at medium volume for 10 seconds and again be silent for approximately five minutes.  For the third series, call for 15 seconds at low volume and then do not make another sound while staying on the stand for at least another fifteen minutes.  Many times a coyote will sneak in to investigate the situation when he feels that all is clear.

Move your eyes, not your head.  A coyote or other predator that is call shy rarely runs into the distress sound.  They will sneak to where they can study the situation before moving closer.  A predator that is standing still is very difficult to see.  However, it will have no problem seeing any movement that you make.  You are in his living room, he/she knows what belongs and what is foreign.

Don’t be lazy.  Walk farther to stands to insure that the first sound that the wily predator hears is your call.  Pressured critters have learned to associate vehicles with danger and may not respond to a call that is being delivered from the area where they last heard a pickup or ATV.

Pick the best spots.  Be very selective when choosing a stand to make a call.  Do not make a marginal call.  If everything is not right as far as visibility, wind, sun and concealment do not waste your time as you may further “educate” the critter you are trying to kill.

Calling up and killing a “call shy” critter, especially a coyote is a trophy of the highest degree.  Be patient, persistent and good luck.

See you outdoors.

I have the opportunity to take quite a few folks on their first predator calling hunts and experience has taught me to take nothing for granted.  Just because someone has hunted for many years, does not mean that they know how to properly set up in a calling situation.  Here are the basics on how to set up without the luxury of a blind and not knowing exactly where your target will appear.

Rule #1.  You can’t cover everything.  I feel that I can cover approximately 100 degrees in fairly open country without moving too much.  Move your eyes and not your head.

Rule #2.  Trust your partner if you have one.  I am a daytime caller and almost always call with a partner.  I shoot left-handed and most of my partners shoot from the right.  Set up the left-handed shooter on the right and the right-handed shooter on the left.  Between the two of you, you should be able to cover approximately 200 degrees.  You can not cover it all so give up what is behind you, after all, you just walked through this area when going to the stand.  Don’t worry about your partner’s area of responsibility, trust him or her to see an approaching critter.  If he or she has multiple critters responding to the call, have a system where you lip squeak or lightly whistle for backup. 

Rule #3.  Set down with your off shoulder pointed to the middle of your area of responsibility.  This will allow you to cover your ground without any major shift or drastic movement.  Shooting with your firearm across your body is natural and much easier to steady. 

Rule #4.  Sit in the shadows.  I know that the camo patterns of today are much improved over what was available just five years ago.  Sitting in the shadows when possible helps to break up outlines and helps to cover motion.

Rule #5.  Hunt with the sun at your back.  This is extremely important in open country.  Having the sun in a critter’s eyes impairs it’s ability to see you while improving your ability to see it.

Rule #6.  Hunt with the wind in your face or call into a crosswind.  You might trick a coyote with what he hears or sees but you cannot trick his nose.  You can wear all of the charcoal lined clothing that you own and/or soak yourself with scent eliminating products and still get busted by a coyote.  When asked what I use for a cover scent, my response is simply watch the wind and use the money you saved by not purchasing products that won’t work, to purchase more ammo.  Get back to the basics and don’t worry about finding a gimmick that is suddenly going to make you a better hunter, it does not exist.   

I guess the longer you do something the greater the odds of something rare happening while you are doing it.  I have been trying to call critters for a long time and approximately 10 years ago while hunting with J. D. Beeson, an event occurred that I will almost certainly never duplicate.  We were calling on a very large south Texas ranch where there was a very good coyote and bobcat population.The thick thorn brush that is typical to this area offers very few natural openings.  Many of the calling stands that we make in this country are at the intersection of two senderos (roads).  On this morning, J. D. and I chose one of these intersections to make the third call of the morning.  Being left-handed, I took the sendero to the right  and walked down to the first bush that offered me a little more concealment.  J. D. sat down at the left side of the intersection so that he could watch the sendero to the right and the one running away from him.   I estimate that there were thirty steps between us when I began to work the Black Magic predator call.

Approximately 3 minutes into the call, a coyote broke from the brush across the sendero from me.  As soon as the coyote hits the sendero, he is looking directly into my eyes.  I know that making a move was almost impossible but my rifle was resting across my lap pointing down the sendero where the dog was headed.  If I could just shoulder my rifle, I would have a chance to kill the dog. 

The motion of shouldering the rifle caused the dog to grab another gear as he attempted to gain the safety of the cover on the other side of the road.  When I saw motion in my scope, the coyote was less than twenty steps…I pulled the trigger.  As bad luck would have it, my bullet had cut several small branches on the brush that stuck out in the edge of the sendero.  Though I felt I must have gotten at least bullet fragments in the dog, I could find no is sign of it.   

I walked up the road where J. D. was sitting and before I could say anything, he said, “I missed him”.  My response was “You shot?”  “Yeah, I shot at a coyote that trotted across that sendero about 80 yards up there”, gesturing to the sendero that ran north.  “Did you hear me shoot?” I asked rather confused.  He responded that he had not heard my shot. 

Two different hunters shot at two different coyotes in two different directions at exactly the same time.  Evidently, the rifles had discharged so close to the same time that neither of the shooters knew that the other had shot.  I have been calling critters for over 45 years and I will be willing to bet that I never see this scenario play out again.