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.

I have hunted three mornings in the vast open plains of northeastern New Mexico this winter when there was little to no wind.  It seems that everytime I sat down with the electronic game call, the wind was so light that I could not discern where it was blowing.  While one would think that these calm mornings would be perfect, I have not had any success.  After it warms up a little and the wind has a defined direction, the coyotes would begin to respond to my calls. I am not sure if the coyotes are hearing my approach in the truck and staying away or if they are just uncomfortable responding to a distress sound when they cannot use their nose to assist their hunt.  I have not had this problem in the tight cover of South Texas and loved those calm days. 

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.