Predator Call

One of my really good friends, Travis Hall, Public Relations for BROWNING and I hunted turkeys this last weekend.  We called an average of three gobbling two year old birds within shotgun range every time we sat down!  We had a great time and killed four of the birds, allowing the others to walk off. I was somewhat concerned that we did not see a bird of any other age class than two years old, proving that we have had a number of hatch failures over the last several years.  The good news is that we have good moisture and adequate ground cover to assure a large hatch this spring. 

This is a great year to introduce a youngster or beginning hunter to spring turkey hunting.  See you outdoors.

Hunting is enjoyed by a lot of people.  They like to spend time with their fellow sportsmen in the woods hunting.  Many look forward to the mountain lion hunting season because they are fascinated by big cats.  And there are several hunting areas that are perfect for hunting mountain lions. Some outfitters have guides and hounds that accompany hunters on their hunt.  Having an expert guide increases your chances of having a successful hunt.  And you will enjoy the lodge where you will be staying and trading stories with fellow hunters.

Matt Martinez of Dallas, Texas passed away on March 13, 2009 after a lengthy battle with cancer.  Matt had been one of my closest hunting partners over the last ten years.  While most will remember Matt for his culinary skills, I will remember him for his quick witt and love of the great outdoors.  To my knowledge, he is the only world class chef who hunted coyotes.  He understood that it took more hunting skill to trick a coyote on his turf than to kill a monster buck from a blind.  He was patient and understood that hunting did not necessarily mean killing.  No matter how slow the hunting or brutal the weather, Matt would not complain. I had the honor to visit with Matt a few weeks ago.  Walking with the aid of a walker, Matt never mentioned that we might have hunted our last hunt, rather talked about how good the hunting would be next fall.  He was eternally optomistic and had a special way of making everyone around him feel you were important to him.  While I cherish the time we spent in the woods, it is the time we spent in camp that was most special to me. 

I hunted the open plains in New Mexico 8 days in January.  On three of those days, it was the quietest that I have ever seen it there.  I was almost afraid to turn on the electronic game caller at low volume as the sound seemed excessively loud.  In the past, I would have considered these to be excellent days but with only one coyote responding in three mornings, I have changed my mind.I feel that the reason for the lack of productivity is due to a couple of reasons.  One, as quite as it was you could hear the sound of a pickup driving on the ranch roads from miles away.  Since the ranch hands shoot at the coyotes from the trucks from time to time, the dogs keep track of where they are.  Even though we are hiding our truck and walking several hundred yards from them to make a call.  The coyotes did not want to go near the area where they last heard the truck noise.

Another reason that I feel the coyotes were inactive is a coyote feeds with his nose.  While he will use his eyes to see prey, he will not bite it until he tests it with his nose.  There was so little wind that I could not tell where the pressure was coming from.  When I looked at the Stick Tease (a turkey feather attached to a fiberglass rod) near the caller, I saw it move 360 degrees.  When a coyote cannot decide where to go to wind his prey, he is very nervous. 

On all three days, the wind decided where it would blow from around noon.  It was then that the coyotes started coming to my calls and hunting improved.

My Great Grandfather, Erskine Outlaw was one of founders of the South Texas Wolf Hunters Association back in 1920.  The association was a group of hunters that ran coyotes down with hounds rather than call them with predator calls as we do today.  The association would host an annual hunt or meet on a large ranch.  Men, women and children would camp, cast their hounds and fellowship for most of a week, casting their hounds three different mornings.

This event had grown so large that in 1936, LIFE and TIME magazines sent reporters to cover the event.  I recently purchased a copy of the LIFE magazine covering the event.  It is reported that there were 150 men horseback and over 1,000 in vehicles trying to keep up with the 257 hounds that were cast that first morning.