Wildlife Callers

Mark Healy and I went calling mountain lions this past weekend and as usual, I packed up the video camera and gear in hope of capturing a cougar coming to the call. I have been getting better with the use of the Canon GL1 that we use and was feeling pretty confident that if a cat came in, I would be ready to capture the event on film.

We left early Sunday morning to head up to the area where we know Mt. Lions are roaming based on our scouting and trail cam footage. We arrived at our first stand just as the sun was coming up, clear and cool, and called for just over an hour. No lions, so we moved on to our next stand and set up.  Same result, no cats, but it was a perfect day and we were trying some new set ups that we hadn’t tried before.

Our third stand saw no action, so we took a break for lunch and started to head off for our next stand. When we reached our next location, we had company there, the first other hunter we’d seen all day. We moved on to another location that we’d not been to in a while but knew cougars were occasionally in this canyon from past scouting efforts.

Mark got the the caller set up and I prepared the GL1 on the opposite side of the canyon, perched on the edge overlooking the canyon below.  Mark returned and set his seat about 5-yards from my location, fired up the Wildlife Tech MA-15 and started calling.

Now, we’re normally ”cats only” on our hunts, but after three 90 minute stands and no action, we were getting a little bored. At roughly the 3 minute mark into this 4th stand, the partridge in distress caused a very large gray fox to break cover and run for the caller.  Mark said “man, that’s a nice fox” and asked me if we should take him, I said “why not, but let’s make sure we get it on film”.  I picked up the fox in my viewfinder, tracked him as he made his way to the caller, bounding up the steep, rocky face of the canyon to the mesquite the MA-15 was located in. 

The gray fox circled the brush and emerged just to the right of the caller, Mark took aim, asked if I had him framed up, and fired. The fox jumped, and took off down the canyon, Mark was beside himself, couldn’t believe he missed a cheesy 91-yard shot!  I tracked the fox on the GL1 for over a hundred yards until he disappeared into the brush of the canyon bottom. 

We change sounds and within 2 minutes, another gray fox that couldn’t resist pileated woodpecker distress emerges from the brushy canyon bottom and starts toward the MA-15.  I picked him up right away in my viewfinder.  This fox is just as big or bigger than the first – we’re obviously in the land of the giant grays.  I find the fox in my viewfinder and as quickly as he started up to the caller, he does an about-face half way up the canyon wall and leaves. 

I’m wondering what made him leave, when Mark tells me a third gray fox is on it’s way and exclaims it’s even larger than the first two.  I quickly had this fox in my frame and followed it’s approach without missing a beat.  He climbed to the top of the canyon about 75-yards from the speaker and heads toward the caller along the rim of the canyon. I lose him temporarily in some brush but pick him up emerging on the other side and continue to film as he approached the caller. The gray fox perches just above the caller, broadside in full view, again Mark asks if I have him, I say yes and zoom in, awaiting the shot.

Boom! Looks like a direct hit! Then the fox takes off up the hill towards the canyon rim, looking like he hasn’t been touched by the shot! Just as disbelief is setting in that Mark missed again, the fox leaps toward another rock, loses his oil pressure, and drops in mid leap! Amazing! I have this all on film, it’s going to be some of the best footage we have yet!  We are both pretty excited  but we continue to call for a while longer.

We finally end the stand & Mark retrieves the fox about 12 yards from the point of impact.  He finds a clean ribcage shot through-and-through, and almost no damage to the fox at all.  It’s no wonder he took off like he did, the fox probably didn’t even know it had been hit!  The fox is a very large male and has a very thick, shiny gray & brilliant red winter coat.  He’ll make an outstanding full-size mount. 

The next day, I fire up the GL1, excited to view the great footage from the day before. I’m stunned, the video is scrambled and although partially visible, not viewable! I’m beside myself.  I pop in another tape, it plays fine and now I realize that I had a defective tape in the camera the whole day – major disappointment sets in. 

We would have liked to have this video posted here, but we’ll have to settle for the photos.  The tape was brand new and there was no reason to believe it would be defective.  Lesson learned, check all the equipment, including new video tapes, the night before.

Hey, at least it wasn’t lost footage of a mountain lion coming in.  I suppose every cloud has a silver lining.

Marc Reindell

marc@wildlifecallers.com