Wildlife Callers

A Cool Getaway From The Desert Heat, PVCI Novice Bootcamp

Our friends at Phoenix Varmint Callers club are holding a novice callers bootcamp in the cool pines of Payson, AZ this upcoming weekend, Saturday, August 14th at 9 am.

Rich Higgins, well known coyote behavior expert, and others will be conducting seminars and clinics on proper calling techniques for the beginning predator caller, but seasoned callers may be interested in attending as well.

Seminars will cover:

  • Proper set up
  • Firearm selection
  • Stand selection
  • Rules and Regs for predator hunting in AZ
  • Sounds used for calling and why
  • Use of ladders for calling in heavy brush

Directions to the bootcamp are as follows: Take 87 north through Payson and Strawberry. 6 or 7 miles past Clints Well, just past the Blue Ridge Ranger station, go east on FR 95. About a mile in take FR 513 to the left and follow it to the Boot Camp site. Signs will be posted as well to guide you to the site. Camping will be available for those that may want to head up Friday evening and stay for the weekend.

You may also want to attend: The AZ State Calling Contest that will be held at Cabela’s in Glendale, AZ on Saturday, August 28th at 3PM. Registration for the event begins at 10 AM and a seminar on Intro to Predator Calling will be held at 11 AM.

For more info on both events, contact Rich Higgins at 480-474-7581.

A good way to get out of the hot desert and get yourself geared up for the upcoming season!

Good hunting!

Marc Reindell

marc@wildlifecallers.com

No Wolf Season This Year, Now What?

Since last week’s ruling on re-listing the Wolf to endangered species status, we’ve been asked what can be done going forward and to restore wolf hunting.

Based on a legal technicality regarding ESA (endangered species act) stating that de-listing of a species cannot be done on a state by state basis, the management of the species by Montana and Idaho were shot down.  Wyoming did not propose a wolf management plan based on the fact that Wyoming does not classify the wolf as a big game species. Wyoming lists the wolf as a predator and allows for the trapping and killing on sight of wolves throughout most of the state. As a result, wolves were not de-listed in Wyoming last year and Wyoming did not propose anything different for this year either. 

This is a very good article written by Keith McCafferty for Field and Stream magazine on what can be done to try to possibly reverse this ruling in the future:  Who’s to Blame for Wolf Reinstatement(and What You Can Do About It)

We encourage our readers to write to the appropriate people in Wyoming (and other states that have Wolf populations, however minor) mentioned in the article and encourage them to change their way of thinking.

We don’t want to see the SSS (shoot, shovel and shut up) mentality take over, our sport, and hunting in general is already being attacked.  This would only give the “anti-hunter” people even more fuel to attack our right to hunt and our ability to pass traditions along to our children.

We will continue to pass along any information about this subject as we get it.

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Good hunting!

Marc Reindell

marc@wildlifecallers.com

Color Phase Black Bear Called and Taken In Idaho

Tom Sorenson of Base Camp Legends contacted us about a Black Bear he called in on a cool spring day in the mountains of Idaho.  This is a nice color phase bear, Tom and his wife had been scouting this area for a few weeks prior to calling this beauty.

Tom Sorenson and his color phase Black Bear called in.

 Tom lives in Weiser, ID and called this bear less than an hour from his home. Idaho does not allow the use of electronic game callers for big game, including bear and mountain lion. He used a Primos Hyper Lip Cow Call to call the bear.  Tom and his wife took up predator calling about a year ago or so, looks like they are catching on pretty quick! 

Below is an excerpt from Tom’s story:

“ The game plan was much the same as the previous week – lots of hiking and glassing, and lots of calling. Predator calling was something we’d started last year and in all the sets we’d had yet to call in a bear – call that a bit of foreshadowing. I don’t know the exact score, but I’d imagine it was somewhere around 30 sets and no bears. For the record, those are pretty bad odds. But the law of averages says that we were due.” (more…)

RMEF Turns Up Heat On Pro-Wolf Groups

The first legal wolf hunting season has come to a close in the Northern Rocky Mountain states of Idaho and Montana for the year, but the controversy that surrounds the legality of the wolf hunt is still a hot topic.

 

We posted stories early on this past season’s wolf hunts and we want to keep you up to date on what else is going on regarding this highly debated subject. 

Successful Idaho Wolf Hunter Robert Millage

As a member and supporter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, I received an e-mail from them with information on this highly contested issue. I’d like to share with our readers the RMEF’s  involvement with this issue as it relates to the work they do maintaining sustainable elk herds in the rocky mountain west. We know that many of our readers would love the opportunity to call & hunt a wolf, an apex predator.  If some of the so-called “conservation” groups have their way, not only will this opportunity go away, but the ability of states to manage wildlife within their borders will be diminished.  

Below is an excerpt of a response written by David Allen, President and CEO of RMEF, to a letter written by Defenders Of  Wildlife and Western Wildlife Conservancy. I think you will find this interesting.

“We would be happy to meet with you to discuss conservation issues and the destruction of specific herds of elk in North America. We believe; however, that your organizations and others are contributing greatly to perhaps one of the worst wildlife management disasters since the destruction of bison herds in the 19th century. Until the lawsuit relative to re-listing the wolves is settled or until you withdraw your support for such, there really isn’t much need to meet as we continue to be at opposite ends of this issue.

Once again, I will state that elk are not flourishing where wolves are present. Contrary to what you have suggested many times to claim otherwise is disingenuous and “cherry picking” data. Elk populations are being exploited at a high rate by predators, primarily wolves and somewhat by grizzly bears. However, since the introduction of the Canadian gray wolf into Yellowstone this exploitation has become worse for elk numbers in the same areas. Yet, you would have the public believe otherwise.”

To read both letters, click on the following links: letter from Defenders of Wildlife, and the response letter from RMEF

RMEF has a good understanding of the role hunting and hunters play in proper wildlife management, they also see the motivation these so called wildlife “conservation” groups have in halting or stopping hunting and hunters in this role.

If you would like to read more on the work the RMEF does or become a supporting member, please visit them at www.rmef.org 

We urge you to stay informed regarding the wolf hunts, this is going to go on for some time. The chance to call & shoot a wolf in North America could be short lived.  Thanks to organizations such as RMEF, that possibility is being contested vigorously.

Your comments on this are appreciated, let us know what you think!

Thank you,

Marc Reindell

marc@wildlifecallers.com

Spring Turkey Calling with Diaphragm Calls – Wit and Wisdom from Guest Blogger Ben G. of Ben G. Outdoors

Mouth calls, also known as diaphragm calls, can be very hard to master.  If you’re new to turkey calling or thinking about using a turkey mouth call for the first time, this post should give you some humorous insight into learning the basics for calling the gobblers using a mouth call.  Our friend and fellow blogger Ben Gustafson was good enough to write up a guest post for us. Ben has his own outdoor blog, Ben G.Outdoors.  Ben lives in Minnesota, is a family man, and is a passionate deer hunter.

Ben Gustafson and son

Last year was my first experience turkey hunting. I went into the whole thing blindly with no one to mentor me, I relied heavily on reading as much as possible about every aspect of turkey hunting. After a lot of reading on the subject of turkey calling I decided to pick up two different styles of calls.  I picked up a slate call and a mouth call, both had their pluses and minuses, and they were also the hardest to master. To make a long story short I came to like the mouth call the best and seemed to have the best luck with it. Here are some of the problems I faced when learning to use the call and also some great pointers on how to use a mouth call. (more…)