Wildlife Callers

Predator Calling Sound Pictures – What are You Telling Your Target Predators?

There was time when a single sound of a crying rabbit from your Johnny Stewart mouth call was all you needed to bring Wile Coyote running.  Today the calling pressure is on and times have changed.  Call more “un-callable” critters and get the most from your e-caller by using the whole sound library! 

  

Back in the day… 

Mark Healy and an Arizona Coyote & Gray Fox that Fell for Cottontail Distress - circa 1986-87

a tape recorder with a Johnny Stewart rabbit distress tape, or my Circe twist-top 3-sound mouth call would give a guy plenty of opportunities to call and shoot predators.  When I started predator calling in 1986, the sport was only somewhat popular and unless you called the same spots over and over, the chances of calling at critters that already heard that same ol’ song before was slim.  This was the same time in Arizona hunting history when guys got a December  “Any Antlered Deer” tag and would NOT even consider hunting for a Coues Whitetail!  My, my, how times have changed as thousands of hunters apply for what’s become just a handful of December Coues tags.  

These days it seems that just about everyone who likes hunting has added or wants to add an electronic predator call to his or her hunter’s gear bag.  Several years ago the predator hunting videos took off in popularity and people got excited about calling coyotes, bobcats, and other critters, to the business end of their rifle — especially in states where their chances of getting a deer and/or elk tag was fading every year.  With this sport’s new-found explosive popularity over the past decade, the chances of calling into country that hasn’t been called is slim.  

I just finished talking to a guy who called for a full 2-years with a mouth call before he ever called his first coyote.  Now, I will say that I appreciate this young man’s tenacity!  However, if he’d had some better techniques, better understanding of his quarry, and better calling equipment, I firmly believe he could have cut that figure down by 1 year and 11 months.   

But how?  (more…)

It’s Official! Electronic Calls Legal for Idaho Wolf Hunts.

Idaho wildlife officials announced this past Wednesday evening that electronic game calls and trapping will be legal methods of take during their 2010 wolf hunting season. 

 

Wolf - Courtesy of the US Fish & Wildlife Service/Tracy Brooks

With Idaho elk herds in a steady decline and no reasonable recovery in sight, the game commissioners found it a reasonable step to include electronic calls as a wolf hunting method to help reach 2010 wolf harvest objectives.  Remember that any action favoring wolf hunting or wolf hunters will face immediate opposition and legal challenges from well funded anti-hunting organizations.  We are, however, optimistic that Idaho’s wildlife managers will prevail in moving forward this need based, well documented, biologically sound, action plan for better wolf control in their state. 

For more details and commentary, see the article in the Idaho Statesman:  Electronic Calls Fair Game in Idaho Wolf Hunts 

After taking dozens of phone calls last season from hunters very interested in calling an Idaho wolf (that’s you California hunters!) we’re looking forward to actually being able to deliver them a Wildlife Technologies Mighty Atom caller.  Last season we had to turn ‘em down — not so this wolf season! (more…)

Flextone Mimic eH1 Now at Wildlife Callers – Plus a Bonus Ohio Squirrel Attack Recreation

The Flextone Mimic eH1 is preloaded with 40 sounds from the Wildlife Technologies sound library and is now part of what Wildlife Callers can offer readers and customers for this upcoming season. 

 You can see both callers by CLICKING HERE or on the picture below.

The Flextone Mimic eH1 and the Echo eR1

Every hunter’s budget is different, especially in these uncertain times.  So, to bridge the gap between not having but wanting an electronic caller and eventually owning a high-end remote controlled do-all field workhorse, Wildlife Callers now offers the Flextone Mimic eH1 for just under $40 bucks.  The Mimic is one half of Flextone’s new e-caller line up.  Flextone is also coming out with a remote controlled unit called the Echo eR1.  The eR1 has a June delivery date and we’ll provide more details on that machine as they come out.

In this attached video we discuss some of the questions we’ve received about the new Mimic handheld caller.  We also take some satirical license and “recreate” the 911 call from an Ohio family that had to be freed by police after they were “trapped” in their home by a “temperamental” squirrel – yes you read that right – a squirrel.     Enjoy…

These callers are a direct result of the demand for Wildlife Technologies sounds on machines that more guys can afford – your ideas in action. 

If you still have a question about this caller, please send it in – info@wildlifecallers.com or give us a call toll-free at 1-877-734-1010

We hope you enjoyed the video and always appreciate your comments.  Subscriptions to the blog are always free. 

Your email:

 

Thank you again for reading and good hunting!

Mark Healy

mark@wildlifecallers.com

Coyote Howling Techniques – Northern Iowa Callers Jim and Justin Blauwet Turn the Tables on Wary Dogs

You’ve just dropped a bunch of money on a new caller.  People around town tell you that the local coyotes just won’t come to a call anymore – “they’ve all heard a call a dozen times”.  What do you do?  Jim and Justin Blauwet use coyote vocalizations and leave the screaming rabbit sounds alone.  Here’s their tactic that’s worked several times. 

 

If a regular dog comes a runnin’ when it hears a can opener in the kitchen (a conditioned response), then it stands to reason that a coyote can also be conditioned by fooling it with a prey distress call, and then allowing it to barely escape with it’s life amid a hail of bullets. 

That lucky coyote might still come to investigate a screamin’ rabbit sound, but the chances of it running in full-blast time and again are diminished with every negative encounter or impression – simple conditioning.  Because of Mother Nature’s mixed message – sometimes the screamin’ sound is natural and associated with food – sometimes the screamin’ comes with smelly lumps of camouflage shaped like humans and loud bangs from predator rifles – coyotes naturally become conditioned to be cautious. 

Justin Blauwet and His January Iowa Coyote

Using their new Wildlife Technologies Mighty Atom 15 electronic predator call, the Blauwet’s have called several of the “uncallable” coyotes. If you own Other Brands of Predator Callers you most likely have a series of sounds that will allow you to recreate this sequence.

Here’s how they do it:

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Coyote Finesse – Dave Martens and Dan Tone Turn the Volume Down and Nail This Pair

Dave Martens of Wildlife Callers Blog and his buddy Dan Tone of Apache Junction, Arizona teamed up for a day of mixed-bag predator calling just after our last heavy rain and snow storm.  Two coyotes and one gray fox later, they’d had a great morning. 

  

Dave and Dan figured they’d find some hungry & willing predators after five-days of hard rain and snow throughout the state.  They headed into Arizona’s Unit 23 and in four wet & muddy stands, called in two coyotes and one gray fox.  The coyotes pictured below both came right to the speaker in under five minutes.  The gray fox came in super-quick too, stayed in tight cover, and ran out just as quick as he’d arrived.  

Dan Tone - AKA "The Shotgun Sniper" and Two Excellent AZ Coyotes

The project for the day was to set up in good locations, keep the volume down, and see what some quiet calling would do.  Dave kept the volume on his Wildlife Technologies Mighty Atom at 1, 2, and 3 all of these stands. 

Here is his calling sequence in more detail: (more…)