Dan Tone and Arizona's First Nighttime Lion Since 2011 Rule Changes

Just 2.5 weeks after we reported the new Arizona nighttime hunting regulations for mountain lions on THIS POST, Dave Martens of Wildlife Callers and Dan Tone (who’s been featured on the WC Blog before) set out in one of the nighttime lion hunting areas and connected with a mature 7-9 year old female cougar – the actual age will be determined by the AZ Game & Fish.  The lion took about 30-32 minutes to arrive on the stand and came to a mixed bag of sounds.  Here are some of the details:

Arizona Mountain Lion and Deuce the Lion Calling Jack Russel

Locations:  When you think of nighttime lion hunting think of bighorn sheep.  Heavy lion predation has long been a issue for bighorn herd growth and sustainability around AZ.  Accordingly the locations in AZ for hunting lions at night have been chosen by the AZ Game & Fish biologists to provide the most relief to the Desert and Rocky Mountain Bighorn populations.  There isn’t a hunt unit listed in the Arizona Game and Fish lion hunting regulations that we haven’t scouted or hunted, and not found lion sign in.  Actually, we’ve called lions in many of the special units, so to answer the obvious question “where is the best place to go find lions” — all of the special bag units have lions — actually the whole state has lions.

Sounds:  Dave’s calling style is typically mix-it-up and throw out an active multi-critter sound scene for the predator to get interested in.  We’ve said it here before – you can’t confuse a lion by playing sounds that typically don’t go together – they’re not that smart.  Thus, when you create a completely unbelievable sound scene by playing ten minutes of mixed rabbit & small bird distress, followed by several minutes of deer fights and deer distress, followed by javelina sounds and distress, the lion never says ‘hey…I know that would NEVER happen in nature.”  It’s just sound stimulus – nothing more – there are no bad sounds. Mix it up.

Dan Tone, Deuce, and an AZ Mountain Lion

The Caller:  As is always the case, Dave was using his Wildlife Technologies Mighty Atom 21.  If you haven’t heard one, do yourself a favor and give us a call — truly amazing.

The Hunt:  Dave & Dan chose the calling location based on past experience in the area.  Dave has called near the area before and seen plenty of sign along the long ridge lines and hardpan wash bottoms the area is known for.  They kept the caller less than 20 yards away from them when they set up along the side of a dry wash.  The moon was nearly full and visibility was pretty good.  The plan was to, if possible, leave their spotlights & high intensity flashlights off until a lion was spotted or something was heard nearby that needed lighted investigation.

Dave had been playing his varied & lengthy list of sounds for about 30 minutes when the form of a solitary lion was spotted walking toward the speaker.  The lion arrived on Dan’s side of the caller and was closing toward the speaker in a deliberate and unhurried fashion.  Dan raised his 12 gauge and waited patiently while the lion continued to close on the speaker.  The lone lion eventually cut the distance to the speaker down to just 6-yards and came to a stop.  Dan activated the high-intensity light mounted on his shotgun and looked at the lion for a few seconds.  He immediately confirmed what he already knew, the lion was a large, mature cougar.  Boom! Dan shot the lion with a load of #4 buckshot and at just 19-20 yards away it was killed immediately.

Good View of the Large Shoulders and Head on the Lion

Night Calling Logistics:  Dan said that hunting lions at night should continue to be more and more productive as they learn more about doing it and better ways to set up.  But, he cautioned, the logistics of calling after the sun goes down are more complex than in daylight.  He said that something as small as a poorly designed spotlight or a flashlight that’s not bright enough can ruin a stand.  Stand selection takes longer.  Walking to the stand takes longer.  Tripping hazards with guns, callers, and extra gear makes things interesting.  And oftentimes once you’ve set up and think you’re in a good spot, you turn on the light only to find you really have almost zero visibility and have to move.

Takeaways:  Scouting and field experience cannot be underestimated.  Dave has spent many hours in this area scouting for lion sign, using trail cameras to confirm hunches, and calling during the daytime when it wasn’t legal to call at night.  His expertise and knowledge really paid off.

If you like what you’ve read here please - Sign up for our free newsletter!

Thanks again for reading – your comments are welcome below.

Mark Healy- Wildlife Callers

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!

It’s no secret that Wildlife Technologies has the most revered wolf calling sounds and equipment in the world, and we’re excited to be on the forefront of what could be a state-by-state wave of wolf hunters taking to the field with a WT caller.

Remember that we have two Wildlife Tech caller options available:  The Mighty Atom 15 and The Mighty Atom 21. Both callers deliver exceptional sound quality and excellent volume — the Mighty Atom 21 has more high end volume.  To review the sound list for wolf calling, click here:  Wildlife Technologies Wolf Sounds. And we have a full line of distress sounds ranging from elk, deer, and moose, to ambient noises like crows, hawks, and eagles, to create a wolf calling sound scene like no other. 

Wildlife Technologies Mighty Atom 21

For a demo, call us toll-free at 1-877-734-1010 and we’ll play any or all of the wolf sounds for you.

Thank you again for reading.  We’ll keep you up to date on the latest Idaho wolf hunting & calling changes.  If there is anything we can do to help you get ready for an upcoming hunt, just give us a call. 

Subscriptions to the blog are always FREE and your comments (at the bottom of this page) are always appreciated. 

All the best this season,

Mark Healy

http://www.wildlifecallers.com

These coyotes responded in about 7-8 minutes to a mixture of mouse and vole distress squeaks combined with sounds of crows mobbing food and excited crow calling from my Wildlife Technologies Mighty Atom 21 electronic wildlife caller.  I’ve used this technique successfully many other times.  I play the sounds continuously and vary the volume from medium to medium/loud.  Once the predator is spotted coming in,  I drop the volume to keep it/them moving toward the speaker. 

Unfortunately, the shooter hit the coyote too far back to be immediately effective. 

Thank you again for reading and sending us your success photos!  We enjoy hearing about the success you’re having in the field.  Please feel free to add your comments below.

Blog subscriptions are always FREE:

Good calling,

Mark Healy

mark@wildlifecallers.com

The new Flextone callers (handheld eH1 and remote controlled eR1) are loaded with other hunting sounds too.  Where it’s legal, you can use them for calling deer, calling crows, calling hogs & javelina, calling squirrels, and more. 

You can see both Flextone callers and their sound lists 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 predator caller and eventually owning a high-end remote controlled do-all Mighty Atom predator calling workhorse, Wildlife Callers’ Store 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. 

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

Field Note:

On our first stand with the Mimic eH1, Marc Reindell of Wildlife Callers called 2 coyotes.  The coyotes came out of a drainage near a large prairie just outside of Flagstaff, AZ.  One arrived at about 30 seconds into the stand and number 2 arrived at about 3 minutes.  Does the Flextone Mimic eH1 work?  Yes. 

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

Subscriptions to the blog are always free and comments are always appreciated. 

Thank you again for reading and good hunting!

Mark Healy

mark@wildlifecallers.com

Miscellaneous Moonbat

What’s noteworthy here is not that the news stories are different – there will always be differences from reporter to reporter & editor to editor, and we realize “news” is written for the benefit of the paper and for profitable ad revenues.  What’s most interesting, and somewhat fascinating, is the way some people can be so easily manipulated to homicidal hostility by an article that’s had no independent review. 

When a reader takes the time to send me an email that reads: 

Comment: “I’d F$#&ing shoot you in the head if I saw you in person. You filthy scumbag murderer of non-human life.” 

It’s a safe bet this person has been, and is completely unaware they have been, manipulated.  Remember, this person, armed with nothing more than an unverified story from a newspaper, has just suggested that he/she would commit murder to avenge the death of an animal that was legally hunted, humanely killed, and then consumed as food and preserved as a trophy.  

There were several others emails & postcards like this.  Not one of these windbags had the courage to identify themselves.  These are the morons with “Keep Abortion Legal” and “Meat is Murder” bumper stickers juxtaposed on the back of their Honda hybrids.  

You wonder, are people manipulated by the media?  I’d say alarmingly so, but I’ve put the stories below for your review.  You be the judge. We want to know what you think, please take a moment to comment after you read this! 

The story by the East Valley Tribune has been on our blog for more than a week.  You can see the blog post here:  East Valley Trib/Wildlife Callers Blog.  And you can see the full Tribune Article here:  EV Trib Article.  

The Tribune article had just a couple of small errors, and was written in a balanced manner.  The reporter and the editor didn’t go out of their way to make it an inflammatory, anger inciting piece.  We even asked our readers to thank the reporter Ed Taylor for his objective coverage of our story and the sport of predator hunting.  

From that article we received one – that’s right, just one lonely piece of hate mail.  That letter, albeit anti-hunting, contained no profanity.  The writer was most concerned that we were killing endangered animals and thought we should be ashamed of ourselves.   For the record, mountain lions are NOT endangered and with appropriate licenses are legal to hunt.  Furthermore, we are not not ashamed of ourselves.  

But then… 

The Arizona Republic released their version of the story.  I gave my interview to both reporters within a seven day time frame.  Nothing changed and I gave both reporters the same information.  Here is Republic reporter Astrid Galvan’s version:  Arizona Republic Article. 

Wow!  What a difference in content, and what a difference Astrid’s wording (and most likely the editor too) had over the readers.  We’ve enjoyed a slew of hate mail…er…uh…I mean Liberal Love Letters this week.  The inaccuracies in her article are many, but I’ll just point out three major errors.  

First:  

The Republic originally reported that I “invented” the Mighty Atom caller.  Someone must have called them out on that headline because that wording disappeared in a couple of days.  The Mighty Atom was invented by and is produced by Wildlife Technologies in Manchester, New Hampshire.  I NEVER said I invented the Mighty Atom – that headline was simply not true.  

Second:  

Galvan quotes me as saying,  “Mountain lions were just a new challenge,” Healy said. “They’re just trophies. The last lion I shot is now a mountain lion rug in my house.” 

Several of my thoughts and statements from the interview have been condensed to 24 total words and the word “just” is added twice, resulting in a sensational, callous statement.  I’d call this a mild case of Yellow Journalism.  Was it effective?  Yes!  The homicidal Liberal Love Letters poured in.  

If you’d care to read a more accurate depiction of what I said, read the Tribune article.   

Our company and hunters worldwide value and respect the animals we hunt, nature, the outdoors, and biodiversity that is managed for long term sustainability.  Modern game managers have learned from the excesses of the past (e.g. the American Bison slaughter) and hunters value harvest limits based on scientific research & data.  We at Wildlife Callers hunt ethically and within the game management harvest/kill objectives and laws of the areas we’re hunting.  

Third: 

Galvan states that I have called in 16 lions in a single year.  If only it were so easy!  

Let me be very clear:  In a period of 4.5 hunting seasons we have called in 16 lions that we’ve seen.  We do not count the lions that vocalize back at us and don’t come in, just the lions we actually see are counted.  Because of a combination of bad shooting (yeah…it happens) and lions being as elusive as they are, a mere 3 of them have been shot and killed.  It’s no shooting gallery out there.  

Of course, this misprint makes it seem very easy to call and kill lions and the easily swayed suckers, Che Guevara T-shirt crowd, and low-hanging mental fruit jumped all over it.  

A Final Note: 

To Galvan’s credit she did convey that the Mighty Atom callers will call a variety of animals, and that they specifically will call mountian lions.  She also conveyed that the ISE was hosting a predator calling panel at their Phoenix show.  That ISE show and panel were huge successes, and we thank her for that coverage.  

My knee-jerk reaction to this was to seek a retraction from the editor.  Then I realized, the editor has a job that goes beyond the story.  He must sell papers & drive web hits, or be without a job.  Traditional media is now competing with the new online world, The New York Times print edition hovers near extinction, and humans the world over  have been empowered by the blogosphere and social media.  Some clever wording creates strong emotion, emotion creates controversy, and controversy creates web hits.  As the beneficiary of some of these hits, I didn’t seek a retraction.  Wildlife Callers remains very busy and the mouth-breathing letter writers have most likely forgotten about us.  

As far as the Love Letter writers – we don’t respond to idiots and didn’t engage them.  These are the kind of self-proclaimed enlightened people that have a “humane bug release jar” in their house for safe kitchen cockroach removal and the carnage of ten million bugs on the grille & windshield of their sticker-covered Subaru.  We’d never have a sensible conversation with them. 

Anyone who would threaten my life over my passion for hunting, should become familiar with the work of Randall Eaton Ph.D.   True “diversity” requires education and knowledge beyond your own emotional opinions.  

Major Point!! 

There is a lesson here.  There are people who claim the mantles of diversity and freedom, who’d take away your right to hunt and fish tomorrow if they could.  And, they’d do it all on naked emotion.  We need to support groups like SCI, the NRA, and other organizations that keep these people at bay.  

Thank you again for reading our blog and supporting ethical hunting.  We would love to hear what you think on this,  go ahead and sound off in our comments section!

Subscriptions to the blog are free!  Just put your email in the SUBSCRIPTION section on the upper right side of this page. 

Good calling & hunting, 

Mark Healy 

mark@wildlifecallers.com