bobcat » Wildlife Callers

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

Posted July 22, 2010 By Mark Healy and has 1 comment.

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…)

Categories: Predator calling, electronic callers

Tags: Arizona predator hunting, bobcat, bobcat calling, calling coyotes, calling mountain lion, cougar calling, coyote, electronic game callers, electronic predator calling, electronic wildlife caller, gray fox, hunters, Hunting, Mighty Atom, mountain lion hunting, predator call, predator callers, Predator calling, predator hunter, predator hunting, wildlife callers, wildlife technologies

Mountain Lion Scouting Video – Scent Station Behavior

Posted April 21, 2010 By Mark Healy and has 2 comments.

For mountain lion callers, scent marking areas are key to successful cougar locating.

Dave Martens and I have placed trail cameras in dozens of locations that have rendered great photos & videos of mountain lions. It wasn’t always as easy as it is today for Dave to locate a lion hot spot to place a camera. Dave’s many hours in the field and the experience that’s come with it, allow him to quickly size up a long ridge or hardpan wash bottom and hang a camera that will produce lions nearly 100% of the time.

Some guys will say, “hey, I’ve taken lots of pictures of lions on my deer cameras on such & such waterhole”. That’s great and we love to get pictures of lions anywhere, but keep in mind we rarely put cameras on waterholes. We’ve had much of our success calling lions well away from waterholes and we’re more interested in how lions travel in their territories and where they go to lay-up after they’ve been to water.

There is, however, a feature that we always look for when scouting for lions. When we find it, our success in finding lions travelling through the area has been 100%. That feature is scent marking areas, or as well call them, scent stations. There are times when we locate a small area that is literally covered in a wide variety predator poo — and poo from many other critters as well. The spot that you’ll see in the video is one such place. Since finding this location we have taken still photos and videos of several lions, fox, bears, and other predators. This location, which unfortunately is well off the beaten path, if called frequently will eventually produce a lion.

Have a look at the first video of a fox, bear, and coati, using the scent station:

Then, have a look at this female lion (we’ve taken many pictures of her) and the way she behaves on the scent station:

Just like humans, where there are ladies the guys seem to just show up. We’ve taken a few photos of lions much larger than this female that we hope to someday call. We have worked diligently in the area to find the best places to call from and be able to see lots of open areas and tight cover. Now it’s a matter of getting the stars to align and be there calling when one or more of the mountain lions are home.

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Thank you all for reading and good hunting,

Mark Healy

Mark@WildlifeCallers.com

Categories: Predator Scouting, Predator calling, fox, mountain lion

Tags: Arizona predator hunting, bobcat, calling mountain lion, cougar, cougar calling, cougar hunting, fox, gray fox, Hunting, Mountain lion, mountain lion hunting, predator callers, Predator calling, predator hunter, predator hunting, Predator Scouting, scouting, wildlife callers

Nice Bobcat Down and a Response to a Pair of Sounds Most Callers Wouldn’t Expect

Posted January 22, 2010 By Mark Healy and has 2 comments.

One of our Arizona blog readers & veteran predator caller, Danny Avey, reads several of our posts about sounds & tactics, gives the techniques a try and calls this 28lb female bobcat in Southern Arizona. He openly shares his tactics and sound list with other readers.

We’d like to thank Danny for the open and candid way he shared his story and tactics. We hope these tips work for you too.

Danny was hunting near the Arizona/Mexico border (US side). He was calling for a mixed bag of predators, and although he wanted to call up some bobcats or a lion, he was perfectly happy chasing coyotes. About a half-hour before dark on a still & clear afternoon, this bobcat arrived on his stand. Two shots from his .223 dropped the cat 12 steps from his Wildlife Technologies KAS-2030-ML.

Danny Avey and His Southern Arizona Bobcat

Side Note: It appears that Danny’s hair slipped off his head and got stuck on his chin.

Here is a full run-down of his set-up and the sounds, times, and volume settings: (more…)

Categories: Predator calling, bobcat, coyote, electronic callers, mountain lion, wildlife technologies

Tags: Arizona predator hunting, bobcat, bobcat calling, bobcat hunting, calling coyotes, calling mountain lion, digital wildlife calling, electronic game callers, electronic predator calling, Predator calling, predator hunting, wildlife callers, wildlife technologies

Gray Fox & Bobcat Calling – What Sounds? When? How Long? How Loud?

Posted January 11, 2010 By Mark Healy and has 7 comments.

We get asked often what our “sequences” are when we’re calling predators. It’s truly more than just a sequence of sounds that calls critters in, and I’ll explain my process of choosing sounds on a stand, the volume, the length of time I play them, etc. To kick this off, I’ve chosen gray fox and bobcats as the target animals.

Choosing gray fox and bobcats to write about was an easy choice. The hard & fast way gray fox come to the call is a confidence booster for any predator caller, and I’ve never met anyone who didn’t want to call more bobcats – ever. And, the truth is, bobcats aren’t terribly hard to call – they are terribly hard to see. I absolutely believe that most bobcats called in go unseen by the caller.

Dave Martens of Wildlife Callers AZ Bobcat & Fox Double!

Generally speaking, bobcats come slower to a call and use cover all the way in. There are always exceptions to this rule, but more often than not they will be slow and methodical about their approach. Also, if you’re serious about harvesting more bobcats, take binoculars on every stand. Once a bobcat has gotten a visual on the speaker or the bush it’s in, they will stop coming and sit down. A motionless bobcat in a bush at 30 yards is nearly impossible to see without binos.

Here is my fox & bobcat method and my typical sound list: (more…)

Categories: Predator calling, bobcat, electronic callers, fox, wildlife technologies

Tags: Arizona predator hunting, bobcat, bobcat calling, bobcat hunting, calling coyotes, cougar, cougar calling, electronic game callers, electronic predator calling, electronic wildlife caller, gray fox, predator callers, Predator calling, predator hunting, wildlife callers, wildlife technologies

Bobcat Caller Education – Two Good Books to Help You Locate & Call More Cats

Posted December 31, 2009 By Mark Healy and has no comments yet.

One of our blog readers asked if there were some good books we’d read and would recommend for guys looking to improve their bobcat calling results. Yes we do - here are two good reads.

Hat Tip to Alan N. of Sonoita for the great question.

You might wonder why we’re recommending trapping books. Well, both of these books are dedicated to successful bobcat locating and are full of information on behavior, travel patterns, terrain, and how to read land formations to locate more cats. Knowing that trappers must know bobcats well enough to get a bobcat’s foot in less than a six by six inch spot to trap it, then it stands to reason their locating & trap placement tactics will get us close enough to call them (or smack ‘em with a hammer).

Bobcat Trapper's Guide by Mitchell Ricketts

The Bobcat Trapper’s Guide by Mitchell Ricketts gives a lot of information on bobcat habitats across the United States. The level of detail this book offers about bobcat behavior and how to identify what the author calls “key activity areas” is outstanding. I keep this book in my calling equipment box. This book as available from Amazon both new and used.

The Competition Line Bobcat Trapping Guide & Gray Fox Refresher by Tom Miranda is not as data-driven as Ricketts’ book, and has several photos of terrain, travel areas, lay-ups, and practical advice on how to locate more bobcats. This book is an easy read and one that I keep with me in the field. Be advised, Miranda talks briefly about bobcat terrain across the US, but the focus of this book is mainly in the western US.

As always, thank you for reading and posting comments. If any of you have any book recommendations, we’d like to read them and put them on the blog. Please put them in your comments.

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May all of your stands be productive in 2010!

Mark Healy

mark@wildlifecallers.com

Categories: Books & Education, Predator Scouting, Predator calling, bobcat