Wildlife Callers

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:

(more…)

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

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…)

Midwestern Success! Illinois and Missouri Hunters Share Their Photos & Tactics

We started Wildlife Callers’ Blog for a very simple reason – info sharing that creates more success every time a predator hunter heads out to call.  Here are two customer stories that were submitted to us just last night. 

 

A big thank you to Doug U. of Illinois and Jason S. of Missouri for sharing their photos, calling tactics, and stories. 

Doug from IL says:

I was driving down the highway when I noticed two red fox bedding down in the middle of a snow-covered cornfield.  I pulled off the highway and made some phone calls until I figured out who owned the property.  A few phone calls later I had permission to go and call for the reds. 

I chose a downwind location to enter the field and walked to a pile of snow about 100 yards from the bedding location.  The foxes must have been asleep, because they didn’t jump and run.  I placed my Mighty Atom 15 behind the snow pile and took up a position about 80 yards away, lying down.  I started the stand with cottontail distress, nice and low.  It took the male fox just a few seconds to commit to coming in and, bang! he was running hard toward the snow pile.  The fox came ’round the snow pile full speed and wasn’t able to stop before colliding with the call and knocking it over.  While it was wondering what the heck was going on, I shot it with my .17 HMR and dropped it right to the ground. 

Doug U. of Central Illinois and his January Red Fox & Brand New Mighty Atom

I noticed the other red was standing down the field watching what was happening and I was setting up to shoot that fox too. However, the way the second fox travelled, I would be shooting toward the highway and decided to pass.  That fox eventually ran off. 

This was my very first setup with my new Mighty Atom and it worked very well.  The .17 HMR did very little damage to the fox, and it will make an outstanding mount!

Jason S. of Trenton MO told me: (more…)

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

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 series of posts off, I’ve chosen Gray fox and bobcats as the target animals.  I’ll write additional blogs about my successful processes and sounds for coyotes, mountain lions, and bears shortly. 

 

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. 

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…)

Cougar Down!! Mountain Lion Called and Taken In WA.-Guest Post by Steve Tormala

Steve Tormala, the owner of RainShadow Game Calls, is a Wildlife Callers’ blog subscriber and fellow mountain lion hunter.  He called, filmed, and shot this big female cougar not far from his home in Washington State. 

 

Steve Tormala and His Dec 5 Cougar

Steve Tormala and His Dec 5 Cougar

 

Steve has his own line of downloadable sounds he’s developed for mountain lion calling and a hand call that mimics a young cougar whistle.  Steve used his sounds to call this cougar!

 

 

Wildlife Callers’ Store will be offering Rainshadow sound packages and calls on our site starting next week. 

Now, here’s Steve’s story!

 

                             

 

 

Quick Response Results in a Quick Response! – By Steve Tormala

I just got back from a DISMAL coyote calling trip to the dry side of Washington 3 days earlier. 1 shot fired, no fur, 20+ miles of walking the desert, 850+ miles of driving, 26 formal stands, 10 – 15 quick stands… Nothin’!

I was down on hunting, calling, and anything else to do with predators!

I hadn’t planned on hunting at all this week, possibly not even next week. I’m finishing up a few custom knives and starting a couple others for Christmas orders. Plenty to do, time to stay at home and sulk!

I guess it was about noon:30, I get a call from a friend of my wife,

“Are you still looking for a Cougar?”
“Yeah!”
“Well, one was just sighted on our road, right next to a guy walking.  He said it was big!  Scared him pretty good!”
“Where?”
“Just before my house, over the hill in the DNR clearcut next to such-and-so road…”

“How long ago?”

“10 minutes, he saw it ten minutes ago!”

  As negative as I was about sitting on another calling stand, you just don’t pass up a located Cougar!  That’s like turning up your nose at GOLD! (more…)