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.”

To read the complete story and previous posts about this bear hunt, go to Tom’s blogpost here.

Tom and wife Shanna with the bear hide.

Thanks for sharing your story Tom and congratulations on a nice bear called! Tom’s blog and website can be found at www.basecamplegends.com

We appreciate you visiting us here at Wildlife Callers. Feel free to sign up for the blog, it’s free and easy to do, just add your info here:

Thanks for reading!

Marc Reindell

marc@wildlifecallers.com

We’re in booth 415 on the main aisle showing off the Wildlife Technologies Mighty Atom MA-15 and MA-21 models, and The Gun Claw.  

Wildlife Callers Booth at the World Predator Hunter's Expo

The DPMS Black Cat Express was parked inside the Expo with more than 50 rifles on display.  DPMS sales rep Shane Cuperus and Brian Downs from The Predator Talkcast are looking at one of several .223 rifles in the rolling showroom.   

In the DPMS Black Cat Express with Shane Cuperus (DPMS Sales) and Brian Downs (Predator Talkcast)

The Predator Masters booth was just around the corner from the DPMS showroom.  Barry Stewart and Matt McCauley were passing out literature and speaking with folks at the show.   

Predator Masters Booth with Barry Stewart (rockinbbar) and Matt McCauley (javafour) showing off the PM 2010 Coyote Rifle

 MAD Calls & Flambeau Decoys and FOXPRO game calls are across from each other on the main aisle.   

Mad Calls and Flambeau Decoys on the Main Aisle

FOXPRO Booth on the Main Aisle

Dozens of other vendors and manufacturers lined the aisles, offering show guests hundreds of products and services.  The EOTech Booth and Predator Lights Booth are located just outside the World Predator Calling Competition Stage.  

John Bailey with EOTech

Matt McDonnell & Charlie Crotser of Predator Lights

The Deer and Turkey Expo is happening at the Ohio Expo center this same weekend, and we’re expecting the foot traffic in the Predator Expo to be great on Saturday and Sunday.  If you have the opportunity to meet us at the show, we’re looking forward to seeing you. 

Thank you again for reading,

Mark Healy

mark@wildlifecallers.com

We appreciate veteran predator caller, Ned Burris sharing another success story with us.  There are several informational calling tactics & take-aways in this post. 

Have you ever been driving on the freeways/highways around your hometown and thought wow, that would be a great place to make a stand?  The brush looks right, there are no homes nearby, there’s a good water source, you’ve seen a few coyotes and small critters killed on the road nearby, but you’ve never taken the time to call it or had your gear with you when the urge strikes and time permits.  I’ve been there too, and here’s how a serious predator caller makes the most of his opportunities. 

Ned Burris - AZ Predator Caller

Ned Burris was headed home from work last week in west Phoenix and like every other work day, he jumped on the freeway and headed east.  Traffic on the AZ freeway system is never good at 4pm, but this particular day it was exceptionally bad.  Ned knew he was going to be stuck for more than an hour trying to get home.  Most people would have cranked up the radio, or called their aunt they haven’t talked to in a year and crawled along the freeway.  Ned, on the other hand, hit an exit ramp and got back on the freeway in the opposite direction.  In just a few minutes he was past the residential sprawl on the west side of Phoenix and looking for places to call. 

Ned, who knows how to maximize opportunities like this, keeps a few hand calls in his truck, a reliable 20 gauge shotgun, and a camo jacket.  He exited the freeway in some agricultural areas that were surrounded by thick stands of salt cedars and mesquite trees.  He’s called around areas like this in the past, and knows that bobcats love to lay-up in the thickets around the fields.  Today was no exception. 

Using his Pee-Wee Crit’R call, Ned let out several long sequences of high pitched distress cries.  On his first stand he called for 20 minutes and blanked.  On the second stand he saw a good sized bobcat sneaking in from about 200 yards away.  He wasn’t sure if the ‘cat would come all the way in and for a moment he wished he had his rifle.  Persistence paid off though, and after 10 more minutes of continuous calling with the Pee-Wee Crit’R call the bobcat popped out of the brush just 30 yards away.  Ned raised his 20ga and put a load of 000 buckshot down range.  Hit hard, the bobcat dropped to the ground.  But, being the bionic creatures they are, it jumped back up and started running.  A second shot rolled the bobcat and it was down for good. 

Traffic Jam Bobcat - Called by Ned Burris

Ned was not surprised to find that the stocky bobcat was a tom.  Ned wasn’t packing a scale and estimates the weight at right around 25lbs. 

Ned is an outstanding bobcat caller and was willing to share these calling tactics with our readers:

• He looks for places with lots of tight cover and access to food sources – the agricultural areas attract small critters.
• He doesn’t overlook places close to town – he does make sure he’s out of the city and away from homes.  If he only has to drive a few minutes to get in a calling spot, it stands to reason he’ll call more stands every year. 
• He likes open reed calls and the flexibility they give him to make a variety of high pitched distress sounds.  The Pee Wee Criter call is just one of a few open reed calls Ned uses. 
• Tenacity!  Ned normally calls a bobcat stand for 30 minutes.  However, he’s persistent and if he thinks the area is really hot he’ll stay longer. He once spotted a bobcat at the 20 minute mark and lost sight of it in the brush.  He called for another hour and 25 minutes until the bobcat eventually popped out the brush and he shot it.  Now that’s persistence!  Persistence pays!
• He scouts and uses sign (tracks and scat) to locate good bobcat calling areas.  He told me that tracks are good, but scat is the real indicator of bobcat activity.  He looks for scat everywhere he calls so he’s making the most of every stand. 
• Be Prepared.  You can’t make a few quick stands after work if your gear is on the other side of town.  Have some basic equipment stored in your truck.  In case of a break-in, don’t make it your best high-dollar gear. 

To read more of Ned’s field tips, go to his last bobcat calling post by clicking here.

 
We’d like to thank Ned again for sharing his years of experience with the readers of Wildlife Callers’ Blog.  If you’re looking to call more bobcats this year, or simply looking to call your first bobcat we hope these posts help and wish you the best of luck.  Check back for more calling tips from our Wildlfie Callers’ bloggers and guests posters! 

You can subscribe to get free blog updates by putting your email in the Subscribe Box on the upper right of this page. 

Comments and questions are always appreciated. 

Good calling to everyone and have a happy Thanksgiving!

Mark Healy

mark@wildlifecallers.com

Ned emailed us a short synopsis of this day in the field.  We liked the story and the calling tactics were top-notch.  We wrote it up and hope you enjoy it as much as we did.  

Ned and his brother Mike Burris teamed up for a predator hunt on Sunday November 8th.  Ned, you might recall, was pictured in this post: http://tinyurl.com/yzugd5p about the 2009 SW Fur Takers Rendezvous.  He’s a long-time Arizona predator caller, and all-around wildlife calling professional.  His brother Mike is a club officer for the Arizona Predator Callers in Mesa, Arizona and an experienced caller as well. 

Ned Burris - AZ Predator Caller

Ned (pictured on right) and Mike were calling some areas that had produced some nice bobcats in the past.  Ned was only shooting cats and was armed with his Browning 10-gauge.  Mike was also armed with a shotgun and was only going to shoot…well…anything that came in! 

The Burris brothers have been predator hunting all over Arizona for many years.  They know exactly where to go to target specific predator species.  They also have the experience and tactics to make the most of every calling day.

The first two stands of the morning were blanks, and the pair pressed on.  On the third stand, Ned was using his FoxPro electronic predator call as well as his Tally-Ho open reed mouth call.  At about 15 minutes this well-spotted 22 pound bobcat came into view in some heavy brush at 35 yards. 

Ned Burris and his Excellent November Bobcat

Although Ned could have killed the bobcat with his bare hands (from the looks of the first photo), Ned used his 10-ga Browning shotgun and 3.5 inch Dead Coyote Heavy BB Shot to shoot the cat.  To Ned and Mike’s amazement, the bobcat jumped up and ran into the thick/nasty cover and disappeared.  Ned wisely had his dog Rocky with him, and turned him loose after the bobcat.  It took Rocky just about a minute to locate the close-to-dead bobcat about 40-yards from where it had been hit. 

Mike took this photo using a camera phone, and they continued on.

Two stands later Ned had a coyote trot into the set very quickly and stand fast at 20-yards.  Mike raised his 12-ga shotgun and took that coyote with lead number 2′s.  Ned and Mike kept calling the stand for about another 20-minutes and thinking that nothing else had arrived, they shut the FoxPro off and stood up.  As Ned was walking for the caller, another bobcat jumped out of a bush and ran off.  They weren’t able to get a gun on it in time and the cat escaped. 

By the end of the day they had called in five more coyotes for a total of six coyotes and two bobcats!  A memorable day by any measure. 

The tactic of using an electronic call and a hand call at the same time is something that I hear guys talking about, but rarely see a guy do in the field.  Ned and Mike certainly showed just how effective and deadly this tactic can be. 

We’d like to thank the Burris brothers for sharing this story and, above all, revealing the tactics.  We all want more success every day we spend afield, and we hope this helps all of our readers. 

Comments are always appreciated!

To subscribe to the blog, just put your email in the “Subscribe” box on the top right of this page. 

Top of the season to everyone,

Mark Healy

mark@wildlifecallers.com

Chad uses hand calls and would like to expand his calling by using an electronic wildlife caller in the near future.  Chad is the second wildlife photographer that has agreed to contribute to our blog on a periodic basis, we are happy to share his story and his photographs with our readers.

Mesa Sky Wildlife Photography

My name is Chad Messa, I am the owner/operator of Mesa Sky Wildlife Photography and we are located in south Mississippi and Louisiana.

 I got started in wildlife photography when I was about 16 years old. My older sister gave me a Yashica film camera and even though I had no idea what I was doing, I took it into the woods every chance I had. As years went by I kept shooting and always kept that camera with me in my truck. Back then I was shooting stuff like birds, alligators and turtles, just local Louisiana wildlife.

 The photograph I took that made me realize I could make a living at this was of a captive jaguar. I learned that if I tried hard enough and read as much as possible about photography, I could make this a career.

I took the photograph of the jaguar with a used 35mm film Minolta maxxum camera that cost me $40.00 and a $100.00 lens mounted to it. When the light was just right and my exposure was set I tripped my shutter. Exposure was set on manual at 4.5 and a shutter speed of 1/125^th of a second. ISO 400 with Fuji provia film. The image was never published, nor did I put it out there to be in print, but I learned so much from that one shot, it’s priceless to me.

 Photographing captive animals allows you to learn a lot about wildlife photography. You learn how much light is absorbed by an animal’s coat, or how using fill flash allows you to catch light in their eyes. You may not sell these images but you learn so much from just taking them. Next time you go into the field to shoot, you will remember the lessons you learned while shooting captive animals.

I decided to turn photography into a career and started to invest in more expensive equipment and went digital. Now we shoot with all Canon Mark II and III camera bodies and Canon L lenses. A lot different from the little film camera my sis gave me.

 Depending on the project and species that we are shooting, my lens/camera body configuration will differ. For example, If I am shooting smaller mammals such as waterfowl or predators, I may use a Mark III body with a 600mm f/4 lens and 1.4X teleconvertor.

If I’m shooting bull elk during the rut, chances are I will have a 400mm 2.8L lens and teleconvertor in my bag. The 1.4X teleconvertor gives me extra reach if I need it without the weight of carrying a separate lens. But I lose a stop of light when using it.

My main concern when shooting wildlife is light. This is where big heavy lenses shine! When I’m shooting with a lens like the 400mm 2.8or the 200mm 1.8, they allow me to photograph in very low light situations like early morning or late evening. Although these lenses offer great detail and light capabilities in these situations, they do come with a price, as well as weight.

Expect to spend from $4000.00 to $10,000 dollars on these lenses, another $5,000 to $8,000 dollars for the camera bodies. This just gets you started in the profession, not to mention you need a good support team at home. My Family is the number one reason I succeed at what I do.

 I’m in no way implying that you need to spend this kind of money to get great images. I have this equipment because I do this for a living and want to give my clients the very best image I can. Learning to use the equipment you have to it’s utmost capabilities will produce great shots for you.

We will be continuing with Chad’s post in a day or two, please check back with us for more, in the mean time you can view Chad’s work at: http://www.mesaskyphotography.com/ or contact Chad by e-mail at Chad@mesaskyphotography.com

Thanks for visiting the blog and remember, if you don’t want to miss a post, sign up for the blog, it’s free!  We also appreciate your comments at Wildlife Callers.

Happy hunting and photographing!

Marc Reindell

marc@wildlifecallers.com