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…)
