Looking for some feedback on predator calls. I have none right now, so what are basic calls to start out with? I'll mainly be hunting at the edges of fields, should I be looking at a few decoys as well? As always, thanks in advance.
I've never tried a decoy, but I'm sure it would help. It may bring them in closer, and help keep eyes off u
Tony Tebbe has a line of mouth calls that are very effective and very affordable. My lanyard typically always has a real high pitch squealer, a lower toned raspy rabbit in distress, and a howler or two.
Usually just use rabbit distress call and howler. A buddy has a electronic call that we've used sometime, don't know what brand. It was pretty nice to put somewhere out away so the calls weren't coming from where we were set up. Haven't used any decoys before so don't know much about them.
I can't recall the brand, I don't have them with me right now. I have 2 that I use, different brands but they both sound pretty much the same. Ive found its not a bad idea to bring a couple calls with me, because after blowing on them for awhile they tend to freeze up on me during the winter.
So I picked up a rabbit in distress call (Primos - Double Cottontail) yesterday to start getting the hang of using the call and practicing. I'm gonna research and find a few more calls to add. I would like to possibly pick up an electronic caller down the road but want to learn the calls before I rely on technology. I think the benefits of an electronic call are worth it in the end. I think I'll pick up a simple feather or fur decoy just to keep some attention off the caller and more on the "prize". Woodsy, I did some reading and plenty of guys suggest having multiple calls for the exact reason you discussed. Probably wouldn't hurt to have multiple brands of calls so tones are different as well. I'm just getting started in predators guys so any other tips and tricks would be greatly appreciated.
I have a foxpro spitfire. Had several hand calls of all types and haven't touched one since I got the foxpro. I'm hoping now that I've moved to IL I can find a place to hunt yotes around here.
Woodsy, I'll more than likely start out in daytime sets and then open up the possibility for evening hunts. RJ, what setup are you using for gun? And did you customize the loaded calls or just use their preloaded sets?
http://www.allpredatorcalls.com/ Start with some closed reed calls They are pretty easy to blow, then you can move to the open reed kind. I use some of all. My main call is a foxpro, but I always have mouth calls with me. The ki-yi is a good closed open reed combo. You can howl, make various distress sounds with this call. Distress sounds are just that, don't get to hung up on making a rabbit or a fawn. Just make distress sounds and they will come A good place to start is Randy Anderson videos, you can learn a lot. Just remember.. When coyote sounds are made .. Howling ,growling ,barking..the coyote doesn't pay that much attention to the wind. When distress sounds like rabbit , fawn , chicken , whatever .. That dog will circle into your downwind side.. So just set up for your shot to be there Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I have been using open reed hand calls up until now, as I just ordered a Foxpro Wildfire 2 yesterday. I'll get a chance to use it over Christmas break, so let's hope it was worth the $200
If you are going to get an electronic call, FoxPro is the only way to go in my opinion. Their customer service is amazing. Even better than Covert I bet. I use a FoxPro spitfire, misc., hand calls occasionally and a mojo critter. Mojo critter works great but if you buy a higher end FoxPro I would just get one of the decoys that attach directly to the unit itself.
Bols I have the Primos Turbo Dog. Works great but its a bit hard on batteries. I bought a visual attractant from Fox Pro. Just a piece of material that spins. The visual aid is definitely a plus. Keeps their attention particularly in open fields.
I did customize the sounds and ordered through allpredatorcalls.com. I also have a handful of other cards with other sounds on them. It's easy and takes two seconds to reprogram the remote to another card. My second card has some longer 15-20 minute sequences on it that have worked for me in the past. I have a few guns I carry. Primarily I carry an AR in .223 that I built specifically for predators. Back home it's pretty unusual to shoot more than 50-100 yards or so as most of our hunting is at night. I built the gun really light because we usually put on several miles in a night on various calling sets. I also have another AR upper in 6.8 SPC that I swap to and carry if it's windy and I think I'll be shooting further distances. I also have an 870 I carry that's setup with a dead coyote choke that's deadly out to about 50-60 yards or so. Here in IL it's a lot more open but back home we usually paired up with two guys, one with the shotgun and one with the AR. We also had some areas where it really wasn't safe to carry a rifle so I'd carry the shotgun there. I have a Streamlight TLR-1 that I can swap from gun to gun that gives me 100-150 yards of light at night time, and also use a NOXX Red Dagger red LED headlamp that I sweep with while looking for eyes, that way I don't have to sweep everything with the gun, plus they don't mind the red light at all. They usually don't stick around once the white light of the TLR-1 is on them though, I only use that once I've located a yote and I'm already on him and ready to shoot. Can you hunt yotes at night in IL? I don't know how they act here in IL but it's a LOT easier to call yotes in at night back home, it was almost impossible to get a yote to break out into a field during daylight there. If we hunted during daylight, we would usually have to be in thick cover to get them comfortable responding to calls.
Sorry I haven't checked on this thread in a few weeks. So I got a few more things for hunting coyotes for Christmas. Besides sighting in my new scope, I'd like to pick up a bipod for the gun and I should be ready to go. Got a few different .223 rounds to try out. Winchester Ballistic Silvertips (55gr.), Hornady V-Max (55gr.), Hornady Superformance V-Max (53gr.) and Federal Premium Nosler Ballistic Tip (55gr.) I'm curious to see what will group the best out of my gun. Depending on how things go, I'd might have to look into getting a FoxPro sometime this year. With all the fresh snow I'm gonna try hard to get out sometime soon. Thanks for all the input so far guys.
