If so...which ones? Do you have the unit that is wireless (from controller to caller)? Does your "bait" (I don't know the proper terminology) have motion? Thanks.
I have the foxpro spitfire electronic caller. I also from time to time just take my mouth calls with me. Johnny Stewart makes a fine mouth call. To me I can make more realistic sounds and get more feeling out my mouth call than the electronic call. I've never used a bait decoy, so I can't give you any feed back on that.
I have the Foxpro Spitfire as well. I have the version 3 software on mine (there are 4 versions, as they ironed out the new software) and it works fantastic. I'm able to get a solid 150ish yards out of the remote if I hang it between waist and chest height in a tree. It does have an auxiliary jack as well on the caller so I can run a electronic decoy with the same remote. After about a dozen sets and a few months, I'm very happy with the call. For the $$$, I don't think you can get a higher quality unit. I've since added an extra memory card with another 24 sounds as well, and reprogramming everything is a snap. I can swap from card to card in the field in roughly 30 seconds. I have also hunted behind homemade callers. Sound was not as good as the Foxpro's though, and not nearly the volume. Also, they were not able to run on a remote, which I think is fantastic. I've also played with the Foxpro FX3 and FX5. The FX3 is nice because you can store more than 24 sounds on it, but honestly the remote sucks compared to my Spitfire. The FX5 is the very best option I think, but for that amount of $$$ it should probably be gold plated or something.
I don't use e callers, I prefer mouth calls! The one thing you can use for "bait" is an old arrow with a turkey feather tied on with thread, stick it in the ground so the feather can flop in the breeze. Any motion like this will take their attention off of you and focus it on the movement it makes!
Electronic callers are great for keeping the attention away from you but being that you're a traditionalist Jeff I thought you'd be more into doing it the hard way and using a mouth call. I'm sure you've checked but there's a lot of places they aren't legal too. That's why I stick to the Sceery and try to get some elevation on the situation so that I can see them before they can see me. I find that to be the key especially around here where they're looking for a meal and I don't want to be it! I've got a little cheap electronic predator decoy from Cabelas that seems to work well but I haven't had any success with it on fox that I could say it definitely helped or not. I figure it can't hurt though.
I have a homemade e-caller that I use and an assortment of hand calls. For hand calls, I prefer Lohman. As for decoys, it's hard to beat the Mojo Critter, especially is you are going after cats. It works excellent on yotes around here, but for some reason it drives the bobcats wild.
Rob: If I thought I could get away with calling AND getting a shot off with my bow.......I'd consider it. I'm gonna need a distraction, though, I think. If I were to ever take one with a caller.....then I'd up the game.
