28 replies to this topic

[NVWalt]

I was talking to a friend the other day who is a coyote caller and we were discussing e-callers and mouth calls.I use a mouth call exclusivly as I am the one that calls in the coyote to be shot. So I consider myself a coyote caller. We both , the guy I was talking to, agreed that if you use an e-caller to lure in a coyote you weren't a coyote caller but just a coyote shooter as the e-caller was what called in the coyote . Not you the individual. SOOOOO how many of you guys are true coyote callers or are you coyote shooters? I just personally get great satisfaction knowing it was me , myself, that called in that coyote or coyotes to put to rest..... oh, I have nothing at all against e-callers or there use as I have been out with s couple guys that have used them myself and they do work but I still managed to call in more with my mouth blown call than the e-caller called in...Walt

[Bozsik]

Actually,If you really break it down to nuts and bolts, there are three types of calling for yotes. Two shooters and one caller. The first shooter uses electronic calls, the second shooter uses mechanical, or hand made calls. The real caller makes sounds himself without the aid of man-made devises.I am shooter one and two. I am happy just to get one.db

[Thumper Dunker]

Im what ever Walt is.

[MojaveJ]

Let just apply KISS Keep It Simple Stupid and call it what it is hunting calling and shooting are part of the small picture and all I care about are the results but have to agree with Walt that since learning to call I have had way more come to my mouth call than my e-caller.

[Bozsik]

I have always used mouth calls to call in coyotes and have had a lot of luck doing so. How ever this year I bought a digital caller and it works as well. But there is a lot more to calling in a coyote than just the call that you use. I would like to call my self a coyote hunter/slayer.But it is all fun and a blast to be in the field.

Sounds about right to me. db

[RayGun]

How about a callin shooter. I use a lot of both, but probably more calling than button pushin.

[Stiff Neck]

I'm neither. I just go out there and make a bunch of noise that most coyotes seem to ignore. So I'm neither a caller, nor a shooter.

[ShooterJohn]

I called for years before I even knew what an electronic caller was. I would prefer to push a button and keep my movements to a minimum because animals are fewer between nowadays. But if it hangs up or turns out to be a Grey fox I can grab a mouth call very quickly or lip squeak them in too. So I guess that make me buttonpushingcallerlipsqueakershooter!

[HOG]

I'm kind of in there with John. I'm a maller I use the e-call, mouth call and squeeker.

[Cranky Farmer]

Mauler here!

[RayGun]

That was a mouthful SJ! A what? buttonpushingcallerlipsqueakershooter!

[ShooterJohn]

But, I've been called a lot worse.

[NVWalt]

All good reply's and I do believe whatever works will do just fine. I tried to word it so no one was offended or thought I was overly arrogant. Ken, Ron and I are just die hard mouthcall users as it gives us great satisfaction calling them straight into us I just happen to have pretty good success with a mouth call and I can just use no call at all and call them in also but not with anywhere near the results. So, thanks for the reply's and a buttonpushingcallerlipsqueakershooter! John, that really covers it all...LOL ..Walt

[yotehunter]

Im with Walt on this one, I have used E calls without much luck, but im mostly just lazy and I dont want to carry them around. If I could find a way to hide my guns at my favorite stands so I didnt have to carry them I would. I just get more satisfaction from calling them myself.Thanks for the spare reeds Walt.

[peeker seeker]

Am I the only one that calls them in like a kitty cat .kitty kitty kitty kitty kitty and sqeeky smuching noises with just your mouth . it works if thay are getting close.Hey if it works Ill try it . An old fart in OKeehoma taught me how to do it .Its a big kick to call one in that way. I think Im a wood and mouth caller shooter.

[Shoot-it]

that means than i am mostly a shooter sometime i give a little howl with my mouth to make them stop and look at you.Thats about it I bought a pred call and its a rabbit distress call one time i saw two yotes afew hundred yards out so i tryed it when they heard it they ran away like someone shot at them........ I quess i didnt blow it right I am a neebe to the caller thing live and learn i say.So then can someone help me out what calls should i buy just too get started ............

[ShooterJohn]

Thats about it I bought a pred call and its a rabbit distress call one time i saw two yotes afew hundred yards out so i tryed it when they heard it they ran away like someone shot at them........ I quess i didnt blow it right I am a neebe to the caller thing live and learn i say.

That's funny and probably a first time reaction for everybody new to calling. Still I have to laugh, sorry!

[Stiff Neck]

I'm probably classified as a coyote "educator".

[Cranky Farmer]

Does Walt have a website?

[Bill D.]

I mastered mouth calling long before I ever used an e-caller but have to say I really prefer e-calling. I think 90 percent of the hunt (or shoot) is making good setups and that takes lots of good old fashion experience from the school of hard knocks. During the 80's, I spent thousands of hours catching and recording prey species to make good calling tapes so I guess I get the same satisfaction as a mouth caller when an animal responds to one of my edited recordings. It is not easy to put together 30 minutes of clean distress sound for a master tape and it is very satisfying to see the final product work liked planned. Sure wish they would have had digital stuff back then......hundred times easier then tape editing.The wide open grassland hills that I hunted this past winter would be super difficult with a mouth call because there is literally no place to hide and nothing to blend in with. Laying prone with the Foxpro 50 to 100 yards away made it possible to kill quite a few coyotes and that would not have happened with a mouth call. Most of the ranchers I know like to see results and it is very satisfying to show them pictures of dead coyotes on the camera when I finish a hunt. My success was directly responsible for getting access to neighboring ranches that normally didn't allow any hunting. BTW, I always have a mouth call or two in my pocket when I head off on a long walk-about......I want access to all the tools when dealing with wiley.

[Shoot-it]

Oh yes it was funny shooterjohn ....... I might just go e caller for now i dont know yet. I know every good caller had too learn it they were not born with it.I cant be the only one that ever scared one away with bad calls................

[peeker seeker]

WE all do that, Shoot it , but we dont tell anybody. when I started I could not sit still for long I would have to move or stand . and I would blow it. Scared off alot of critters.

[NVWalt]

Thank's for the reply's again fellas I was just curious about how many of you used mouth calls or e- calls. Bill, I can see where you could and would get great satsfaction fron getting coyotes to come into your own recordings ie. thhe sounds you recorded yourself. Nothing like just buying a foxpro or any of the other e-callers. I haven't called the grassland type stuff since I was a kid in the 60's and called the ranches out by my aunts ranch up in Caliente. I do have success calling the shadscale here in Nevada and it is similar in that you have to slink in to your stands by any low spot available and lay prone to call and shoot. Fun to watch a coyote coming in from afar. And it isn't easy hiding in stuff that only grows six inches high. Like I stated before I really have nothing bad to say or against the use of e-callers and many a contest has been won by guys using them. The hardest part of learning coyote hunting is the school of hard knocks and that is where you guys that are new to the game have a great advantage with the internet and great e-callers and all the calls out there along with the videos. Just not like when I started with just the instructions written on the piece of paper that came with my Weems call and I had to figure it out all by myself. That information hiway out there is well worth seeking. And if any of you guys get over here to Nevada just PM me and I will see if my schedule will allow me to do a hunt with you......Walt

[Frank]

Ok, I'll play....Guess I'll give the "bottom line" first and that is if someone is using just either one exclusively (mouth distress rabbit call or an e caller), they are not going to call in as many yotes as they could. 2nd, it really ain't about the calls (or caller) but rather how "good the area" is. How many yotes there are & how often they have been called in other words. (caller & calls obviously play a part in it). I will usually put money on a brand new, first time rookie caller in a "good" area vs a veteran caller in a fair area. Reason I say that is, I have taken too many brand new callers with a rabbit distress mouth call into a good area & watch them call in yotes, sometimes 2 or 3, on their very first try/stand. And while making the most gawd awful sound you ever heard. So often times, it ain't about the call or caller. I personally was brought up on the ole Weems, rabbit distress call back in the 1960's. My dad was shown by Doug Kittridge, who in turn taught me. Ever hear of Doug? Guys like him and Murray put predator calling on the map/made it what it is today. So I am at least a little familiar with a rabbit distress mouth call. lol A few years ago, I purchased a Foxpro w/remote... While I admit they do not sound as authentic as a mouth call, they are still a great tool to use, especially "in conjuction" with a mouth call. In other words, I always take & use BOTH on a stand. Often times either alternating or using both at the same time. Also, one call may not work while the other does. An e caller is especially helpfull with howls, puppy yipes, bird sounds and various other sounds that we may or may not be that good with on a mouth call. That is where an e caller really shines. I've never kept score on which call has called in the most game for us. Perhaps the mouth call, but again our numbers would be substantially less without the e caller.So, which type of caller am I ? I'm not! I am a predator hunter and enjoy whatever tools available that will bring me the most FUN (& success) out of my favorite passtime... Happy Yote Hunting AllFrank

[RayGun]

Well, here we go, talking about calling (the method), and Frank breaks it down to what it really is, Predator Hunting, AND HAVING FUN. Unless of course you are an ADC, then it is work......What ever works for me, that's what I use. I have only been predator hunting on a regular basis for about the last 15 years and I started with a club that did primarily night hunting. I am not expert, but generally proficient. And of course it was almost all e-calling with tape machines back then. When an animal hung up we turned to lip squeeks and mouth calls. After 5 or so years of that I started hunting only in daylight, a totally different world of calling for sure. At first I relied heavily on the tapes, and gradually transformed to using mouth calls almost exclusively. I have to admit, however, that I now use a good mix of both for day and night hunting. It works for me.Now if I could only learn to shoot. Does anyone know why they gun shop put that long black tube on top of my rifle. All it does is obscure the front sight!

[NVWalt]

I guess you could just say I am a coyote hunter also. I have heard if Kittridge but only after I bought Varmint Hunters Bible or Digest I would have to go find it and look. I never even new there were calling clubs or any of that back then. Only after years of doing it all on my own did I find that book and went "ALL be darned, there are other people out there that do this." Up until then I had never even heard of the calling clubs and the contests they had. It was finding that book that let me know that and about the names of those people you are familiar with. I guess I was living in the dark ages even as a teenager in the 60's calling and killing coyotes, bobcats, fox and a couple mtn lions in Santa Barbara county. Isn't the internet a great source of information now! The thing I was just asking was if you called the animal in you called it and not a Foxpro, Anybody can use a Foxpro or any of the other ecallers, They work and work well in the right areas just like handcalls but it just isn't as fun to me or satisfying to use. Hell I had an old 45 record caller way back when Stewart made them. A couple Burnham tape players and all but I just called more in with the handcall than with the electronic callers. I stll just like doing the calling myself instead of letting a gizmo do the calling for me and I have pretty fair success at it . I don't keep records or counts anymore but to say I call at least a hundred coyotes in a year wouldn't be any kind of exageration or brag on my part. Like you, Frank, and Bill I have been doing it for over 40 years and just like doing the calling and enjoying my time out in the brush doing it. I don't get too excited about calling in predators nowadays but I guess that happens when you have called in lots of them. Well I take that back, I get a little excited when I call in Blackbears and I don't hear them coming in til they are almost on top of me. That's what happens when you get hard of hearing and are a solo hunter. All in fun and good hunting and calling to everyone out there...Walt

[Frank]

Good note, Walt.... and yes, I'm (almost) deaf as a doorknob now... and drive folks crazy...LOL Heck, about a year or two ago a friend was sitting right next to me when all of a sudden he "barked" at a yote... And I never HEARD him bark at the dog. LOL The only reason I knew a yote was present, was when he raised his rifle & taking aim. So I could totally relate to your black bear hunts. LOLYou're right about the internet and its wealth of info, especially for the beginning hunter that has no one to teach them...They (& us too) are very fortunate (spoiled actually/lol) compared to our day. (Internet) is another great "tool" for our hobby.I only called in one cougar, but could have combed his wiskers... It was around July(?) of '69 (I was 21) along the Klammath River and they were still legal to shoot in Nazifornia. Only problem, it took too long to revive my heart and he was gone in about 2 leaps...Anyway, lots of different ways to do and enjoy this great sport & to each their own... All The Best Frank

[Shoot-it]

OH i like the stories keep going Nvwalt and frank..(E calls vs hand calls). remind me of duck hunting...(duck decoys vs the ROBO DUCK!!) If you use a robo duck your not a real duck hunter......