From One Coyote at 20 Yards to a Lifelong Obsession
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Disclaimer: I am not a professional predator hunter. What follows comes from the experiences, successes and mistakes I have accumulated over the years. If you learn something—or at least get a laugh out of it—I will consider that a success.
Many years ago when going to college in Wyoming, my friend and I were looking for something to do. We wandered into an outdoor store and I found myself standing in front of the predator calls. After some looking I finally settled on a Dan Thompson Cottontail Distress.
Later that night, we decided that we would sit on a dam face and see if we could get anything to respond. I would do the calling and man the flashlight and Casey would be the one shooting. After several series of, what was likely the worst sounding dying rabbit ever, I flicked the flashlight on and to our surprise, there stood a coyote at maybe 20 yards! Everyone was so surprised, including the coyote, that no shot was fired and he slipped out of the beam into the darkness. Little did I know that that situation 25 years ago, that would light a spark to a lifelong obsession that I still chase to this day.
Since that night so many years ago, I have evolved in my approach as I'm sure that many of you have that have bitten by the bug. I started with different hand calls: Thompson, Sceery, Quaker Boy, and many more. I then got into some electronic calls: Extreme Dimension, Cass Creek, Icotec and then to FoxPro and Lucky Duck. The handheld calls that I am most partial to after all those years are the Thompson Predator Calls and the Verminator Predator Calls. Let me say one thing before I continue, I have called predators with every call I mentioned, plus countless others and they will all work. The ones I use are just what I developed a preference for and suited my style of calling best, sort of a Ford, Chevy, or Dodge situation. The same goes for the electronic calls, they will all work but you just get used to reaching for one more than others, for me, that would be the Lucky Duck calls. All my electronic calls have plenty of Tony Tebbe sounds added to them as well as some MFK Animal Sounds and others. I will say, I do wish I could put the MFK sounds on the Lucky Duck but I do have some FoxPro calls just for that reason.
The biggest reason that I like the Super Revolt 2.0 over the other calls is simple, I have used it the most, and had success. I am most familiar with remote layout, I like the sound list that is preloaded (along with the others that I have added), and have had the least amount of issues with it over the others. One thing that is often overlooked, whether it's predator hunting, trapping, or any hunting is confidence. That is confidence in not only your own abilities but also, confidence in the gear you use.
Even though I have been chasing coyotes for better than half my life, I will say that I still make plenty of mistakes while doing so. One such stand illustrates this perfectly. I had just picked up a 22 Creed upper. I got it broke in, sighted in, and wanted to hit a stand just to see what it could do. I decided to try a spot that I had never called. Got setup, turned the call on, and within a few minutes I see a pair headed my way. I get all situated and they could not have cooperated any better, they worked their way into about 100 yards then started to get a little wary and stall out. I tried a bit to get them to close the distance but they would not budge, so I finally decided it was time to break in the new upper. I squeezed the trigger only to realize that there was no tension! I reached up and grabbed the charging handle as quietly as I could to cycle it and got it closed without causing them to spook to far. I settled back into the scope and squeezed the trigger again, click! I then proceeded to watch them run off without a shot being fired! After they were out of sight, I turned my light on to assess the situation. Well, like a moron, I had inadvertently put an empty clip in the same pocket as my full clip. The empty clip is the one that I put in and it's awful hard to shoot anything without any bullets!
Another consideration that seems very basic is playing the wind. In my area we have some hills, river bottoms, and flat lands. I usually try to set my stands up in such a way that I have the wind across my face or even across my back. Keep in mind that what I am about to say is not gospel but just my experiences. I have gotten more into night hunting because my wife is more ok with me being gone when the activities are done than we are running around during the day and kids have to be places. Anyway, back to the wind and why I prefer the directions I mentioned. I try to set my stands up so that the wind is blowing into an "open area" rather than having my scent blowing into cover. My thoughts are that if a coyote wants to wind me, he will have to show himself to do so, which at least gives me a small advantage before he hits my wind. I can bark him to a stop while he is trying to get my wind and at least take a shot before everything gets ruined. One coyote in particular illustrates this point.
I was setup to call a spot and had the wind coming from behind my left ear to my front right shoulder. Any coyote that wanted to wind me would have to come into the open to do so. After a few minutes of calling I spotted a coyote trying to circle downwind to my right. I barked her to a stop before she got my wind around 220 yards away and dropped her in her tracks. Had she been able to stay in cover to get my wind, I have zero doubt that she stays concealed, winds me, and I never even know she is there.
These are just a few of the many situations that I have encountered over the years that have taught me valuable lessons. Whenever I go coyote hunting, whether I shoot something or not, my goal is to learn something that I can apply to future hunts. Using this as a barometer to success, I might go home disappointed at times but rarely unsuccessful.