Varmit Electronic Calls

I realize that many on this site use good old fashion mouth calls with great skill. I however am a novice in every sense of the word and would like to see if there is a preferred electronic call that people have used with success. Considering that I thought my son and I were going to be dragged from out tent on the opening weekend of the deer hunt by a pack of noisy yoties I think I will try my luck on them for a while, they seem to outnumber deer in my area! Any thoughts are welcome. Happy hunting!

Any call will do. I'd start out with a cheaper end FoxPro. The biggest advantage to having an electronic caller is to focus the coyotes attention on something other than your position.

Try to set the caller up so you are uphill and downwind of it.

Once you get the hang of calling dogs, you'll want to quit hunting deer!

Thanks for the info. Smitty. That sounds like a good place to start.

You can download free sounds from the internet and install them in a MP3 player. Then you get a radio shack amp and plug it in. I have used this several times and it is a compact and cheap way to get started.

here is the amp.
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062620

LAST EDITED ON Oct-26-14 AT 10:46AM (MST)[p]I've trained new hunters and given seminars on predator hunting for a long time, so I'll share my experiences, Generally , if you're going to dabble in coyote hunting than almost anything will work to some degree, however, just like with optics and firearms I would suggest that you buy the best that you can afford, coyote hunting basically is a year round sport unlike big game with short seasons.It also can be every bit as exciting as any big game hunt, you never know what you will call in. I have used most of the cheap units and eventually gave them away to new hunters, the only one I kept for 5 years was the Primo's power dog, but , it only had 12 calls although it was as clear and far reaching as my Foxpro, with the Foxpro you can add calls depending on the area you will be hunting, I use kitten in distress when I'm within a couple of miles of an area with houses, also , at least here in California our areas are heavily hunted and the Yotes are sometimes call shy, so you have to get creative. Combine a mouth call with whatever e- caller that you are using, don't worry about whether you can call properly, no two dying animals sound alike. Lastly, call into the wind but watch your downwind and crosswind side and make sure you have a shooting lane, remember when you are hunting them , to us it's a sport, to them it's a life or death situation every day, also your greatest enemy as a predator hunter is movement, they can pick up the slightest movement far away, good luck

sound advice from above. Always try to get a little up hill if you can, the view is so much better to see them coming. When you start calling be ready, i've had them come to the call in a matter of seconds, but sometimes as late as 20 minutes, so be ready! DON'T move. Look with your eyes not with your neck. By that i mean scan the area by moving your eyes, not by moving your head around as much as you can.
When the pressure is heavy later in the winter and the coyotes have heard it all, find the little places that maybe haven't been called. You don't need much to hide behind, in fact i've called them right in the open as long as you're not moving around. Even if they see you drive in somewhere, usually they will still come.
Even if you call one in and shoot it, keep calling for a little while, sometimes there is more than one coming.
I usually use adult cottentail distress, but mix it up and find something that not everyone uses. They can get hard to call after even just one bad experience where they came to a call and got shot at.
I've heard they can pinpoint the sound within 20 yards from almost a mile away, so get situated then start calling and don't move as much as you can.
If there is a magpie coming in, odds are there is a coyote right behind it!
There will be days that they all come in, and then days where you won't call a thing. That's just how they are!
Get a Fox Jack or some kind of decoy that moves just a little, that makes them focus on the decoy and call, and not notice you as much.
Good luck....it's a kick in the pants when they come!

I think the past two posts have been great. I will try and add a couple of things I have learned. I never use the electronic callers. I experimented with a couple over the years. Even in Africa. I never thought I was getting good distance with the electronic. Plus I can't quickly vary my call sequences depending on how the setup is playing out. I agree with others that it was quite nice having the focus of the predator away from me and on a caller several yards away, especially in Africa.

One thing I will tell you which I tell all people I know who want to start predator hunting. The most important variable in predator hunting is the setup, not the call. Learn how to setup properly depending on target species and your success will go way up. One other personal rule I have is I practically never call with the sun on me. One way or another I use a shadow. It makes a world of difference. Lastly, and this is graduate level stuff, let the birds tell you what you can't see. Very often they are spy drones that will work to your benefit.

Get a FoxPro! Best electronic call on the market IMO. I have a 5 year old Fox Pro FX3 that has called in too many predators to give an exact count. Once you learn how to use it, it is a major tool in killing yotes.

Like already mentioned, set-up is #1 in calling coyotes. You can be in the best area, set up wrong and see/kill zero. Set up correctly and might have 1-3 hit the dirt.

Good luck! Predator hunting is addicting

Tristate, if you don't mind, would you please elaborate a little more on "proper set up". Assume we know nothing, so even the obvious to you, would be valuable to us.

Thanks
DC

I do a lot more predator hunting than I do big game hunting and I agree with tristate on this one.

The set up and area is key. When going into a set up the very first thing you NEED to make sure of is that your truck or vehicle is hidden from the area that you are going to call. This is the first mistake that many people make. Coyotes or any predator for that matter are not going to come into a call that they can see a truck behind the sound.

The second thing that I always do is make sure I know what direction the wind is going. I personally like to set up with a cross wind where i can see the down wind side. Coyotes love to circle the sound down wind before coming into the call.

The third thing that I always try to do is get a little elevated so that I can see further and better. In a lot of the sage areas I call if you are not somewhat elevated you can't see 20 yards in front of you. To go along with this coyotes like to use the easiest route possible when coming to the call so when setting up the way you are facing look for the path of "least resistance."

Make sure the calls you are doing work for the time of year that you are hunting the coyotes. Distress sounds work well in the fall and most of the year. Around the end of January and February coyotes start to pair up and this is when they will come to coyote vocal sounds, also this time of the year they are very educated so changing sounds is key to getting them to come in. Everyone can buy a fox pro and play rabbit distress, this will call a few coyotes but it will not maximize your time in the field.

Coyote and predator hunting is not easy, you will spend a lot of time in stands that are unsuccessful. There is no way to call them in and kill them without being out there and learning. Here is a good foundation. Good luck

Lumpy,

Better than %90 of the time I only call mornings for coyotes. I know they come in in the evenings and nights but I believe since they are fairly unsuccessful predators that they are typically hungriest in the morning and most likely to let their stomachs override their brains. I typically only call when I think I have a really good call set-up. I am very cautious about educating dogs. Typically the only time I deviate from these rules is the first day after a strong winter storm. Usually I can kill dogs all day long then.

As for specifics I really like some lumpy country divided by a valley. Center of the valley has a travel corridor of some type in the bottom. Road, creek, etc.. Wind should be blowing towards the travel corridor but at a pitched angle away from the direction I believe a dog is most likely to approach. I want long visibility into my downwind side. Sun behind me. I really love cutting a pocket into a cedar bush and stuffing myself into it. You can almost become totally invisible in a cedar. Anyway if everything works out perfectly, Which is rare , dog leaves lumpy ground and immediately hits the travel corridor at a fast pace in a direction to cut off your wind. He gets to a point where he realizes he will actually have to actually get farther from the sound if he wants both the wind and the safety/ease of the corridor. A coyote won't do that. HE WILL NOT LOOSE GROUND IF HE THINKS ALL IS SAFE. I am sure someone will argue with me over this but I have never seen a committed coyote lengthen his approach. So he leaves the travel corridor in a direction that is still taking him to your wind but not putting him farther away from the meal. By then he is dead.

Do they run in straight sometimes? Yep. Do they show up on your backside sometimes unexpected? Yep. One more reason to have a gunner covering the back door.

This is the most basic set-up scenario that I think most anyone can find. Start paying attention to each set-up that pays off. Pay special attention to the set-ups where you brought in a dog but he made it out alive. Analyze where you could have set-up and most likely killed him and go actually walk over and look at those positions.

Good luck killin'

I agree exactly with what has been said here except I do have a different opinion on what times of the day are the best and here is my reasoning.

Mornings are great and so is right at dusk, there is no doubt about this. But my favorite time to call during the day is actually from 10am to 2pm, and here is why.

In the morning and evening coyotes are really active, this is their time to hunt and they are out and about. Therefore, when slipping into a stand they will often be much more alert to what is going on around them and may not come in to the call.

For example, if a coyote is out feeding for mice, they see a truck drive by at 600 yards then a few minutes later hear a distress call from the same area they may not take the bait.

In the later morning the coyotes will bed down, since they are not as alert when walking into a stand it seems you can get right on top of them. This is just my opinion but 10am is my favorite time of day to call.

Anyone know anything about the primos turbo dog caller?

O--one
B--big
A--ass
M--mistake
A--america

I bought one because it has a lot of coyote vocals. But I don't like the sound as much as the fox pro.

Since, I have learned how to make a couple different vocalizations with my hand calls.

If you want it, I'd consider selling.

How much? I'm gonna go look at one this weekend

O--one
B--big
A--ass
M--mistake
A--america