WT vs. FoxPro Observation

read predator extreme from DR Charles Shawley and also read


Journal of Wildlife Management 71(2):587-593. 2007
doi: 10.2193/2005-505

The read alot more don't have time to list all studies then go otu and test things yourself. I have used a decoy dog and also decoys of movement and I find a much higher% to work without the wind towards these objects than without.

That said, A decoy/denning dog is used for times that benefit me the most denning season outside of that they can be a negative. Calling on dens without the dog and with the dog does show a differance in the approach from those coyotes in relation to the wind!

Decoys have have prooven that as well, the negative for me with prey decoys is 1. At times you need to exspose yourself to make the decoy visiable 2. Cover too tall for the decoy to do it's job!

I have found it better to use the decoy dog at the proper time and yes even cover can hamper it's effectivness to a degree at times or hide the caller so the coyote must search and seek to find the source, they will still try to downswing with the wind, but caller placement and the placement of my location makes it far easier to put those coyotes in the area of not winding me. E caller location and terrain and knowing where the coyotes will approach is key. Yet I still find around 5% that will do the 300-400 yrd downwind circle, these are the coyotes that have been messed with before.
 
Have you heard of Vern Dorn and his pioneering work with decoy dogs? He has some old footage they've made into a DVD entitled For Whom the Dogs Toll. Great footage.
 
Last edited:
Call WT to order a caller and they'll tell you to hold off a week or so because something new is around the corner.

Could it be Bill has broken down and has a programmable caller ready to roll off the line? Will the market now be flooded with WT sounds? It would be funny if his new caller was programmable and was in infamous flashlight type case with a carry handle. haha.

When companies come out with new callers and new technology- the customers win.
 
For those interested. Heath has the PredatorWild site up and running again so you can read Gary's ecaller review for yourself.

frown.gif


Hope a live link elsewhere isn't frowned upon.
 
Here it is for those interested.


Thanks goes to the members of APC and their help judging the hardest of all measurements in any e-caller comparison - SOUND QUALITY.

The members of the Arizona Predator Callers met Thursday night for the regular monthly membership meeting in Mesa, AZ. At the beginning of the evening's program and before any discussion, the programmable e-callers we're hidden from the audience's view behind a piece of heavy camo burlap and played in their stock form, just the way they're sold to users, with no extra upgrades, batteries or speakers. The callers were each played in turn several times using the same sound file, a song from the Australian rockers, Dire Straits, Sultans of Swing. Not exactly scientific, but most of us are much better at comparing the sound of music than we are comparing screaming rabbits. Then, the audience voted and ranked their favorites for the elusive title of best sound quality. I only noticed one person sneaking around the back of the table, checking the remotes, watching me push buttons, and apparently voting for a brand instead of the sound. After the vote was settled, the camo was removed and the callers revealed.

You'll probably be surprised by the results. #1 was not unanimous, but the crowd voted 34 to 4 for the MAD Big Country Bandit. The Foxpro Fury was locked solid in second place. Third place went to the Foxpro CS-24. And fourth went to Kanati's CX-1H. The WT couldn't be included in the demo, thanks to its lack of programming, but it's fair to say it would be a tie with the CS-24 based on identical speakers.

We also collected a few of the choicer comments when people were asked to briefly describe the sound quality of their favorite or least favorite in a sentence or a word.

My two favorites:

From the back row: "That one sounds like a 1955 Japanese AM transistor radio."
From one of the directors of the largest coyote club in AZ: "Total [beeep]."

I couldn't make this stuff up.

At the break, I added a Pioneer coax speaker to one channel of the Kanati and a Foxpro SP-55 speaker to the other, and pumping up the volume on the same Dire Straits tune, it turned the worst into the best. The cheap little plastic disaster Kanati shipped with their caller can kill any sale. I can tell one of these guys how to build a good product, and I have, but I can't force him to do it right.

I've played all the callers with various speaker combos, including Alesis studio monitors. They all may call coyotes, but a guy looking for the best value for his money, given the opportunity is always going to choose the best value, best features, and best customer service.

Thumbs up to Dillon's CS-24. Don't be put off by it's #3 in the sound quality category. It's EXTREMELY loud and a real killing machine. To the audience's chagrin I threw mine on the floor from six feet up at the seminar. I managed to knock the batteries loose, but other than that, it's indestructible. I put a rubber band around the AA's so next time it falls from a tree (or the next time I throw it) the batteries won't come out. Mine needs a slightly better handle, maybe a wrap of neoprene, so it doesn't pinch a finger when I'm carrying both the caller and shotgun in the same hand.

Listening to the callers one after the other playing the same exact sound is always much more interesting than hearing one caller alone, and then another at a later date, sometimes weeks or months apart, when a good comparison just isn't possible. I wish all the manufacturers listened as carefully to the buying public as the buying public carefully listened to their e-call products on Thursday night.

I am one of the privileged few who gets to evaluate, program, listen to, and use all the callers. Thanks also goes to the guys who sell me, lend me, or send me, callers for a comparison like this one. I spend weeks, months, thousands of dollars, and more than a hundred hours, getting ready to write a paper like this one and then showing them off. It's fun, interesting, and a whole lot of work. Not everyone is as fortunate.

BP, in the "silence file" test I'm trying to make "sound to noise ratio" easier to understand for the hunter. My measurement was the volume in decibels of a silent file played at maximum volume on each of the machines. But better than decibels, it's the output number on the noise dosimeter I use to quantify the volume of the sound. A completely noise free room measured 27, so use that for a comparison rather than an absolute. I could tell you that db are a logarithmic scale, but who cares? For this test, 54 was a tiny bit louder than 44, and everyone understands that.

Thursday night, I passed the Fury around the room with the cone playing the silence file and the volume on 40 (the Fury's loudest setting). The white noise was barely audible and you had to hold it up to your ear to hear anything at all. None of these callers produces much white noise. This isn't the "pause" function, it's the sound of a silence file. On pause, most of the callers made zero sound. MAD's Big Country was the loudest on the silence file, but is totally silent on pause.

Matt S., who also made the trip to AZ, hunted a dozen stands with me between Phoenix and Blythe on the way home Friday. Matt shot this typical male AZ bobcat, long, tall, and skinny, while we were calling with the MAD caller and later in the day, a coyote coming to the CS-24. Temperatures on our stands ranged from 96 to 109 on Friday.

9-11bobcat.jpg
 
Originally Posted By: ADCcoyotemrgunslinger I had a wt ealrier version and didn't like it at all. To be truthful I will promote products that work well and do the job so with that I will say I like my cs-24 very much as it has proven to me to work well.

I haven't had the newer model WT so can't comment on it, I can the sounds as they are the same as the old unit, minus some new sounds Bill has out, but the FP and other sounds I can download onto the CS-24 do the job for me just fine.

The question I have what makes the WT far superior in "your mind" than any other caller? As I have owned a few outside of WT that calls/called them just as well for me as the WT! Plus for "ME" much better customer service and longer warranty's to boot!

Sounds. I bought the programable WT caller and put the sounds on my Fury. I know what my go to sounds are now. I feel I am living the best of both worlds.

Of course once I sell the WT caller I can not legally use the WT sounds anymore.

Hammer
 
Originally Posted By: Ursus21I've read these FP vs WT debates over and over. My conclusion is if I could get a FP CS-24 with WT's coyote vocal sounds I would be in tall cotton.
smile.gif


Exactly what I have done brother!!

Hammer
 
Between now and this spring when I buy a FP CS-24, I'm hoping to find a disgruntled WT owner with a programable caller.
wink.gif
Then again if WT releases a super new caller that is equal to, or better than the CS-24 then I'll just buy the WT in stead. Guess I'll see what's available this spring.
smile.gif
 
Quote:Let me be more specific and see if it jostles your memory. Isn't it true you blanked in AZ when you came out a few days prior to an organized gathering

Scott: On my second trip i hunted with friends in N.M. and called in a big coyote for Steve C. and shot one my self and winged another. When i got to the camp out i did not hunt in Az. i did not have a vehicle to get around in, except one day one of the guys from the trapping group borrowed me his truck to go to town..
As for the third trip i did not hunt much, spent most days in camp with some of the guys, but i did go out calling one mourning and called in a coyote just west of youre truck with the flat tires..LOL
I remember you from the camp-out you where the guy that hung in the shadows and did'nt want anything to do with most of the guys there.. To badd you really missed the boat....
 
well i have to get my 2 cents in on this matter. First off im not a WT rep not a fox pro rep. I am a plain guy just like all of the others on here that loves to hunt. I spend good money that i dont really have on good equpiment because i want the best. I have owned the burnham brothers comp caller, I have owned the fox pro fury,maniska ultimate one. and i have and still own a WT. I will say the burnham brothers was ok caller and worked great for a lower priced caller. The fury was not impressed at all. I was also not impressed with fox pro or fox pro them self. i called and left a message for them to call me because i wanted to buy some extras for the fury. No call back same with an email to them no responce from fox pro. I sold the caller because sound vol and sound quailty was so overrated i was disspointed in it. Maniska about the same as the fury. I bought a WT about two months ago. I called the number and bill answered. He was very friendly very helpful and more then happy to answer every and all questions. not once got a tude with me. the WT is the best sounding caller i have owned for quailty and sound hands down. The caller is big but there is never a perfert unit. Now on with this test BS. well the WT could not be included in this and that. First thing who cares if you could not program it. Dont all three callers have rabbit in distress? Put them all on a rabbit or vocal sound and see whos is best. I thought you tested the unit how people would get them. Sounds like to me they wanted to program one sound on all callers. That in my mind is not a test of the whole unit. And another thing i dont plan on playing music on mine in the field. To see whos is the best do a real test with the sounds they come with like me or you would get it if we ordered it. No BS well it could not be included crap. The WT will make a beliver out of most who has a good ear for quailty sounds. I want life like sounds comeing out of my caller not half AZZZ life like sounds. Some say it will still call yotes and yes your right. But a yote gets smart quick if the sound is ok he will rember the difference if it is true life like he will be more apt to come into see for him self rather then say i know what that is. That is why the WT will call more coyotes then others. I know there is one who will raise helll about this post but this is truth on what i have found. And sometimes the truth hirts. sound quailty and sound quailty with vol is what matters along with battery life for me and th WT is in a class of its own. From one of the worst spellers on the net i would rather be hunting then going to a spelling B
 
Last edited:
DHJJ the reason some will contest the testing is because a WT IS NOY programmable!!!! I would say the same to a degree, but the WT croud cry foul in testing because they feel one sound used on the other makes is "what will make them louder,etc,etc.

The fairest test is to use the exact same sound so you take out that variable, but you can't at this point as the WT is a closed system, maybe just maybe the pressure will get to Bill and he will bring out an open system, then again as I have stated before some will put other sounds on it and kill coyotes then where is the advantage?

You can kill coyotes with many callers everyone has their likes and dislikes no doubt, but the call is only one aspect of it all. One maker will tell you though it is mainly all the call that gets it done and we are less without it LOL.

It isn't if the sound is "OK" it is the time,the place,the presentation and the replication of the same sound or sounds.Add in human scent if winded and that is what call shy coyotes are all about, change 1 -3 things and many of those coyotes can be killed with other "OK" sounds.Ok is an open ended topic I have plenty of sounds I use I like alot and some may think there OK but they work and work well.Actual animal sounds are a plus as many coyotes aren't going to fear a real live distress sound or go running from a real rabbitt being dealt the blow of death, it is the other things mentioned in combination that make them call shy.
 
Last edited:
AD i will agree with several things you say about wind and so on. A lot of new callers which i think is great go out and hit it with out much no how and what to do. Which is the way to learn if no one shows them the ropes. But i want the best most life like sounds if im useing an e caller i can get. It might just make the yote think twice and come on in where as if it sounds like a dummy rabbit he will say pass on that. That is one advantage with the most realistic sounds i see. Being the return calling more animals. But the way i look at a test is test the unit like a consumer would buy it. programable or not. if you have a great caller and put a chity sound on it you have chit and vise vresea. The test in my eyes is test like it is out of the box they all have distress sounds and vocals. Im not bias to one brand i want the best i dont give a darn who builds it. If something comes out better then the WT i have then im on it like stink on a yote pile. But i have spent some pretty good money (Not as much as a lot of others have) On callers and i know what i have found as of 2 months ago. The way i look at it is if the sounds are true life like you cant get better then that and dont have to change. You might pull a few in to couristoy with a sub stander sound but i will take the more with quailty sounds. And besides i am kind of old school i dont need 150 sounds nor want that many my WT has 60 and i bet i wont use maybe 20 sounds at the most. Maybe im looking at this wrong but why by a chevy and put a ford motor in it dont make since to me. Same with the callers and how they tested them. Not trying to ruffel feathers but throwing my 2 cents in on the subject. And no matter what caller you have if you dont set up right and watch the wind it aint going to do you no good as you said and I 100% agree with that.
 
Because the more varitation you have the better your calling will be. The rule of thumb on coyotes use one tool or sound in a given area over time that success rates will drop. Those are just the facts. I look at it as other ways to kill coyotes it's not how many I see or catch or shoot or snare but how many aren't I seeing trapping,snaring,calling that concerns me.

By using different sounds in the same location and calling from different directions and times you keep them from habituation. Don't care how good that sound is, use it too much in a given area and over time your efficatncy rate will drop. Coyotes adapt that is a given.

Alot of people cold call meaning they just go out and setup and start calling without the idea of where those coyotes are at that time, thatis how many will get back door coyotes, if you locate your coyotes before you call then you have the upper hand.

I have not found the WT sounds to be supieror to others, in this day and age alot of call makers have good sounds, technology is evolving and it is the likes or dislikes of a unit that attracts the buyer be it size,weight,remote etc,etc. But alot of have sound list with sounds that will call in coyotes, but if you use any one of them too much it's success rate will drop in that given area overtime.

America is the land of the free so use what "you" think is best, but some claims made just aren't backed with facts over time.

Just like th new unit Bill has he still claims 3-5 times louder than another unit on the market. How is he defining that statement? meaning 6DB louder or to the human ear meaning sounds 3-5 louder?
 
Last edited:
Yes i agree useing the same sound everytime will school an animal. Maybe i should of explained i dont call as much as a lot of people do. I like to call when the weather is cool so i only get out about once maybe twice a week during the winter months. So i would not need nor want as many sounds as say someone calling 5 days a week. Yes i could see needing more of a sound libary on a caller then. Im not brand loyal to any brand meaning rifle,truck,e-caller,optics i really dont give a chit who makes it what i want is my moneys worth. I dont buy cheap stuff and want it to work like a charm. Thats why i save and buy the upper end stuff. I do know from my own experience useing the four major e-caller brands that my WT caller i have now does sound better much better. And the remote works like a charm on it. Two of the other brands i had the remote with the unit setting on the ground sucked half the time you had to push the knob or button and move the remote around a little to get it to change. I mainly set my unit no more the 100 yrds and less from me when calling.
I just know what i have delt with and the quailty of sounds and function over the last three years of e-caller buying. Im very hard to please and so far im pleased with the WT caller. If the day comes im not it will be gone in a heart beat and another will take its place. I use hand calls or did quit a bit but havent had much luck with it but i got out of calling for several years and just started getting back into it about three years ago so theres stuff im still trying to polish the rust on and hand calling is one of them.
 
Originally Posted By: ADCcoyote
Just like th new unit Bill has he still claims 3-5 times louder than another unit on the market. How is he defining that statement? meaning 6DB louder or to the human ear meaning sounds 3-5 louder?

ADC, I thought you and others may want to see the comparison that Bill has up on his website now. This should answer your questions. For the record, I have seen and heard the new caller Bill has coming out (very soon)and that is up on his website for sound comparison. The comparison is with the Foxpro fury. I will say after listening to them both side by side and comparing what I heard in real time, to what he has on the website, that it is a very accurate depiction. I certainly don't need anyone to take my word on it but rather people see/hear for themselves.
 
That is a real eye opening comparison. And it is scientific, so not much to dispute, even if you don't like one or the other company. Thanks.
 
Originally Posted By: TA17rem
I remember you from the camp-out you where the guy that hung in the shadows and did'nt want anything to do with most of the guys there.. To badd you really missed the boat....

Tim,
I think you are mistaken. I met plenty of guys but you are right I didn't hang around camp all day like some of you. I went out and hunted all day every day I was there.
 
Back
Top