Western Open Ground vs Midwest Timber Country

The link GC provided is golden. I forgot about it. I need to refresh my memory. Thanks for posting it. I've become pretty lethal over the last two decades. Technology helps too as in night vision and thermal.
 
Indiana is very diverse in its landtype. Living in the southern half of the state where there are hills and hollers and timber, it's a real trick for calling. With the terrain, I get a lot of echo, so I'm always trying to monitor volume levels to minimize echo. The dang things never read the book either, always come from a direction different than the times before.

My buddy up north I've hunted with says, "lets go here, coyotes will come from there, get ready, bang flop."

I would love to try out west. Looks like it would be a hoot.
 
Originally Posted By: Rhett SteeleIndiana is very diverse in its landtype. Living in the southern half of the state where there are hills and hollers and timber, it's a real trick for calling. With the terrain, I get a lot of echo, so I'm always trying to monitor volume levels to minimize echo. The dang things never read the book either, always come from a direction different than the times before.

My buddy up north I've hunted with says, "lets go here, coyotes will come from there, get ready, bang flop."

I would love to try out west. Looks like it would be a hoot.


Here in Oklahoma where I hunt there is lots of wheat fields with little pockets of cover at times. I have lots of draws and drainage ditches that are really open. I have to be really careful of when I use an ecaller that I don't echo. I hate it and always adjust volume down. Some of the guys I call with don't care about the echo but I think it hurts the stand. I guess I could be wrong, it won't be the first and definitely not the last. I'd like to know how many people don't worry about it and thinks it doesn't hurt your chances.

Thanks
Jon
 
Originally Posted By: docjon2013Originally Posted By: Rhett SteeleIndiana is very diverse in its landtype. Living in the southern half of the state where there are hills and hollers and timber, it's a real trick for calling. With the terrain, I get a lot of echo, so I'm always trying to monitor volume levels to minimize echo. The dang things never read the book either, always come from a direction different than the times before.

My buddy up north I've hunted with says, "lets go here, coyotes will come from there, get ready, bang flop."

I would love to try out west. Looks like it would be a hoot.


Here in Oklahoma where I hunt there is lots of wheat fields with little pockets of cover at times. I have lots of draws and drainage ditches that are really open. I have to be really careful of when I use an ecaller that I don't echo. I hate it and always adjust volume down. Some of the guys I call with don't care about the echo but I think it hurts the stand. I guess I could be wrong, it won't be the first and definitely not the last. I'd like to know how many people don't worry about it and thinks it doesn't hurt your chances.

Thanks
Jon
Years ago when I first started with an e-caller (Johnny stewart tape player with corded speaker) I was hunting a river bottom field with a bluff to my south. It was night time and I had a spot light with an amber lens. I watched a coyote cross the bottom field and run to the bluff and stand in a power line cut. after calling it quits I went out to get my speaker with the call running. It sounded like the crying rabbit was in the powerline. Learned something that night so it wasn't a bust and they coyote did come to the call good, just ran to the echo.
 
Man that’s a HUGE thing for me. I’ve always wondered about the echo. Especially in all this timber. If I’m calling a big timber holler down here, I’d literally have to run the sound on like.. 2. To keep it from echoing. People always tell me louder volume in the timber and less in the open country. Then others say the exact opposite. I rack my brain so hard on stands trying to figure that part out.
 
In trees it's hard not to get an echo from what I've seen. I can't say that I've ever worried too much about it or given it much thought.

Has anyone heard a real rabbit squalling in the middle of the woods? Did it not echo? I've heard wounded rabbits on several occasions and they're not exactly quiet about it.
 
I hunt heavy brush quite a lot and haven't heard the echo. Guess if you're deaf enough it's not a problem??
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Regards,
hm
 
Exactly what I thought. Especially with howling. When they howl, the echo goes for a heck of a long way.

I just never did figure out if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

And like you said, it’s almost impossible not to get an echo in the timber unless you’re running just Vole Squeaks for something.
 
I can't say for sure but I feel like louder calling would be better in wooded areas. I've seen coyotes come from a long,long ways on a still day and the call wasn't going full blast while calling open prairie.

This is purely a guess but I feel like the echo we hear is the sound bouncing off of trees. Which I think probably muffles the sound somewhat at further distances. But it's really hard to say because I haven't seen just how far a coyote or bobcat has come from because of the trees and vegetation. But I also see feel like in areas where there are only a few clusters of trees here and there is where predators lay up during the day. In Missouri it's not that way because trees are everywhere. It would be interesting to know how far you have to go in wooded areas before making another stand because in wide open spaces you can go a long ways before you're past the point that a coyote would have heard the call. I feel like you could get away with going 500 yards and making another one in the woods. That all has to do with how hard the wind is blowing of course.

I remember calling a spot once and the wind was blowing probably 25 or 30 miles an hour. I got up and literally went over two hills and sat down and called again. Ended up calling in a double within minutes. Killed one and killed the other out of that same draw a week later.
 
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I’m totally with you.

I do know this though. On a still day with hardly any wind, I dove off in the holler behind my house one morning, I heard them howling back there all night.. My dad came over to my place to feed, and I wasn’t maybe 400 from the house, all timber. I played Lightning Jack fairy loud, 3/4 or more of volume I had. My dad had no idea I was down there. He never heard a sound other than the boom.
 
Depending upon conditions, like wind, terrain, cover, ect. I have gone as little as 250-300 yards between stands in the Ozarks. Get up on a big long flat ridge and I might go 1/2 mile between stands.
 
Since we kind of hunt the same terrain, could you give me a pointer or two GC? I’m headed tomorrow morning to a brand new farm. No one’s ever called that farm, and I’ll be there at daylight. There’s a HUGE block of timber on it, with big creek beds and cedar glades, and I mean it’s THICK. I’m going in kinda blind in the morning, I haven’t made my mind up whether I’ll try and locate a couple hours before daylight or not.. This time of the year, am I stupid for going in with my shotgun and my AP6? I thought if I snuck in there at daylight and just made a short sequence, it may be on fire. I’m trying to better myself and use hand calls only. The big timber thicket is the only spot the wind will favor me tomorrow.
 
I live in the desert SW, and enjoy finding and calling from elevated hills, by and using a rifle. I also spend a couple months in the South each Fall, and sometimes get on my deer stands and call. I just use a shotgun because some areas, I can’t see further than 40 yards, even with the leaves off. Have to be more alert, because they can come in, figure it out, and bolt, in an instant. Love both terrains.
 
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