We’ve talked a lot about what new predator callers should do. Now let’s take a look at some of the No-No’s for a predator caller. I hear a lot of times from new predator hunters that they don’t understand what is wrong, why can’t they seem to call in predators. Well, a look in the mirror might reveal the culprit.
First of all, there are going to be some things that I think are going to guarantee low success rates. Let’s start with noise.
Predators are going to be alerted to your stand by using their finely tuned hearing. Hopefully they are going to hear the mouthwatering sounds of their favorite prey in distress. So imagine their confusion when they hear things like metal clanking and doors slamming. Yep, some sounds are a definite no-no. In my book, metal sounds are a no-no. Now, I know that you may have made some noise coming in to your stand location. I know that my truck is far from silent. But many predators hear vehicles. Many times those vehicles are no threat. So the sound of a truck driving may not drive them away. But add to that the sounds of metal banging and clanking, and you have a sure recipe for a blank stand. First off don’t slam doors. Close them softly. And remember that when you open the doors, predators can now hear your voices. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard hunters in side by sides almost yelling to each other. Shocker, there’s no doors on most side by sides. One day I drove back into a water hole to call for foxes and bobcats. Now, to be fair it was deer season. As I approached the water hole, I pulled off the trail before I got to the water hole itself. I was walking towards my stand location and I hear voices. I stopped and listened for a few minutes and figured out that there were two deer hunters in the water hole talking to each other. I was going to head out and leave them to their hunt, when I hear them call it quits and get into their truck. I decided to keep going, to use their truck noise to cover my sounds. I set up and waited until the sounds of their truck had just faded when I started the call. I see a fox coming OUT of that water hole, so I popped it with my shotgun. Thanks guys.
20 foot fox by Jason Mosler, on Flickr
That's how close I let the fox get before I nailed it.
I once went out with a new hunter, and we discussed the things that he needed to do and NOT to do. I asked if his gun was loaded and chambered and he told me it was. Now, in our state it is legal to drive around with a loaded hunting firearm. I know that is not the case in all states. Some states you can have the ammo in the gun but not in the chamber. So, we have little choice but to make some noise. In those states, I will leave my truck idling, get out and chamber my rifle to let the truck camouflage the sounds of my rifle. But in our state, we can travel with a loaded/chambered firearm. When we got to our first stand, I hear him slam home a round into his chamber. Apparently when we had our discussion about whether his firearm was chambered earlier, we weren’t on the same page. Ok, that stand is burned. Off to our next one. Now that we had his gun loaded, we made an approach to another stand. As we are walking in I see him pull up his gun and start looking through his scope. Ok, maybe he sees something. BOOM! He let’s a round fly. Game over. He won’t be going out with me again.
Before you go out, rattle check your kit. I duct tape just about everything that I can find on my gear, from metal to plastic. If it can make an unnatural noise, it’s getting taped. I tape my stool legs, clips, buckles, even the handguard on my rifle. Anything that can make an unnatural noise.
Next, you have to make some noise walking in. Can’t be helped. But there’s noise then there’s NOISE. A friend of mine had the horrible habit of clomping his feet. THUD, THUD, THUD, he sounded like King Kong. I may not be silent, but I sure don’t goosestep my way into my stands. I try to let brush slide off of me rather than breaking it. I will go around bunches of downed and old branches on the ground to avoid unnecessary noise.
Now let’s talk about what you do and don’t do on a stand. Sit STILL. Don’t fidget. And sure don’t update your Facebook on stand…yes, you read that right. I have watched several people on their phones while we are out on stand. Pay attention. You’re not going to see many predators looking into the face of your phone.
The caller is going to have to move, that is inevitable. The caller has to run the remote or the hand call. But a good caller keeps their movements to a minimum. Experienced callers will also move their eyes BEFORE they move their heads, that way if something is coming in, it doesn't spot them first.
Now, if you are one of the fortunate hunters to see a predator, don’t point. Yeah, that happened. Talk with your partners about how to get each other’s attention. My team knows that if I suddenly dip the volume on the caller, then I have eyes on something. I make it a practice to scan over my hunters and I try to read their body language. Hunters tend to go stiff when they have eyes on an inbound predator. I then draw the line off their eyes or guns to find the predator. Squeaks, clicks can all help you to communicate with your partner(s).
Don’t bring along the kitchen sink. I took one guy out, and I swear I could be out on stand, gotten it all set up and ready to go and still have to wait 10 minutes because he was fiddling around with his gear back at the truck. Take what you need. Nothing more.
For a new predator hunter, it can be very exciting to get an invite from a seasoned caller and hunter. But you need to be respectful. Predator hunters can be generous with their time and knowledge. But there are going to be some things that you just do not do. Poaching. No, not the kind where you illegally shoot an animal. I’m talking about poaching honey holes. Predator hunters want new hunters to be successful and have a good time. So we tend to take new hunters to some prime calling spots. On one hunt, I was all set to take a friend out. Her boyfriend said he didn’t want to go. But when that didn’t stop us, he decided to come along at the last moment. As we were running through some good stands, he had his phone out and asked me what road we were on. He was dropping pins on his map of all of our stands. When I called him out on it, he said, “well at least I told you.” NO. Not happening. That guy will never come out with me again. He’s a poacher.
You wonder how predator hunters find honey holes? TIME. Lots and lots of time. We go to an area and we work it. If it is a dry hole, we move on, but if it pays out we might go back and keep working the area. That’s how honey holes are developed. So if a predator hunter is taking you out, you don’t go back to those areas unless you have permission. We have a rule on our team. If we discover an area together, it’s free game. Go back when you want to. But don’t start dragging a bunch of people with you. Now, if it’s my honey hole, you get to go back with me.
Make sure you discuss things with your partner(s) BEFORE you start calling. Know what areas you are supposed to be watching. If you don’t know, ask, quietly.
Another common mistake for newer hunters is the desire to share the new found wonders of predator hunting with others. It’s one thing to learn how to predator hunt with a partner. But when I see guys bringing 4 or 5 new guys along, especially when they themselves are new, it is sketchy.
First of all too many hunters can be dangerous. It’s hard to keep track of everyone. Someone is going to be in a place they shouldn’t be. Just think about the Dick Cheney incident. One of their hunters drops off the line to look for a bird. He lost sight of the line and the line lost sight of him. As he raced to catch up Dick Cheney swings on a bird he ends up hitting that hunter. It is a simple mistake that could have been deadly. A simple set of rules could have prevented the incident. Such as holding the line when someone has to drop off of it.
When I started out I started with just one partner. But then I wanted to share the joys with my other friend, Smooth. So we started taking Smooth out with us…BIG mistake…I didn’t share the joy, I shared the frustration with him of drawing blank stands. He stopped going out because we never saw anything. Years later I asked to go out again, and he told me he wasn’t really interested in just sitting in the desert making noise. I assured him that I had things figured out. You should have seen his eyes when I called in a triple on our 1st stand of the day. We ended up calling in 6 that day. Needless to say, he started coming out on a regular basis now that I had learned to do more than just make noise in the desert.
IMG_2762 by Jason Mosler, on Flickr
My friend Smooth after one of our hunts...he was a goof...RIP buddy...
There are countless other NO-NO's that many of the more seasoned hunters may like to share. Learn from your mistakes, those who fail to learn from history are destined to repeat it...and remember the definition of insanity...
Mo
First of all, there are going to be some things that I think are going to guarantee low success rates. Let’s start with noise.
Predators are going to be alerted to your stand by using their finely tuned hearing. Hopefully they are going to hear the mouthwatering sounds of their favorite prey in distress. So imagine their confusion when they hear things like metal clanking and doors slamming. Yep, some sounds are a definite no-no. In my book, metal sounds are a no-no. Now, I know that you may have made some noise coming in to your stand location. I know that my truck is far from silent. But many predators hear vehicles. Many times those vehicles are no threat. So the sound of a truck driving may not drive them away. But add to that the sounds of metal banging and clanking, and you have a sure recipe for a blank stand. First off don’t slam doors. Close them softly. And remember that when you open the doors, predators can now hear your voices. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard hunters in side by sides almost yelling to each other. Shocker, there’s no doors on most side by sides. One day I drove back into a water hole to call for foxes and bobcats. Now, to be fair it was deer season. As I approached the water hole, I pulled off the trail before I got to the water hole itself. I was walking towards my stand location and I hear voices. I stopped and listened for a few minutes and figured out that there were two deer hunters in the water hole talking to each other. I was going to head out and leave them to their hunt, when I hear them call it quits and get into their truck. I decided to keep going, to use their truck noise to cover my sounds. I set up and waited until the sounds of their truck had just faded when I started the call. I see a fox coming OUT of that water hole, so I popped it with my shotgun. Thanks guys.
20 foot fox by Jason Mosler, on FlickrThat's how close I let the fox get before I nailed it.
I once went out with a new hunter, and we discussed the things that he needed to do and NOT to do. I asked if his gun was loaded and chambered and he told me it was. Now, in our state it is legal to drive around with a loaded hunting firearm. I know that is not the case in all states. Some states you can have the ammo in the gun but not in the chamber. So, we have little choice but to make some noise. In those states, I will leave my truck idling, get out and chamber my rifle to let the truck camouflage the sounds of my rifle. But in our state, we can travel with a loaded/chambered firearm. When we got to our first stand, I hear him slam home a round into his chamber. Apparently when we had our discussion about whether his firearm was chambered earlier, we weren’t on the same page. Ok, that stand is burned. Off to our next one. Now that we had his gun loaded, we made an approach to another stand. As we are walking in I see him pull up his gun and start looking through his scope. Ok, maybe he sees something. BOOM! He let’s a round fly. Game over. He won’t be going out with me again.
Before you go out, rattle check your kit. I duct tape just about everything that I can find on my gear, from metal to plastic. If it can make an unnatural noise, it’s getting taped. I tape my stool legs, clips, buckles, even the handguard on my rifle. Anything that can make an unnatural noise.
Next, you have to make some noise walking in. Can’t be helped. But there’s noise then there’s NOISE. A friend of mine had the horrible habit of clomping his feet. THUD, THUD, THUD, he sounded like King Kong. I may not be silent, but I sure don’t goosestep my way into my stands. I try to let brush slide off of me rather than breaking it. I will go around bunches of downed and old branches on the ground to avoid unnecessary noise.
Now let’s talk about what you do and don’t do on a stand. Sit STILL. Don’t fidget. And sure don’t update your Facebook on stand…yes, you read that right. I have watched several people on their phones while we are out on stand. Pay attention. You’re not going to see many predators looking into the face of your phone.
The caller is going to have to move, that is inevitable. The caller has to run the remote or the hand call. But a good caller keeps their movements to a minimum. Experienced callers will also move their eyes BEFORE they move their heads, that way if something is coming in, it doesn't spot them first.
Now, if you are one of the fortunate hunters to see a predator, don’t point. Yeah, that happened. Talk with your partners about how to get each other’s attention. My team knows that if I suddenly dip the volume on the caller, then I have eyes on something. I make it a practice to scan over my hunters and I try to read their body language. Hunters tend to go stiff when they have eyes on an inbound predator. I then draw the line off their eyes or guns to find the predator. Squeaks, clicks can all help you to communicate with your partner(s).
Don’t bring along the kitchen sink. I took one guy out, and I swear I could be out on stand, gotten it all set up and ready to go and still have to wait 10 minutes because he was fiddling around with his gear back at the truck. Take what you need. Nothing more.
For a new predator hunter, it can be very exciting to get an invite from a seasoned caller and hunter. But you need to be respectful. Predator hunters can be generous with their time and knowledge. But there are going to be some things that you just do not do. Poaching. No, not the kind where you illegally shoot an animal. I’m talking about poaching honey holes. Predator hunters want new hunters to be successful and have a good time. So we tend to take new hunters to some prime calling spots. On one hunt, I was all set to take a friend out. Her boyfriend said he didn’t want to go. But when that didn’t stop us, he decided to come along at the last moment. As we were running through some good stands, he had his phone out and asked me what road we were on. He was dropping pins on his map of all of our stands. When I called him out on it, he said, “well at least I told you.” NO. Not happening. That guy will never come out with me again. He’s a poacher.
You wonder how predator hunters find honey holes? TIME. Lots and lots of time. We go to an area and we work it. If it is a dry hole, we move on, but if it pays out we might go back and keep working the area. That’s how honey holes are developed. So if a predator hunter is taking you out, you don’t go back to those areas unless you have permission. We have a rule on our team. If we discover an area together, it’s free game. Go back when you want to. But don’t start dragging a bunch of people with you. Now, if it’s my honey hole, you get to go back with me.
Make sure you discuss things with your partner(s) BEFORE you start calling. Know what areas you are supposed to be watching. If you don’t know, ask, quietly.
Another common mistake for newer hunters is the desire to share the new found wonders of predator hunting with others. It’s one thing to learn how to predator hunt with a partner. But when I see guys bringing 4 or 5 new guys along, especially when they themselves are new, it is sketchy.
First of all too many hunters can be dangerous. It’s hard to keep track of everyone. Someone is going to be in a place they shouldn’t be. Just think about the Dick Cheney incident. One of their hunters drops off the line to look for a bird. He lost sight of the line and the line lost sight of him. As he raced to catch up Dick Cheney swings on a bird he ends up hitting that hunter. It is a simple mistake that could have been deadly. A simple set of rules could have prevented the incident. Such as holding the line when someone has to drop off of it.
When I started out I started with just one partner. But then I wanted to share the joys with my other friend, Smooth. So we started taking Smooth out with us…BIG mistake…I didn’t share the joy, I shared the frustration with him of drawing blank stands. He stopped going out because we never saw anything. Years later I asked to go out again, and he told me he wasn’t really interested in just sitting in the desert making noise. I assured him that I had things figured out. You should have seen his eyes when I called in a triple on our 1st stand of the day. We ended up calling in 6 that day. Needless to say, he started coming out on a regular basis now that I had learned to do more than just make noise in the desert.
IMG_2762 by Jason Mosler, on FlickrMy friend Smooth after one of our hunts...he was a goof...RIP buddy...
There are countless other NO-NO's that many of the more seasoned hunters may like to share. Learn from your mistakes, those who fail to learn from history are destined to repeat it...and remember the definition of insanity...
Mo
