Double your pleasure, double your fun. Two is better than one. Are you beginning to see a theme here? If the lightbulb above your head is blinking with the idea that two elements are better than one, you win. The theme of two here refers to the sounds your electronic caller can produce. Many midrange models and above have the ability to operate two or more sounds at once. The affordable Johnny Stewart Grim Speaker 2 is an affordable option at approximately $120. Are you taking advantage of the twofer offering on your hunts?
The recipe for success while using two sounds is to match them in a realistic scenario. Coyotes, bobcats, fox and other predators are not MIT graduates. Nevertheless, they do have an uncanny instinctive nature that you and I cannot match. This allows them to jump toward a paranoid conclusion with very few clues. Don’t send the wrong clues. Send predators a message that their mental computer can tally as a possible win-win situation.
Begin with sounds of angry birds — and I’m not talking about that time-wasting app on your smartphone. Crows infest most country skies, and they especially provide coyotes an aerial indicator of food sources when masses of crows congregate and caw. To spark interest in wary coyotes and other predators, include crow caws, crow fights and crow squabbles. Local coyotes know that increased chatter in these scavengers means something is up and likely there is seating available at the table. You can either begin the set with prey in distress squalls and integrate crow calls later, or vice versa. Increasing the intensity of the crow caucus as the set continues helps set the tone that feeding has ensued. Eventually knock off the distress calls, but you can continue a volley of caws to keep a coyote moving your way. If you hunt mainly Western real estate, magpie squawking has a similar effect. I use it on 50 percent or more of my setups and real magpies almost always show up to enhance the effect.
Fights garner attention whether they are at a schoolyard or in the wilds. Coyotes particularly seem to love a good fight, whether it’s out of curiosity or the fact the critters involved in the chaos may be fighting for the last drumstick. Grey fox fights, raccoons scuffling, canine brawls, aggressive coyote barks and the likes all indicate there is something at stake.
Again, begin with the sounds of prey in distress and then add in the occasional sounds of fighting. It advertises that feisty dining event and you had better not miss it. I’ve shot the majority of my winter coyotes with this calling combo.
Last winter I combined howling, magpies and the fighting sounds of canines into a morning setup. Two coyotes showed up and I pivoted my Nikon-topped Bergara in their direction. Had it not been for some tall sagebrush I would have used up two Hornady bullets instead of just one.
Double your pleasure. Double your fun. Double your sounds while calling predators!
