# HOWLING, speaking the language



## hamma time (Sep 29, 2006)

I have been using a variety of distress calls and have had some good luck, but i hear howling can greatly increase chances of success and i want to start to learn how to utilize coyote vocalizations. I have sometimes mixed in a lone howl in with distress calls and one night it seemed like thats all they came to. I was recently listen to Randy Anderson talk about howling and he said he starts with an intergation howl; first of all whats the difference (lone howl vs intergation). He said he does around 3-4 and didnt say if he then jumped into distress sounds or another vocalization? If the coyotes answer do you guys answer back with a challenge howl, and if they dont answer jump into some distress sounds??? Also he talked about having 2 or 3 different howlers just to make it sound like a pack of coyotes are sitting around do you guys have a suggestion of a decent howler or sounds on foxpro site that would work? The new format on the fox pro website just says female howl doesnt say invite, intergation, challenge, etc... how do you tell on there anymore? Is there any website that lets you hear the sounds or tells you what vocalizations should sound like so i can practice?

I Know its long and lots of questions but i appreciate your guys' advice


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## Snowgooser (Mar 28, 2008)

I use three howlers, a Red Desert, a long and short range Bill Austin and the Double Whammy from Randy Anderson. I usually do a lonesome howl like a young coyote, a couple of them then wait a few minutes and see what happens. If a coyote howls back and it sounds deep like a male then I challenge. If a pack answers I try to tell if there is a male and then challenge him. If nothing happens I will usually hit the Austin call with a female howl and then immediately to the Double Whammy for a serenade. It does work. Sometimes not as fast as a distress but it does work. I also like the old Johnny Stewart coyote locater tape. Used that tonight on two stands and called in a coyote at both. Unfortunately my shooting was cockeyed. But it does work. IMO Randy Anderson is the coyote vocalization guru. Pick up his Mastering the Art dvd and you will learn all you need.


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## AdamFisk (Jan 30, 2005)

This is where I found the most useful info on howling. The guy describes what the different howls mean and gives a short audio of each one:

http://www.predatormastersforums.com/fo ... Post298539


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## Fallguy (Jan 23, 2004)

I have always understood that the lonsesome and interrogation howl are the same.

I use the Crit R Call Magnum, Songdog, or even the Crit R Call Standard for my howling. I try to keep them pretty high pitched (young)....so as not to intimidate a young of the year dog within hearing distance. The only time I have ever challenged is if I have one challenge me or if I have nothing left to throw at them. I have only used it maybe 3 times...once it paid off and I had one charge in. But I am still in the process of learning in regards to vocalizing.


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## kingcanada (Sep 19, 2009)

Randy talks about all of this in his video "mastering the art". it is a Primos production and there is plenty of "porch talk". the info is very good. i should probably dig mine out and review it. you can even get it in a combo pack with two howlers. i was not impressed with the howlers (quality control issue), but the dvd is a keeper. pretty affordable too. :thumb:


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## kirsch (Jul 6, 2009)

People will try to tell you, "play sounds or use these sounds in this exact order and you will kill coyotes." It varies from day to day and very much season to season. What works now may not work in the Spring or Fall, or even next week.

I realize you are asking more for general ideas. The post mentioned can be very helpful on basic howling techniques and if you check the web for coyote vocalizations, you will start to find different sounds or examples. I have been doing this for many years, and I am getting to the point where I can tell you when I hear a coyote typically if it is young or old, male or female, mad or social but I still have a long ways to go as well.

You may want to go to your local sporting goods store and play with a few e-callers. Some of the vocalizations are simply people blowing a call and it is recorded but there are brands that have actual coyote vocalizations on them.

Most people who howl scare away more coyotes than they bring in. The main problem I see is they howl too much. Don't get me wrong, I use lots of vocalizations but if you are not confident in your howling or even if you are and you keep hammering the same howl or a similar sequence of howling over and over, the coyotes are going to figure you out. It is like when you know 3 or 4 sentences in another language like German. You may be able to say a few words or sentences in a decent manner but it doesn't take someone who speaks German or another language long to figure out you really can't say much more. If you howl too much, it won't take a coyote very long to figure it out either that you are not what you are pretending to be. Bottom line is if you are new to howling, try it, but keep it simple and don't do a lot of it on any one stand, or you may be doing more harm than good.

The other problem I see are the folks who get a new electronic call so now they have what they feel are great coyote vocalizations. They just start playing tons of them and can't figure out why coyotes are not coming in. This is more towards your question. Lots of times we over-think coyotes but what are you trying to do? Do you want to make a coyote mad, do you want them to be curious, do you want them to think you are part of their pack? This all plays into when to use howling and when to use distress whether prey-distress, coyote distress, etc. The simplest approach that many use is some type of greeting/interogation howl, and either distress before and/or after it.

Good luck.


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## Snowgooser (Mar 28, 2008)

I agree kirsch, every situation and coyote is different. And the big thing you mentioned is over calling with the same sound. I think howling is a patience game. Not very often the come hauling in to a howl like they do with a distress. In general of course. Good post.


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## kingcanada (Sep 19, 2009)

howling is a tough deal. done right it can bring in the whole pack, done wrong it can be frustrating. it is much more difficult to know what "phrase" to send and when to send it. if you watch a lot of Randy Anderson's dvd's you will pick up on some of this. the rest comes from learning on actual coyotes. it doesn't always go well. and it usually takes a while to call them in. as much as 45 min. i try to save my howling for when i think it is a better option than prey or "fight" sounds. although howling can be used in combo with either when you need to paint an elaborate picture in a coyote's mind. just make sure you kill him after he comes to these sounds. if you don't, you're likely low on options.


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## RBuker (Dec 11, 2009)

Fallguy said:


> I have always understood that the lonsesome and interrogation howl are the same.
> 
> I use the Crit R Call Magnum, Songdog, or even the Crit R Call Standard for my howling. I try to keep them pretty high pitched (young)....so as not to intimidate a young of the year dog within hearing distance. The only time I have ever challenged is if I have one challenge me or if I have nothing left to throw at them. I have only used it maybe 3 times...once it paid off and I had one charge in. But I am still in the process of learning in regards to vocalizing.


That's good advice.

Some truths to howling:

1. There's no way to tell from a coyotes voice if it's male or female. Just because it's got a deep voice does not mean it's a dominate male.

2. There's no way to tell from a coyote's voice if it's young or old. I hear people say, "Then this old male howled" or "a young female howled..." There's just no way to know. Voice depth and tone is a product of many things.

3. When howling, less is usually more. Howl too much and any self respecting coyote will peg you for a fake.

4. Randy Anderson is good at teaching the basics of howling. But, to label each howl the way he does is nothing more than marketing so he can sell another call.

5. I have a friend who says he howls like Randy Anderson. Randy is not a good howler. He may be functional but he's not good. I tell my friend to continue to sound like Randy Anderson. I'd rather sound like a coyote.

6. The best way to learn about coyote howls is to listen to coyotes. There's enough stuff all over the internet to learn about how coyotes howl that it's in your best interest to learn from coyotes and not guys selling calls.

7. As Fallguy said above, when howling, it's generally better to sound timid. If you come across sounding like a bully, you'll scare 90% of the coyotes away. Sound like a wimp and they'll all come to kick your butt.

8. A warning bark/howl is very hard to tell from a challenge howl. Mix them up and scare every coyote away from you.

9. The very best howling sequence is to start wit


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## kingcanada (Sep 19, 2009)

i agree with most of these points. primos makes a lot of stuff i would consider to be crap. but Randy's vid is still a good starting point. the biggest problem with listening to coyotes for the purpose of learning is that you need to actually watch them interact at the same time if you really want to learn anything. this means being undetected and having the patience not to shoot them if you are close. if you have the time/ privilege to watch them interact, it will change your opinion of the animals most of the time. it can also be humbling to realize just how well they communicate. 
coyote calling and canada goose calling are a lot alike in the temptation to sound like some champ instead of your quarry. it's an easy trap to fall into. been there. sounding timid does acknowledge some differentiation between old dog and young dog sounds. internet lessons? care to share a location/site? more knowledge is always good. i wish Bill Austin hadn't brought on his early demise, i would like to be able to drive over and glean some of what he knew. a friend of mine knew him well and has his old audio tapes. the one i listened to was of very poor quality and i had difficulty hearing it.


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## Snowgooser (Mar 28, 2008)

I picked up the Bill Austin long and short howlers and a cd came with it or I ordered it. It is narrated by Randy Anderson, but I think the actual calling is from the Bill Austin tapes. I am not positive on that point but I am going to try and find the cd. It has been a good many years since I listened to it, but that is the one calling cd that really sounds like a coyote not someone sounding like a coyote.


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## Snowgooser (Mar 28, 2008)

Found the cd. Its at my parents house in Manitoba. We are going back there in February and I will check it out and see if its actually the real Bill Austin sounds on it. If it is I can try and rip a copy for you kingcanada.


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## kingcanada (Sep 19, 2009)

wow, that would be great. pm me and i will cover shipping. i could send you on of my calls too.


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