# Tell me a bit about your calling history.



## Bloodyblinddoors (Oct 25, 2006)

I started as a fox hunter because there were no coyotes around 10 years ago when I decide to begin the learning process of becomming a predator caller. I had very limited success mostly cause I did'nt try that hard but shot a few here and there. Mostly spot and stock...stalk?

Anyways, I decided to take it more seriously a couple years into it and bought a 22-250. I told myself that if I'm gonna drop the money on this gun, I wont stop until I've killed at least one fox and at least one coyote with it. I really started reading up on calling and studying several videos. I was addicted before I even called in my first animal. I struggled to call in my first animal much like %90 of new predator callers do. I made a -TON- of rookie mistakes but learned from them. I still have that 22-250 and it still holds less than 1/2 inch groups. Of course I'm not a prairie dogger so that helps. I like to hunt ND whenever possible, and like the change of scenery and terrain.
I have a red fox pelt on the wall and my Father has a yote pelt next to it. It was a gorgeouse ND male I called in for him and the first coyote he ever shot. My goal now is to get a Bobcat pelt and a Greyfox pelt to ad to our tiny collection. That's sure to be a fun adventure.


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## Bloodyblinddoors (Oct 25, 2006)

...tough crowd....


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## weasle414 (Dec 31, 2006)

Lol, I guess I'll start? Ok, then. I'm new to calling, I got a hotdog for Christmas and have been hooked since my first day out. I've called in a few,or maybe they where just curious as to what the sound was, but haven't gotten a shot at one yet.


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## Danny B (Jun 6, 2006)

Bloodyblinddoors, I thought this subject would be interesting to everybody? I don't have a clue why you're not getting responces? Come on you guys, spell the beans. Let's hear a little of your background in this sport.


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## top dog (Jan 18, 2007)

When I was a kid(30+ years ago) I found my dads old weems predator call. He told me he used to hunt foxes in Ga. when he lived there. I started carrying it with me when I went squirrel hunting, never got a fox, but got a few crows and I called in a weasle once, missed him, called some more and he came back hissing got him at about 10 feet. I was hooked! I didn't take it real serious until about 15 years ago, when the coyotes started showing up. Bought a .223, a bunch of calls and sat in the snow for along time before I calld in a yote, but it finally happened. Since then I've gotten real serious about it.Spend an awful lot of time hunting them, and very little time killing them though. I usually get 2-3 a year, Ive been out about 20 times this year called in 4 and killed 1. But, I'm going back out tonight! Never give up, they're out there!


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## kase (Jan 23, 2005)

i live for bowhunting. mainly deer, but i go out chasing speed goats every year too. about 5 years ago i started calling simply because i needed something to hunt after bow season was over. before i started hunting yotes it was just a dead period between the end of bow season and shed hunting in the spring. i went out and bought a primos raspy coaxer and tried calling a few times with no luck. the next year i bought a howa 22-250 and fell in love with shooting it. that's when i really started hunting yotes. i tried many times and never called one in. the first time i had success calling, i called in a double to about 90 yards. then i rushed it and missed the shot! i was crushed, but i was also addicted. about a month later i called in a big male and smacked him. i was so jacked up and now i hunt them quite a bit, but only after all my deer tags are filled. i sure have learned a lot though from when i first started. i bought the DVDs and asked plenty of questions on here. there's so much more that goes into it than just blowing on a distress call. since that first raspy coaxer, i have gotten ahold of many calls. howlers became a big part of my calling arsenal. something i never knew anything about until i started doing a little research.

kase


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## Bloodyblinddoors (Oct 25, 2006)

Danny B.

Dont hestitate to participate in this one Danny. I'd like to hear about your calling history too. I'm sure you could wright a regular book about your history but you can sum it up if ya want.


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## weasle414 (Dec 31, 2006)

Yeah, come on Danny! Give us the readers digest version of your life as a preditor caller!


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## Fallguy (Jan 23, 2004)

Here is mine.

I'm a high school science teacher, assistant cross country coach, girls head track coach, father of a toddler with another on the way in May. I try to get out when I can in the winter but's its far from how much I'd like to. 

High School in the mid 90s: Papapete and I would go out fox hunting. We did some calling and some spot and stalking but never got anything. I shot a 30/.06 so it's probably better I didn't. We just did it for something to do. (honestly I knew nothing about predator hunting)

2 years ago: Called in my first coyote but it held up. Sold the .06 and bought a .243. In January called in my second with Papapete with a diaphragm call. He shot him. Started to view predator hunting videos and started to learn about howling and vocalizing. Picked the brain of moderator BradT and had him critique my calling.

Last year: Took 3 coyotes and 1 fox during the season. BradT called in my first coyote kill for me. I called in several others that other people shot or they got away. Hunted my 1st predator tournament. Studied more predator hunting videos, starting my "mad scientist" creations of decoys, prompting my wife to think that I've lost it.

This year: Have taken 2 coyotes, with 2 others called in and missed. Continue to study videos and started reading books on coyote behavior. Starting to get into putting up my own fur. Hoping to get in more hunting before track season starts on Feb. 26th.


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## Danny B (Jun 6, 2006)

I just knew I'd have to do this. :lol: I'll make it short as I can. I started calling when I was 21, now I'm 64. 
Joined the California Varmint Callers Asso. in 75 and started competing against some real hardcore predator hunters, did that for 25 years. I still compete in some local hunts, can't help it it's in my blood.
Started a couple Predator hunting clubs, the New Mexico Predator Callers Asso. and the High Desert Predator Callers and had something to do with getting a couple others going. 
A couple years ago I opened the first and only predator hunting museum in the country. I enjoy telling younger callers the history of the sport and showing them some of the past. This museum well be donated to FoxPro to be displayed at the factory if all goes right in the next couple years.
Over the years I've won State and National Championships in predator hunting and calling. 
March 5th 2004 I was one of nine people nominated to the first Predator Callers Hall of Fame in Silver City NM. The three winners were Gerry Blair, Murry Burnham and Gearld Stewart. 
Just to have my name mentioned next to those guys was the biggest honor of my life...............That's a short summary of 43 years of my life I'll never forget. :wink:


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## Fallguy (Jan 23, 2004)

Danny B,

Would you ever tell us how many predators you have killed? Or an estimate?


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## weasle414 (Dec 31, 2006)

That's amazing, I'm noy gonna lie, Danny. Kinda makes me wish you could go into more detail than that, 'cause really... holy crap, that's a great history story already!


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## weasle414 (Dec 31, 2006)

Fallguy said:


> Danny B,
> 
> Would you ever tell us how many predators you have killed? Or an estimate?


Billions.


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## Danny B (Jun 6, 2006)

I don't know how many predators I've killed but I can tell you this much. I've killed at least one coyote, one bobcat, one badger, one fox, one mt lion and one bear, all called in. 
I could tell you any number, it's up to you to believe me or not, that's why I don't go there. :wink:


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## Brad.T (Mar 29, 2004)

As soon as i got a drivers license i started doing a lot of spot and stalk hunting on red fox. I had done some before that with my brothers and dad but started hunting by myself and learned a lot. I started looking into calling after hearing about how effective it can be. I read the book "Hunting Coyotes from Head to Tail" by Phil Simonski and was hooked and seeing it happen. called in my first coyote after calling all weekend out in the western part of the state.

That started the madness. I started hunting in tournaments and getting a hold of every piece of info on the subject. I own about every video on calling and most of the books. I have started reading a lot more trapping info because those guys really know coyotes. I have now started adding snaring on a small scale to my endevours.

Numbers= Yes i know how many i have shot but think that bringing up numbers is senseless until you know exactly how much time a hunter gets to hunt and where. The best trip i have had is two guys 16 coyotes in three and half days in MT


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## DOGKILLR (Oct 9, 2006)

I started hunting at about 5 or 6 years old tagging around with my dad mostly for squirrels and cottontail rabbits. Liked the rabbit hunting and started putting together my own pack of beagles at around 12 years. Dad got sort of busy about the same time (running his electrical business and raising us) but knew an old colored fellow who liked to hunt rabbits. I didn't have any drivers license and that old man (his name was John) would come pick me up in his car. He just loaded his and my beagles in the trunk and we would head out. Boy, I sure miss that old man. He could barely get around but when he shot that doublebarrel it was paydirt. Well, eventually he died and I was again on my own. Sort of got out of the beagle business and got me a birddog along the way and started doing alot of quail hunting. Me and a friend would hit them after school about everyday until it got too hard to find places to hunt. Eventually I got into hunting whitetails and fishing and that has been my mainstay for the past 28 years.
Never heard a coyote until I went to Texas about ten years ago. Now they seem to be everywhere around here and the farmers who I deer hunt on want them gone. I killed my first 3 years ago while deer hunting but really only started targeting them in the fall of 2005. I have killed a total of 15 since I started calling (7 since October of this year) including a triple I got one morning. That was the highlite of my calling. Boy, I'm hooked in the worst way now. I couldn't hardly wait for deer season to end so I could get started back. I just wish I had more places to hunt.
I would like to go everyday but would quickly run out of spots. Oh yeah, if I ain't hunting I'm fishing. That's what my father enjoys so I take him like he used to take me.


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## R Buker (Oct 29, 2005)

I picked up a Herters "model Perfect" predator call I found in my Dad's stuff in May of 1972. I went to my Grand dad's farm and went to an area where I knew there was a fox den. I snuck up to a fence, blew the call and watched the female come out of the den like she was on fire. She raced to within 20 feet of me, made eye contact and left as fast as she came. I was hooked from that point on.

I've called predators in the following states:

Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Arizona, Oklahoma and Texas.

I've written a book on fox calling (never published) and several articles (that were published) on predator in a variety of magazines and papers including Predator Xtreme and Predator Hunting. I made a video with Randy Watson from Texas called "Hunting the Night Shift" and have most of enough footage for another one.

I was the mouthpiece for "Minnesotans for Light Law Reform" and met with the DNR and Legislature in order to get the law changed and now Minnesota is able to use artificial lights while hunting fox and coyotes.

I've given a number of talks and seminars on calling predators.

I love to hunt at night but when in a predator rich area, enjoy calling in the day time too just to watch them approach from a long ways out. But, there's something about the quietness of the night and the fact that the predators are out hunting at the same time you are that excites me more.

I don't hunt as much as I used to and I kill far fewer predators than I used to. Frequently when I hunt I'm the caller and let my partners set up as the shooters. My season tally is dismal compared to what I used to kill. While I still enjoy it, I enjoy it just as much when I'm not doing the shooting.


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## Bloodyblinddoors (Oct 25, 2006)

I read one of your articles on calling in Red fox in PREDATOR HUNTING a buncha weeks ago. It was a realy good article :beer:


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## Danny B (Jun 6, 2006)

Randy, you scared everybody away lol. We got more folks out there with backgrounds that we need to hear about. Come on you guys lets hear about it, be it 2 months or 20 years. :wink:


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## Bloodyblinddoors (Oct 25, 2006)

Yeah, no kidding. This thread has had 451 views as of now. I doubt all those who viewed this thread were all pheasant, deer, turkey, waterfowl, and squirel hunters :lol: I'd like to think theres a few predator callers hanging out in here :lol: .

I like to read -ALL- types of predator calling history...long or short.


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## saskcoyote (Dec 30, 2006)

Took up this crazy sport half a dozen years ago. A friend had asked me previously to go yote hunting but didn't take him up on the offer; I had shot a few yotes before mostly deer hunting so didn't really understand the calling part.

Well, after a couple elk trips I thought I'd get an electronic caller for my next elk hunt so picked up a Lohman 2000 cassette player and messed with it that summer calling crows. It worked very well.

A predator hunting video came with the caller so after watching it a few times, thought I'd give it a go. Went out first time (I've told this story before so bear with me) and the first three sets called in three coyotes and whacked them all.

I'm telling you, I was hooked big time and coyotes -- along with pheasants -- are my top hunting choice. In this area there aren't many callers which is both good and bad. Good because there's not much pressure, bad because it's always nice to have a buddy. A friend came with me one season and even though he got more shooting than I because he watched the back door he didn't get the bug.

This past fall I hooked up with an older fellow who I had hunted ducks with a few seasons. He's been retired for 25-plus years due to a massive heart attack and was forced to give up hunting about 10 years ago. He still loves the thrill of the chase, however, and has become the designated driver.

This works so well because he can drop me off and drive a mile or two away. When I'm ready to go to another stand I call him on the radio and he returns. Best of all, it means I don't have to worry about hiding the pickup.

I've been keeping pretty thorough records the last few seasons and since getting my FX3 caller my success rate has improved although I like to think the amount of time I've spent in the field has something to do with it. Also, when you've been outwitted by as many coyotes as I have you're bound to learn something.

This season I've been out 21 times -- I only hunt in the mornings. Since the new year haven't been out hardly at all. A vacation in the Dominican and committments on some weekends are the main reasons. But also, the weather has played a big factor and while the temperatures have generally been good this winter, this weekend is a write-off because it's been so cold. Along with that is the wind. Coupled with -20 Fahrenheit temperatures and 15-20 mph winds it makes it tough on both the hunter and the hunted.

I'll try to get out next weekend but I don't hunt once they get too much into the mating season so that'll probably be my last go at it for this season. I refuse to kill coyotes when the pairs are raising pups (a combination of not wanting the pups to undergo unneccessary hardship along with wanting more yotes for next year.

So there, that's the history of my involvement in the sport. Plus, just a pat on the back to the Nodak forum. On days when I can't get out or in the evenings I enjoy reading -- and sometimes responding -- to the many good posts on this forum. Although I've never met any of you personally I certainly enjoy seeing your names and your comments. Keep 'em coming.


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## gettn_strtd (Feb 5, 2007)

ok, been reading a lot on this site and every other one i can find on the subject. being my first post-please be paitent. growing up in the country here in east tn, didnt really hear or realize i have heard coyotes. doing some deer hunting with a guy from work on his land, about 7 miles from my parents house where i have rode 4 wheelers quite often, he has killed two. i never knew they were around cause i didnt hear people talk about yotes. he talked me into going one evening, so we get out start getting our stuff ready. he hits his handheld electronic caller and before i could even get my gun loaded it sounded like they were on top of us. they ran though a thick patch of laural on the ridge ahead of us, sounded like a pack of 6 or 8 then we heard the sound of someones yard dogs coming in behind them, chasing the yotes on down the ridge. the best rush i have ever had, and will not forget. bought a preadator master kit and have no idea how to use it, but am egar to learn. maybe someday i can save up and go out west where they are polluted with yotes and learn more about it. any info would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!


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## neb_bo (Feb 3, 2007)

i dont remember learning to shoot, i was probably 3 or 4 and that really wasnt that long ago. ive hunted just as long. when i turned five i got a third generation family heirloom single shot 22, thats when things got serious. i started killing big game (rabbits) on a regular and then frequent basis. i bought a single shot 20ga with saved paper route (and the four or five 1.50 muskrats i could trap a week. then i bought my best investment yet, a shorthair/chessie mut for $35. lou has been my best friend ever since. i started trying calling when i was 11. my parents were seperated and i lived with my mom who doesnt hunt so i used to ride my bike or hitchhike on weekends to get were i wanted to hunt. my grandparents had some land about an hour away, and it was better hunting than anythting around me, so i figured out that i could run into out of staters on public ground who were willing to take me up there for the chance to hunt private ground for a day(and because i had the best dog). when i was a junior in high school i moved to wyoming with my dad. i was happier than a hog in ****. id never had so much to shoot at in my life. there were uneducated foxes and coyotes everywhere, not to mention rockchucks, and pdogs. at the end of the school year i moved back(nebraska btw) i then joined the army and got sent to ft. drum ny. i didnt hardly hunt in the army, but ive been out for a year now and this fall i was working as a guide and plan on doing it again next fall. the guiding gives me acces to alot of prime territory, and i get paid to hunt, so thats a good deal. around here i know more than most about hunting, but some of the members here have forgotten more than most of us will ever know. and im always appreciative of any shared knowledge. numbers- not enough


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## DOC.223 (Nov 25, 2006)

Subject: Good Dog, Stay!
I started hunting at 10:15 am Sunday 2-4-2007 in Portola by the edge of town, because I was out the night before.... until zero dark thirty hunting with the full moon and snow on the ground.
This hunt was in an open field...I saw the dogs at 1200 yds. out. They were at my 9 O'clock and I moved further away so as not to arouse any suspicions on their part. They saw me drive up! I moved over 300 yds. to the 2 O'clock position, set my caller 70 yds away ...near the area that I had just walked through.
So, I am facing due east, the dogs are waaaaaaay out there now at my 11 O'clock 1500 yards. My caller is at my 10:30. I am sitting behind a single sage brush bush watching them work the field for mice. The field is mowed...I open up the caller with the o'l wounded rabbit.....on and off for 40 minutes! The closest dog lifts his head every few minutes to look my way....but doesn't move toward me...I try a female coyote call that is essentially saying..."I am over hear" still nothing. I was getting ready to pack it up when I said to myself...Why not try the one call I have yet to use while "ever" hunting dogs. The wounded field mouse call. No sooner do I hit it ...then the dog picks up his head and starts running for my caller....Lope, Lope, walk, walk, I stop the sound and let him wonder where it is in the field. I wait about 30 seconds and turn it back on...lope lope walk walk...he is 250 yds out and he turns sideways to me at my 11:00...the caller is at my 10 O'clock.....bright sunny day...11:15 am .243 Ackley Improved, 80 grain, 3446 FPS. Bang............. Nikon Scope was at 12 power, Browning action, tapered barrel, muzzel suppressor, Good Dog, Stay!


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## cya_coyote (Aug 31, 2005)

oh, history, history, history... what a life and pleasant thought...

i started shooting my uncles bow when i was 4, mostly targets or trying to shoot birds on the ground... then got to where i wanted a squirrel, so took the bow and chased, ran, set and waited... anything i could think of. the first calling i tried actually worked. started taking quarters and tapping them together to call squirrels. great-grandad told me to try it, and i started having success. started using a rifle shortly after, and everything went straight up from there. shot some shooting competitions in 4-h with both bow and rifle, and felt great... was actually successful at something.

the move to predators started at 9 years old. went with grandad and set in the stand waiting for coyotes to move through. got my first coyote that way with a 22 mag. but we had very little success, as the population was kind of low at that time here. also got very boring, kind of like being in trouble in school. about then dad got transfered to northern missouri, and the buddies up there were trappers... so i got into putting out steel, adn really enjoyed making a little money. also got ahold of a tape of a rabbit distress at the fur buyers shop and a couple of johnny stewart hand calls. just played with them, and was not real serious with them, in fact didn't even take them out to the field. spent all my time back then tracking animals, trying to learn what they did, where they went, figuring out why they were doing... you know the drill

we finally moved back to south-east kansas when i was 15, and there were a lot of coyotes around finally. first time out checking traps on my trapline i found a ditch that was covered with coyote tracks. i pulled out the calls and started blowing. before long, i was heading home with my first coyote called in. i was out after school almost every evening checking traps and calling for coyotes from then on. several farmers knew i called, so i had access to more land than i could work in a year. had borrowed a 218 bee, and it took several yotes the year i had it.

during college i was home every other weekend for coyotes as well, and i just kept at it. think i had a blood transfusion and they confused the blood or something!

basically, i have been hunting, calling, trapping all of my life. or for as long as i remember, and coyotes have been a big part of my time. as for professional or expert status, no, i will never be as good as a lot of these guys... don't even want to be named in that crowd, as they are the innovators and the ones who everyone holds in high esteem. i dont belong there. i am just a lowly guy who loves what he does. and as for numbers... don't have any from the younger days, and didn't need them. i was just happy to get out and have the farmers smile a little bit. it got me on a lot of good hunting ground, and a lot of friendships have developed from hunting coyotes.

but, in the way of numbers since i started keep track in '90... i have had 11 years with over 50 for the fur season, best year was 87 coyotes pelted out... a lot of work, and even more fun.

for you starting out... keep at it. as you can read, it becomes a lifestyle that a lot of people enjoy, but it really takes a special breed. the cold wet weather turns a lot of guys away. the dry runs take the bottoms to new lows. the mmmmiiiisssssssess hurt more than kidney stones... but the highs are better than any feeling i have had. yes, i still suffer from coyote fever from time to time, and i wouldn't have it any other way. when i quit feeling that, i will probably hang up the calls for good. it won't be worth it any more.

been hunting more times than i care to count, but they are the memories that i hope never go away. this has been my passion for over 26 years now, but a lot of these guys here know more than i ever will. i learn something each week on this site, and i would not have it any other way.

guys, i would just like to thank you for all the memories we share, and the knowledge that everyone shares. it is a great place to come and put my mind where it belongs... out there in the field.

cya

:sniper:


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## TheDogSlayer1 (Dec 15, 2006)

I am 46 years old and started calling predators 15 years ago. The first couple of years I struggled and only killed a few. Then I started getting addicted to the sport and took it more seriously. Wasn't many good videos 15 years ago, like there is now, so learned by trial and error. I only use mouth calls but do have some hunting buddies that use electronics. I mainly use two different open reed calls and can make about any sound you can imagine, from howls to mouse squeaks and everything in between. The last 10 years I averaged 30 predators a year, the high was 44. Ten years ago, I was killing mostly fox and an occasional coyote. Now days it about a 50/50 mix. I average about 1 predator to every 6 calls, but you all know how that goes, when things are happening, you call in four in a row and when things aren't happening, you call all day and never see a hair. When I'm not predatoring hunting, I'm duck, goose, deer, bear, elk, moose or turkey hunting, thats if my wife lets me go. :roll:


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