# Electronic Callers



## stolenbase (Aug 23, 2003)

Just wondering how all of you feel about the use of electronic calls and their effectiveness. I'd prefer to call myself once I have more experience with coyote hunting because I think that's probably have the enjoyment but at the time I don't have the time or patience to learn. Has anyone used/uses electronic calls, is so how do they work and what would you recommend? Thanks, Nick


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## Jrbhunter (May 24, 2006)

Starting off with handcalls will teach you more about coyotes, coyote behavior and coyote hunting than anything else. After you have a good handle on those things an electronic caller will help you kill more and more coyotes. If you don't have the time and patience to learn I'd suggest another sport... because the learning never stops and the patience is imperitive throughout your calling carreer.


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## Gohon (Feb 14, 2005)

stolenbase, The only difference between a hand caller and a electronic caller is one was invented before the other. Both are artificial calls no matter how you cut it. I use both, mostly electronic callers because I have asbestosis so the electronic caller is easier for me. As for recommendations, I personally wouldn't recommend anything cheaper or of lesser quality than along the lines of something like the JS Preymaster. The price and quality goes up from there so it is only a matter of how thick your wallet is. I would stay away from the little $30 gadgets as they simply don't have the volume or sound quality to them. These things are like buying a new gun, everyone has their favorite so expect lots of different opinions.


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## Jrbhunter (May 24, 2006)

"Both are artificial calls no matter how you cut it."

Not true at all.

Live animal recordings reproduced at studio grade are not distinguishable from the real thing by human or animal. Anything along the preymaster lines is artificial from the beginning... a handcall blown into a speaker and recorded at low quality levels... so you'll never get anything better OUT of the unit than went IN.


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## Gohon (Feb 14, 2005)

> "Both are artificial calls no matter how you cut it."
> 
> Not true at all.


Oh for Christ's sakes................. get real. Anything used to produce sound other than using your own voice is artificial. Don't know why your so hung up on the Preymaster. I nor anyone else endorsed it except to say that is the starting point and they go up in price and quality from there. All you're trying to do now is start crap.


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## Jrbhunter (May 24, 2006)

No worries on my end about any caller, the JS is a fine example of a mid-ranged unit so I went with it just like you did. Don't lose any sleep over that one.

So let me get this straight, my voice making the sound of a coyote howl is realistic but a studio grade recording of a coyote is artificial?

Hide behind some more jabs Gohon, your empty claims are shining through.


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## Gohon (Feb 14, 2005)

> So let me get this straight, my voice making the sound of a coyote howl is realistic but a studio grade recording of a coyote is artificial?


Never said it would be realistic now did I. Said your own voice wouldn't be artificial. And a studio grade recording no matter how good it is, is still a artificial call no matter how good it is which is only as good as the device playing it. You can spin and weave all you want. I don't need to take jabs at you............ you're doing a excellent job of it yourself.


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## SDHandgunner (Jun 22, 2004)

Come on guys, can we get back to the original posters question / concern.

To be honest about the whole thing, I have had a fascination with electronic callers for many years. I have used some of the name brands, and made my own with a variety of different amps & speakers using everything from Cassette Players to CD Players to MP3 Players.

Some of the electronic callers I have used (either boughten or home made) were good, others were not so good.

I have also tried my share of mouth blown calls over the years also. Again some good some not so good, at least in my opinion.

A wise old hunter told me one time that you have to KNOW how to call Coyotes, ie where to call, what to call, and a lot more before you can call in any coyote with either a mouth call or electronic caller. What this old guy told me was that there is more to it than what I was using to try to entice the Coyote.

While I have never owned a JS Preymaster I have used one a time or two. Yep it will call Coyotes, but I personally did not like the caller. Now if I could pick and choose what sounds to put on the cards or put my own sounds on the sound cards I'd probably consider one. To me the sounds they have on the cards is that there is only about 1 and maybe two sounds on each card that I would ever use so I'd have to buy most of the different predator / coyote calling cards to get the sounds I wanted. given that I could see myself trying to fumble and change the cards with cold fingers and drop them in the snow. Granted this is just my opinion.

In my quest for finding the prefect electronic caller (at least for me) I have only called in a couple coyotes with electronic callers. I would have to say that 90% of the Coyotes I have called in were with mouth calls and or a manual squeaker. What the electronic callers did for me was to teach me the sounds I need to make.

I am not going to get into the artificial sound of the electronic callers, but to me the sounds on my electronic caller are always the same, over and over again. When I use my mouth calls I am quite sure I never quite sound exactly the same all the time so the coyote is indeed hearing something slightly different and not the same thing over and over again.

I much prefer the mouth blown howlers as I can duplicate the sounds the coyote is making to me rather that just what is on the electronic caller.

This may or may not answer your questions, just trying to share some experiences and thoughts. If I were to go out and buy a new electronic caller tomorrow I'd look long and hard at the new FOXPRO ZR2. This is their new entry level non remote caller. It holds 12 sounds (actually comes with 12 sounds on it) plus has the ability to record / download your choosen sounds on it. This new FOXPRO will set you back $200.00, but in my opinion looks to be a versatile caller with a lot of user friendly features.

Good luck

Larry


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## Gohon (Feb 14, 2005)

SDHandgunner, it's not a question whether the Preymaster is a good unit or not. No one even recommended the OP go buy one. I simply told the OP to start at the Preymaster level as far as price and sound goes and go from there, depending on what he wanted to spend. This guy has come busting in here doing this in the past. And don't talk to loudly about the FoxPro because according to him the last time he started this little dance the FoxPro is a over priced piece of junk. Take a walk back at his previous posts and you will see where he is coming from. Like you when I'm out I carry a few hand calls and a MP3 home made electronic caller that I'll stack against any caller on the market except for remote control. With the JS 50 foot thin wire patch cord I'm still able to place the speaker 60 feet out from me, certainly not behind me I assure you. I've got maybe 25-35 calls on that MP3 player, all at about 5 minutes each with loop control so I don't feel under gunned with it, and all of it fits in my coat pocket except for the speaker. What he can't stand is so many people disagree with him but the proof is in the pudding as the OP got his coyotes using the opposite advise he gave out. So now he runs back in with slash and run tactics while trying to make it look like he is the one being attacked&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;. I know I have very little patience with self proclaimed experts that put out matter of fact bs and maybe I should just look the other way but sometimes................

On a different matter of the use of howlers that you mentioned, I have never been able to get the knack of one that would sound real to me or one that I could be consistent with. That is until I picked up a Power Howler by E.L.K. Inc a few months ago. This is the first howler I've ever been able to make sound that is consistent and sound to my ear as real. Only worry I'm having is the thin rubber lip band seems awful flimsy. Have you ever used one before and if so what did you think of it?


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## SDHandgunner (Jun 22, 2004)

Gohon said:


> On a different matter of the use of howlers that you mentioned, I have never been able to get the knack of one that would sound real to me or one that I could be consistent with. That is until I picked up a Power Howler by E.L.K. Inc a few months ago. This is the first howler I've ever been able to make sound that is consistent and sound to my ear as real. Only worry I'm having is the thin rubber lip band seems awful flimsy. Have you ever used one before and if so what did you think of it?


No I have never used the Howler you mentioned. I have looked at them a time or two and too thought that I'd probably loose the latex mouth piece and or rubber band in the cold. Then again I suffer from Asthma and too many years smoking and can not successfully blow some of the different howlers on the market. I may well have to look a little closer to the ELK Power Howler.

The one thing I did when I first started learning how to blow a howler was to record my howls and listen to the recording and try to figure out what and how I needed to change them. That is probably the single most thing that helped me learn how to Howl if you can believe that.

I wasn't trying to start anything, but rather relate some of my experiences. You do not have to convince me about the merits or sound quality of the Home Made E-Caller as I have sung the praises of building them for those on a budget. Now if I could just find an MP3 Player with a readout that is large enough that I could read the track titles without my byfocals on I'd have it made.

Larry


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## R Buker (Oct 29, 2005)

Jrbhunter said:


> "Both are artificial calls no matter how you cut it."
> 
> Not true at all.
> 
> Live animal recordings reproduced at studio grade are not distinguishable from the real thing by human or animal. Anything along the preymaster lines is artificial from the beginning... a handcall blown into a speaker and recorded at low quality levels... so you'll never get anything better OUT of the unit than went IN.


Jrbhunter,

I need to clarify things a bit here.

First off, the recordings on the JS preymaster are almost all real animal recordings, many, if not most made by Johnny Stewart and Gerald Stewart.

What most people seem to miss in these discussions are not the idea of if the sound coming from an e-caller is man made or a real animal but rather what the quality of sound put out by the speaker is.

I'm not going to get into a technical discussion but the bottom line is that animals can hear a wider range of sound than we can. And, our recording and play back equipment can't reproduce the entire range of sound an animal can hear. But... a mouth call can!

So, in the discussion of what sound is more "REAL" the answer is the mouth call.

For the realistic aspect of the discussion, the most important part of a successful coyote hunt is NOT the sound.

Randy


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## Jrbhunter (May 24, 2006)

Randy, many of the sounds available for the Preymaster probably are the Johnny Stewart recordings... the units I hunted with were packed with handcall sounds and some of them may have contained damaged cards as the sound was horrific! Some were hard to distinguish because of the short sound loops, I believe the bird distress was a 5-6 second clip dubbed over and over for 60 seconds.

You are exactly right when you say that the quality of sound coming out of the speaker is important, I intended to make the same point, and I'm sure you understand the JS models are fairly low on that quality totem pole. In my opinion the second best combination of soundlist and equipment is the JS612 with the OLD JS sounds. I used one tonight while calling ****... it's a fine durable piece of equipment. I use one regularly on **** and fox where sound changes are minimal and the source must be CONSTANT. The products JS has released in recent years have gone downhill signifigantly, Gerald wouldn't argue that himself.

I never meant to insinuate that the most important thing about coyote hunting is the sound one uses... that is not the case at all.


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## Danny B (Jun 6, 2006)

I've used very bad sound quality 8 tracks years ago, they worked fine at the time. Must be the coyotes got smarter?
What ever the case, I use a FoxPro and it works. Hell, I have a museum full of e-callers at my hands, any of you guys want to come over to prove a point? lol.


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## R Buker (Oct 29, 2005)

Danny,

I'd love to come down and prove a point. If I had more time and money I'd come down and make you take me hunting so I could prove my point.

:wink:


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## Danny B (Jun 6, 2006)

Randy, you know you are more then welcome anytime.


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## R Buker (Oct 29, 2005)

I appreciate that.

It's on my "one day" list. :beer:


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## Varmonter (Nov 6, 2006)

There is no doubt in my mind that e callers work.
I own a foxpro. I am a musician and i know what studio quality recordings 
means.The foxpro is far from that. You can put the best studio quality recording in digital format(which by the way is lacking over analog for this application) and put it in a caller.. but if your sending it back out through
a POS 4 inch speaker your not going to get a good reproduction.Plain and simple guys..Unless you want to drag 5k worth of equipment outinto the 
woods a quality mouth call blown by a competent caller is going to sound more realistic.. The *real* question is does a coyote care?? Obvously not. or a foxpro would never work at all..And they do quite well at calling in 
critters...So the pros of the ecaller are the ability to put it 50 yards away
from you and run it with a remote. The yote is looking at *it* ..not you..
And seeing as though the yote seems to have a tin ear..I would rather
use the e caller ..Really i mean listen to these ecallers they sound terrible.
all the warmth is sucked right out of them.


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## achunter (Feb 14, 2006)

has anyone tryed the western rivers predation call?? if so how did u like it


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## ND Five O (Dec 30, 2003)

Jrbhunter said:


> Starting off with handcalls will teach you more about coyotes, coyote behavior and coyote hunting than anything else. After you have a good handle on those things an electronic caller will help you kill more and more coyotes. If you don't have the time and patience to learn I'd suggest another sport... because the learning never stops and the patience is imperitive throughout your calling carreer.


All the other B.S. about e-callers aside, I couldn't agree more with this statement.

I, by no means, am an expert. But I feel that my years using handcalls gave me a better understanding of the sport which assisted me further when using an (nameless) e-caller.


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## Danny B (Jun 6, 2006)

ND five 0, when I first started calling for the first 11 years I used hand calls.

Some of the the basic things I learned was not to move much. Watch downwind alot in coyote country. Take a shot when you get one, you may not get another etc etc etc.

I also learned how to hunt the night shift, alot of new rules in that game. Took time to learn how to use a light right and how to shoot at night etc, etc.

Overall you guys are right. When you first start off calling, using a hand call can help you learn about the animals you are hunting and how to hunt them.

After that first 11 years I learned a better way of predator hunting and part of that was using electronic calls.

I also learned coyotes don't care about stereo or high Fidelity and don't care much if the rabbit sounds have scratches in it. Better sound systems don't hurt anything but it won't kill you anymore animals no matter what Bill M says. :lol: This is a good subject :wink:


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## earlthepearl (Dec 7, 2006)

I use a Cass Creak call for cototes and it works rather well.
Shot 17 coyotes on it last winter. That distress rabbit call brings then in running. Be ready!!


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