Wanting to get into predator hunting. Tips, Calls, etc.?

Hey I made it out to the lake somerville public hunting land tonight to do some furbearer hunting and didn't have much luck. I came across 4 armadillos, but didn't see any coons or badgers or anything cool. I want to start calling in some coyotes, foxes, and cats but I have no idea where to start. I've been thinking about picking up a foxpro electric call to make things a bit easier. Could I get some tips, strategies, and some recommendations for effective calls I can use.

i have a foxpro spitfire for sale with tons of extra sounds.... i just upgraded to a more expensive foxpro

send me more info at igotworms09@gmail.com

2 tips.

1. dont get a foxpro.
2.dont educate coyotes.

Have you ever been at all or you starting from scratch? Have you deer hunted before?

I have a fox pro and do very well with it!
When varmint hunting first thing to remember is they can see and smell very very well. Always set up with the wind in your face and being hidden is a must. Decoys help a lot to take the attention of the coyotes as well. Be patient and don't get discouraged if you don't see anything your first few trips it's not as easy as it looks on tv.

I personally leave my call on the entire time I am hunting but I know there are lots of different opinions on that. Also if calling at night I use a spotlight with red lens and also leave it running the wholentime as well. I usually call for 20-40 minutes per set! If you have any other more specific questions pm me anytime and I will try and help.

Good luck

use mouth calls it would be better to get a start using mouth calls, this way you dont get spoiled on that remote control e-caller.

So send the guy out with a mouth call even if he has no idea what to do with it. An E call will take all his guess work out of it and whats wrong with being a lil spoiled?

its better than sending a guy out with an e-call and making him believe hes better than what he really is while using an e-call,when in reality he aint calling predators in, the unit is. give the guy a challenge-give him a mouth call.that way he KNOWS he ACCOMPLISHED something.

I saw a coyote going to a waterhole one day, I just started making a kissing sound with my hand over my mouth a little & he popped out just a few seconds later. I thought that was pretty cool.

I have nothing against a mouth call. (other than they hurt my mouth after about 5 minutes). Im just saying that if the guy is new to predator hunting why add difficulty to it? If hes anything like me he wants to put down as many predators as possible. An e-call is no guarantee for success. There are plenty of other things that factor in to a successful hunt besides what makes the sound.

You just gotta ignore people like this. Whether you use mouth calls or an e call you still have to play all of the other factor like wind, where the yotes are. It's all luck, just being in the right spot at the right time. When you drop a dog or a cat then you KNOW you ACCOMPLISHED something, who friggen cares what makes the noise.

What ffread said is some good info. Also check out Randy Andersons speak the language DVD, it's has some good tips and will also help you with mouth calls. You find places that you will have to alternate between mouth calls and e calls to get them to produce.

First off welcome to the crazy world of predator hunting! It most definatly can be a roller coaster at times it has lots of ups and downs. Most guys that get into predator hunting for the first time don't know a whole lot and just go by what somebody else did that they saw or heard. First things first you wouldn't go out to the shop and start taking the engine out of your truck with out studying up on the matter and even then it would be one heck of a chore.

So why get into any kind of hunting with out doing a little research and learning the Who, What , When, Were and Why's of predator hunting things like Wind direction , set up , day or night calling, concealment and proper gear, what kind of predator your trying to target... Yea that's right it ain't a lotto ticket theirs certain things you do different for every type of predator like Bobcats , Fox , and Coyotes and the type of terrain you hunt can decide what kind of luck your gonna have calling in one type of predator vs another. Also things that get over looked allot like time of year, weather, temp, moon phases... All this comes into affect but none of that matters if you don't have proof that predators are even in the area your calling. Get out and look for tracks and scat see what farmers or ranchers hear coyotes at night and find out who has goats or who's calving and got babies on the ground.

Also find out were a predator lays up in the day and roams at night were it drinks and check for spots were they may be going under fences or tracks around ponds or creeks. Once you figure all this out now you can get a game plan together and your chances go way up from their. As far as sounds go well that depends too on things like rather or not coyotes are in breeding season or not if so.... Coyote vocals works great that time of year or if they just had pups then pup in distress works good ... Theirs so many things to consider to get really good at being consistant at calling in and killing predators. Some folks think because they shoot a few out of a deer stand each year or spot light a few while shooting hogs that they got it figured out. this just ain't so! You can educate predators really easy by not doing your home work and the best way to learn is to go with some one who can show you the ropes and take a big chunk out of the learning curve for ya.


Now the million dollar ? Foxpro or handcalls .... The truth is they both work and our both great tools put in the right persons hand but on the other side of the coin they can educate more country and make things hard on a new guy trying to learn to hunt predators when used in correctly. We use both and have had great luck with both their just tools of the trade. Each one serves it's purpose and every one has their fav hunting rifle just like every one has the fav call that works best for them. The best advice I can give you is it doesn't matter how great of a caller you our or how much you spent on your foxpro if their ain't a predator out their to hear it they ain't going to show up! So do your home work and if you really want to get into predator hunting find some one to show you the ropes and help teach you the basic. You owe your self that much as well as to the predators your hunting. Hope this helps it's kind of the reason me and Tj our making our DVD to help teach new guys some of the techniques that we learned the hard way. As well as show some great footage and hopefully knock down the number of guys going out and educating the critters so much. After all it ain't rocket science but some body has got to help these guys out after all their the future of something I have dedicated most my life too. The last piece of advice I can give is your never to old to learn ... and if you have a open mind and dont get cought up in thinking you got it all figured out each stand you make can teach you something new about predator hunting. Hope this helps and God bless Skinner

P.S If I miss spelled something or didn't punctuate correctly .... I'm sorry it's 12:00 and it's been a long day and I half to get up in 5 hours... So bare with me!

You might first try an outfitters to take you. If you are close to Mt. Pleasant, try Whiteoak Outfitters. See the pics on the website at www.whiteoakoutfitters.com

with all do respect having some great advice is always good in life but somethimes we just have to learn the hard way amigos if not there is no fun do in it and i sure cant say i cant wait for that video u guys working on do u guys have a youtube channel or somthing amigo!!!

Big man I totally get learning the hard way and finding things out for your self but it's just my nature to lend a hand and help folks when they ask for advise on a subject I have knowledge in. I do agree though nothing in life trumps personal hands on experience in anything some one is trying to learn. It just kills me to see so many predator hunting shows and videos on the market and they have a ton of cool kill shots but don't take the time out to explain to the viewer exactly what steps went into getting from point A to point Z. I personally thing that folks at home watching these types of shows would love to learn how to call up the predators step by step as much as they enjoy seeing the action. Who knows I could be wrong that's just my 2 cents. As far as a YouTube channel you can find us by typing in our company name. Theirs only a few clips on their as we our saving our footage for the DVD. Thanks guys and to the original poster good luck on calling in some critters and don't give up too easy! God bless Skinner

I don't have just a ton to add to what has already been said, other than to say you could do a lot worse than to listen to what a few guys on here have to say on this subject, namely Seth Skinner(SkinnerPredatorHunter), T.J.Shockler(T.J.Shockler) and Bob in Natalia(forgot his screen name here). All 3 of these guys have killed more coyotes than Parvo and are a wealth of knowledge on the subject.

Here is what I have to add.

I disagree with the idea of setting up with the wind in your face. Often and more times than not, a coyote will circle down wind of your distress source, if you are facing upwind you will get back doored alot and miss opportunities you didn't know you had. I prefer to set up with the wind at my back or with a cross wind coming from my right shoulder as I am right handed and can swing to my left easier than my right. I think it is sometimes beneficial to have a buddy with you so you have a 360 degree field of view. Also, when it is possible, set up so that the sun is at your back, this makes your profile harder to pick up from a down wind coyote.

Point number 2. Hand calls don't run low on batteries, ask me how I know. I love my Foxpro and it goes with me on every stand and is used ALOT!!!! But what are you going to do when you get set up and find you got no juice? In short, buy some good hand calls and practice with them. If I can recommend a good call maker, PM T.J.Shockler and talk to him. T.J. makes some of the best sounding, easy to blow calls I have ever had the pleasure to use....can't say enough good about the man either.

Build you a little kit that is Predator set up, something like this.


Believe it or not, everything that you see there other than firearms fits in my back pack. Bob,T.J.,Seth and myself(lastly) have alot of experience in calling and killing coyotes, and I think I can speak for myself and the mentioned above when I say "We would be happy to field any questions on the subject"

Take care
Chupa

Hey guys, just got back to this thread because I'VE BEEN OUT HUNTiNG FOR 36 hours straight . I actually didn't mean to hunt that long but that's a story for another time.I picked up a Profox Spitfire and a moving decoy. I didn't get much action from it so next time I am going to pay more attention to which way the wend is blowing and try the red spotlight idea. Skinner Predator Hunter had a ton of great tips, so I'll look in mating seasons and what calls working for different predators.

Thanks guys!

Also, how do you guys feel about blind/rack hunting vs ground hunting. I hunt on the ground, but I'm not sure if that puts me at a major disadvantage. I've been rocking a thick scentlok jacket and pants with a ghille suit/hood, and a facecover

bump

As far as blinds go, they just take too much time to set up for me to mess with. At most I'm on a stand for only 45 minutes, and that's only if the place looks catty, most times I'm on to a new location after 20 minutes of calling. Also a full day of calling can be 15-20 stands, I'm not setting up a blind that many times in a day.

Rack hunting works great for night hunting, although I do very little night hunting, so maybe T.J. or Seth would be better to comment on this as they do quite a bit of night calling and do it VERY well I might add.

Your camo set up is fine, if not a tad overkill. Remaining unseen to a coyote is really more to do with restricting movement and scent. I know a guy that went calling in a Santa suit just to prove the point, and he killed coyotes in that suit to.


Chupa

im with u on this one man i saw the FB page nice amigos cant wait for the DVD!!to come out

chupa great hints man thanks!!!!

I picked up a cheap hand call and took it out to my place where I'm long on coyotes. I read the paragraph of instruction and went to calling while sitting inside some old corrals on my place. Got a coyote and a bobcat to come in. Next time sat in a deer blind and got a coyote. Once I got nothing, but I think I was in the cover to much to see them before they saw me. Total investment = $14.99.

Don't over think it and get out there.

if you want to get out without spending much to start with. i take johnny stewart cds or sounds off internet and download to phone and use a powered computer speaker. not state of art but hold alot of sounds and always with you. i have about 10 dollars in mine and its always with me. as far as electronic or not i say get good with electronic then if you want to add challenge go to mouth calls. but thats just oinion. theres alot o more knowledgeable people on here thats already spoken but maybe this will save you a few dollars

wind in your face ... sun at your back . Shoot a good accurate gun without much recoil and a sensitive trigger . Good remote ecaller helps the learning curve . Turn it on and let er go . Trial and error trial and error and remember if they aint there they caint come so dont get discouraged when they dont . The more you do it the more comfortable your gonna get and the easier it will be as far as shooting and taking the "buckfever' equation out .
Good luck and lay em down .

Interesting Clay put a response on here! Look at his signature on his post and then go to guide services. I noticed the other day that he is for a limited time offering a guided service. If you want to get into predator hunting and want to take away some of the learning curve then that is money well spent!!! I know a fair amount about predator hunting, especially at night, but I would really like to pick his brain a little bit!

Aw you guys are giving me way to much credit . I got good country and good partners . With those two you cant go wrong .
Hanging out at these contests sure dont hurt . everytime I go to one I learn something from somebody .
Sniper you need to come up one night and well put some to sleep .

Clay, let's go! Shoot me a pm with some info and we'll wear em out! I know we are planning on coming to at least the first Graham hunt weigh in to pass out some of our DVDs, so if nothing else I'll see you there when you collect your winnings!

Ill check on a bunch of my country over round nocona and maybe we can meet up over there . Ill shoot ya that info when I get ahold of my land owners if not well hit my country here .

I have full intentions of winning that Graham hunt. I wouldn't start counting his money for him yet!

Either way Chris and I should be there, we may even bring the cameras along with us! Be sure to say hi and get one of our DVDs! Be sure to post the dates on here so we will know when to show up!

The road to Graham is paved with good intentions . LOL

what is the info for the Graham Hunt, and the entry fee, Mr.Clay.

We've hunted it twice, both last year. Placed third then second We'll have a first this year.

Westtx you can go onto the texasvarminthunter website and it has all the info on it and many other hunts including mine .
Big Johnson yall did real well last year . I did meet yall there didnt I ?
last year sucked for us . Got second at graham , 3rd at Elk city and pretty much stunk it up everywhere else . Tough year . Good thing is they didnt get our cherry ...weve had our butt whipped before . LOL

Here is some fun with clay

Awsome....especially the dogs haha!

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