Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints Electronic caller newbie

So I mentioned to my wife that I would like to have an electric caller and give calling for bears and coyotes a try. Well for my birthday she gave me a Spitfire.

So now I have it, how do I use it? Choose a sound, turn it on and let it run, rotate volume levels, change calls, duration of calling? What�s the best way to utilize this? A little of newbie advice needed here.

Congrats on the new caller!
Since you bought a Foxpro, many of your questions can be answered on their website and forum. You will find that when your calling, you will typically only use a few favorite sounds that work best for you. The rest are taking up space.
If calling a heavily called area, you may find that obscure sounds will produce when your old standbys do not, so its nice to switch it up when things are slow.
I like to call for a few minutes at a time, starting with lower volume and working up as you go, weather conditions also play a role on caller volume.
Don't be affraid to use different sounds on the same stand, you can mix it up with prey/predator sounds depending on your intended target.
The most important thing to do prior to heading out the door in the early morning is to make sure your e-caller is charged up or you have spare batteries. Nothing is more frustrating than driving 2 hours to your first stand and you realize that you failed to charge your caller or that you forgot your transmitter in your other coat.

Good luck, let us know how your hunts go

Thanks for the info Tacgnut. I had not thought of looking on the Foxpro website. Will give it at look. Thanks again for taking the time to reply. Mike

Might want to go to Predator Masters web site. They can answer just about any question about calling coyotes.

There's nobody left who knows a chit about predator hunting at PM...lots of other fine forums out there for that subject, but certainly not predator blasters!

I was on PM for a total of 3 posts and was banned. They had a new "predator" hunting show and their first show was shooting bears with bows over bait. I wrote that arrowing bears over bait in Canada was hardly considered "predator hunting" It was a diplomatic posting not a flame just my honest opinion. Next time I tried to log on I got a message that I was banned. After watching a few more shows I figured out it was just another southern good old boy show, they spent more time high five-ing and whooping it up than actually hunting or calling. No useful information at all. They acted like they had never killed anything before. Pretty soft skinned people over there.

I remember that time period. You kinda wandered into a hail storm that somebody else had started. I know the guys from that show and they are good guys. A guy from another site was starting a fight with them just because they are on PM. I'm a member on both sites (Boomy on both) so I saw the squabble start up from the beginning.
Now truth be told, there are some very opinionated people on PM, but with the sheer volume they've got your going to come across some. You might like some of the smaller sites like......
Texaspredatorposse.ipbhost.com (member-Boomy)
Californiapredatorsclub.com
Okpredatorhunters.com
VarmitAls.com
TNpredators.com
NPHA.com (member- Boomy)
Foxpro.com (member- Boomy)
There are more, but these are the ones that I know of.

I should have asked, Planning on hunting open ground or thick woods? Different tactics.........
If you can hunt open, you'll get a better chance to shoot them before they smell you. Me? I hunt the thick and nasty stuff, because that is all I have to use.

Thanks for the tip on alternative sites. I still believe that i shouldn't have been banned.

That's pretty much it in a nutshell. Once upon a time some pretty well-known and knowledgable pred hunters hung out at PM. Power and money eventually tainted leadership to the point where many experienced hunters were banned or left in droves leaving nothing but a crew of soft-skinned beginners looking for a pat on the back.

That's cold! Beside there are still some well knowns over there, and yes a lot of them left and went over to NPHA when their forum opened up. I quit going over to NPHA because there was just too much bickering about PM and all their members. I would spend more time on PM, but there are just too many people (5-8) looking for a fight with anybody that has a differing opinion. Human nature, put enough people on one board and you'll end up with a few a******'s. BUT if you are looking for info as a begginer they are good places to look. Just don't bring up- bigfoot, black panthers,chupacabras, 17hmr, .22 LR, hunting facing upwind, hunting facing downwind, or hunting during the summer and you'll be ok................

Just stay clear of the place (PM), and you will be better off, for sure..

Congrats on the new call. Time in the field is your best teacher.

As far as other sites, living in Oklahoma right now come visit us at Okpredatorhunters. There are alot of good guys over there with knowledge. Same goes with the other sites that were listed.

As far as PM, I've been a member there since 02 and its definitely changed thru the years. I'm rarely there anymore but no matter my thoughts on the changes there is still alot of information if you'll use the search function.

Good luck and whether in the open or the deep woods, you're in for more fun than you can imagine

Huh?...I can't think of one credible "well known" over on PM any longer. You might mean a shill or two that crank out videos, but there are no longer any knowledgable savvy coyote callers left.

FZY- sorry, I may have contributed to your thread getting highjacked. Have you been able to find the answers that you were looking for? If not, what kind of area will you be hunting in?

The internet forums in general are a giant circus of arm chair hunters who think they are an authority on predator hunting because they have shot 20 coyotes in their lifetime. PM seems to attract more of these types than other sites for some reason. Tebbe and Carver are the only 2 individuals on that site, including the people who run it, that can put up the numbers to be considered veteran predator hunters.

That aside...

Congrats on your electronic caller. The Foxpro Spitfire is a great caller for the money. Predator hunting with electronic callers has revolutionized the sport of predator hunting. What has been innovative is also turning into being detrimental in nature. Much of our predator population is growing tired of listening to the typical rabbit distress sounds coming from the popular electronic callers. Coyotes in optimum hunting areas have become call shy. To combat this, I would use some non-typical sounds on your caller list if hunting easily accessed hunting areas. Fall also will bring young of year predators to the call more readily. There are many different ways of using an electronic caller depending on the terrain you are hunting. Without knowing what you are calling for and where, its tough to give quality advice.

Give us some more details and by all means- stay away from the dime-a-dozen 'experts' over on PM.

Friend,

I'd most definitely reconsider those two you mention being the only ones who put up those "type" of numbers on PM. Some just don't care to share numbers and play up to the newbie's.

Greg-
I would bet I know those 2 guys better than you do. The 2 individuals I mentioned both placed at the World Coyote Calling Champions last year in Colorado. I have spoken with them at length many times and shared a table with them at Worlds last year. Worlds are an invitation only event and they did quite well. Tony calls in and shoot more coyotes in the fall/winter/spring than 99% of the hunters on PM. Part of that is due to the coyote dense populations where he is hunting. part of it is because he is good at what he does. When you are shooting hundreds of coyotes you can't help but learn coyote behavior and how to use it to your advantage when hunting. Numbers = knowledge.

I am sure there are veteran hunters that are better that don't post or even get on the internet but we're not talking about those. We were talking about your typical PM poster.

Everyone knows the best hunters on the internet congregate at Leonard's board. I could list them but it makes little difference. PM's membership mean average on coyotes harvested each year is probably under 5. The site is geared toward the new predator caller. Don't go there for in-depth knowledge.

I have never seen more competitiveness, jealousy, literal hatred, and pure juvenile horse sheet on the Internet than between the various predator hunting websites. Absolutely moronic... of course money, inflated egos, and the lust for fame will do that to the weak of character.

And most of the juvinile actions are carried out by 40 somethings...

It's absolutely amazing. And yes I've been guilty of it myself a time or two, it can be fun if the fish are biting.