Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints Want to get into coyote hunting- any budget callers out there?

I really don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on a caller, but want to give coyote hunting a try. Can you guys recommend a budget priced caller to get me into the game? Thanks.

I used an old MP3 player that my daughter had, a 1Gb card, a speaker from an old PA system, and an amp I filched from an old "boom box".

Stuffed it into a waterproof equipment case.

Downloaded files from the web and made some extended playlists.

It isn't push button classy, but total cost was essentially $0.

I strongly prefer a mouth call over the cheap electronic calls. Something like the one linked below will get you into the game with minimal dollars up front. FWIW I have a higher end electronic remote caller, and haved used cassette tape recorders, MP3, boom boxes from Walmart playing CD's and at least 25 different hand calls.

http://www.allpredatorcalls.com/products/Arizona-Game-Calls-Coyote-Dead-Predator-Call.html

Circe, Primos, etc. all of the call companies make a version and all will work. I'd go to a locasl sporting goods store and see what they have. Simple is better. The Primos Coyote Bear Buster is one I like. I prefer deeper jack rabbit sounds over cottontail but both work. If you get to test one of these calls, look for one that will make soft sounds and moans with minimal air going through.

A closed reed mouth call is cheap, versatile, compact, easy to learn, never out of batteries, has called more coyotes over the past 60 years than probably all others combined, and gives you total control over the sound. Once coyotes are within hearing range, the exact sound is the LEAST important factor in calling them. How you set up is WAY more important.

Be warned: calling coyotes is addictive!

I agree with the above post with the addition of the Primos Ki Yi call. It is very versatile and can be used as an open or closed reed. You can cover a lot of sounds with that one call.

I have a "Rubber Rabbit" by Carver Calls. It goes with me when ever I am hunting anything. There are a ton of mouth calls that will work for you and won't cost more than a couple gallons of gas. Your calling "setup" is more important than the sound in my opinion.

Like already stated, save your money for now and go with a couple handcalls. If the calling bug bites you you can always pick up a e-call later. If I had to choose, I'd start with a squeaker and closed reed call. If you like being able to control the sounds, get an open reed call and learn to use it.

I've got a FoxPro 416B (16sounds) with Carry Bag and a brand new PG-1A Programmer Ive been trying to sell for 150.00 + if you're interested.
Works perfectly. I just don't use it any more.

I have a rabbit in distress call I like.

Paid 15 dollars for it I believe. Called in one or two with it... Never really tried it though.

A 7$ tally ho mouth call

This is good advice above. Sorting through all the e-caller nonsense on the web isn't possible, especially for the new guy. The magazines and companies that sell specialized gear will sell you all you want, but beginners can keep their money in their pockets and pretty much use what they have until they figure out if this is going to be their game. Don't get me wrong, I'll juxtapose My Wal-Mart khakis across from a spendier Foxpro and $29 boots next to a Benelli shotgun, but both Okanagan and I have been playing this game for a long time.

I'd add that I like the Sceery hand calls for a half-dozen reasons, open, closed, or bite reeds. For the new guy, he needs to be able to blow the "Evil Santa" and he'll call coyotes in most places. You might read this tutorial on basic hand calling.

Great info guys. Thanks!

Gary, that's a great tutorial! I hadn't seen it, need to browse around your site some more.
Glad you mentioned Sceery. Their cottontail is superb to my ear.

My basic sound is sort of an ooohwAAah. Trying to describe these sounds in text reminds me of early Europeans trying to write Native Indian names. Ojibwe is the same word as Chippewa spelled by two different Brits. When you hear an Oji-Cree native speaker say the word, you realize how each of the foreigners speakers spelled it the way he did.

On coyotes, partly what works in our favor is the individual differences in voice from one rabbit to another, and the nature of its distress which may change the sound. Coyotes have heard a variety of real sounds from rabbits and if it is close, it works. FWIW, the absolute WORST bull elk bugle I've ever heard came from a live, wild, bull elk. He'da never won a contest!

I'm glad to have found someone with whom I've had some exchanges elsewhere here at campfire. Dan said maybe I could find new homes for some of the great rifles I've collected through the years, but I knew it would be tough with no posts and a light predator section since that's almost all I've done for the last 2 decades except a couple of big game and an AK trap trip. I saw that you're well over 3 grand.

It's great to hear that you like the tutorial. That means a lot. It took a bit of work to get it to where it is. I was just unhappy with the videos I'd seen and thought text might actually be better for anyone who reads much. Major Boddicker's pamphlet was a sort of starting point for the "words" section.

You might enjoy this too. I just did that review of the 2000 electronic sounds from 40 different recorders last year. While I had each of them in the digital editor, I also did a bunch of statistical analysis on the sounds. I found that many of the proven prey distress sounds had different frequencies and emphasis, but quite often had almost exactly the same cadence and timelines. Many of their sums of noise and pause, the scream/exhale cycle, were very similar. That's where the belly laugh, "Evil Santa," call originated. It's a straight copy of the cadence of several Johnny Stewart and Foxpro rabbits and pups, as well as others. I came up with a few different names for the breath control method used in the tutorial and let the guys at the APC Nov. meeting vote on it. They picked "Evil Santa."

Welcome aboard, Gary! I was one of the early members here and though I don't post a lot compared to some, it is a home.

For anyone else reading, Gary is a coyote calling & killing machine, a specialist with shotgun in close cover, and a cold heartedly objective tech reviewer of e-calls and sounds as well as other predator callng gear. He doesn't suffer fools... but has decades of hunting equity and is willing to share that excellent info.

I'd like to hear you speak sometime, Gary. I've heard that your sessions on coyote calling are top notch for content and presentation.

Speaking of credentials: How many times have you been bitten or touched by coyotes you called "too close!"?

Gary, what is your opinion of the Foxpro Hellfire call?

Forget an ecall, get a few hand calls that will run you about $40 & go calling, the worse you sound the better they respond. Coyotes have heard every ecall sound out there. Then if you are happy calling you can always get a ecall later, BUT never rely on them to do your calling.
Be alert & be ready to shoot, they wont hold still for more then a few seconds.

I would get a couple of Carver calls and/or a Primos Lil Dog..

Okanagan, no one has had a closer encounter than Bob B. from PVCI when he was bitten on the face last year. That wasn't pretty.

I've been attacked plenty. Five times is too many. I remember every single one of them like yesterday. The first one I tried to defend with a gun butt and my Beretta took a good bite on the stock. How stupid am I using the butt?

I didn't really say much about this to anyone, but the last attack, #5, was just a couple of weeks ago in the CA state hunt. That one really surprised me. It got past the gun's muzzle and was only inches away. I had to jab it in the neck with the gun and push it away while I was pulling the trigger. That one almost got me.

I've only been bitten good once. I was standing full height and one came full speed from the rear, from downwind, and leaped at my face. I got my arm up at the last second and it bit me good on the tricep. All that comes with it, disinfecting, rabies testing, is another story. That's enough from the bite archive.

I've got to tell you that the last couple of years I've been on full guard 100% of every stand. I really don't like the attacks. I'm really edgy about it any more.

On the Hellfire - we've got one of them in the small group I generally hunt around and it's still pretty new. But the guys who have used it a few times and say it's loud enough, good enough, and that the mini remote is very OK. On the downside, it has only two presets. Everyone who uses a Foxpro much uses the presets a lot because they're hard to scroll with any knob or button and no one remembers too many of the numbers on the sounds. Someone else mentioned the horn is plastic? That's not going to be as good as the aluminum. I'll get my hands on it eventually.

With all these callers, the best way to test them is a standard 1 KHz test tone, measure the volume with a noise dosimeter just like OSHA, and run them until they quit with a fresh set of eneloops to check the amplifier's efficiency. Then I like to load them with well produced music and play that. I've been using "Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits. That's apples to apples.

Clip analysis is another useful trick. Load the caller with a smooth wave, then play it back while turning up the volume and grabbing the signal at the speaker. Most callers clip. As an example, the Fury I tested a couple of months ago played a smooth signal at 26, but flattened it badly at 27. Coyotes don't care, but it's nice to know where the quality ends and the distortion begins.

The caller demos are always fun. Guys are amazed at the differences. I'm amazed at their comments. I just did a seminar on the "Red Zone" hunting and the "Evil Santa" for Higgins's crew in Mesa. They seemed to enjoy it. The only person I caught nodding was Dan. It's a good night if less than 5 go to sleep.

+1. I've got about 8 calls on my lanyard but I don't know why. Only call I've ever been able to call coyotes in with has always been my tally- ho. I've got probably 10 of them. Couple in my truck. In my packs, and anywhere else I might find one coming in handy while out in the field. Earlier this fall my brother bought a fox pro. I borrowed it one day and spotted some coyotes out about 1/2 a mile. I turned it on and let it play a bit and watched through my binos. They could have cared less. I turned if off, started blowin on my tally-ho and one stopped in his tracks, turned 180 degrees and came on a dead run. He stopped about 150 yards and dad dropped him. Tally-ho just flat works

Is this the one?

http://www.callingcoyotes.com/index...t&Itemid=1&vmcchk=1&Itemid=1