Is anyone familiar with Wildlife Tech. game caller performance and quality? Looking for a caller and just came upon them.

You should call them up and speak with the owner of the company before you buy... that probably will make a difference in this particular case. The "customer service" and the fact that sounds run about $33 per sound will keep me from a WT product.

Take a look at FoxPro, Minaska, GameTraks or Western Rivers. They make good products and back them up if they ever need service. I will purchase anything made by wt or it's owner. No one needs to put up with the BS from wt. MI VHNTR

I don't know why I'm even bothering, given the way these things usually turn out, but I've got a couple WTs and have killed a few hundred coyotes over them.For the most part, I did that by doing what Bill Martz suggested I try.

Now if this thread follows the regular pattern, a foxpro circle jerk will form.

LOL, WT makes a very good caller and has some very good sounds. I called them to inquire about the new smaller version they have out and was pleasantly surprised by the lady answering the phone. She was very helpful and polite. A buddy of mine bought one and it had a problem but Bill said he would take care of it and did AFAIK.

I decided to buy a FoxPro Fury instead and guess what I had to send it back as well. Had a Minaska last year and had to send it back too. My point is every new call design will have it's share of problems, the service you get after the sale is what's important and from what I have seen, all 3 companies do pretty good. Bill has a reputation and has his own way of doing things but the few people I know who have them are very pleased with the caller and don't seem to have any problems dealing with them.

I chose Foxpro over WT because I can load my own sounds on it and they have great CS but when I can afford to I will order a WT as well.

W.T. is the best caller I have ever had. I wouldn't own anything else but a W.T. Very sturdy caller, runs perfect in sub zero weather and has alot of range!

W.T. is the very best caller made today. Wish I had one.
I did a pile of research on callers and came to the conclusion the W.T. Is tops.

As much as the new Foxpros cost, the price difference isn't all that much and on his website it says you can get new sounds for 10.00/sound but there is a 6 sound minimum. Not all that bad, really. Won't cost much to call and talk to them.

my partner owns a WT caller... he prefers the foxpro...

the WT caller is expensive, heavy, and bulky...
it does have great sound, and a high quality remote, but the coyotes don't care about the sound, and most remotes nowadays are bombproof.....

foxpro is the way to go, IME&O.....

Quote;the WT caller is expensive, heavy, and bulky...
it does have great sound, and a high quality remote, but the coyotes don't care about the sound, Quote:

You must not have seen the new WT's that are out. Bill has 3 models to choose from in 3 different sizes to fit anyones price range compared to the other top brands and more sounds added with the caller.
If you are just going to call to any coyotes that will here you and hope they come in then any caller will work. But if you are calling in an area where alot of other callers call then the WT is the route to go.
When i go after a targeted coyote the WT is what i use and the WT is what brings them in, period...
To be consistant with a WT you need to learn to use the sounds properly and dureing the right time of year and when you have that mastered then you are going to kill alot of coyotes..

It amazes me when I see some of these post about Wild Life Tech and their callers. I am fortunate in that I work full time in predator control. I have had the opportunity to test I believe every caller on the market and even a few home made models. The best way to compare these different models in my opinion is place them side by side and compare sound quality, and volume. As I said I have done this and there is no comparison the Wild Life Tech caller is in a different league. All you have to do is do this comparison yourself and you will clearly see the difference. As far as customer service goes I have been treated with nothing but with the utmost friendliness. I recently bought their new compact model and it is absolutely amazing. At $490.00 and it comes with 40 sounds, it outperforms any caller on the market and at a decent and comparable price. Their sound library is vast and well recorded. I recently tested one of the newer and highly toted models on the market and most if not all the sounds on there were sounds produced with a open reed mouth call. Gosh why would I need that I can use an open reed mouth call. I may get one crack at a lamb killing wet bitch and I want the very best equipment that I can get my hands on when I get that crack and in my opinion and it is an educated opinion the wild life tech is by far the best. I am not abasing any other products as there is some good callers out there compared to 20 years ago but as I said Wild Life Tech is by far the best.

i'd guess that you're right....

my buddies caller is a real burden to carry around, due to its weight.. it was very expensive... $1000+, before he added a bunch of sounds...
iirc, he has a caller that weighs approx 30 lbs, with batteries... cost him about 1700$ all up...

if wt has newer and better stuff out there, more power to him...

Wow he's 2 new callers( I got the Big one) since I got mine and the price has dropped. And a bunch more new sounds for only 10 bucks a sound, I'll ship mine back this spring for more sounds!

I'm also looking to pick one up this year. I'll prolly start looking around this weekend for dealers that have some that I can listen to...I'm gonna admit that right now I'm kinda leaning towards the Fury. I like the idea of a display with a playlist.
I don't doubt that the WT is probably better sound wise, but how much difference are you or the predators gonna be able to tell once the speaker is 100 yds. or more away?
Edit to add...
I also think the Fury can play two sounds at once...Not sure how valuable that would be but it's an interesting feature. One thing for sure...before I plunk down that amount of cash for an electronic caller, I'll be doing a little more research...

I don't think my Fury will play 2 sounds at once, the Fox Fade feature will allow you to split 2 different sounds on the same number. For instance they have some sounds recorded in stereo with cottontail and jackrabbit or rabbit and coyote. You can make one speaker produce one sound while the other produces the other. I haven't found a need to use this feature.

As I said the WT is a good caller but so is the FoxPro. My decision came down to being able to load my own sounds, you can't do that on the WT and Bill loads alot of coyote vocals which might not be a bad thing but doesn't fit my style.

You're right. I finally downloaded the manual & read it. Thanks for the heads up.

TWR,

Are you saying that WT picks your sounds for you? You don't get to pick the sounds you want?

You get to pick your sounds but Bill will definately "guide" you. A buddy of mine just bought one and that was his complaint at first, he had a whole lot of vocals and not enough distress. He tried to argue with him but finaly gave up. Now he has been killing quite a few with vocals, guess ol Bill knows what he's talking about.

I'm still killing em with distress, never had much luck with vocals but if I had the right sounds....

i've been thinking this thread over, and i've kinda got it figured, for me anyway...

with the performance that i've gotten from my foxpro, i do not believe that the WT caller will bring in any more coyotes...

i agree that the sound is better on the WT unit... but it makes no apparent difference to a coyote, so i don't care either...

from the time that i 1st heard of WT, i have heard about the cantankerous, argumentative nature of the owner...
my buddy who bought a wt unit says that the guy is OK, but "different"...

i have nothing but respect for the technology and workmanship displayed in the WT caller that i have used... i feel that the foxpros that i have used are a better answer, for a guy who likes to kill coyotes with a minimum of fuss...

competition makes most products better...
with the foxpro, the burnhams, johnny stewart, and WT all turning out callers in the same general price range, we all benefit.....

for me, for now, it's foxpro...
let the competition continue.....

I agree, the competition leaves us as the clear winners. I will someday own a WT but I have no regrets about my new Fury.

Ditto to the quality of WT. A friend I hunt with has two of them, an older mid sized model he bought used and more recently one of the new small ones.

This hasn't been addressed but if you want to call cougars, WT is way ahead of the others, mainly with their sound selection. My friend is a fairly new caller who bought the WT's specifically for cougars since they are his main interest. In three seasons of calling cougars, with little instruction from anybody, he has called a half dozen or so, seen three of them and killed one.

I like to call cougars and have brought at least 14 to the call, but I bought a Minaska M1 for two reasons:
1. I can put my own sounds on it here at home easily which I can't do with WT
2. I like nearly every feature on it better than the comparable FoxPro, which also allows you to load your own sounds.

I did a ton of research, on sound quality, remote range, ease of changing sounds while on stand, etc. Also, I greatly prefer the Minaska Sidewinder decoy unit for a specific use I've developed for cats.

Minaska recently became partners with Flambeau Outdoors, a big company, and I don't know how that will effect the product. Their success has caused them problems in keeping up with orders and service recently, with some complaints about time lag on shipping. Flambeau is big enough to fix the ordering delays, we're told.

Since I bought my M1, FoxPro has put out a clone to it called the Scorpion, an example of how competition benefits consumers. FP tends to have rabid fans, as mentioned in an earlier post, and I will admit that their conduct has soured me a little on that company, but not enough to shun their product if I liked it. Ditto for WT. I have talked with Bill Martz and found him passionate about his product to the point of overstating his case once in awhile, but I can handle that and found him knowledgeable and helpful. I don't have to like the CEO of GM to drive a Chevy.

Truly independent evaluators of sound quality consistently rate WT as best, Minaska usually as a close second, and FP poorest. I have not seen the Gametraks unit evaluated in the same side by side sound test. My understanding is that they put each caller in a burlap bag, unseen by the hearers, which has sometimes been a large group of attendees at calling seminars.

Having said that, I've found sound quality to be the least important factor in calling any animal, and I've called more than 30 kinds of critters from chipmunks to moose, from the Mexico border though states and provinces to the Yukon.

You'll have fun whichever one you buy. Personal opinion: with all but the WT, all of us users are doing beta testing with new models of Minaska and FP, as indicated by the return/repair rate.

It all depends on who you talk too really. Like the saying goes, "everyone has a bias." I have a buddy that guides hunters for predators, mainly coyote and bobcat. He is not affliated in any way with any call manufacturers and spends more days per year calling than most people do in 10 years. After trying them all, he uses the Foxpro. Is he biased? You bet because according to him, the FP has proven to be the most reliable and compact, with unmatched customer service.

Absolutely the most heated debates on the predator hunting boards is any discussion of "which e-caller is best?" and usually manages to bring out the worst in some posters. I take into account the unit, sounds, business practices of the company, customer service, ect. to make my decision of which caller I use. Others will do as they please...

So what makes the WT better sounding? Is it better recordings, better speakers, etc. ?

They use a TOA speaker and I have one of them that plugs in to my old Minaska and now my FP so it wust be the way they record the sounds and transmit them.

Distress sounds may not rely too much on sound quality but coyote vocals evidently do. As I said I will own a WT if no other reason than the vocals.

But I will place my new Fury way above the Minaska Bandit I had for sound quality. Maybe it's the new 24 bit sounds but it's working.

How many sounds does a guy thinks he needs? I have 35 sounds on my WT and thats more than enough for coyotes. Coyote vocals is one of the keys to success with the WT, learn how to use them properly and you will kill more coyotes..
You guys that hunt in the southern or south western states with all the heavey cover would be surprised on how many coyotes that don't come in to youre other callers, i'll tell you its alot. LOL

Tim this is TOM from the Oklahoma board, read the rest of my post that says I'll own one simply for the vocals. As for the number of sounds, I have sounds that I have faith in that go on every caller I have owned and some of Bills sounds that I heard didn't impress me.

Now how many stands straight did you blank with your WT? If I went that long without calling anything, I'd take up golf. So don't tell everyone our "other" callers don't work. I've killed plenty with hand calls,JS, FP and even a few with Minaska.

Tom: On my first trip west i called coyotes in 1 to every 3 stands. I started calling to doubles and then brought in a third and took the easy one first.. I missed quite a few the first two days and i made a change in equipement and was back in the game again.. Second trip i was after targeted coyotes. Coyotes that where called in before and coyotes that have been shot at..On second trip i had to deal with the ranchers getting into my area first to break ice for the cattle and scareing the coyotes off..The coyotes ran off into areas i could'nt get into so it made it harder to find any with-in hearing distance..
If the average guy is just calling to any ol coyote then any caller will work its the more conditioned ones is where the WT shines.. Anyone can use what ever caller they want but the WT is still the best caller out there period..
On most of my stands i used most of the rabbit distress sounds i have to see which work in my area and the ones that don't, i had call-ins with all of them so no problem there with the rabbit distress sounds. The coyote vocals where also tested and also did very well with them..
If anyone that is unhappy with a WT must not be useing it right..

Tim the only complaint Mike had was carrying the dang thing, he got the big speaker. We kidded him about needing a wheelbarrow to haul it around in. I'm gonna look at the small one.

As to conditioned coyotes, I have to deal with those as well. Seems everyone has a caller but few know how to use it these days. And most of my areas need a traffic light so the ranchers and oilfield workers don't collide. And of course everyone has to take a shot at em so trucks are "danger". We deal with what we have to, tis what it is. I'm just saying I do all right for now.

I want the WT for vocals mainly but then I think I'll need that big speaker and a wheelbarrow for the volume...

One thing i have to agree with you on is for the hunters that live in an area with high numbers for coyotes, they can get buy with any type of caller early in the season. But once the yoy are thinned out or called to once or twice i think the WT does a better job of convinceing them to come in.. I would love to help other callers out with how to properly use a WT but it would'nt be fare to my instructers or their students that either worked or paid for this info.. I used hand calls and a Dennis Kirk caller for years and yes i called coyotes but i also missed alot of them, due to not haveing the proper equipement and sounds and how to use them properly..I also have a Minaska big country and it has it place, but the WT is the one caller that has increased my called in and killed percentages...
I have another trip planned for later next month and willbe dealing with the hardheads, i will see how the WT works with them...good hunting...T.A.