Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting California Hunters Check In Here

Winnie, seeing is half the fun. (OK, one quarter )

Tip o' the day: Carry a small predator call handy around your neck.

I tuck mine between buttons into my shirt so that it doesn't bounce around and clack against my binocs. But it flips right out and is ready in an instant.
I don't go afield without one.

The one below is great for this use. It's small (<2.5"), so can go unnoticed all day, and the foam lip seal is very comfortable.


Its value for calling predators, perhaps during off hours while hunting other game, is obvious.
Even more important to me during big game season- a blast on a call can halt a moving buck. I've taken a half dozen deer with this trick.
I've not bothered to try to stop a buck that is running scared from me, but it works like a snake charmer's flute on unaware animals, even those that are otherwise concentrating on following their deerly beloveds.

I hate shots at walking targets. Just last year I boofed such a shot at an antelope: I was prone over my daypack, swiveling to track him. Just as the last ounce of trigger pressure came through, the friction between pack and stock changed and my rifle squirted forward, sending the shot in front of the buck's chest.

Nearly any sound can work, of course. But I can't whistle (Yeah, I heard her, too: "You just put your lips together and... blow.") And any human-made sound that can reach out to 300 yards with power requires movement and effort. I can be snuggled up to my rifle, aimed and ready, and give a loud blast on a hands-free call like the above without [much] disturbing my position. Buck stops to look, KABOOM.

To speak to your hunt: Either of those bucks might have turned to a squeal from a call, perhaps enough to allow a sure killing shot.