Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints Wildlife Tech caller - still worth having for the sounds?

From all that I have read many people in the past have bought the Wildlife Technologies callers for the realism of their sounds. The Mighty Atom 21 is sold with 120 sounds for about the same price the Foxpro's CS-24 with 100 sounds. But with the new Mark II sound series, is the Mighty Atom still worth buying for the realistic sounds? I read that some of the FP's new sounds are just as good, and the CS-24 unit itself appears far more feature reach and user configurable. In 2008 and even 2010, people bought WT for the sounds. It is 2011; what do you think nowadays?
No flame wars please, just educated (preferably on personal experience) opinions.

Buy an e-caller with the features you need, not for the "quality" of the sounds. You are correct, in my opinion, the CS-24 jumped ahead of the WT's. With all that said, I wonder how we called in hundreds of coyotes with our old Johnny Stewart 501's and cassette tapes. The proof is always in the field.

Bobcat, I don't disagree with "we've hunted the old way before and don't have to have all the fancy stuff", paraphrasing what you said. I am ashamed to admit it but I just don't have the time to learn the intricacies of calling, and have very limited time to hunt off work, but plenty of evenings for "internet hunting", and want to get a good caller for those few weekends this fall when I can break away from everything and go in the field. If one or the other can get me stranded with dead batteries after an hour, or the sounds are not good - helps to know to get the most out of the limited opportunities. This is why I am asking this. I can buy either one, and the choice is available, so I figured I'd ask the luckier ones who had time to hunt and have used both - what should I get. BTW, weren't you a proponent of WT in the past?
Thanks for your input!

I've had both WT and Fox Pro's, just sold my WT this summer and I had used it primarily for the coyote vocals. That was pretty much the only reason I kept the caller for as long as I did. Fox Pro's have better and more features and now the coyote vocals are nearly as good as the WT's.. The realism is just as good on the Fox Pro, and now the choice of vocals is just as good too. I had the FX5 before the CS-24, and now that I got it and the new Fox Pro vocals, it was easy for me to sell the WT..

Customer service isn't even in the same league, sadly, Fox Pro smokes WT when the need comes.

OK, I have used both, and that includes almost all the FP models. The CS-24 is better than the WT's today. You can do just as well with a Wildfire though. If budget is not a concern just get the CS-24 and go calling. You still need to learn the intricacies of calling to be successfull like working the wind and how to set up properly. An e-caller is not a magic pill.

Bob

I totally understand that and will be learning. Just like so many others, I want to get the right equipment the first time, even if it is more expensive. Thank you for the recommendations, both Bob and TRnCO.
I was going to ask the same on predatormasters but afraid it would be another flame war.

I've owned or used both. Heck, I even hunted a couple days with TRnCO while he used his WT caller and I used my FP caller. TR care to comment on which caller called in the most coyotes? I'm just harassing him, but the truth is, both are good e-callers. However I will stick with my CS-24 caller. I like to have a variety of sounds. I have sounds from a lot of different sources on my CS-24, with the WT caller you get what they give you and that's it. You can't program it, the customer service is hit and miss, the quality of Mighty Atom leaves a lot to be desired as well. I fretted over which to buy until I held a Mighty Atom in my hands and then the decision was easy. The CS-24 is better built, much lighter, and programmable. That last feature being a major issue for hunter's like me. I can add or delete sounds, and re-arrange them in any order I want.

Try to spend the time and learn how to hand call...it's always a good ace in the hole. A guy would be surprised how many callers out hunting have never hand called in a coyote.

I tried, have a open reed hand call. Can't say I succeeded but those coyotes that were in sight didn't run away. Neither did they run towards me though. I took that as a partial success. I will practice more with hand calls but with the little time I have to go hunting, I thought an e-call might help.
I found a local deal on a WT 2030 for $350 with some 32 sounds and wonder if it is worth it.

I get real tired of packing a large caller and am using a Minaska M-1 Bandit, a new FP Scorpion with the presets and a JS Attractor/mouth call in combination. I don't try and call coyotes out into the open but head into the cover and cal them into an openning. The country I call is heavily hunted and it is much more productive to let them stay in the cover where they feel safe. Just about anything that makes a decent sound will call coyotes in those conditions as long as you can get in, set up without out spooking anything.

In more open country I just add an auxilary speaker to my small calls if I need more volume which is seldom as coyotes have much better hearing that we give them credit for.

erich

Paul, don't be tricked into thinking that $300 or $400 dollar e-caller is an end all to coyotes that won't come to a call. Just because you saw coyotes that didn't come to your hand calls does not mean that you did anything worng. Play the game long enough and you'll have the same results with an ecaller. Some times it don't matter what sounds you use, they just won't come.

It's when you can see them and they run when you call that makes you really scratch your head.

I'm in your camp now Big Sky..No more WT for me either..

TRnCO, I am not obsessing over those two. They just were busy doing whatever it it was they were doing. I will keep my hand calls handy but I like the idea of placing e-caller away from where I am sitting so that coyotes don't stare straight at me when they come. They make me nervous when they stare
BTW - why no more WT for you? Did you go for the cs24?

yip, bought a used CS-24...

Well, I ended up buying a used WT 2010 with 40 sounds. Should be good for a beginner, if I get addicted I will upgrade and use the 15 watt TOA horn from the WT at the second horn on the CS24. The remote is not as fancy as on the CS but I think I can manage. If I bought the CS, what would I have to look forward to?..

A couple features that the CS has that the WT doesn't: a Timer,...it's nice to be able to see how long you've been on stand.
The CS remote doesn't "go to sleep" like the WT remote. In other words, after a couple of minutes with your favorite sound playing on the WT, you decide to change sounds or MUTE the caller, etc....you have to turn on the remote first then change sounds or MUTE...I hated that when I had mine.
You have to tape a sound list on the back of the WT remote or have an excenllent memory. Simply scroll through the sounds on the CS to the one you want.
The WT doesn't show you what volume level you're playing. Place that caller 50 or 100 yards away from you and you'll be left wondering if it's loud enough or even working unless it's loud and the WT only had 6 volunme levels to choose from, and the CS has something like 30.

That's the primary list of differences that I found to like about the CS and dislike about the WT.

The WT I have does not have the sleep feature, it is the FRS radio remote. I read a lot about the features of the CS24 and think I will get it next year. This WT is programmable so I can install my own sounds, and has a 15 watt TOA speaker, so it is not much of a handicap aside from fairly simple remote.
I am sure I would love the CS but it is not every day you can buy an old programmable WT, so I went for it. I like the way it sounds, and the TOA horn can serve in the future as a second speaker for CS24 or backup unit.