The dawn air is so cold and crisp that you can feel the ice crystals accumulating in your nostrils with each vapor-clouding breath. The humidity is so low that the bone-dry snow squeaks with each step you take, trying to walk quietly toward your destination, a small knoll that's downwind and overlooks a dense balsam swamp.
Once there, you find a suitable place to sit with your back against a large ash tree. Then, it's "showtime," as the frigid air is shattered by the screams of a rabbit in the clutches of some predator. However, the "show" is just that ... as there is no real rabbit nor is there an attacking predator. It's all part of your plan to make any real predator hearing it believe that it might be an easy ticket to a free meal, and come to investigate the commotion. You're now the roadrunner, waiting for Wile E. Coyote.
The technique of calling game is not new, as it dates back to aboriginal times when early hunters learn that by mimicking the sounds of various wildlife species, the game might come to investigate. However, unlike other calling practices which mimic the vocalizations the game being sought makes, enticing predator species revolves around imitating the sounds made by its primary prey, or rather that prey being attacked and in distress. So, in essence, the hunter actually becomes the hunted.
My introduction to predator calling dates back to 1959, when I read an ad for a mouth-blown call called the Pied Piper. At that time we had an overabundance of foxes in our area, and the thought of being able to entice one in by calling fascinated me. A couple weeks later and my first-ever predator call arrived in the mail. I'd heard cottontail rabbits squeal before, when I'd remove one from a homemade box trap. So I knew what sounds to make on the call. Back then, there was no closed season on foxes, a result of a recent rabies epidemic in the state, but it being late December, I could immediately start field-testing my new adventure when fox pelts were prime.
An hour after sunset I set up in a high-ridge pasture near a bordering woods that had been heavily logged and was a popular location for foxes to hunt. I gave a series of calls and settled in to wait, my anticipation running high. Ten minutes later, nothing had appeared, so I gave another series of rabbit squeals and waited. Was this going to really work, or was it just a facade to get my money? My answer came quickly – a red fox came trotting around the base of a stump and headed straight toward me. A load of high-brass 2s dropped the prime furbearer in its tracks – my first-ever fox, and an appropriate "present" since it was December 24, Christmas Eve.
A lot has changed since that night of a half century ago. Coyotes probably now equal foxes in abundance in our area, and like many hunting endeavors, the equipment used has made huge advances. The age of electronics and microchips now means the predator hunting caller no longer needs to depend on a mouth-blown call, as electronic calling units offering an selection of pre-recorded sounds are available. Coupled with "live-action decoys" that attract the predator's visual attention, predator calling is now well within almost any hunter's reach. But there are a few disclaimers. Of primary importance is attention to the predominant wind. Even a hungry predator will normally approach the calling site from downwind, checking the wind-blown scent to see what it might encounter besides the prey it hears. This is especially true of coyote and red fox, lesser so with grey fox. Ideally, the downwind view from the calling site should be relatively open so the hunter can spot any predator moving in to wind-check the area. Coyote and red fox, like deer and bear, depend more on their nose than their eyes to survive. Placing a battery-operated motion decoy where an approaching predator readily spots it may help lure it closer before it enters the downwind scent stream.
This is another feature predators have in common with deer – their ability to detect movement. So it's imperative that the caller-hunter remain perfectly still when waiting at a calling site. This means dressing warmly and choosing a comfortable position such as an inflatable hunting cushion and a large tree to lean back against that also breaks up his silhouette. Portable blinds are nice, but are quite bothersome to carry, repeatedly set up, and then take down, since the caller-hunter usually moves to a new calling site every 30 minutes or so.
Compared to fox, coyotes are large animals, so if the hunter anticipates or is targeting coyotes, he'll need an appropriate gun and load. When snow is on the ground, my personal preference is a .22 caliber centerfire scoped rifle since it allows me to reach out farther than a shotgun loaded with large pellets would. But if the best location's cover is relatively dense, a 12- or 10-gauge full choke and No. 4 buckshot is a good choice. The Dead Coyote loads being made by Hevi-Shot are excellent and extend your shotgun's effective range to about 50 yards. For fox, a rimfire .22 (long rifle or magnum) or shotgun loaded with No. 2s will get it done.
Some hunters are trying the coyote howler calls, either mouth-blown or electronic, but it's been my experience that howls are best used to locate where coyotes are, and are not all that effective in luring them in. I still rely on the rabbit-in-distress call to attract and bring them into range. Two other call sounds that can be effective on coyote are the fawn-in-distress and fox-pup-in-distress. In reality, most any sound that mimics a small animal or bird that's being attacked by something may draw a predator's attention and cause them to come in to investigate.
While snowmobiling, skiing and ice fishing take center stage during winter, hunters looking for some excitement can't go too wrong by trying their hand at predator calling. It's a whole lot better than waiting around for spring and the Mat gobbler season to arrive.