Calling all Coyotes

I used to be a predator call snob. I bad-mouthed all the electronic callers and took to the fields with only a few of my favorite manual calls attached to a lanyard around my neck. I could get the attention of coyotes and fox by blowing through the reeds of a quality call then bring them in close with the sound I made by squeaking through my lips. I whacked a lot of varmints doing this.

It took some time but I fell under the spell of the electronic callers of today just because they are so efficient and sound so good. You can mix different calls and I love that. Add a decoy to the program and you can now kill a lot of animals compared to those good-old-days.

I recently acquired a FoxPro Shockwave and the ability to put the dog into the perfect shooting situation is what I find so advantageous. Here’s how.

When I was manually calling I was bringing the varmints to me. There were many times I had animals sneak up on me from behind and did not know they were there until I heard something and twisted around to check out the sound. 

Now I bring the animal to the call and the decoy. This will be positioned in a spot where I have the best chance at a perfect shot. With remote control allowing modification of the sounds, as well as the volume, call options seem endless.

If there is one negative aspect to an electronic call setup it might have you making fewer sets. You’ll feel compelled to vary calls and volume and use up time where there may not be any hungry or curious animals nearby. The electronic calls are efficient and will bring in nearby coyote and fox quickly, so decide how long you are going to make a set and stick to that.

May through June are great months to be predator hunting in the north where I live. The landscape is changing and the animals are on the move. The young males will be curious when they hear the sound of an intruder in their zone and all of the coyotes and fox will be feeding after the long winter and cold-wet spring.

Even with all the call options at your disposal the game plan should be minimal. The calling should be limited to high percentage sounds. Limit your howling to nighttime hunts. Use your squeak only when you have spotted a predator coming to the call. If you get a howl back put some time between the calls to pressure the animal into a closer inspection.

I still use manual calls. With them I can add to the electronic call by barking back at it or adding another crazy squeal or two. It all adds to the fascination factor and gets coyotes and fox to commit to the spot where you have made a set. 

I’ll be honest; I’ve gotten to the point where I might believe those electronic predator calls actually sound better than I do. Well, almost.

Does Anyone Go Outdoors Anymore?

In 1988 I had a red-shouldered hawk make a nest in a tree on my property. I watched this bird for many hours through binoculars as I sat in the woods barely concealed by the trunk of an oak tree. I monitored the majestic bird as it reared it’s young, hunted and kept a constant lookout over it’s territory.

That same year in the fall I spent a dozen days scouting in the woods where I was going to hunt deer. I set up mock scrapes, searched for rubs and well-worn trails and used binoculars to focus tightly on the whitetails that were potential targets.

Since the advent of trail cams, nest cams, den cams and other portable cameras their use has grown exponentially to the point where we don’t really have to go into the wild to see animals and birds anymore. We can quickly snatch a data card from a camera we hung on a tree or load a live feed from a web site on our computer, iPad or even a cell phone.

I use trail cameras, a lot, today. I do a tremendous amount of “scouting” now without even leaving my office. But lately I’m beginning to think that trail cameras and all these web sites that promote eagle, hawk and falcon nesting video or bear den video streams are ruining my outdoor experience. Really; why would I want to watch hours of a bear sleeping? But truly; watching mama feed her chicks a perch she just caught is, well, engrossing and it can keep me glued to the computer screen for many minutes.

Not too long ago I had to set some guidelines on how much I use my electronic equipment. I am a news hound so I would wake up in the morning, slide my iPad onto my lap and spend a couple hours reading the latest headlines from all the news sources. Then I would eat breakfast in front of the computer while checking out BLOGS and opinion sites. It got to the point where I felt something was lacking in the day if I didn’t get my screen time. I was becoming a personal-computer junkie. 

As I began to regulate my time each day on news and social media sites I realized I had the same disease when it came to outdoor cameras. These tools are handy but they did put me in a position where I spent less time actually outside. So now I must vow to turn that program around. I won’t kill the urge altogether because I like seeing eagle chicks fighting over a rodent carcass, but I do plan on actively scouting more this fall for deer and I’ll need to clean the lenses on the binoculars to get out and physically find some birds on my own. We should be looking for more excuses to get outside rather than finding ways to be surrounded by walls.

How Will This Heavy Hitting Winter Affect the Fishing When the Ice Goes Away?

Do extreme winters affect the fishing once the warm winds return, the snow dissipates and the ice melts? I put this question to Freshwater Fishing Hall of Famer Mr. Walleye, Gary Roach. He compared this winter to the winter of 1956 and stated that there must have been some global warming back then as well because one is a carbon copy of the other.

Roach spoke of never-ending cold temperatures mixed with heavy snows and high winds. He said there was no escaping the raw extremes. There was no global warming to blame the weather on back then so the bitter feelings were directed at Mother Nature. 

Roach was putting a few bucks in his pocket by working for a logging operation making fifty dollars a week. Unless the temperature dropped to 20 below zero you were cutting trees. The snow was so deep in some places it was hard to find the tree after it hit the ground. Clothing wasn’t as developed as today’s options so staying warm meant starting a fire every couple of hours to warm the spots where the frostbite was taking hold.

Roach credits this extreme winter of 1956 as the catalyst that pushed him into the Navy. Trying to get some feeling back into his extremities he headed for California where he joined the armed forces on his arrival. 

According to Mr. Walleye the extreme winter the upper Midwest has experienced this year could create some difficult fishing conditions for anglers if temperatures rise too quickly. Roach is worried the winter will hold on like last year and then temperatures will rise quickly causing rapid snow melt and loads of runoff.

Rivers will rise rapidly and run fast which always makes boat control on moving water difficult. The spawning migration is also disrupted which can mean a weak year class and affect fishing for years down the road.

In lakes, water levels are also apt to rise and this will spread the fish out instead of concentrating them in tighter groups on the limited structure shallower water affords.

Roach says river anglers need to get out before the snow melts to take advantage of the upstream migration before water levels and current pushes anglers into backwater areas. 

On lakes where water levels have risen use techniques that allow more areas to be searched, The objective is to cover ground looking for smaller schools of fish that are spread out on deeper weedlines and larger flats. 

Roach is expecting a later than usual ice out this year because there is a lot of snow to melt off of most lakes before the ice begins to disappear. Late ice outs means later spawn and later post-spawn transitions. This means peak fishing periods, if they occur will be two to three weeks later than normal. Last year was a late peak period so the timing should be about the same.

One good thing to come from this winter is that anglers were limited in their spots during the ice fishing season so harvest levels are likely down on most lakes. That means more fish when the ice is gone.

Call It What It Is -- Pollution

The country has had a tough winter. Bitter cold in places that never get cold. Heavy snow in spots that seldom see the white stuff. It has been a tough winter all over. But, that hasn’t stopped those that are pushing the global warming agenda from digging out all their ammunition to get every shot they can through every media outlet they can find to let people know that the reason for this horrendous weather is due to, well, global warming.

Maybe it is, and maybe it’s not, but over six in 10 people in a March Gallup poll said they don't think global warming will seriously threaten them during their lifetimes and when weather like we’ve had happens that number might just rise. 

The problem is when it’s freezing cold outside and someone is telling you the planet is warming it’s kind of like someone telling you pheasant numbers are down but you just happen to be hunting some of the best cover in the state. It’s tough to fathom at the time.

So, if I were the scientists, politicians and global warming ambassadors trying to spread the climate change message, I would keep my mouth tightly shut during times like these. Here’s why.

I believe certain people are swarming onto the global warming bandwagon because they see this issue as one that will scare people into realizing how much pollution we’re pumping into our atmosphere each year. If we believe we’re destroying the planet and will damage “the children” then we’ll get to alternative energy sources faster.

The problem with this bandwagon is when it gets stuck in a ten foot snow drift in sub-zero weather no one wants to be on it.

We need to call global warming what it is. Air pollution. Few would argue we pump too much pollution into the air through the things we need to power. But this problem cannot be solved by trying to make everyone feel guilty about making the planet’s temperature rise a few degrees over the next millennium. When the argument is positioned for an end result that is generations away, most people won’t care. That’s not a good solution to the problem.

And I’m sorry to all you alternative energy promoters out there. If we cover the entire planet in solar and wind generators it’s not enough to power even a small amount of what we need as a planet. Some day we’ll be crying the blues when our water is polluted with mercury from those light bulbs we were forced to use.

What’s the solution? Good question. Nuclear would work but too many in political power bow to the lobbies that would never want nuclear being used. Less energy consumption? There are a bunch of other countries ramping up their usage so conserving might make us feel good but have little impact as a whole.

I guess we just keep demonizing oil and gas and coal and someday when we can’t produce enough because old power plants will become obsolete with no replacements then we will be forced to shut down our energy using appliances.

I just hope that doesn’t happen during another winter like this one.