Predators Turned Prey

Photos courtesy of Tim Hovey

Our man Tim E. Hovey brings you another informative hunting story for our December issue of California Sportsman. Tim is a versatile outdoorsman, and displays his knowledge of calling devices to get close to predatory animals like coyotes, bobcats and fox.

Here’s Tim’s view on hand vs. electronic calls. Read the rest of his report in December’s CS:

In recent years there has been an amazing amount of product growth in both handheld calls and electronic calls. In my opinion, both types work equally well and have their place in chasing predators. I like the ease of using hand calls and carry a couple of my favorites to each stand. I also use an electronic call with a remote when I hunt solo or when I hunt in thicker cover. This gives me the ability to place the call and sound away from my location, tipping the advantage in my favor when I hunt by myself.
The sounds coming from your hand call don’t much matter. It just needs to sound woeful, injured and frantic. If you listened to a dozen callers using their favorite brand of hand call, they’ll all sound different. Just find one you’re comfortable with and practice.
The top-dollar electronic callers come with long-range remotes and, in my opinion, more digital calls than a caller will use in a lifetime. My caller holds 200 different sounds and I use three of them. While I do see the advantage of using the electronic calls in certain situations, you don’t need them to call in predators. I make most of my stands using hand calls.

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