Make The Right Call
Veteran predator hunter Fred Eichler has been calling, hunting, and trapping coyotes for nearly thirty-five years. It is no surprise that Eichler has absorbed a few tips and tricks that help give him the edge when calling in coyotes to shooting range during that time.
I recently sat down with Mr. Eichler to discuss calling tips, what he has learned over the years, and what he could share to help hunters bring predators to the call. Eichler remembers filming for his popular television show, Predator Nation, while in Nebraska, recalling that he played a rabbit in distress sound on an electronic caller on the first calling stand of the trip. “On the first stand, we had three coyotes responding to the call, yet they soon blasted on through the area until they were six hundred to seven hundred yards away,” said Eichler. Even though his cameraman was encouraging him to shoot, Eichler wanted to see if he could call them back into close range. “I changed the sound from a rabbit in distress to a puppy sound, and dang if they didn’t come running back in, and I made the shot,” explained Eichler.
After switching sounds, bringing the three coyotes back into range, Eichler questioned the landowner to see if anybody else had been calling on the same property. “When I asked the landowner if anybody else had been hunting, he answered by saying, “yeah, a couple of young boys had been hunting the week before.” He then tracked down the two young boys and asked them if they had done any good when they hunted. The boys answered by saying that they did call in a couple of coyotes. However, they had shot a couple of times and missed. When Eichler found out that they had missed, he questioned them by asking what sound they had used. You guessed it, a rabbit in distress.
Be Unique and Don’t Repeat
When coyotes get spooked, shot at, or smell something they don’t like, they remember it. “That was the first time I realized how smart coyotes can be,” said Eichler. Since that day, Eichler has witnessed what he says is one of the most common mistakes amongst predator hunters. “I rarely use a rabbit in distress anymore when calling,” stating that most predator hunters use the same few sounds, such as a distressed rabbit. Since the rabbit is overused, coyotes have adapted to this sound as a potential danger and often move away from the call. Eichler explained he recently has been keeping track of where he goes and what sounds he uses in each specific area. “It may be a calf bleat, woodpecker in distress, or turkey in distress; whatever it is, I make a note of what I used so that if I go there again, I don’t use the same sound.” His harvest count has increased by switching up sounds and playing sounds that do not educate coyotes.
Recently Eichler worked with Western River Game Calls to produce a line of electronic calls with features and sounds that he thought would help other hunters harvest more predators. “I wanted features into a call that would help call in all types of predators,” described Eichler, adding that he had recently called in a mountain lion that came within inches of the caller.
“When we began working on the signature series calls, I began recording unique sounds that were different from other callers I had used in the past. I recorded sounds such as chickens, dogs yelping, and rodents. We put sounds on the new call that coyotes haven’t heard before,” explained Eichler. He credits the unique sounds for calling in even the hard-to-hunt coyotes who have become educated to familiar sounds.
Control The Volume
Another feature that Eichler inspired in the new Western Rivers Fred Eichler Signature Series Electronic Game Call was a fifty percent volume reduction button on the remote. “I think another one of the most common mistakes from predator callers is calling too loud. Many hunters get out there and hunt and blast the speakers; they think if loud is good, louder is better,” Eichler explained. He then went on to say that educated coyotes can pick up on hunters when they are calling too loud. Eichler stated that when hunters play an electronic caller too loud, the speakers will often crack and pop, which educated coyotes can pick up on. “When a rabbit, rodent, or something is dying in mother nature, the sound decreases as the animal is dying. When I have a coyote coming into the call, I often push that fifty percent button and immediately reduce the volume. By reducing the volume, the distress sounds seem more realistic, and it sucks a coyote into close range,” added Eichler.
Close Range and High Quality
The last mistake that predator hunters often make is placing their electronic call too far from where they are sitting. Eichler suggested putting the call at a minimum of twenty yards out to a maximum of eighty yards. Eichler said he usually tries to attract coyotes into close range for shooting and filming purposes when placing the electronic call. If the call is too far from where the hunter is sitting, coyotes can often be out of shooting range if they hang up out away from the caller. If the call is in closer range and a coyote hangs up, it is likely still in shooting range. Another mistake from having the call farther is like Eichler earlier explained of hunters calling too loud. When the hunter can’t hear the call from where they are sitting, they often want to turn up the volume. The sounds are then being played too loud for predators to respond comfortably. As Eichler explained, a coyote can hear the sounds from two to three times farther if a human can hear the sounds. To get more coyotes to respond, keep the caller at a lower volume.
Fred explained a final tip for beginning predator hunters to get the most out of their call: quality matters. When choosing an electronic call, if the quality is not there, the chance of poor speaker performance and the deliverance of the sounds are likely. Incorporating this tip along with Eichler’s other tricks is sure to help predator hunters raise their harvest count.