MY TEAM OUTDOORSMEN ADVENTURES MEMBERS AND I HAVE FILMED NUMEROUS PREDATOR HUNTS, SOME WERE SUCCESSFUL, WHILE OTHERS DIDN’T WORK OUT SO WELL.
WE CALLED COYOTES, BOBCATS, FOX WITH A MOUNTAIN LION BEING A POSSIBILITY, WITH EACH SITUATION REQUIRING SOMETHING DIFFERENT!
CAMOUFLAGE AND SCENT CONTROL, WHEN HUNTING PREDATORS IS VERY IMPORTANT, AS THE PREDATORS NOSE AND EYES ARE SO MUCH BETTER THAN OURS, THEY’LL PICK YOU OUT BEFORE YOU EVER GET SET UP.
AT TIMES, WHILE HUNTING IN AN AREA WITH A LOT OF CEDARS, I TOOK SOME BRANCHES HOME AND STORED THEM WITH MY HUNTING CLOTHES, GIVING ME A SCENT THAT THE PREDATOR WON’T BE SPOOKED BY.
WE CALLED PREDATORS IN SOUTH DAKOTA, IOWA AND NEBRASKA AND KANSAS!
WE USED A COMBINATION OF CALLS INCLUDING THE ICOTEK ELECTRONIC 300 + CALL WITH DECOY, RANDY ANDERSON’S PRIMOS MOUTH CALLS AS WELL AS OTHERS.
PREDATOR CALLING ISN’T THAT DIFFICULT, BUT WHAT A LOT OF HUNTERS NEW TO THE SPORT START OUT IS BY CALLING TOO LOUD, IF THE PREDATORS ARE CLOSE BY, THIS WILL SURELY SPOOK THEM.
ONCE THEY’RE COMING YOUR WAY, THEY MAY HAVE A TENDANCY TO SIT DOWN, OUT OF RIFLE RANGE TO CHECK THINGS OUT.
THIS MIGHT BE A GOOD TIME TO TRY A LOW COYOTE HOWL, LETTING THEM THINK, THERE’S ANOTHER PREDATOR HEADING TOWARDS THE CALL.
ONCE THE PREDATOR GETS CLOSE AND, HANGS UP, IT’S A GOOD IDEA TO USE YOUR MOUSE SQUEEZER, NOT LOUD, JUST LOUD ENOUGH TO GET ITS ATTENTION.
COYOTES AND ALL PREDATORS, INCLUDING MAN, USE THE LANDSCAPE FOR COVER TO BREAK UP THEIR OUTLINE, BY MOVING SLOWLY THROUGH TREES, DRAWS AND VEGETATION TO GET CLOSER.
MANY OF OUR PREDATOR FILMING SHOWS WERE ONE ON RESERVATION GROUND, WITH TEAM MEMBER BEN BEARSHIELD, LARRY MYHRE AND I, WHILE OTHERS WERE WITH BILL CHRISTENSEN, MYSELF AND LARRY MYHRE.
BESIDES BEING A TEAM MEMBER, BEN WAS A RESERVATION GAME WARDEN AND HAD A KEEN KNOWLEDGE OF THE TERRAIN ON THE RESERVATION!
ON ONE OF OUR FIRST HUNTS, BEN WAS USING A MOUTH CALL, WHILE I WAS TO HIS LEFT, WITH LARRY ON THE RIGHT. I HAD MY ICOTEC DECOY OUT IN FRONT OF US, USING THE DECOY TO ADD SOMETHING FOR THE PREDATORS TO ZOOM IN ON.
WE WERE ON A RISE OVERLOOKING A DRY DAM WITH HEAVY TREES AND VEGETATION ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE.
BEN HADN’T FINISHED HIS FIRST SERIES OF CALLS, WHEN TWO COYOTES CHARGED OVER THE DAM, HEADING OUR WAY.
WE’D FIGURED THEY’D ZERO IN ON THE DECOY, INSTEAD, THEY CHARGED RIGHT PAST IT, I WHISPERED TO BEN THAT WE’D BETTER TAKE THEM, BUT HE THOUGHT HE COULD STOP THEM BELOW US BY WHISTLING.
THEY KEPT COMING, WITH NO INTENTION OF SLOWING DOWN.
THEY TURNED AND HIGH TAILED IT BEFORE LARRY AND BEN COULD GET A SHOT.
IN ANOTHER HUNT, MY ICOTEC 300+ ELECTRONIC DECOY WAS OUT WITH IT’S DECOY, DOING WHAT IT WAS MEANT TO DO, VIBRATING IN EVERY DIRECTION.
ONCE AGAIN, WE WERE HUNTING THE RESERVATION SETTING ON A HILLSIDE LOOKING DOWN THROUGH THE OPENING IN THE TREES WITH A PATCH OF GRASS OFF TO OUR RIGHT. BEN HAD SPOTTED TWO BOBCATS BELOW, HE LEANED OVER, TELLING LARRY AND I, WE COULDN’T SHOOT BECAUSE THAT SEASON WAS CLOSED.
BEN KEPT CALLING, HOPING TO GET THEM
CLOSER FOR BETTER FOOTAGE AND VIDEO.
BEN CALLED FOR SEVERAL MINUTES, WHEN WE NOTICED THE GRASS OFF TO OUR RIGHT MOVING, A BOBCAT CAME INTO VIEW, SETTING DOWN, LOOKING AT US, WHERE WE DID GET SOME BEAUTIFUL VIDEO AND PICTURES ON THIS TRIP!
ONCE IN CENTRAL NEBRASKA, WITH ONE OF THE CONSERVATION OFFICERS FROM BASSET, NEBRASKA, WE SET UP JUST ABOVE THE DISMAL RIVER.
LARRY AND I WERE PERCHED ON A RISE FACING THE WEST WHILE OUR OTHER HUNTER WAS FACING THE RIVER.
HE WAS CALLING AND IT DIDN’T TAKE LONG, BEFORE HIS RIFLE CRACKED WHEN A BOBCAT CAME UP FROM THE RIVER.
I MENTIONED EARLIER, THAT YOU MIGHT END UP CALLING A MOUNTAIN LION, AND THAT’S WHAT HAPPENED ON SOME LAND I LEASED ABOUT A MILE FROM THE RIVER.
WE WERE TURKEY HUNTING, WITH LARRY ON THE EAST SIDE IN THE HILLS, WHILE I WAS LOCATED BELOW THE TREE LINE ON A HILL TO THE WEST.
LARRY HAD A FLOCK OF TURKEYS HEADING HIS WAY WHEN THE BIRDS PANICKED AND FLEW INTO A TREE.
SHORTLY THERE AFTER. A MOUNTAIN LION HAD SLID UNDER THE FENCE LOOKING FOR THE BIRDS, OF COURSE LARRY QUIT CALLING AND SLID DEEPER INTO THE CEDAR TREE.
EVEN WITH THE FUR PRICES LOW, HUNTERS NEED TO TAKE SOME OF THE PREDATORS OUT, AS PREDATORS ARE HARD ON PHEASANTS, WATERFOWL AND FAWNS.
