What are good Coyote calls for a beginner?

[teddy12b]

I'm new, actually never done it before, but I plan to.  What type of calls are easy to use for a new guy?  Should I just get the electric or the regular calls.  What are the good brands of calls to get?  What should a guy look for?

[ken2222]

Hi...I don't have a great deal of experience but I'm getting involved with coyote since they are here on the farm. I found a recipe on line for a home brewed electronic call and I use some material from there that I downloaded to a MP3 player. This thing works GREAT and I have around $70. in it. If you'd like I'll get my material list around again.

Ken

[kevthebassman]

Teddy, where exactly are you at?  That makes a difference on what I'd recommend to you.

[teddy12b]

I'm in Indiana.  I'll likely be on public land or a farm.  I'm interested in any information that people are willing to share.

[Ladobe]

Personally, I think its a real shame when those new to predator hunting start off with electronic calls and don't learn how to use mouth calls first.   A lot of the challenge, enjoyment and sense of accomplishment in pitting your skills against theirs is lost.   And what do you do when you get out there and find the that electronic call won't work for some reason and you don't have or know how to use a mouth call?    I've managed to call predators very successfully for over 5 decades using only mouth calls - most of them that I made myself, and I am not a believer in wearing camo either (its all about set up).   

A closed (enclosed) reed mouth call is very easy to learn, and will often bring in predators with your first attempt at calling.   There are some very good (and cheap) commercial distress calls that are a great choice to learn with, and they will produce predators.   Eventually you'll want to get into open reed and howlers too as they add a bunch of versatility, new tricks to your bag and will extend your successful calling season.    A good intermediary call between the closed and open reeds is a bite call, which is easier to learn than the open reeds and howlers.    Eventually you may also want to get into using diaphragm calls, which are the hardest to learn (unless you've already learned how to use them for turkey, elk, etc).   Kind of a progressive thing where you have to learn how to crawl before you can walk and eventually run.   Skills learned in each step help you with the next one.

While all mouth call reeds are tunable to varying degrees, generally the wood barreled calls produce the best sounds in any predator call.   Wood adds resonance to the sound much better than man made materials do.   A good choice to start with is Dan Thompson's PC series, which are modeled after the old Weems calls.    Cheap, reliable and they produce very life like sounds.   Just pick the model that emanates the predominate prey species in your area.   Even the old Weems calls can be still be found on places like Ebay, but at a higher collector price than Dan's. 

Have fun. 

[kevthebassman]

Ladobe speaks wise words.  I started off with a little green circe caller and killed a few coyotes blowing with it.  Still have it and use it on occasion.

Just a few words of wisdom for you:  Eastern calling ain't gonna be like one of Randy Anderson's DVDs. We have bigger coyotes, but much fewer of them.  I just got back from a trip to Arizona where the calling is phenomenal.  A day with 10 called coyotes was the norm, not the exception.  Calling down there for a week, I saw more coyotes than I see in 3 years up in Missouri.

If you stick with it, you WILL call in a coyote, and with a little luck you'll kill it.  I myself call only during the winter when the fur is prime, I use a caliber which is fur friendly, (.17 Rem) and I skin everything I kill.  I treat coyotes like any other game animal.  I don't kill them just to get my rocks off, and I don't delude myself into thinking what I'm doing makes any sort of impact from an animal damage control point of view.

[Glanceblamm]

+1
and
+1

teddy12b
I would suspect that the little green circe caller that Kevthebassman speaks of may be made by Lohman and they are great if we are talking about the same one.
You should have a good supply of the Lohman, Faulk, Olt, and others in your area. Some may be marked Cottontail while others will be marked Jackrabbit. Do not overlook
A Jackrabbit call because even though they are not native to our area, the Coyotes seem to prefer a more raspy reed at times.

Ladobe really did hit the nail on the head regarding your question.
I went from Closed reed to bite types to open reads along with using a turkey diaphram and even a Mr. Squirrel call.
The thing is to not use the same one to many times in the same area. You either need a lot of stands in different areas or the versatility of being able to do some change-up calls
Which will put the Coyote more at ease and more likely to come in.

[skb2706]

For a simple to use open reed mouth call "Crit r calls" work very well.

and the Major is very helpful in getting you started

http://www.critrcall.com/order_form2.htm

[Sourdough]

Johnny Stewart makes rabbit distress calls that are the simplest to use and easy to master.  They also make a small open reed Coyote howler, The same size as their rabbit distress calls.  While their little howler is not the most versatile it is one of the easiest to use.  It can do barks, locator howls, challenge, and greeting howls, that sound like a young coyote.  While it will not do the deeper older howls, it is a good one to start with for a beginner.  And less expensive than some of the others ones.

[S.B.]

The older electronic calls are heavy and in my experience double reed calls freeze up faster in wet cold conditions. I personally like single reed mouth calls? You can even get some of the kind they use for turkeys to use as a distressed rabbit call?
Remember, no two coyotes sound exactly alike, they're all individuals.  Don't expect to see coyotes on every stand, be patient and keep calling. Good luck, Steve.

[teddy12b]

I ended up getting some kind of a regular mouth call and then a little cheapo mouse squeaker.  If I'd have know what the mouse squeaker was going to sound like I would have just taken one of my dogs toys.

[prairiedog555]

Is the screaming rabbit call best, or do you use a howler call, or both?

[S.B.]

A variety is best bet, tape the mouse squeaker to the forearm stock of your rifle? Where your fingers are resting naturally when shooting.

[navylawdog]

If you go to callingcoyotes.com they sell Randy Anderson calls on there. The hot dog and the lil dog are very versatile calls that can do all coyote howls including pups. Not to mention they can also do rabbit in distress calls all in one. I also suggest if you are a new coyote hunter to buy one of his instructional videos because he has a lot of good information to pass along.

Navylawdog

[Ladobe]

Is the screaming rabbit call best, or do you use a howler call, or both?

There is no "best" distress sound for predator calling, and although usually better at certain times of the year, no set in stone time that is best for howling.   Location, type of habitat, up to a point time of year and a host of other factors help you determine what "might" be the best sound to start with in a particular scenario.    Note I didn't include prey species present.    Predators can come to any sound that peaks their curiosity, whether its a distress or other sound they normally hear in nature or not.   I have two models of "fox whistles" from OZ that work sometimes when nothing else does, and I'm sure the predators here have never heard them before.   So using a jack rabbit distress in an area that only has cottontails is not going to stop predators from coming in all else being equal.   The most experienced and successful mouth callers carry and know how to use many different types of calls, how to produce many different sounds with any of them and also know to change up sequences and/or the sounds when one doesn't produce in a reasonable time frame.     There are few stands when only using distress mouth calls that I don't use at least two or three different sequences/sounds, and 2-3 times that many if howling or if doing howling and distress combined.     

[Cap'n Jon]

I didn't read thru all the post but the cheapest call is the back of your hand...Just kiss it and move your hand around as you do and you can make a few different sounds.  I've stopped coyutes past 300 yards with this. 

[MLP]

If you want to start out with mouth-blown calls, you will want to have a open-reed howler, an enlcosed-reed rabbit distress call and some type of coaxer/squeaker for close range.   BassProShops of Cabelas will have a variety of each type from manufacturers like Primos, Haydels, Johnny Stewart, Lohman. 

Instructional CD's and DVD's are available and sometimes included with the calls.  You can also check out the PredatorQuest TV series for a bit of inspiration.  [available online at]  http://www.predatorquest.com/

Practice.

M

[coyotehunter223]

My personal best:




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