Using hand calls effectively

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Volunteer78

New member
New to predator hunting I've been posting in all sections like crazy just trying to get some knowledge. I am thinking of getting an e caller but have some hand calls. Question is when is it best to use hand calls and can you be effective with hand calls only or like many great members have pointed out to me that both electronic and hand calls are best so you can be versatile in a given situation. When using handcalls would a stand alone decoy pull attention away from me making the sound or will most predators focused on the sound. In my state e calls are legal except for fox, you must use hand calls to call in fox. Idk Why but that's the law.
 
The biggest negative of handcalling to me is the predator is focused on where the sound is coming from (YOU). Limiting your movement is key as well as the probability of being back doored is greater.
Electronic calls with remotes can allow you the ability to get away with a little more movement as well as play the wind better since the sound isn't coming from where you are sitting.

Just my opinion.
 
I’ve found that they will focus,… No,… PINPOINT where the sound is coming from with incredible accuracy. As an example, and to the point of your question, ….

Say you are handcalling, and you have a stationary decoy out, and a coyote hears you and comes in, If you are at a silent point in your calling when it comes into view it MAY focus on your decoy if it sees it.

Same scenario, but you are still making sounds when the coyote comes into view, chances are good that you are going to be the focus of that coyote’s attention. Not the decoy.

Nothing is ever 100% in this game. Experience is the best teacher. You gotta have a certain amount of “Stick” to become successful at this type of hunting. If you are easily discouraged, or you’re the type to try and take shortcuts to success this might not be for you. If you have enough “Stick” and pay attention to all of the things that these experienced folks are telling you, it is an incredibly addictive sport. Good luck!
 
Many coyotes go into a instant panic when you give them two things to think about at the same time. I have used decoys quite a bit and they work much better if the sound is coming out within 12" or less of the decoy. If the sound is coming out a foot or more away from the decoy then you are giving the coyote more than one thing to think about.

Many coyotes that I have called in will stop and look at the decoy as soon as they see it, even with the sound and decoy in the same spot.
 
0168 calls it 'stick' I call it 'BONEHEADEDNESS". As an example, When I first started this game, it was only legal to use lights here in PA. I kept track of my sets UNTIL I went 184 sets without seeing a coyote's eyes from the last sighting. I don't have a clue how many more sets I made before seeing another.
 
jmeddy said:
0168 calls it 'stick' I call it 'BONEHEADEDNESS". As an example, When I first started this game, it was only legal to use lights here in PA. I kept track of my sets UNTIL I went 184 sets without seeing a coyote's eyes from the last sighting. I don't have a clue how many more sets I made before seeing another.
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Call it whatever you want to call it, but I truly believe you need to be of a slightly off kilter personality to really be serious at this game! Lol. Gotta have a passion for tormenting yourself until it finally comes together.
 
I guess I’m a bit different. The fun in predator calling for me is having them roll right in on me. Love getting them close and ain’t afraid to do it. I want them to pinpoint me and the challenge is getting them to keep coming and get as close as I want them. Even when running an E caller I’ll keep it beside me or put to one side sometimes. Yep you can get back doored or busted but that’s not a big deal to me. Sometimes I pick em up and sometimes I don’t. I kinda despise walking a caller out into the open and walking back and all that.. just not my cup of tea sometimes.
 
All really good info above. I use both often starting a stand by hand call then answering with an ecall. I put call out as far as my controller will reach. I want them not looking at me. Rarely will I set caller in the open, I prefer a bush or cactus patch. Make them search for it. There is really no magic as stated above. Trail and error along with persistance. Let’s back up a bit 1st cause it’s easy to get discouraged. The closer you can get to them the easier they will be to call. So you’ve got to scout find tracks, turds or other coyote sign. Go out at night and locate either by howls or a siren. Remember if it’s late they may already be moving. So when I get a hit at night a coyote howling back I return in the morning and locate them again . Then you’ll know or have a good idea where they are layin up. Then be cautious of the wind and get in close as you can. Best of luck to you its pretty easy to get hooked on this.
 
As far as them pin pointing where the sound WAS coming from, everyone is spot on. Was calling with Kerry Carver while he was filming his DVD. We had a coyote coming in so I muted the call to slow the coyotes approach. That coyote walked straight up to the exact bush/tree I had the call in. Surprised the hell out a me with the accuracy the coyote had with the call muted, and it's all on film.
 
crapshoot said:
As far as them pin pointing where the sound WAS coming from, everyone is spot on. Was calling with Kerry Carver while he was filming his DVD. We had a coyote coming in so I muted the call to slow the coyotes approach. That coyote walked straight up to the exact bush/tree I had the call in. Surprised the hell out a me with the accuracy the coyote had with the call muted, and it's all on film.
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I remember that stand.. We need to do it again..
 
Everyone else has covered it fairly well but il add my 2 cents.
My approach is a lot like lonehowls. I like getting my coyotes close to me so even when running an e call it's not more than 30 yards away.
As for using hand calls as a stand alone I do probably half or more of my coyote stands with the e call still in the truck.
Have a good position to sit and don't make sudden movements and the coyotes will often look right at me but keep coming as they can't place what I am sitting against a bush or snowdrift.
I use hand calls at all times of the year and have success at all times as well.
 
Guys this is an awesome thread full of darn good info!!! Will this be similar setups I would use calling bobcats and since fox (for some reason can only be hunted by hand calls that is a no brainer really. But should I use both types when trying to call in a bobcat?
 
Can’t use E calls on gray fox in California either. Almost nobody knows that there.
Reds are off limits altogether.
 
I set up at the head of a large valley facing N, and started hand calling. Within seconds, a coyote pops around the hill to the NE of me, maybe 1,500yds out, and starts coming my way. I never made another sound, since she was on her way in.

She dropped down into the valley and I lost sight of her. Moments later, I could see ears, then the head, then the body, and she stops and stares at me from about 30yds, when I shot her.

From a distance of 1,500yds, with only my first sequence of calling, about 15-20 seconds worth, she knew exactly where I was calling from.

I use handcalls 95% of the time. I hunt some pressured public lands, and using a handcall sets me apart from the Foxpro-Luckyduck-Iotec users.

My thought is, on public lands, many new coyote hunters walk into the field, sit down and turn on the e-caller, without understanding things like the wind or how the lay of the land can influence the stand.

An example I use is calling in an open area, say a pasture, so you can see well, but there is a brushy creek bottom 150yds downwind of the stand. The guy might have called in 4 coyotes, but they all used the cover to get downwind, and the guy doesn't see a single coyote.

So, those 4 coyotes have all heard the exact same call associated with human scent. I suspect those coyotes will be a bit harder to call in again, using that same caller and sound. With a different e-caller, or a handcaller, those coyotes might respond better.
 
I use both, in terrain I can see for some distance I'll use a hand call. My ability to use hand calls is a fairly recent thing 15 years as I was a long time asthmatic. For areas a coyote can pretty much pops in unannounced e-caller.

I do use decoys with e-calls. Twice I've had coyotes launch themselves and grab the decoy 4-5 ft off the ground with the caller in the same bush and twice I've had coyotes rip the caller out of the bush under the decoy. I've also had a couple coyote come up to a caller/decoy combo up in a bush and sit down and stare at them and another walk circles around them looking at the caller/decoy combo. I usually shoot them before they get a chance to display these characteristics, it would be interesting sometime to spend a year calling and see how they react if you didn't shoot them.

For most of my stands I really prefer to be able to elevate both the decoy and the caller.
 
Spurchaser said:
Good Lawd! You hunting a barren landscape? That’s almost a mile away. Was that with a thermal?
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Years ago I called in a coyote from three miles away doing the same thing - one loud series on the hand call and here she came, leaving a trail of dust across three flat sections of barren desert. Like K22, I killed her at about 30 yards after not making a sound after the first series. That's when I really gained some respect for these critters' hearing abilities.
 
Many of the areas on the Eastern Plains of Colorado let you see a looong way.

That was not with a thermal. It was early afternoon.

Another time, I was calling and saw a pair coming in my direction through my bino's. I could not see them with the naked eye, even on snow, they were so far away. They did come in and a fellow PM member I took with killed one of them, his first coyote.

A coyotes ability to triangulate the location of the calling is amazing to me, even with a short calling sequence.
 
Amazing and they must be awfully hungry/mad to expend that much energy for a rabbit OR a fight. Here, not only can't I personally see a mile, but no one can that isn't in a plane-tehee.
 


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