Thank You, Mr. Postman

You just never know what arrive in the mail. Today, out of the blue, a new friend sent me a Tally-Ho predator call.

Although I have read about Tally-Ho calls in magazine articles I’ve edited – mostly by Gerry Blair – I had never held one in my hands or blown one. Well, now I have. It didn’t take me long for my house to be filled with sounds of a wailing rabbit, and I even belted out a few yips and howls with the little black open-reed call.

Of course, my 6-year-old daughter was on my hip quickly begging for her turn to make it squeal. She likes to blast my crow call and has succeeded in summoning a cloud of black crows to circle our house, so she always comes running whenever I’m testing a call. I must say, she sounded OK on the Tally-Ho, too.

A quick search on the Web gave me a little history lesson about Tal Lockwood, the South Dakota man who invented this call. The information card that came with the call gives basic instruction of how to use it, and ends with the following statement: “Once you call in your first animal, you will be hooked on the sport for life.”

Nailed it.

Break Free of Your Routine

Technique of the Week: People are creatures of habit. Most of us get up at the same time each day, eat lunch at the same time, go to bed at the same time, etc.

A few predator hunters I know also run their calling loop the same each day they hunt. They call the “old blowdown” first, then move to “green field” stand and so on, no matter what the conditions.

Well, consider for a moment that coyotes, bobcats and foxes are creatures of habit, too. The pair of coyotes that lives in the territory with the “old blowdown” might be in the routine of spending daybreak at a watering hole two miles away. If that’s the case, the hunter might never call that pair, even though the coyotes are in the area every day.

Vary your routine. If you call a certain stand at dawn one day, consider calling it late morning or midday the next time, or save it for the last hour of light. Another good reason to try a location at different times is that different animals might use an area in the afternoon vs. morning.

Certainly, factors such as sun direction and wind should be taken into account when considering the optimum time to call a given location. Still, when possible, try to mix up the time of day you call your standard predator calling loop.

Man Shot While Calling Predators

Nick Pallo, 29, of Palmyra, N.Y., was seriously injured Dec. 17 when the friend he was hunting predators with pulled the trigger on a fox standing between the two men.

According to Pallo’s explanation of the events on Trapperman.com, his partner John Murphy of Victor, N.Y., was confused because Pallo was playing a recording of a mouth-blown predator call. Pallo had set the electronic player a long distance in front of himself, then backed into the brush to wait for predators to respond. Pallo said Murphy had never hunted that spot with him. The incident happened at 10:30 p.m.

Pallo took two rounds of pellets from a 12 gauge shotgun from about 65 yards away. He reported that he has 15 or so pellets still lodged in his body. The shot hit his face, neck, arms, hands, chest and legs. He has a ¾-inch gash across his left eye.

Pallo, a professional animal damage control officer, is expected to need several surgeries to repair the damage. He is expected to recover, but will miss many months of work.

For more information, go to the trapperman.com message forums or nytrappers.proboards80.com.

I certainly wish Pallo a speedy recovery.

2nd World Predator Expo Slated for Ohio

The dates and location for second World Predator & Hunting Expo have been decided, show promoter and founder Brent Rueb announced Saturday.

The Expo is slated for March 19 to 21, 2010, in Columbus, Ohio. The event will feature the latest in predator hunting gear, hunting seminars from top professionals and a championship calling competition.

The Predator Expo is being held at the Ohio Expo Center, the same venue as the Ohio Deer & Turkey Expo. Although the Predator Expo is a separate event in a different building from the Deer & Turkey Expo, the two shows will be promoted as one big outdoor sporting event. The Deer & Turkey Expo reportedly draws more than 25,000 people.

The first World Predator & Hunting Expo was held in Overland Park, Kan., in August. Jon Paul Moody of Tennessee won the all-around predator calling championship, besting 25 callers from throughout the United States.

For more information, go to www.worldpredatorandhuntingexpo.com. I’ll also continue to provide updates about this exciting show right here.

Coyotes Were Thick

On a recent waterfowl hunting trip in Arkansas, I noticed numerous piles of scat on many of the levees that surrounded rice fields.

The dung was undoubtedly that of coyotes. In most cases, the hair-laden feces was left as territorial markers. I found it especially interesting just how prevalent the markers were, so I asked one of the duck guides about coyotes.

“We have tons of them,” he said. “We see them all of the time.”

The next morning, as we motored in the dark through flooded trees on the way to our duck blind, a pack of coyotes shattered the solitude, wailing and howling to announce their presence to all within earshot.

On the return trip to the lodge, I spied a coyote taking a final nap on the shoulder of the highway. A return trip to Northeast Arkansas might just be in order very soon.

Flambeau Partners With Minaska

Flambeau Outdoor Products, which produces decoys and game calls under the MAD Calls, Lohman and Big River brands, will increase its product line through a new partnership agreement with Minaska Outdoors.

Minaska, based in Lincoln, Neb., has an established line of electronic predator calls and extensive library of sounds.

“Minaska Outdoors has developed a phenomenal following with consumers in the predator hunting market,” said Tad Brown, Flambeau product development specialist.

Under terms of the agreement, Flambeau will take over the manufacturing, sales and marketing of the Minaska product line. Flambeau will market Minaska products under its MAD Calls brand, and will immediately begin production of four models. Flambeau will also offer calling sound downloads for its units at www.madgamecalls.com.

“While the MAD brand is hot in the deer and turkey markets, we are excited to jump into the growing predator market with this unique line of electronic predator calls,” said MAD founder Mark Drury, a product development and public relations specialist for Flambeau.

“We were looking for a partner to drive our long-term development plans, and we are very excited to be involved with the launch of MAD to the predator hunting market,” said Steve Borland, Minaska co-founder.

The partnership with Minaska is certain to increase Flambeau’s share of the growing predator hunting products market. Flambeau added the Lohman, MAD and Feather Flex brands within the past couple years, and introduced a coyote decoy earlier this year under the Flambeau name.