Feeding a Calling Affliction

Welcome to Paul Wait’s Hunting Predators, a blog written for you by a professional magazine editor with a decade of experience calling coyotes.

I’ve learned the art and skill of calling predators first-hand by joining some of the best hunters in the country in pursuit of coyotes, bobcats and foxes. In addition, I’ve edited hundreds of predator calling articles from many more experts.

Somewhere along the way, calling predators became an affliction. It might have happened during my first hunt in North Texas, when I singled a coyote from a pack of four that charged to find the sounds of a pig fight. Maybe the first coyote I killed on film in Missouri turned the tide. Or could it have been a midnight encounter with a bobcat that mysteriously melted into the sage and cactus as my finger twitched on the trigger?

To be honest, I’m not sure exactly where and when my affliction took root. It really doesn’t matter. I just know the coyotes, bobcats, foxes and other predators have blessed me with countless encounters and exciting memories. And I'm not stopping now.

In this blog, I’ll write about the fascinating animals we call. I’ll cover encounters, situations and tactics. I’ll share successes and commiserate about failures. I’ll strive to give you a glimpse inside the personalities within the predator hunting industry, take you into the brush across the country and share thoughts on calls, guns and gear to make your hunts more enjoyable. Together, we’ll feed our calling affliction until we get into the field to make the next stand.

Welcome! By all means, please share your ideas and feedback. Good calling to all!

World Predator Expo

OVERLAND PARK, KANSAS – Forgive suburban Kansas City coyotes if they are feeling a bit self-important these days.

An envious collection of predator hunting talent from all points on the compass rolled into town Aug. 22 to 24 for the World Predator & Hunting Expo. The Expo featured a stellar lineup of how-to demonstrations, a multitude of vendors displaying a dazzling array of predator calls and hunting equipment, and a world championship predator calling competition.

Household names in the predator calling industry, such as Gerry Blair, Randy Anderson, Byron South, Gerald Stewart, Les Johnson and Tad Brown could be found working vendor booths. Stunning custom mouth calls crafted from exotic woods adorned tables, and the latest electronic callers, decoys and predator guns were right there to touch and try.

Mike Dillon of FoxPro showed me the company’s newest e-caller, the Fury. He said it can hold 500 sounds, which is absolutely astonishing to me. I know other digital calls have incredible capacity, too. Not so long ago we were flipping cassette tapes with repetitive short loops of the same squalls. Now we have 500 choices at the touch of a button or two. Amazing.

A few booths away, Byron South was touting the virtues of Remington Arms new ARs designed specifically for predator hunting. When major firearms manufacturers start making predator hunting guns, the sport has arrived!

The success of this event also points to the growing popularity of predator hunting. Promoter Brent Rueb, who also runs Predator Sniper Products, put together a very professional event. The vendor area was continually abuzz with predator hunters, while the demos drew standing-room-only crowds. Tension and anticipation ran high during the predator calling championships. I’ll write more about the calling competition (I was a judge for the howling event) in another blog entry. I will tell you here that the competition was extremely strong.

The resounding sentiment from people I spoke with about the Expo was, “I can’t wait until next year’s show.”

Although it hasn’t been set in stone, I heard the 2009 Expo is likely to be in Ohio. I will confirm the time and place with Rueb and announce it here.

Photo: Byron South shows off Remington line of predator guns to a father and son at the World Predator & Hunting Expo in Overland Park, Kan.