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.

Another Use for E-Callers

Technique of the Week: It might seem unorthodox, but a good way to learn how to use a mouth-blown predator call is to mock an electronic caller.

Why? For starters, you’ll really pay attention to the cadence, tone and urgency of what most likely is a real rabbit in distress or an actual coyote barking and howling. You’ll discover the nuances in the sounds, and you’ll figure out how to mock it by trial and error.

After you think you have mastered the sounds, tape yourself. Compare it to the electronic version. It’s really no different than a football coach reviewing the game film Monday morning to see how the players performed and where they need to improve.

Keep working at it until you have it down, then add your own twists and flavor to your calling routine.

But why bother to learn if I own an electronic call?

Electronic units are super tools, but having the flexibility to pull out a tube and use it can save your hunt if the e-caller malfunctions. By using a mouth call, you can vary the tone and cadence to make sounds and sequences that differ from those programmed into your unit. You can also blow a mouth call while your e-caller projects another sound.

Today’s predator callers are lucky to have an overwhelming number of electronic units and mouth-blown calls available. Knowing how to use both effectively will enhance your calling success. That’s a great reason to use one to learn the other.