Here is a clip from a hunt on 9-20-09

Me and My partner Paul Melching went out here locally for a quick morning hunt. Ended up calling 5 fox on as many stands.

Hope you enjoy,

Central AZ Grey Fox from On Stand Productions on Vimeo.

Well, it has been a long hard summer and I am glad it is almost over. With Cat and Fox season open, we decided we had waited long enough. Right now the fur is not worth the cost of a bullet, but it is a great time to get out there and just have a good time. We made a short trip for a half days hunt last Sunday; It was a pretty decent time. We did not hunt to hard, just trying to get back into the swing of things. Ended up seeing 7 coyotes, but only managed to get one dead. Also seen a lot of Antelope, a few Mule Deer bucks and a nice husky LION.  We were glad to lay our eyes on one but, it just made us sick, this new Lion season is a waste of ink, and I am pretty disgusted that it was passed. Anyway, It was nice to get out of town to some cooler weather and we all had a great time. I am going to try to start posting more often since the season has started, and I will do my best to post a video or a new sound every month, that’s the plan anyway. Here is a clip of a coyote we called and killed on this hunt. If the shooter looks familiar, he is the former president of the APC (Arizona Predator Callers).

Untitled from Clint Martin on Vimeo.

A friend and I made it out Sunday to a spot I hadn’t been to in a few months for a half day hunt.
It turned out to be a decent day, weather was good and cold, wind was mild and coyotes were out.
All coyotes came in fairly quick, most under three minutes. Sounds of the day was bird distress from the Foxpro. Two of these coyotes wouldn’t have been possible with out the MOJO Woodpecker. One came in from out hard right and had us pegged but still circled wide and stopped for one last look at the decoy. Another came in from down wind to take a look, my partner made a great running shot on that one.

I was supposed to head down south for a day of calling but the weatherman said it might be a good idea if I didn’t. It was going to get pretty windy with a good chance of rain. So I decided to stay in town. Like yesterday it was a perfect morning for calling so after a few cups of coffee I had to head out. My plan was to head down the road from the house and do a stand or two. On my way I spotted a few coyotes out mousing in some state trust land so I pulled over and called them across the road for some pictures. I wish I had brought the new canon camera, but I had what I had. After a few pictures I headed to my spot.

I knew as soon as I got set up it was going to be a productive stand, the wind was good and it was overcast and cold.  A new sound I uploaded the other day (Harpin Hare) had been playing for 5-6 minuted when I caught this Coyote bearing down fast on the old MOJO Critter decoy. He had made it to 4-5′ from the decoy before I could get the Cat Swatter on him. I called for a little while longer, but there were no other takers.

Nice overcast days like today are hard for me to resist. I didn’t have a whole lot of time so I slipped out for a quick stand just outside the city limits. The caller had only been running for 3-4 minutes before I saw a Coyote sitting just outside shotgun range. I sat there thinking, I should have brought the Fireball, when I heard a diesel pick up headed down a near by dirt road. Just as I got that sinking feeling that the gig was up that Coyote came in hard on a beeline straight to the Mojo critter decoy I had set up on a little hill. Surprised, I had just enough time to get the shotgun up and dust roll him before he was on top of the caller and decoy. The guy in that truck ended up being another predator hunter. I thanked him for adding urgency on that stand and headed home.

For those of you who haven’t used the Mojo critter, I highly recommend giving them a go. They are well made and really bring em in!

When I am not filming my tool of choice is the shotgun. It is hard to beat the excitement and adrenalin rush you get from  an up close hard charger. It also lets me call in places I normally wouldn’t while running the camera. Good shotgun areas often get looked over by other callers, making for some good calling. Another reason I enjoy shotgunning is the ease of it, I can just grab a call and my shotgun and head into the thick of it. I will often even carry a shotgun in areas most would think is rifle country, in fact I would say 90% of all the predators we call could be taken with a shotgun.

Decoys,
A lot of new decoys have come out in the last few years. I personally use the Mojo critter, FoxPro’s jack in the box and the whirling woodpecker with great success. A decoys job is to add realism to a stand and keep the attention off you and these decoys perform there job well.  There are some people that say they have a negative reaction when using decoys, but I personally see them as a asset. Especially when hunting in tight quarters. They can provide you with that extra second that you need to get that shot off or help entice that hung up critter into range. Give them a try, they are worth the extra weight and are pretty affordable.

Calls,

Whether I am filming or hunting, I enjoy using electronic callers. There are a lot of advantages to these callers, they get the sound away from you which in turn can get attention off you. Most call companies have large sound libraries, so you will have no shortage of options in that department. Some people will say its cheating, but I cant see it. These tools are not magic weapons and they are not going to make you a instant success! Calling is only a small part of this sport, it takes a lot more to be successful then just going out and making some sounds. They might not be for everyone, but if you are serous about calling and have the funds I recommend checking them out.

There are a lot of great call manufactures out there and they all work. Some have different options and all have different sounds, so choosing one will come down to personal preferences. My choice is FoxPro. They are constantly improving there units and sounds, so I can have access to new quality sounds and upgrades for my equipment. Each season these calls get better and better and the competition for new options and better sounds is great for us.

Camo,

When calling them in close, a set of full camo is a great asset, but not a necessity. I mean from head to toe, face mask and gloves really help out a lot. But the most important thing is being still, the slightest movement can catch a weary coyotes attention, cats are even quicker to pick up on movement. So before you start calling get in a comfortable position and keep still. If you need to make any moments make them slow and fluid, refrain from jerky moment. Some times you can get a way with a lot, and others will catch the slightest twitch. With experience you will learn what you can get away with from reading there body language.

Shotgun hunting is a lot of fun so give it a try. These days you can get a lot more range out of that old scattergun.

There seems to be more and more black coyotes being seen or shot and I wanted to ask you readers your thought on the origins of these color phases. Do you believe it is a genetic trait ” Melanism ” that is just more prevalent in the eastern part of the country? Or a cross breed between domestic dogs or wolves or maybe both? There have been DNA studies that lead to believe they have crossed with wolves and that might explain why they seem to be more common in the east. I have been witness to one litter of Coydogs, but from what I seen the Coyote genes were more dominant with only a few noticeable traits from the domestic dog. May be these black coyotes are Dogotes ” Male dog and female coyote “, with the domestic traits not showing as strong or have been bread down a few generations. I am no expert but by going from what my eyes have seen, the Coydog seems to have a stronger Coyote look, with the Dogote having more of the domestic dogs traits. I have my own ideas on the subject but would like to hear others opinions. So, Coydogs or genetic traits?, and why does there seem to be more and more of these black coyotes turning up?

Yup, I am bad. I decided last night I would head out in the morning to scout for my deer hunt that’s coming up. But I never even got a chance. Soon as I grabbed the rifle, I new that I was in trouble. Next weekend I might have to leave the rifle at home. I called this male in on the first of two stands. He came in down wind after about 8 minutes of calling. And my little fireball got its second coyote. The jury is still out on the little round, but if it keeps killing them like it did today, It will see a lot of action. Its accurate, easy on the ears and a pleasure to shoot.

Me and a friend of mine got out for a few hours Saturday, to a area i hadn’t been to since last season. On the second stand about 5 minutes we had one sneak in behind us, but Rod put the hammer down on him before he could escape. In order to try and get him on screen I has to twist around and kinda aim the camera. Not sure if i had got anything on film I decided to stop the stand soon after the shot so i could check. As i was rewinding the film to check, I looked up to see another coyote 10 feet from the caller trying to figure what was making that sound. I quickly got the camera back to record and did manage to get the shot on that one on film. We were trying a new sound i have recorded called cottontail Ala cart. It turns out to be a decent producer already. A few stands later found us set up near a hill i had called a fox in last season, but it had checked up out of shotgun range. The caller was only running for minute or two before i caught movement on the hill we were facing, right away i new it was a fox. It ended up checking up around 300 yard, So i decided to give the new sound another try. As soon as i flicked the switch It hit mach 5 on a beeline to the caller, It had covered 300 yards in just a few seconds, Stopping three feet from the caller. I got the camera zoomed and gave the shooter the green light. I didn’t remember to get and pictures of the fox, and it got a little warm soon after so we made our way back to town. If you want to give that sound a try on your caller, I have it loaded up in the audio section for download. Just let me know how it works for you.

Well the annual Huntmastes camp out has just wrapped up and like in years past i had a great time. I belive there was a great time had by all, even know the weather and coyotes didnt fully coaperate. There were two days the wind never really let up making for a hard time calling and a dusty time BSing. My camp out started on Tuesday afternoon as I picked up Kelly Jackson from the airport and we headed out for a little calling in the southern part of AZ. After getting Kelly a lic. and getting a few nessesities we headed out for some calling. Fist evening found us in a new area that looked promissing on paper but didnt produce as expected “Still a little warm down in the valley”. Next day had us setting up in a spot that i had called a pair of virgin eared coyotes the season  before. After 4-5 minutes of calling I spotted a coyote looking over the situation, I let kelly know we had one and then hit a coaxer sound which brought her in hard and fast. Kelly put this one down with his shotgun shooting dead coyote loads within spitting distance of the caller.

On our way to another stand i spotted a coyote 50 yards off the road. So we pulled over and made out way out to try and call that coyote in. t looked like tight cover from where we parked so i opted to carry a shotgun instaed of the camera ” mistake”. Kelly was mouth calling and before he could finish his first set i heard him stop and start lip squeeking, so i looked over to see a nice looking bobcat coming on a string straight to Kelly. He tipped the cat over @ 20 steps with his shotgun still shooting dead coyote.

After a few dry stands it started getting hot so we headed to a area in a little higher elevation that i had some sucsess in last season. We set up in the same slope i had called in a cat last year and called for a good 10 minutes before i switched to some grey fox distress, I spoted a fox coming hard after another minute or two of calling. I let Kelly know we had one comming and he got set, we let the fox get right up to the caller before droping the hammer on him agian shot with dead coyote loads. I was having a hard time keeping the fox in frame as i was filming but still manages to get some decent footage.

We made a few more stands and decided to head up to the camp out and get out of the heat. Next morning had us set up looking over a nice looking valley. We had been calling for a few minutes when i heard some coyotes barking at us across the valley, so i did a few pup howls and that got them fired up enoght to comit to the call. We had called in 4 coyotes but only one was serious, I managed to get him called to around 175 yards and Kelly let him have it with his .223 shooting some 60 grain V-maxes i had loaded up. He droped like a rock and had no damage.

We called one other coyote that morning but it got lucky and escaped unscathed. By then the wind had started picking up so we headed back to the camp out. After some BSing we headed back out for a evening hunt. I decided to carry my new rifle for a few stands and get it broke in. Well I did call a coyote up but put a hasty shot on it and Kelly had to give  me a little back up on the kill, but we got it done. I didnt get and pictures of that one. We called a few more coyote up in the following days but never got to seal the deal on any of them. The wind was blowing pretty good most of the time and it seemed like the coyotes had played that game a few times in the past. We still had a great time seeing old friends and making a few new ones.
Cant wait until next year!