Calling technique: Changing Calls (Elec to mouth)?
 

I typically only use one type of call for one sound during a set, i.e. if I'm using an electronic cottontail distress, I wouldn't use a cottontail mouth call (although I might use a mouth locator, or mouth whimper).

I was home visiting family this weekend and had a chance to go calling with an old highschool buddy and ran across a technique I'd never heard of. He swears by using an electronic call until he spots them, then uses the same sound mouth call to finesse them in.

HOWEVER, on one of our sets this weekend, we spotted 2 dogs coming in at a lope from about 800yrds. He switched off the electronic caller, and started calling the same sound with a mouth call (which obviously didn't match the exact sound, pitch, and tone of the electronic caller recording).

The dogs slammed on the brakes, and never came any closer. We spent 20min trying to lure them in closer, but they milled around just out of range until finally losing interest.

I felt like we might as well have honked a truck horn at them. :nonono2:

I definitely understand the logic, as it'd give you a lot better control of the call when you need it the most, but it sure didn't seem to work according to plan that day.

Is he the only one doing this, or is it a common practice? In 20yrs+ of calling, I'd never seen anyone else do it, but then again, most of the guys I go with are ALL mouth calls, or ALL electronic, and never the two shall meet.

When using an Ecall, I almost always shut it off eventually when I have a coyote coming in. I Basically shut off the caller once I beleive the coyote to be with-in hearing range of my lip squeek.
There are no hard set rules. I've seen coyotes sit around and listen to several different sounds on the same stand, and then all of a sudden, a sound that interests them gets them to come. I've gone from using a hand call on stand, to the Ecall, and visa-versa, and had coyotes come.
I guess what I'm saying is, at 800 yards, I would've stayed with the same sound, but I too would've changed sounds once I thought they could hear my lip squeek. And really, it's the same scenario as you discribe. A drastic change of sounds, but rarely do I have them stop once I go to lip squeeks, although, it has happened before.

It's like fishing............if one lure doesn't work try another one !


Once I know a coyote hears me I start lowering the volume.

Slowly, until I get totally quite.

Let them hunt me - they know exactly where the "noise" came from.


Lip squeak to stop them....................shoot !

Dead dog.

This is something I'm more used to. I guess what my point was that he used the same type of sound, we were using an electronic cottontail distress, and he swapped over to a cottontail distress mouth call. Maybe it was just the tone and pitch of the mouth call which was deeper and fuller than the E caller, so maybe they got spooked by the game suddenly "up sizing".

It caught me off guard, and obviously caught the coyotes attention too.

Granted, I've had a lot of instances where coyotes inexplicably take off (or less frequently, inexplicably come running in at a sprint), so I probably shouldn't hold ONE bad experience against the technique, but when the FIRST impression is a bad one, eh.... That area is DEEP in fur, one guy can draw 5 dogs in an evening without even working too hard, so getting blown is kinda frustrating.

you're giving the coyote too much credit. Yeah, they're smart and cunning and got a nose that puts the whitetail to shame, but to steal a line from a good friend of mine, "calling coyotes is like checkers, not chess, don't over think it."

Coyotes will come to sounds that don't even sound like anything they've ever heard before. Take the twisted syco Verminator call for example. Blow that thing and it makes some crazy sounds, like nothing I've ever heard, but yet coyotes come. They are hard wired, they don't stop and think is that a cottontail or a jack rabbit or a deer. Instead, they hear distress. And I'm not saying they won't recognize a rabbit in distress sound, but what I am saying is don't think because it's not a sound that they've heard in the past that they won't still come. Why they stop sometimes, or why they run ya over sometimes has lots of factors involved. Once someone figures out how to make them come running every time, they'll be rich.

Well said Howler. I do alot of my callin n the sagebrush flats of New Mexico and hav used everything from the snow hare distress to fightin coons. I hav had em come n to a variety of nonnative calls. The yote knows wen it is hungry and a distress is a flag to an easy meal to em. Happy kallin fellas!!