Hyperwrx

Guys, I am glad APC was able to get Reid to come and speak again this year. Unfortunately he is getting older in years and has expressed that future seminars are going to be few and far between. It was a truly a great opportunity to hear him recount some of his stories. Listening to him remind me of hearing Gerry Blair speak around a campfire a year or so ago. True legends in the predator calling industry. Any audio or video of this event APC would more than help edit publish and host on our server. Just contact me at scott@hyperwrx.com and I will facilitate it. On that note- I have contacted Steve Craig (Az resident) who is undoubtedly the most successful lion caller in the AZ and possibly the SW. He doesn't use dogs to chase the lion for miles then up a tree and for many years made a successful living being a guide to hunters looking to harvest a lion. We all measure our predator calling success by different standards but Steve's results leave no doubt he knows exactly what he is doing. Called in and harvested lions- 108. Client success rate at harvesting a lion with Steve at their side- 85%. Steve will be speaking at an Arizona Predator Callers meeting in the future. I will make sure to post here on CouesWhitetail.com when this free event will take place.

The Scorpion and the Bandit M1 look identical in size and features but when you look at the price there is no comparison. The Minaska Outdoors caller wins. I know Mike and Steve Borland are doing some real wheeling and dealing if you can get a hold of them on the phone and explain to them what you want. Tell them Scott sent ya. CS24 is a great caller. I dusted off my Big Country this morning and found it still works as advertised.

Basically the same venue. Mesa Varmint Callers is now Arizona Predator Callers. Reid is now in his 80's and is one of the legends in predator calling. It will be an evening to remember.

Woke up and headed out to put the new Kettle Creek Calls- Griz-N-Gray hand call to the test. Only took my new Remington Model 7 .17 Fireball and it made for some tough stand selection. Had to limit myself to drainage washes in the desert. Here is how things played out on 4 stands. Stand 1- Called in 4, shot 2. Heard 3 more barking from not far away but thick desert kept them out of sight. Stand 2- Called in 2, shot 2. Stand 3- Blank Stand 4- Called in 3, shot 2. In the end- 6 foxes harvested in 4 stands. Call is easy to work. It has a bellows that you push against your knee or leg. Call is not as loud as a typical open reed hand call but its an exact copy of a typical gray fox distress sound. Call is made from a multi-colored piece of laminate wood and the bellows is durable black rubber. If you're in an area that holds gray foxes this is a must have call and at only $25 shipped wont break the bank. Photo from each stand before I got up. Dead foxes are circled. Remington .17 Fireball shooting the factory 25g hollow points really blew up the pelts. I manipulated the foxes for the pictures to not show the gore.

Had a few people ask me about the electronic skinner I mentioned in another thread. Electric winch I and a friend designed and made. We made 2, one for each of us. It is 2 pieces, each about 4' long. They connect together shoulder height via a 2" hitch receiver. Top part has the electric winch mounted on it. Winch cable goes up over 2 pulleys built into the 2" steel. Lower part is mounted to the receiver in my truck. The steel Ts and one portion go to the ground and 90s out a foot or so and on that is a trap drag. The electric winch has a wired remote I connect to the winch itself with 2 wing nuts. The winch gets it's 12v power from the trailer plug below the bumper. I installed the winch wires into a trailer make plug so I just plug it straight in and I have juice. The winch tables ends at a steel bar with 2 small vice grips that dangle. The vice grips have wider metal pieces of flat stock welded to the jaws to grip the fur better. The 2 pieces + remote/wires get tossed in the truck bed when I go hunt. I made it stick out far enough I could drop the tailgate down. The bottom bar is off the ground by 2" or so. Cost- Cheap 2000 lb winch with wired remote (harbor Freight)- $70 Vice grips (2)- $8 Steel bar 2"- $60 Pulleys (2)- $10 Total- $148 You skin out the back of the animal. Hook the animals back tendons to the drag. Lower the vice grips to grab onto the skinned pelt and winch the pelt up. The carcass stays held stationary while the pelt is pulled up and off the carcass. It's done in reverse to keep the blood off the pelt. Less clean up. I have done a few coyotes and it worked perfectly but it will get a real workout this fall/winter.

Defiantly good fox country in your pictures. What sounds were you using to call them in?

Ditch the coyote vocalizations and concentrate on rabbit distress. If the limbs on the trees are up high enough off the ground that you have good visibility I'd sit 50 yards apart20 yards in the orchard and start calling. If the visibility is limited I would sit outside the orchard and call them out to the edge of the orchard and shoot them there. A coyote living in a thick 40 acre orchard will think nothing of running all over in it if there is suitable cover to raise their security level. Good luck.

Few hunters come across badgers in AZ let along shoot one with a bow. You are to be commended.

Amanda, I see you were 1 of only 18 organizations across the state to received a grant award for your Women's Javelina HAM Hunt Unit 36A/B/C. I am sure lots of time and effort went into the project. The Arizona Predator Callers Club (Mesa Varmint Callers) also received their proposal for our novice hunt program. AZG&F really steps up and promotes local sportsman organizations by offering this. Good Job!

Awesome mount. Badger was taken here in AZ?

Amanda, If any of these Becoming an Outdoor Woman activities included predator hunting Arizona Predator Hunters would enjoy lending a hand by sending a few veteran hunters to give presentations and/or team up with participants on hunts. Contact me if interested. I found it interesting to note that almost all the organizations that received a grant did so by submitting a proposal that furthered beginner, youth, or novice hunters. Investing in Arizona's new crop of hunters insures a future to the activity of hunting in our state. Once again- fantastic job. -Scott

TJ- Come to an APC meeting in Mesa in a few weeks and I will team you up on a Saturday club hunt with one of a few guys who shoot multiple bobcats every season. If you don't get one on your outing you will at least have an idea of what you're looking for terrain wise to target them. www.azpredatorcallers.com for meeting time and date.

Look at Josh grimace and strain holding that 30 pounder. He's trying to look nonchalant but I bet he dropped that and started panting when the flash went off. I once witnessed Josh shoot a coyote at about 250 yards up a mountain with that 22/250. Heck of a shot. That the same rifle? Looks like it.

Now that's 100% true. After the 200 yard walk back to the truck I'd swear that thing weighted 50 pounds. .22 mag for a coyote? Thinking you'll harvest coyotes effectively and consistently with that is like thinking you can dig a swimming pool with a spoon. Hopefully that's was a 1 time deal. Here is a coyote taken a few years ago. Largest I have shot. 33 pounds and we had a scale. 12 GA #4 buck from 10 feet. In 4 years of participating in the Arizona Multi-Club Predator Club Hunt (about 100-125 contestants) the biggest coyote was last year. Mike Burris shot a 40 pound brute with a .17 Remington. 1 shot in the vitals and it went down hard. Picture below. Coyote closest to the camera. Thing was all neck as yoou can see. That's not flabby skin but thick all the way around the neck. Real weird body structure from shoulders up. 2 years ago at the Multi-club hunt I shot a coyote that was 33 pounds and was missing a leg. With the other hind leg maybe 34 or 35? Cat in picture we also shot. 25 pound big male cat. Don't let people tell you about their 35 pound AZ bobcat. Tall tales. Both these shot with 12 GA #4 buck. I still will say in Arizona coyotes above 40 pounds are few and far between. Most saying they've shot one are exaggerating and cant prove anything when it comes with down to it. I have seen just a few 40 pounders and as I said, winter coat and bellies full of a fresh kill.

There are no 50-60 pound coyotes in AZ. Anyone who tells you otherwise has a broken scale or is outright lying. Of the 19 recognized coyote sub species, C. l. mearnsi (Merriam): Mearns Coyote, Arizona's is on the smaller end. 15 to 25 pounds on average. Anything is the 35-40 pound range is in the top 5% of our state and has a winter pelt and a belly full of dinner probably. On topic- mount looks nice. Large well developed skull with good markings. Ears are kinda tall but if interested in something specific its not abnormal to see a coyote with its radars at full attention. What does a mount like that cost?

Unfortunately that is not correct or many of us would be hunting at night. Regs state 30 minutes before sunup and 30 minutes after sunset. Please show me where it states that. I believe that's a misconception amongst big-game hunters in AZ. Remember, the guy asked about coyote hunting, not dove. I was incorrect and you were spot on. My apologies. The 2010-2011 AZG&F Regulation books states on page 87. SHOOTING HOURS Legal shooting time is during daylight hours (see sunrise-sunset chart on page 99) or as prescribed by the Commission (see individual Commission Orders). In general, if you can see well enough to shoot safely, you are legal. Taking wild animals or birds by moonlight or artificial light is illegal, except for raccoons, reptiles and other mammals as prescribed in R12-4-304, page 117. Other time requirements apply for migratory birds (see Migratory Bird Regulations). Where, When and How Can You Hunt? Explore

What's up with that? I shoot the fox, leave it in your truck, and you get it mounted?

Unfortunately that is not correct or many of us would be hunting at night. Regs state 30 minutes before sunup and 30 minutes after sunset.

Its impossible to tell a male from a female when you are out calling. aside from gender specific behavior when they come in paired up and I am nowhere smart enough to understand that.

Shoot #4 buck Coyotes can he harvested year around in AZ. Many hunters give the coyotes a break to raise their pups from April until October or September. Calling in and killing puppies is no great accomplishment in my opinion. They are too dumb to know any better and come running in with no care in the world to any call. I'd much rather wait a few months and have a worthy opponent. To each their own.

Bass Pro and Cabelas have them in stock typically. If not there are a myriad of places online that sell them but you'll pay a bit more for shipping.

I purchase a few Carlson chokes the other day and they can shoot all shot material through them. The Dead Coyote choke by Carlson is a tight choke that really only is beneficial at 35+ yards. It will told the pellet pattern in tight for quite some distance. One really needs to pattern a choke with your paticular shotgun and load to see how your results are. Not all shotguns pattern well with all chokes.

I live in Power Ranch directly to the South of Trilogy and have made a concerted effort to drive around the area looking for tracks. Have found nothing noteworthy. Can't dismiss the many people who have seen it. Regardless you cant shoot it and expect to keep it.

We did not get enough footage from last year to feel comfortable going to the editing phase so we decided to extend the collection to this season as well. We will start filming in a month and a half or so and should get enough footage within the first month or two. We then need to edit and that takes a good amount of time. I would predict that a final product will be released the end of this next season. This will be an informative video on how to shoot gray fox and bobcats. It's not a Byron South high production video with fancy graphics and stunning editing. It's a down to Earth look at how anyone can consistently call in and shoot grays and bobcats. We're just 2 regular guys who enjoy predator hunting and have found uncanny success using some specific tactics in particular terrain. Stay tuned.

I have done some predator control for them a few years ago and when East of the facility about a mile while calling for coyotes, I called in a pheasant. Kinda shocked me. I am sure there are many rogue birds that make it off their property and become snacks for the predators in the area. They have a good looking lodge.