Life is good

[Rancher]

Made a few sets this morning and called in 6 on the first set. Cows are starting to calve and the rut is in full swing in eastern New Mexico. You have only to set up near a herd of cows and belt out pretty much any kind of a howl and if there are coyotes within earshot, get ready. It doesn't get much better than this, guys. If you can get out early of a morning, now is the time to do it. ;D

[foxhunter]

rancher you didn't say how many you killed, inquiring minds want to know.
i have a new born calf bawl on my foxpro, i wonder if irt would work?


bob

[GonHuntin]

bob

I'd be very careful using that sound near a herd of cows right now!

[foxhunter]

lol...... yea i know, i started a fight between three bulls a couple of weeks ago. they were about a quarter of a mile apart bellowing and throwing dust over their backs. they all started to converge in the middle but none came to the call. i left to other calling sites before they all met in the middle. i'm not sure what took place after i left.

bobd

[Byron South]

Good going Rancher

Bob here is a pic of a bull I thought I might have to fight to get my call and decoy from. Thats the call and decoy he is looking at.


Good Hunting

Byron ;D

[Rancher]

Sorry about leaving out that minor detail. My friend and I each got one out of the six on the first set, about as good as we could have done, each having a bolt action rifle. There were a few dry sets and then later that morning we had 2 more coming in to our howling but my buddy didn't see them and he started blowing the dying rabbit blues and I guess the coyotes had heard that song before, because they dropped us like a bad habit. It was a good day calling, even though we only got 2 coyotes on the ground.

I've always thought a calf in distress type sound would work. I didn't know there was anybody that produced such a sound for an electronic call. I'm gonna have to look into a foxpro a little bit closer, I guess.

I'd go ahead and use the calf sound even if it were around a herd of cattle and see what happened. I think I'd make it a point to get away from them 1/4 mile or so because a cow, if given the opportunity, will naturally leave the herd and hide out by herself to have a calf. Getting away from the herd would come closer to mimicking the natural behavior of a cow and might make your calling more successful.

I dont think you'd have any cows come to you on the fight trying to protect the imaginary calf, but they may come to your stand out of curiosity and even then they'd do to watch. A cow will put the hurt on you to protect her own calf, but if she has her calf with her and she knows it's not in danger then she's more apt to take it and go the other way away from the "threat". Your mileage may vary, though. It wont hurt to play it a little bit on the safe side a time or two until you can see what happens in the real world.

[Hooter]

Dang it Rancher! Now I got to find some cows to hunt around.

Hooter

[foxhunter]

i think everyone who has called in cattle country has called up a cow or herd of cows on occasion. my friend dave and i set up to call a small valley near his house. he went high and i went low with the caller. no sooner had i turned on the caller with a screaming jack, a long horned cow came stomping over the hill. she was bellowing with all her might and slobbering. about the same time a coyote busted out of cover about 300 yards away.
it was decision time , shoot the mad cow which was 80 yards away and closing or wait and shoot the coyote who was closing much quicker. as luck would have it the coyote beat the cow to the caller by a good 40 yards. upon seeing the js caller the coyote being embarrassed by being fooled beat a hasty retreat. he made it a whole 10 yards when the 30 gr berger hit him right behind the front shoulder. he rolled a couple times and expired. now the cow had a view of this and it wasn't from the cheap seat. she turned tail and went back the way she had come.
my friend dave laughed every time he looked at me for the rest of the day. anytime we all together he will just bust out laughing, i don't even have to ask what about.

bobd

[Rancher]

Tell ya what Hooter, I know its as dry or drier down there than it is up here and herd of cows has become a fairly scarce commodity and will become all but extinct by the late spring without a shower or two. I hope you can find some.

[Bobcat]

Hey Rancher,

I am just glad you were able to get out and do some calling! Those coyotes really do start licking their lips when calving starts. I hope y'all get some rain out your way this year!!

.....and yes, more than once I have held my breath when I have called cows in hoping they would not step on my spreaker........

Good Hunting,

Bob

[jdickey]

:)Hey Rancher... next time ya need to get in touch with CoonDawg and let him call ya up a batch of billy goats! He's got a real knack with his ...."HERE BILLY, BILLY, BILLY!"

Works every time!

[Rancher]

Calling up a batch of billy goats would be something to see. There's one time when I'd try to make sure that I was calling with the wind at my back, though.