A Good Day

The simulated screams of a fox in distress echoed across the brushy terrain and into a nearby draw, bouncing off of rocks and traveling beyond where my eyes could see. It was early in the day and the sun was hidden behind a large patchwork of clouds; the cooler temperatures reminded me that fall was here. Not everyone's mind was on the cooler temps, however - some could think of nothing other than the screams of a fox. I was reminded of this as I watched a gray fox come bounding into stand, heading straight for me. He past my hunting partner's location first, but he was quickly beyond Daniel's line of sight as he crossed into my shooting lane. Hidden in an outcropping of rock, I raised my rifle, found the little fox in my crosshairs and squeezed off a shot. Drat! I missed! The fox was on the move towards the wash, and if he reached the safety of that brush I wouldn't get another chance. I found him in my crosshairs once again, and steady, steady now I placed the reticle at the front of his chest and swung the rifle at his speed as I squeezed off another shot. The fox cartwheeled a few times and came to rest in the sandy bottom of the wash. Another day of predator hunting was underway, and off to a great start.

I met Daniel online through AR15.com, a shooting forum that we both frequent. He was serving our country overseas at the time and was very interested in giving predator hunting a try once he returned home for leave. I told him I'd take him out since he lived here in beautiful Arizona, and we setup a date and were both excited to get out there and whack some predators! It can be a little nerve-racking sometimes when you are taking someone out predator hunting, especially for their first time, because the predators don't always get the memo that they need to come running in to the call through an open shooting lane, and sometimes they just decide to not show up at all. Luckily that was not going to be the case today.

After that first fox we had the chance to get on two more stands that produced gray fox. The first was in a dry riverbed surrounded by rocky outcroppings, and that fox popped up right in front of Daniel. He quickly discovered that a 4x ACOG is tough in close quarters on small foxes, and the fox bolted back into the brush. Daniel was excited to see gray fox up close in the wild, and was determined to get one down with his rifle. He would get another chance about an hour later.

We settled onto the knob of a hill which overlooked two small valleys and one rocky hillside. I placed Daniel in a spot where he would be able to see anything that approached the stand. Just a few minutes into the stand Daniel fired a few shots, and I was hopeful that he had made contact. After a few more minutes of calling with no response, I called off the stand and headed over to Daniel. A fox had come racing down the hillside and Daniel had tried to get on him with his rifle, but that fox must have been wearing a kevlar vest and he made his escape to live another day.

We had a few more dry stands, and then the things became not so dry: rain rolled in across the mountains and poured down pretty steadily. This gave Daniel and I some time to sit and talk and enjoy the beautiful Arizona landscape. Once the rain stopped we hopped out and headed for some granite boulders, hoping for more fox, but just a few minutes into the stand we were again hit with rain. A few hundred yards from the truck, we decided to wait it out under a big oak tree, and had time again to sit and talk and enjoy the beautiful Arizona landscape.



Once the rain stopped again we headed back to the truck and decided to try a new area, as the wind had also kicked up considerably. The wind would decide to taunt us for the rest of the hunt, which we decided to call off a bit early, but not before we found ourselves at the edge of a big riverbed. I decided that the ol' FoxPro would work well in this situation, and set up with the e-caller in front of Daniel, and myself on the hill to his left. It wasn't long before a midday coyote decided to check things out. He was headed right for Daniel and out into a large opening when he suddenly decided to change course and get downwind of the e-caller. My scent was all over that caller and the surrounding area, and I knew that once the coyote smelled that he would be gone - but Daniel had no clear shot. As the coyote stopped and put his nose to the wind I drew down on him with my shotgun and put him to rest. Not exactly how I would've liked it to play out but we were able to bring this one last predator in and put him on the ground.

After one more dry stand and then Daniel's first called stand, we called it for the day. But not before we had one more visitor: a 44" western diamondback rattlesnake.



I always enjoy taking new hunters out, but it was a real pleasure hunting with Daniel. He is heading back overseas in defense of freedom soon, and I want to thank him for all that he does - God bless those that keep us free. I am looking forward to hunting with Daniel again when he returns to Arizona.



And if you're wondering about that rattler . . . . he got to come home with me and spend the rest of his days quietly hanging on my wall.

Fun Friday with the Griz-N-Gray

The morning's crisp air had a slight chill to it. Fall is almost here I thought to myself as I settled into a rocky outcropping which overlooked a small canyon. The freeway wasn't far off, but the few hills that separated that stretch of asphalt from my current position was enough to dull the sound of traffic as it raced by, seemingly unaware of the beautiful morning that I had just sat down to enjoy. The sun was up but not yet shining on me as I pressed the call against my leg and a slow but rythmic fox pup distress began to pour out from the wooden exhaust. I rose the call in volume and intensity, and the sound echoed throughout the rock walls and steep draws that made up the canyon that I was hoping to pull some gray foxes from.

It hadn't quite been 5 minutes when I caught movement from the right - two gray foxes were coming in, and coming in fast. They were leaping from rock to rock as they made their way towards me and towards what they thought was a gray fox pup in distress, and potentially a rabbit meal when they caught sight of my decoy. I dropped the call on my leg and moved my left hand to the forearm of my rifle, quickly getting a solid cheek weld on the stock and finding the farthest fox in my scope. They were 50 yards out, then 40, then 30, then BOOM! My AR barked and the first fox hit the dirt. The second fox looked confused, started to run to his companion then suddenly jumped the other way and headed back to the safety of the canyon. I grabbed the call and pumped it once against my leg. That was enough to stop the fox dead in his tracks, and as he started back towards me I found him in the scope and just like the first fox, this one hit the dirt hard. A few more minutes of calling produced no further animals, but as I walked to collect my foxes, I looked at the call in my hand and realized that the way I had been calling gray foxes into the stand was about to be changed forever.



There's a new hand call on the market, and I guarantee that it will put foxes in front of you! Kettle Creek Calls has released their Griz-N-Gray call, which is a hand call with bellows on it that you pump against your leg. I was skeptical at first, until my friend Scott Francom tried one out and called in 9 foxes on 4 stands during his first time out. After that I knew I had to get my hands on one.

I had stopped in to see Scott at his house and he had shown me a box of calls that Curtis Houser from Kettle Creek Calls had sent to him to support the Arizona Predator Callers club. That in itself is a testament to good character and the kind of company that I want to do business with. So I picked up one of the Griz-N-Gray calls from Scott and headed home. On the way I decided to do a few stands, and as you read in the story above, the very first stand was a real experience. Anytime I take a new call out into the field and it produces animals on the first stand, I am excited. But when I take a new call that has a unique design and a one-of-a-kind sound out into the field and it produces animals on the first stand, I am impressed. I have been looking for a way to create a gray fox pup distress sound with my mouth calls for a long time, and while it's possible it is not easy and certainly not perfect. But the Griz-N-Gray makes it easy and perfect, and I had to keep testing it.



I setup for another stand in a position similar to the first stand, but when I sat down I realized that my visibility was limited. I didn't call for the full 15 minutes that I usually spend on stand, mostly due to the difficult setup, but I couldn't shake the feeling that something had responded. Oh well, on to the next (and final) stand. I setup under some oak scrub brush and had a great view of lots of rocky terrain and some open brushy flats. I worked the Griz-N-Gray for about 10 minutes, and when nothing showed I switched to my mouth calls. I had just started to blow a cottontail distress when a young coyote came barging into the stand from my left, headed right for my Quiver Critter decoy. She was getting closer, and closer, and she was just about on top of me when she stopped behind a bush, but it was just a little bush, so I centered my crosshairs on her chest and pulled the trigger. Well it turns out that it was a kevlar bush, and my bullet was deflected off course. But instead of turning to run the young dog jumped forward, towards the decoy. This put her in the open, and about 15 feet from me. Should've brought the shotgun were the words that went through my head, but I couldn't miss at that distance and that young female coyote went down less than 2 feet from my decoy.

I can't say that it was only the Griz-N-Gray that brought that coyote in, but I hadn't been blowing long enough on my open-reed cottontail call to think that it did all the work. I attribute the kill to the Griz-N-Gray, and even though I was done hunting for the day I know I'll be out there again soon with my new "leg-thumping" call, putting more fur on the ground and enjoying every minute of it.

If you're interested in the Griz-N-Gray or in any of Kettle Creek Calls other amazing hand calls, visit their website at KettleCreekCalls.com. To hear what sound I was making with the Griz-N-Gray to draw in these foxes and coyote, go to the right sidebar of my blog under the "Hand Call MP3s" section. You'll also find an alternate sound you can make with the Griz-N-Gray, which is a Raccoon distress. I love versatile calls!