Song Dog Savvy

"From what I've heard," said Belding, "most guys have a tendency to do three things wrong with a mouth call--with E-calls, too, but mouth calls in particular. They call too loud, they call too much and they call too long.

"It's important to understand the biology of the prey animal you're trying to mimic--let's say a rabbit--and what happens when they're injured or in distress.

"A rabbit's lung capacity is much smaller than ours, and they simply can't squeal as long nor as loud as a human can blow a call. They run out of air quicker," he explained, "and as they run out of air, their cries get sketchy, broken and panicked. And that's what you're trying to accurately reproduce in the field."

True, high-pitch cottontail squalls and the low-pitch, gravelly jackrabbit squeals are traditional parts of the coyote hunter's audio arsenal. However, is being fluent in bunny enough to seal the deal each and every time you head afield?

"I do prefer an open-reed call," said Belding, a competitive goose caller who understands how to incorporate his hands, air pressure, diaphragm, back pressure, volume and other variables into his calling to get the sounds he wants.

"With practice, you can get a fawn-in-distress sound, which at the right time of the year [early to mid-June] can be very effective in areas with high deer and antelope populations," he said. "On that same call, you can get a jackrabbit by sliding your lips toward the stopper. You can get a cottontail by sliding your lips back and biting down a little harder on the reed. You can get a woodpecker, and, with practice, you can get tricky and get elk calves or cow elk in distress."

Efficient predator callers, said Belding, are well-versed callers, fluent in several different languages, so to speak, and able to present all at varying volumes and, perhaps most significant, with varied and authentic degrees of inflection or emotion. All of these elements, including mimicking the sounds of different prey species while at the same stand, can come into play.

"Never be afraid to try different sounds," Belding said, "even at the same stand. If you've been there for fifteen or twenty minutes, try something else. Maybe it will catch that dog's attention."

Your ability to blow a call ten different ways is no guarantee of success. This wisdom was imparted to me years ago by recognized call-maker David Hale.

"M.D.," he said, "most men don't realize that only 5 to 10 percent of turkey hunting is turkey calling. Five to 10 percent." Calling, he said, gets all the attention because that's where the glamour lies. Instead, hunters should concentrate on "knowing" gobblers first. Translation: Scouting, biology, patterning. The ability to use a call comes second. Within the scope of this story we can simply substitute "coyote" for "turkey," and, said Belding, there are countless similarities when it comes to what I'll call The Learning Curve.

"To become a good coyote hunter you have to learn to read the body language of that animal. Just like you'd read a flock of geese or a gobbler that's approaching your set-up," Belding said.