ALLEN
MORRIS AND PREDATOR HUNTING
Predator Hunting 103 – The Hunt
EDITOR’S NOTE: What does it take to become a
professional hunter, and get to travel the country doing
TV shows, putting on seminars, making videos and spending
most of your life as a hunter? What gives a predator
pro the credentials to stand before a group and speak
as an expert? Allen Morris of Springville, Utah, a Hunter’s
Specialties’ pro, has hunted coyotes for 28 years.
He has placed in the top 10 in the last nine World Championships
of Predator Hunting and came out second place in 2002.
Although Morris and his partner had the same number
of coyotes as the first-place team - 13 taken in 1-1/2-days,
the first-place team returned to the tournament site
10 minutes ahead of Morris. Since the contest is judged
on who takes the most coyotes the quickest, those 10
minutes were the difference between first place and
second place. However,
no one can dispute that Allen Morris is one of the best
predator hunters in the nation. This week, we’ll
talk with Morris about hunting predators.
After you’ve called in a few coyotes, bought
an electronic caller and had reasonable success with
it, most predator hunters want to know, “How can
I get better?” The real secret to becoming a better
predator hunter is to spend more time scouting than
you do calling and attempting to take the coyotes. I
spend much more time scouting for coyotes than I do
actually hunting them. The number-one message I try
to get across to all predator hunters is that you can’t
call or hunt an animal that’s not in the area
where you’re attempting to take it. Therefore,
the best way to be the most successful in the shortest
time is to hunt coyotes in regions where coyotes live.
If you’ve seen coyotes when you’ve been
deer hunting or turkey hunting, those are good places
to start looking. Next, I look for fresh tracks, especially
after a snow and fresh scat (fresh coyote droppings).
After you know you’re in a place where coyotes
are living, you have to look for the best place to set
up to call. I describe this process as picking fights
you know you can win. You have to set up in a place
where you know you can take the coyote. You’re
not going to take an animal that you can’t see.
Therefore, when you’re calling bobcats, coyotes,
and foxes, you have to try and call them in a place
where you can see them, regardless of whether you’re
hunting in the East or the West. The real secret to
hunting coyotes is not only how well you can call, but
if you can call a coyote in to a place where you can
shoot him.
Here
are the five things that I look for when I’m setting
up to take coyotes:
1) Elevation - I want to set up on a place that is a
bit higher than the area to where I’m calling,
which means getting on one side of a creek bank or on
top of a small hill.
2) Trails - Look for openings in those trails. You want
to try to call a coyote down a trail that it normally
travels into an opening through which he normally will
pass.
3) The Sun at My Back- When the coyote comes in below
me, (elevation), he’ll have to look up to see
where the sounds are coming from, which means he has
to look into the sun. When he’s looking into the
sun, he can’t see you as well as he can if he
isn’t looking into the sun.
4) The Correct Wind - I always use all Hunter’s
Specialties’ Scent-A-Way products to kill and
mask my human odor, but I still want to hunt with the
wind in my face. In a perfect world, you always set
up with the wind in your face. However, since we don’t
live or hunt in a perfect world, sometimes we have to
set up to call downwind. I don’t mind calling
downwind as long as that coyote has to come out into
an opening where I can see him first. When you have
to call downwind or across the wind, that is when using
Hunter’s Specialties’ Scent-A-Way products
and staying as scent-free as you possibly can really
pays off.
5) Camouflage - I always hunt in Realtree camouflage
from head to toe. The most-important parts of the body
that you absolutely have to keep camouflaged when predator
hunting are your face and your hands. The most-critical
part of keeping a coyote from seeing you is to not move.
However,
you have to move to call and take the shot. Therefore,
when you move, you need camouflage to mask your movements.
I’ve hunted and taken coyotes in plaid shirts
and blue jeans by sitting extremely still and having
my face and my hands camouflaged. You have to camouflage
those hands while you’re calling. When you have
a big face like mine, anytime I move my face, I’m
flashing a big mirror at the coyotes. Yes, camouflage
is important, and I strongly recommend you wear Realtree
camouflage from head to toe, especially on your hands
and face.
To learn more about Hunter’s Specialties’
predator products, go to www.hunterspec.com.
TOMORROW: PREDATOR HUNTING
103 – THE HUNT
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