Why Varmint Calling?

…I’ve been asked this question since my addiction to the sport a little over six years ago

Let’s time warp back to about February 1994. Crazy Brad and myself had ventured out Northeast of Phoenix "calling" for some excitement. Temperatures were normal, wore all

our camo on the first stand and by the third stand most of it had been taken off and thrown into the truck. On the second stand Crazy Brad was off to my right about ten yards with both of us facing into the early morning breeze. Being a "gumby" (novice) to the sport of calling we had brought a Johnny Stewart calling machine, which was playing the gray fox pup distress at a low volume.

About four minutes into the stand off to my left I literally could hear something running straight at me. Anticipating the shot I tried to get my buns to pivot a little more to the left, at the same time slip off my rifle’s safety and bring it up to my shoulder. Yee haww! Here came mister coyote bounding

like the Dukes of Hazard, not only over the bush next to me but me! That’s right, that puppy jumped completely over my extended legs and hit on the other side. Then I saw Crazy Brad swing up his rifle towards the gray blur that I was yelling at and the yote made an instantaneous left turn, kicked on the afterburners and streaked out away from me. Both of us fired shots knowing we were not going to hit the coyote, but fired anyway offering up a sacrifice of ammo to the predator gods.

Several things were gained and lost that day. I gained a tremendous respect for all coyotes, and the thrill that had been missing in all of my other hunting ventures. What did I loose? Well, I lost a good pair of underwear as soon as I could stop shaking and very slowly waddle back to the truck and the life saving baby wipes.

You can stop laughing now! I dare you to stop in at our local sporting goods store and purchase a varmint call. Calls are a handful of the most exciting sport in Arizona. You may stumble across a predator while your out hunting its prey, but to consistently call them in is the biggest challenge out there, bar none.

Then you have to be able to take its picture or find it in your scope and pull the trigger. Sounds simple right? The average varmint caller harvests only about two out of ten animals that are successfully called in. Your shots vary from what seems like inches to the wary yote stuck out there at 100 yards or more. It is a difficult sport to master, if anyone ever had. But the challenge has its rewards and anything that costs a great deal of effort is worth a great deal.

For more information on varmint calling check some of the videos out there, also there are several magazines that deal with calling. The only problem you will run into in gathering knowledge of the sport is very little of it has anything to do with Arizona. Try joining up with one of Arizona’s varmint calling clubs. One that comes to mind is the Phoenix Varmint Callers, Inc., one of the largest and fastest growing club in the state. Of course an excellent way of learning some good stuff is where you are at right now, AZOutdoorsman.com! More tips and help will be provided as Team AZOD hunts your state and ours, Arizona. Be on the lookout for more varminting information, hunting, and pictures.

If you have any questions on varmint calling contact either of the following: