Coyote Calling Including MP3 Calling Sounds.

The symbol below indicates a sound file in MP3 format. Each one is about 60 seconds long. You are welcome to save each sound file and use the sounds any way you like. They are guaranteed to get the attention of your dog or cat.

Relentless 365 California's Premiere Hunting Magazine. Check out my coyote hunting article.

AS IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED.... May 20, 2005 – Decided to go work on some of the ground squirrels, but when I got to the field, the foxtails were too high to see any ground squirrels. So I decided to see if I could call in a coyote. There was a high place where I could make a stand and a have pretty good view of any approaching coyotes. There is no cover, so I merely sat in the foxtails and got out the first call that I found in my fanny pack. It was the Johnny Stewart PC-1. It is the rabbit call with the little rubber button that one can bite on for changing the pitch.

This is looking south to the fence line at about 500 yards. The foxtails are pretty tall. The cross wind is about 10 mph
from the right. No cover, so I merely sat down in the foxtails and put my rifle up on my Bi-Fur-Pod.

STARTED CALLING.... Well, I let out a series of jackrabbit screams and watched. The wind was from the west at about 10 mph and I was facing south. To my east, and down wind, there were thick thistles and no way to spot any incoming coyote for 200 yards or so. To the south, I could see out to 1000 yards and there was a fence line at about 500 yards. A second series of rabbit screams and I waited and watched. Nothing. The cows in the far field could hear me because they started looking my way. I glassed to the south and no coyotes. After about 15 minutes and one more series, still no coyotes.

NO TAKERS - BUT.... I decided to give it up and go look for ground squirrels. I got up and started walking back to the truck which was about ¼ of a mile to the north. I stopped every so often to scan the horizon with my binoculars. I had gone about 100 yards back toward the truck and looked back and there was a new stump at the fence line about 600 yards away. The binoculars turned the stump into a coyote with just his head and shoulders showing and looking directly at me. I did the only thing I could do at that point. I immediately sat down in the foxtails and setup again. Put the old Sako in 243 Win caliber on my Bi-Fur-Pod and started watching. The coyote just sat there.

Here is where I first spotted the coyote. The picture is taken with about a 5X zoom. The cows are in the field on
the other side of the fence. The distance is about 600 yards.

TALKING TO THE COYOTE.... I waited about 5 minutes and the coyote didn’t move. Finally, I pulled the call out of my shirt pocket and gave a series of jackrabbit screams. The coyote didn’t move. He wasn't interested in a rabbit dinner. I waited a couple of minutes and then made some very high pitched squeals on the call by biting the rubber button. The coyote immediately came through the fence and started my way. After coming about 50 yards closer, the coyote stopped and sat down. More high pitched squeals and it started toward me again. As long as it was approaching, I kept quiet. It went below a rise and then appeared at about 300 yards hopping up above the foxtails like it was looking to see what I was. All this time my torso is completely exposed, but I am sitting still with very little motion. The coyote stopped at about 300 yards and looked at me. I was thinking about trying a shot and cranked the scope up from 4X to about 14X without looking at it.

CLOSE BUT GONE.... The coyote started trotting directly toward me. While they are approaching, I tend to let them get as close as they want. The coyote wasn’t going to scent me because of the cross wind. The coyote wend down in a dip and appeared at about 120 yards and I was ready for the shot. I was ready to do a bark to stop it, but it turned to the east and wend down in a ditch. The next I see of it is in the bottom of the ditch running directly away from me at about 200 yards. I didn’t have time to move the rifle and get a shot and it went around a bend in the ditch heading back south.

COYOTES EVERYWHERE.... Well, I figured that I have blown my chance. I look down wind to the east and here is another coyote coming on the far side of the thistle patch. This one is going to scent me pretty soon and I lost sight of it. Well, it is looking pretty bleak. I look back to the south and here are two more coyotes at the fence line where I spotted the first coyote. What the heck, I have nothing to lose, so I start with the high pitched squeals and the two new coyotes start my way, but hang up at about 400 yards. While I am watching them, there appears a third coyote which was probably the first one I saw. They all headed back to the fence line and stopped and looked at me. I waited a few minutes and gave some high pitched squeals and all three started my way. They would move 20 or 30 yards and stop. More squeals and I could coach them another 30 yards closer. Finally at about 300 yards all three turned and ran back to the fence line.

THE STANDOFF.... All three are standing at the fence line looking my direction. I gave out some more high pitched squeals and they just stood there. One of them went back into the field and the cows chased it and it came back to the fence line. At this point I am playing with them like a fish on a line. They make a run away from me and I reel them back in with some high pitched squeals.

HURT PUP DOES THE TRICK.... This went on for another 10 minutes or so. All three are interested, but way to cautious to come any closer than about 400 yards. The forth down wind coyote is out there somewhere, but I have completely lost track of it. I decide to change tactics. On the way down the ditch, when I had first arrived, I passed by what might have been a old coyote den. It had dead ground squirrel parts all around it. So I start with a hurt pup call with the same Johnny Stewart call. This does the trick! I am between the coyotes and the den. One coyote starts on a run toward me. He gets to about 300 yards and drops out of sight in a dip in the ground. I give out some more hurt pup squeals and the coyote appears at about 250 yards jumping up to see over the foxtails.

THE SAKO BARKS.... He finally stops at about 200 yards standing straight on looking at me. I hold about an inch off the coyote's chest on the upwind side and touch one off. The Sako barks and the scope hits the bib of my hat and I can't see anything. I look over the scope and see one coyote running away at 500 yards, but nothing is running form where the coyote was standing. The old Sako Forester in 243 Win caliber with its Shilen Match barrel is very accurate with the 95 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips pushed by 42 gr of H414.

LARGE MALE COYOTE.... It took a while to find the coyote in the tall foxtails. It was a large male of about 35 pounds, but the fur was in very poor condition. The bullet entered his chest on his left side. I was shooting about 5 inches to the right of where the bullet entered because of the wind. I almost over compensated. I notice that my camo paint job is starting to shine and wear off in locations. About time for another coat. It sure is nice when the first bullet out of a clean cold barrel goes where you are aiming. This old Sako is a very reliable rifle.

Here is a close up of the Johnny Stewart PC-1 variable pitch call. One bites on the rubber button to change the pitch.
On the back side of the rubber button is a rubber teat that touches the reed. The more the pressure, the higher the pitch.

Jackrabbit with the Johnny Stewart PC-1 Call.
High Pitched Squeal with the Johnny Stewart PC-1 Call.
Hurt Coyote Pup with the Johnny Stewart PC-1 Call.
FREE SOUNDS.... You are welcome to save these sound files. They are in MP3 format and you can use them any way you want.

Here is a closer view of where the .243 95 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip entered. The call is a Johnny Stewart PC-1.

There was a big tick on the back of the coyote's ear.

EXIT WOUND.... The exit wound is just in front of the right rear leg. It is a surprisingly small exit wound. The 243 Win usually leaves a much larger exit wound. The tail is very scraggly and the pelt is very poor with possibly some mange. He had a tick on his head, but I didn't see any fleas. It was a big male and in poor condition. He had more ticks and a very ragged tail and fur. The bullet caught him in the left side of the chest and exited just in front of the right hind leg. The rancher is going to be happy about this coyote not being able to get anymore of his live stock. I forgot my camera, but went back home an got it.

I guess the moral if this tale is that if the coyotes don’t completely leave the area and you can talk to them, keep talking and you might find the right words.

A TWO COYOTE DAY.... The weather is cooling a bit in the Bay Area so it was time for some coyote calling. Two coyotes out of three stands is not a bad day. Mondays (10/10/5) are good days for calling.

FIRST STAND & NO TAKERS.... The first stand was near the old Red Dairy Barn that years ago lost the last hint of red and in the last year has collapsed into a heap of vintage lumber. I got a male coyote there a few months ago and gave the location another try. There were a lot of ground squirrels and one was setting on a stump chirping at me during my calling session. This ground squirrel was my early warning system. I used the L&M Howler with the Utah Jack sound and sounded out 4 series of cries. After about 15 minutes I quit that and went through a number of calling sounds. Part of it was to possible call in a reluctant coyote and also for practice to see how each call sounded in the field. I spent 30 minutes going through my calling and nothing. About half way through the various calls, the chirping ground squirrel got tired and left the stump. There were numerous ground squirrels farther out that kept up the chirping. The ground squirrels sure are going to need some attention after the first rains. I see at least a brick of 17 HMR ammo being needed for this area.

STAND TWO IN OPEN COUNTRY.... The second stand was in very open country with stubble from recently harvested barley. The stubble doesn't offer much cover, so I sat in the shade of a big oak tree near some thistle weeds. I started with the L&M Howler. It is an experimental call that Lonny and Mike made and sent me for testing. It makes fairly good coyote howls, but the reed is a little too close to the mouth piece and it pinches off when I try to get a loud howl. I had recently listened to the Utah Jack jackrabbit sound used on the new FoxPro and the L&M Howler makes a really great Utah Jack sound. It is loud and gravely and I was able to capture the "cramped stomach" sound in short bursts.

HERE HE COMES.... I gave out a series of Utah Jack calls and waited. After about 3 minutes I gave out another series. A few minutes later, I see the male coyote at about 400 yards looking my way. He was just standing there looking straight at me. I froze and watched. He stared for another couple of minutes then started toward me. He was directly down wind, but behind me about 800 yards away over the hills was a well traveled 2 lane road and I wasn't too worried about my scent. The coyote had probably had human smells wafting his way from the road till he knew every woman's perfume by brand name.

SETUP IN HIS DIRECTION.... The coyote went out of sight in a low spot and I moved the rifle and Bi-Fur-Pod in his direction and got the elevation just right for his approach. I also dialed the scope up from 4X to 16X. I figured that this was probably going to be a long shot. The coyote reappeared at about 200 yards and was at a slow trot toward me. He stopped, angling very slightly to the right, at about 170 yards. I centered the crosshair on his chest took the shot. With the wind blowing from me to the coyote, I didn't hear the whop of the impact, but when I regained the sight picture in the scope, the coyote was down and rolling over with his feet in the air.

ANY MORE TAKERS?.... I started the hurt pup calling with the Long Valley Predator call, but nothing else appeared. I stayed with if for about 10 minutes, but nothing.

EXIT WOUND NOT TOO LARGE.... The old Sako Forester in 243 Win caliber delivered the 95 gr moly coated Nosler Ballistic Tip pushed by 42 gr H414 right to the center of the chest and the exit was just in front of the left hind leg. Not too much hide damage. This coyote, a young male, was in prime condition. He had probably been feeding on the dog and cat food at the new housing development about 2 miles to the east and eating pets for desert. There will probably be a few less missing pussy cats and little lap dogs from the people living there.

OPEN COUNTRY.... Looking East, the new housing district is about 2 miles away. This is the direction the coyote came from. Not very much cover for the approach, but the Utah Jack calling sound was good enough to entice him to cover a lot of relative open ground.

A FEW TREES.... Looking West there were a few trees. The coyote is laying about ten feet left of the rifle. I drove my truck up about 300 yards to take the pictures. For the stand, I was sitting in the shade of the oak tree just at the rear of my truck's camper shell in the shaded area of the trees in the distance. It was about a 170 yard shot.

TOO MANY CALLS.... Here are some of the current calls I carry in my fanny pack. I have found that it is difficult to get the call I want by feel except for the Dan Thompson Red Desert Howler. I can usually find it by feel and without fumbling around too much. 

THIRD STAND.... I moved over to the Marsh Creek area for the third stand of the day. This picture shows the East end of this year's Bragadon Fire. It covered about 4000 acres. I made the setup at the right edge of this picture down this little road cut, but came in from the right across the other side of the hill so no coyote could see my approach. The wind was blowing from the left to the right and I had the wind in my face.

MORE UTAH JACK.... I started out with the L&M Howler doing the Utah Jack imitation. I did about 3 series of calls over a period of 15 minutes. By this time it was about 3:00PM and getting a bit warm. I was sitting in next to the base of a large oak tree in the shade. I sat there for a few minutes more and this coyote bark-howl back at me. I was busted. Maybe? The wind was in my face, so he couldn't get my scent. I got out the Loess Hills Howler and gave him couple of challenge barks. I was ready to start up a conversation with him, but he didn't answer. I moved the Bi-Fur-Pod and rifle in the direction of the howl. It was a waiting game. After about 5 minutes, I was ready to give him another challenge bark and I spot his head above the tall grass. It was about 70 yards and all I could see was his head and a tiny bit of his neck. I centered just below his neck where his chest should be and touched one off. Bang! Whop! That was a very easy shot. The bullet entered in the center of his chest and there was no exit.

YOUNG MALE COYOTE.... Jackrabbit screams and a bit of a challenge bark brought his male coyote into view at 70 yards for an easy shot off the Bi-Fur-Pod sticks.

TWO CALLS WORKED.... I made the challenge bark with the Loess Hills Howler (left) from Griebel Game Calls and the Utah Jack jackrabbit screams with the L&M Howler (right). This young male coyote was in good condition. Earlier in the year, the coyotes in this area had mange and it appears that the surviving coyotes have recovered from the mange condition.

MT DIABLO.... Here is a picture of Mt Diablo in the Bay Area of Central CA. The peak is about 5 miles from where I made the third stand. Now I will write the rancher a letter telling him about the 4 coyotes I have taken on his land so far this year. Since I started hunting coyotes on his ranch, he has not lost anymore cattle and calves to coyotes and I have a great place to hunt. I also need to control the ground squirrels for him. It will be a tough job keeping all those ground squirrels under control so they will not overpopulate the area. Good Hunting… from Varmint Al

SOME FREE COYOTE CALLING SOUND DOWNLOADS.... These following sound files are free with no strings attached. Use them any way you like. I made them for your predator calling enjoyment and to promote the Second Amendment. Each new coyote hunter who learns hunting and buys a gun will more than likely be another supporter of the Second Amendment. These sounds are not the very best quality, but as good as I could do on the laptop. Each sound file lasts about 60 seconds. If you burn the sound on your own CD, or MP3 player, I would suggest 2 minutes of silence before any sound starts and 1 or 2 minutes of silence between each calling sound. You can also burn the first sequence at a lower volume so as not to spook any close coyotes at first. Right click on the file name and select "Save Target As". Let me know how you like them. The .wav files are large and thanks to Eric for providing the web space for the .wav files.

ONE BIG ZIP FILE.... All of the calls below, including the 16-min and 20-min Sequence files have been zipped into one large file. Download here: allcalls.zip (35.929Mb) and save the file to a new folder. Unzip the file to a folder of your choice.

These sound files have been recently (2/12/6) re-mastered with the volumes normalized and converted to MP3 in FM quality. Each sound file lasts about 60 seconds.

HAVING TROUBLE DOWNLOADING....  Assume you want to download Group Howl (group2.mp3). Here is what I suggest you try:
1. Right Click on the hot link (the underlined name of Group Howl below) of the file you want to download.
2. When the menu appears select "Save Target as..."
3. A Window will appear "Save As" and the default location is "My Documents". If you Click on the "Save" tab the sound file named group2.mp3 will be downloaded to your My Documents folder. Your hard drive now contains the file.
4. To play the downloaded file, open your My Documents folder and Double Click on the file named group2.mp3.
5. To copy the file to the clipboard, you Right Click on the file name group2.mp3 and select copy.
6. To copy the file over to your MP3 player you need to plug the cable from your MP3 player into the USB port of the computer. If you are running Windows XP a window will open and you select "Open folder to view files" and Click on OK. Put the mouse pointer inside the MP3 player's folder and Right Click. Select paste from the menu. The group2.mp3 file should then be written to Secure Digital card in your MP3 player.

Excruciator (excruciator-16-min.mp3) A 16 minute sequence of Chris Butcher's Excruciator call. Starts with 1 minute of silence. 15.1Mb Note: I removes some of the clicks that I had overlooked in the recording.
Tiny-Dogs-Chicken (tiny-dogs-chicken.mp3) Two Chihuahuas chasing a chicken. Added the chicken squawking. Sounds good.
Tiny-Dogs-Barking (tiny-dogs3.mp3) Two Chihuahuas barking scared at Bart & Tide with Tide moaning 1.023Mb Its not a standard sound, but its worth a try. Coyotes should at least be interested and come for a look at the commotion. Tiny dogs in urban areas are a favorite food of coyotes.
Read-Head-Woodpecker (red-head-woodpecker.mp3) Coon Skinner recorded it from a live bird and emailed it to me. Thanks Coon Skinner.
Bird Squeaker (bird-squeaker.mp3) Made with the squeaker out of one of Tide's squeaky toys 970KB
Rodent Squeaker (rodent-squeaker.mp3) Made with Tide's squeaky toy - different cadence 875KB
Group Howl (group2.mp3) group coyote howl with 3 different calls mixed with the new software 944KB
Group Howl (group3.mp3) group coyote howl with 4 different calls mixed with the new software 944KB
Chicken Distress Call (chicken.mp3) with the Haydel call 656KB
Woodpecker Distress Call (mybird2.mp3) with a Lohman Quail Call #115W BIRD 1.316MB
Coyote Challenge Bark (challenge.mp3) with the Dan Thompson Red Desert coyote howler 645KB
Coyote Greeting Howls (dthowl.mp3) with the Dan Thompson Red Desert coyote howler 646KB
Coyote Greeting Howls (dthowl2.mp3) with the Dan Thompson Red Desert coyote howler with more chatter 944KB
Coyote Hurt Pup Distress Call (hurtpup2.mp3) with a diaphragm call 660KB
Jackrabbit Distress Call (jackrabbit.mp3) 657KB
Cottontail Distress Call (weems.mp3) with a knockoff Weems call 659KB
Cottontail Distress Call (weems2.mp3) with a knockoff Weems call 906KB
Jackrabbit (jrpc1.mp3) with the Johnny Stewart PC-1 Call 896KB
Jackrabbit (jrpc1lv.mp3) Low-Volume with the Johnny Stewart PC-1 Call 896KB
High Pitched Squeal (highpc1.mp3) with the Johnny Stewart PC-1 Call 920KB
High Pitched Squeal (highpc1lv.mp3) Low-Volume with the Johnny Stewart PC-1 Call 920KB
Hurt Coyote Pup (hurtpc1.mp3) with the Johnny Stewart PC-1 Call 931KB
Utah Jackrabbit (lmuj1.mp3) imitation with the L&M Howler call 672KB
Coyote Challenge Bark (lhhcallenge.mp3) with the Loess Hills Howler 694KB
Coyote Howl (lhhowler.mp3) with the Loess Hills Howler 648KB
Coyote Howl (wileyoneh.mp3) with the Wiley One Howler 671KB
Hurt Coyote Pup (wileyonehp.mp3) with the Wiley One Howler  666KB
2-Minutes of Silence (2-min-silence.mp3) 941KB
1-Minutes of Silence (1-min-silence.mp3) 469KB
Coyote Greeting Howl (elkpowerhowl.mp3) E.L.K. Power Howler for a single howl somewhere in a sequence.
Coyote Chatter Howl (elkchatterhowl.mp3) E.L.K. Power Howler for a single howl somewhere in a sequence.
Locater (locater1.mp3) 635KB Clear tone siren courtesy of Howard Drummond, Fire Crew Capitan.
Locater (locater2.mp3) 720KB Crank tone siren courtesy of Howard Drummond, Fire Crew Captain.
Note. The siren locater sound will not call in coyotes but is used to locate the coyotes.  A siren sounds will often cause coyotes to howl back. You can then tell where the coyotes are located and come back 30 min or so later and make a calling stand near where you heard the coyotes howling back at the siren.

MAKE YOUR OWN CALLING SEQUENCES.... You can rename the calling sounds and the silence files and load them to your MP3 player in the order you want them to play. It is like making a play list. Or you can download Audacity a free, open source software for recording and editing sounds. It is available for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems. Here is a link on how Audacity could be used to create your own sequence.

20 MINUTE SAMPLE CALLING SEQUENCE.... Copy the silence sound, 2-min-silence.mp3, into s1.mp3, s2.mp3, s3.mp3 and s4.mp3 etc. Write the sounds to your MP3 player in the order you want. I was able to put this sequence into one file using the Magix sound software. Once you start the sequence, you will have 2 minutes to walk away from the player before the calling starts. Then it will play the sequence and you can concentrate on any approaching coyotes without fiddling around with remote buttons.
Download 20-min-sequence.mp3. 10.563MB 20:34 Min:Sec

s1.mp3
lmuj1.mp3
s2.mp3
jrpc1.mp3
s3.mp3
highpc1.mp3
s4.mp3
s5.mp3
challenge.mp3
s6.mp3
hurtpc1.mp3
s7.mp3
dthowl.mp3

17 MINUTE SEQUENCE.... This sequence starts with 2 minutes of silence then the chicken distress. After 1 minute of silence it then has the chicken distress with the tiny dogs barking. The sequence continues alternating and finally ends with the coyote chatter howl. This should be good for call wise coyotes. 
Download tiny-dog-chicken-sequence.mp3 16.5 MB.

16 MINUTE CALLING SEQUENCE.... This sequence starts at half-volume with the first sound. I really like this sequence and it worked for me a number of times.
Download 16-min-sequence.mp3.

2-Min-Silence.mp3
highpc1lv.mp3
1-Minute of Silence
lmuj1.mp3
1-Minute of Silence
jrpc1.mp3
1-Minute of Silence
jrpc1lv.mp3
2-Minutes of Silence
dthowl2.mp3
1-Minute of Silence
group2.mp3
1-Minute of Silence
hurtpup2.mp3

EL-CHEAPO ELECTRONIC CALLER.... I have tried this combination and it plays the MP3 sound files with good quality and plenty of volume. The little mini-amp can easily drive the Powerhorn type speaker with good volume. You will want to mark the volume setting so that there will be no distortion. The two minutes of silence is just about right to walk about 80 to 100 yards away from the caller. A 512Mb Secure Digital card will hold plenty of sound files. All MP3 players are NOT the same. Some of them will not play the MP3 files as they were. I have now converted them over to FM quality and they should work with all MP3 players. The TRIO MP3 Player works fine and runs on one AAA battery. The Mini Audio Amplifier runs on one 9V battery. I have used the same set of batteries for about 6 stands of 30 minutes each and the batteries are still working.
Note: The identical setup is listed on the Predator Masters Tech Section. It is called The Homemade E-Caller. I was not aware of it when I put the info together for the El-Cheapo.

Here is an even cheaper build for the E-Caller. See the video here: Wild Enough to Shoot At

Here is a list of the parts:

MP3 Player with (No Memory) using a SD card. The old Mach Speed TRIO MP3 Player has been discontinued.

512Mb Secure Digital (SD) Card Search for (Secure Digital Cards) The current price on a 1Gb card is not less that it was for a 64Mb card a couple of years ago.

UP-DATE.... MP3 Player with 2 Gb built in memory plus it will also record your own sounds with the built-in recorder.

Mini Audio Amplifier

4x6" 50-Watt Indoor/Outdoor PowerHorn

12-Inch Shielded Stereo Audio Cable The cable between the Mini Amp and the MP3 Player. I have heard that the mono cable into the MP3 player sometimes has problems by shorting out one channel and distorting the sound in the channel being used.

All Electronics Corp. Catalog No. PMP - MONO PLASTIC 3.5 MM PLUG. The connector will need to be soldered to the PowerHorn's cable. You can get this connector at Radio Shack when you get the Mini Amp here abut at a higher price.

Note: Above are the places where the hardware is still avaliable. There are many other places where the items may be purchases. Also, the 1GB Secure Digital cards now cost about as much as the 512MB SD cards were priced a few months ago and the 1GB SD card has twice the storage size.

A Better Weasel Ball Decoy by  Dick Wendell This is an excellent improvement on the Weasel Ball Decoy. See and Listen to the Struggling Varmint Video Download. Al, you are completely free to use my pictures and technique for building this for your website. Your generosity is extended back to you my friend. Note: The reason the action is random is that the tail hits either the ground or the lower bar. It really makes an erratic action. Equipment: Metal cutting saw Welder (I use a 110v wire feed welder) 1/4" coarse thread die for cutting threads on rod Tape Measure Materials: Weasel Ball (cat toy) 1/4" cold rolled round rod 1/4" coupling nut  Grinder for putting point on the rod and cleaning up cuts Camo paint Goal: To make a predator decoy with erratic movements that is able to be displayed above tall grass and snow at a low cost. Process: Ball Preparation: 1 - The Weasel Ball is easily found online for under $3.00. In fact the shipping is more than the item itself. Unscrew the ball and paint the half with the tail in an appropriate color for your area. I used a dead grass color. Leave the tail as installed. 2 - Get some white fake fur and sew a small tuft on the end of the tail to add as an attractor. Stand Fabrication: 1 - The top portion of the stand is made by taking a 12" piece of 1/4" round rod and bending a 90 degree bend about 2 inches from one end. Heating with a torch will make the bend much sharper. Placing the heated end of rod in a vice makes it easier and safer to bend. 2 - Take a 2 inch piece of the 1/4" round rod and weld it approximately 1 3/8" directly below the 90 degree bend. This location is best determined by holding the two pieces in place on the ball and marking the correct location. Once welded in place, if it is loose the two forks can be put in a vice and gently squeezed together until the forks slide firmly into place. It needs to be easy to remove so you replace the battery as needed. 3 - Take a 4 1/4 inch piece of the 1/4" rod and weld to the stand approximately 5 inches below the bottom of the forks.  This piece is needed to give the decoy an erratic movement. Without this piece the tail will simply swing in a big circle. With this piece the tail will swing, then make some jumping/jerking movements and the sequence is never the same. 4 - Using the 1/4 inch thread die make threads on the lower end of the rod. Thread on the 1/4" coupling nut and tack weld in place. 5 - Take a 12 inch piece of the metal rod and thread one end with the 1/4" die. Grind a point on the other end to be able to poke the stand in the ground. I have 6" and 12" base rods to accommodate tall grass or deeper snow. Any length can be made for what ever your conditions require. The separate bottom section makes the decoy easier to put in your pack. 6 - Paint the stand to match your area. Put into use: Slide the forks of the stand onto the Weasel Ball. Screw the appropriate length of base rod onto the stand. Poke the decoy into the ground. Turn the decoy on and go get into your hiding location .

Here is an easy to construct variation on the Dick Wendell's Weasel Ball decoy. The random action occurs because the tail hits
the bent bar and then appears to jump around instead of just swing around like a fan.
Instructions on how to build it are here.
 Lee put these videos up on YouTube showing how it works. Good job Lee.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ThYP80M2eU
More instructions on building this version of the decoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ltRfdk0Rkc

The Wobble Weasel by Scott Pierce.
Click on the link above to view the video and instructions on how it works and how to build it. This looks good and appears to be very easy to build. Some thin rod, a spring and hot glue. Varmint hunters are a very ingenious bunch.

The Hammock Decoy
Hi Al,
My wife Valinda came up with the ideal to use a Weasel Ball toy for a decoy. I bought one for about $7.00 at a local toy store. The problem with it was on un-level ground it didn't roll well and you couldn't see it over the brush. So when I got home I went to work on it. I unscrewed the cap off the ball to access the motor this is what I came up with.

1.) Disconnect the tail/Weasel from the ball unscrew ball halves (discard top half of the ball keeping motor half). Motor turns/spins inside ball half.
2.) Take the three screws out of the weight retaining cover on the electric motor and remove the weights (a little pressure with screw driver helps achieve this). This gives the motor more speed yet still allows it to wobble when finished.
3.) Drill tiny hole 1/16 into side of weight retaining cover then screw back to motor.
4.) Drill 1/16 - 1/8 hole in bottom of ball half and glue in a 1/16 - 1/8 steel rod approx 1 - 2 foot long also take a hammer and flatten out about 4 inches of end of rod that goes into the ground to keep rod from spinning (the ball wants to spin the rod so by flattening what's stuck in the ground it keeps the rod from spinning so motor is all that spins) Rod and ball half doesn't spin only motor.
5.) Spray paint the assembly dull gray.
6.) Reinsert tail/Weasel into hole on motor weight cover.
7.) Push steel rod into ground and turn on, it spins the tail and wobbles as well.

Total cost around $10.00 and gives motion as well and uses 1 AA battery. Please e-mail me back and let me know what you think of it.
Ricky Hammock
Adairsville GA

Weasel Ball on YouTube

EL-CHEAPO WORKS.... I took the El-Cheapo out for a test run. The roads are finally open and not mud slides anymore so I could get to my hunting area. I made two stands with no success. On the second stand, a ground squirrel was standing up chirping at me. He was about 100 yards out near the El-Cheapo. After I concluded that there were going to be no coyote takers, it was time to check the zero on my rifle. The scolding ground squirrel confirmed the zero on the old Sako Forester was right on out of a cold clean barrel. Off to the third stand. Less than 5 minutes into the third stand here comes a coyote. I saw him at about 400 yards way down the hill coming through the tall grass. He quickly went behind a rise heading my way and I was able to setup in the direction where I thought he would next appear. I was using the 16 minute sequence and it was only in the second sound (lmuj1.mp3) when I first saw the coyote.

ON A BEE LINE.... After the one minute of silence between the sounds, the third sound (jrpc1.mp3) starts up and here comes the coyote. He was on a Bee-line heading straight to the call and wasn't looking in my direction at all. At 22 steps from the El-Cheapo, he stopped, broadside, for the fatal 2 seconds at about 80 yards. The 95 gr 243 Nosler Ballistic Tip caught him right behind the front shoulder. I saw him roll once in the tall grass. I let the calling continue for the full 16 minutes hoping for a double, but no other coyote showed. It was interesting to watch a doe and her fawn at about 300 yards. They were my forward spotters and really picked up their ears for each new sound. At one point, they were both looking to the side and I thought there might be another coyote incoming but no show. About 10 minutes into the calling both the doe and fawn stiff stepped out of sight. The coyote was crawling with ticks. It looks like it is going to be a bad tick year. I used Velcro to mount the amp and MP3 player onto the power horn. It works OK.

Here is a 10X zoom of Mt Diablo to the West from where I got the coyote. There is a little haze in the hot air coming from all those liberals in the San Francisco area. My eyes were starting to itch. It is either hay fever or I am allergic to liberals. Probably both.

EL-CHEAPO SCORES AGAIN.... I tried a different location. This is the place where the old house WAS. It is no more. I will post a picture of it on the Hunting Stories Page. I setup just south of the old burned out house. I was sitting under an oak tree up against the trunk and it dark shade. I had the El-Cheapo out about 75 yards upwind away from me pointed south. I had just about given up that no coyote would show. The 16 minute sequence was into the hurt pup call and about done. I was ready to give up. I glassed the far hillside one more time. This dry female was at about 250 yards sitting looking in the direction of the caller. The advantage of having the coyote not looking directly at you like they do when you use hand calls is really important. Anyhow, I cranked the old Tasco up to 16X and dialed in 250 yards. I held about 4 inches into the wind on her chest. Bang! I see her rolling down the hill. That old Sako sure is a reliable rifle with the first shot out of a cold barrel being right where I aim. This coyote also had numerous ticks on it. It is going to be a bad tick season this year. No sign of mange.

Good Hunting... from Varmint Al

Last Updated: 04/28/2016
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