Hunting Washington Forum
Other Hunting => Coyote, Small Game, Varmints => Topic started by: mallard79 on February 15, 2011, 09:14:04 PM
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Looking to get my first e-caller and want to know what you recommend. Just want something that will get the job done. Decent volume and clarity. Is there such a thing out there that won't break the bank? Haven't done much predator hunting but want to get started on a bit of a budget before I just into it full force. What do you recommend or what kind of price range should I expect for a decent starter setup?
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200-400 will be a good price range. You might look into the firestorm on the higher end of that range. Or on the lower end the spitfire, that will still get the job done. You can find some good deals on the fx3's and others on ebay right now.
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my buddy just got a fox pro. It sounds amazing. Were going to break it in tomorrow morning. $400 but comes with a 5 year warranty. Can't beat that.
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The Foxpro Spitfire is a great e-call for the $$. :twocents:
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Foxpro fx3 works good for me. :chuckle:
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Go to the Fox pro site, the forum, has used and refurbished callers for sale.
Carl
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I'm running a Minaska/Mad M-1 Bandit and for a long tine a Foxpro 416B as a backup. One of my partners has my old Preymaster w/Azden remot and has upgraded to a Spitfire both call critters very well. My other partner has a SDpitfire as his first e-caller and we've done well over it also. If I was looking for a beginner set up id look at the JS PM-4 and the spitfire if $150 to200 is out of your range a standard Preymaster or older mod 38 Foxpro can be had for under 100. I've also caller quitr a few coyotes with a hand call combined with $29. JS Attractor and a decoy.
AWS
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How is the volume on the spitfire? I see conflicting reviews but it is the closest to my price range>
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I found the spitfire volume to be more than enough coyotes have very good hearing. But then I seldom hunt big open spaces like eastern MT or ND and even there I used just a standard Preymaster with a big horn and my Bandit.
AWS
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Thanks. I have a $20 off code for Cabelas so I may use it to cover the TAX :yike: and pick one up this weekend. :IBCOOL: Are the sounds that come preloaded from Cabelas worth keeping or would you reprogram all new ones into the unit? :dunno: I am new, but some don't seem like they would work here in Washington. It can't be all that hard to reprogram the calls can it?
The sounds that come preloaded are:
Coyote Locator, Coyote Male Challenge Scream, Female Coyote Bark Howl, Female Coyote Long Howl, Coyote Pup Scream, Coyote Pup Howl, Scream-n Gray Fax, Juvenile Red Fox Distress, Bobcat in Heat, Lightning Jack, Jackrabbit Distress, Snow Shoe Distress, Bay Bee Cottontail, Distressed Calf, Whitetail Buck Fawn, Vole Squeaks, Roar-n-Red Squirrel, Prairie Dog Distress, Lucky Bird, Raspy Woodpecker, Ranting Red Bird, Raccoon Fight, Crow Fight.
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How is the volume on the spitfire? I see conflicting reviews but it is the closest to my price range>
Volume seems loud enough to me, but what do i know im not a pro varmint hunter :dunno:
Family has some land in Eastern Washington, rolling wheat fields.
Ive called in dogs 2/3 stands with it
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That's a pretty good selection of sounds, there are enough ther to cover what you want to do. I have 100 sounds on my Bandit and don.t use more than 10 of them. We spent a week hunting in Jan with my partners Spitfire withe the same sound selcttion and were satisfied with the results and never felt we needed more.
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I have been using a PowerDogg and it does call in dogs but I wouldnt recommend it. The remote is less than stellar and it does not seem very loud - although as Jerry Malbeck and others have pointed out, loud to us and loud to a coyote is two very different volumes. The sounds, while good, are limited and you can not change or add them. I know you did not mention it looking at those but I just wanted to throw it out there in case you saw or were thinking about one. Unless of course if you want to buy mine, then I'd say get one! :chuckle:
I just bought a new FoxPro FireStorm but havent used it yet, hopefully this weekend will be the chance. But I really like it so far - just playing with it in the house! I still need to find out all what it does but it sounds good - is MASS loud and I like the remote. (The remote text is really small and I have good eyesight so I could see that being a problem for some guys) It came with 50 calls and can hold 200 :yike: Dont know if I'll ever need that many. If you want to go real cheap - I also bought a Cass Creek Predator call (MX3??) for like $25-30. It has like 5 calls, wireless remote, is small and fairly loud, but there are no features and it wont stop unless you turn it off. But I have called in a coyote with it too....
Kain did an aweome video review on the Spitfire and it looks like a great caller. You should try & find that video he posted on here. (and look for the bobcat in the background) :chuckle:
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Thanks for the help guys. Heading down to Cabelas in the morning to pick up my new Spitfire that I had them put a hold on for me! :IBCOOL: Now If I can just find some time to get out :(
