Question: Steve, how does your contest predator calling translate into what you do in the field?
Criner: In contest calling, I use the Johnny Stewart CGM-3 Crit’r Distress Call, which is a really high-pitched canine puppy whine. My second call is a coyote howl I make with a Hunter’s Specialties Infinity Latex Diaphragm call. Finally, I give a rabbit squeal on the SD-1 Song Dog Coyote Call or the PC-1 Variable Pitch Predator Call. I use these calls in competition, but these calls are also ones I use when I go to the woods to take predators.

Question: What sequence do you go through when you’re calling in the field?
Criner: First, I pay close attention to detail. Oftentimes the reason hunters don’t take predators has nothing to do with the calls they use, or how proficient they are at using the calls. Instead, their failure has more to do with how they reach their stands than how they call. So, I want to first make sure the coyotes can’t see me as I go from my vehicle to my stand site. I don’t want to be silhouetted against the sky, and I don’t want the coyote to spot any movement I make before I reach my stand.

Of course, I don’t want the coyotes to hear me. Some hunters walk to their stands like they’re strolling through the woods without a care in the world on the way to a picnic. I move slowly and quietly and use as much stealth as possible, trying to make the least amount of sound I can. Remember, if a coyote can hear a mouse squeak from 100 yards, he surely can hear a size-10 boot stomping and kicking rocks from 1/2-mile away. Finally, I don’t want the coyote to smell me. I do go in with the wind in my face, but as we all know, coyotes tend to come-in downwind. So, I go through all the Hunter’s Specialties Scent-A-Way products and the steps required for being scent-free.

I wash my clothes in Scent-A-Way, bathe in Scent-A-Way, use a Scent-A-Way Safe Bag to carry my hunting clothes to the field and spray-down with Scent-A-Way Spray after I’ve walked to my stand. I’ve had hunters ask me, “Do you really think the Scent-A-Way products make a difference?” My answer is, “I know it does, and we’ve got the video to prove it. Each year, we video coyotes coming-in downwind, and the video shows us taking those coyotes.”

Once I reach my setup, and I’m confident that the predators haven’t seen, heard or smelled me, I start with some subtle calling. I don’t just grab a call and start blowing as loud as I can. Ninety-nine percent of the time, I don’t start with coyote vocalization or even a whine. Instead, I’ll begin with a call like a fox in distress or even a cottontail or a jack rabbit in distress, using a slow or a moderate volume. Failing to see a predator, I’ll increase the volume and the pleading of the call.

Question: You’ve mentioned that you use the Mac Daddy Howler. Isn’t this one of the easiest calls for the beginning caller to use?
Criner: I’ve never been able to get a beginner to howl like a coyote with any other call as easily as I have using the Mac Daddy Howler. It’s the most realistic caller on the market and the easiest caller to use. I can take a 10-year old child, put a rubber band over the lever that presses down on the false tongue and have that youngster blowing a coyote howl successfully. The Mac Daddy Howler is the most realistic, user-friendly howler on the market.

Question: When’s the best time to use a howler?
Criner: I use the Mac Daddy Howler all year. I’m not a wildlife biologist, but I know that a coyote is a canine, and they’re vocal all year. So, why not use coyote vocalizations like they do all year? When I use the Mac Daddy Howler, I use it very subtlety. I use high-pitch, long, drawn-out howls with very little barking and challenge howling. But I howl every time I go hunting, regardless of the time of year.

Hunter’s Specialties has just come out with a new predator call, the Estrus Whimper. A lot of people call this the Estrus Chirp. This call is an excited yelp. Coyotes make this call 365 days a year, and they make this sound to solicit attention from other coyotes. All ages and sexes of coyotes give this same sound – from a 5-month-old pup to a 5-year-old-adult male or female.

I describe this call and the reaction it causes in the coyote to be much the same as what will happen if you hear a small child fall down in a ditch – that pleading, “come find me” sound. Now, if a grumpy, old man falls down in that same hole and starts swearing and making all types of aggravated sounds, no one probably will help him. So, by using the Estrus Whimper subtly, you can solicit more responses from more coyotes of all ages. I’ve had tremendous luck with this sound and have taken more coyotes using it this year.

Question: Where do you hunt predators?
Criner: About 99% of my hunting is in the Midwest.