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In this second edition much attention
is given to important aspects of the predator hunt –
namely truck preparation, as well as camouflage,
scent and people, time management, and lessons
learnt. It is always the finer details that
contribute to a successful hunt; the more time you
spend on preparation, the more chance you have of
not having a wary predator unmasking your trickery
and vanishing into the darkness.
It is up to us to prepare our hunt
correctly, as the first stand we do is the most
important one of that night. After you cover the
truck, bend down to jackal height and look over the
truck from many angles, you will have an idea of
what that looks like to a jackal and his height,
anything out of place will stick out immediately. AVOID
SHADECLOTH!
In last month’s edition we
covered the history of calling, our predators,
equipment and predator calls, and starting out for
the first time.

Before and after a truck has been
camouflaged for a night hunt. Note that no black
colours are used. Never use black colours at night
in the Karoo or in corn fields.
TRUCK PREPARATION & CAMOUFLAGE
The preparation of your hunting
truck is vital for success. Here are basic tips that
I follow each time I attempt a night hunt. Remember
to open a jar of jackal urine in front of the truck
downwind.
Before
the hunt
ÿ The
first important part is NEVER to overfill the
truck’s tank with diesel or petrol, but if you do
MAKE SURE IT DOES NOT SMELL. This is very
important, as fumes can be smelt a long way away by
wild animals.
ÿ Before
leaving home, throw mud over the tyre rims, as this
hides the smell of urine left by farm dogs. Also
throw mud over the side mirrors and number plates,
as this takes the shine and glare away when the red
light hit the mirrors or number plates.
ÿ Take
a cloth to cover any lights on the dashboard and ANY
lights inside the cab.
ÿ If
you run the red light from the truck’s battery make
sure the battery is in good condition. You don’t
want to get stuck in the African bush at night.
ÿ Take
along your box with calls, lights and lens. I use a
black box that houses all my equipment and then
during the night hunt I use the box to sit on.
ÿ Erect
the shooting stool or framework at home, so that
when you arrive you just have to hang the net. This
helps save time.
Make sure that the curtain around
the back area where you stand or sit is at least
shoulder height, as this keeps you concealed. When I
use a truck with a metal frame around the back, it’s
shoulder high and is just the right height for when
I aim a rifle. (You must be comfortable when
shooting.)
‘Soundproof’ the truck
Remember predators can hear what
we cannot hear; the faintest little thing that makes
the predator hesitant will cost you a kill. The
predator will disappear into the night, and you
probably won’t even know it was there.
Sweep out the area at the back of
the truck to make sure it’s free of stones and
papers where you stand, so that nothing makes a
noise or rustles under foot.
ÿ If
you use a shooting stool, make sure it’s oiled and
does not squeak; also that the metal frame,
is firmly secured and does not rattle.
ÿ Carry
a bottle of oil and every 3rd stand oil
the chair a little.
ÿ Cut
all metal rings from netting that can bang against
the trucks body.
Positioning the truck
These are tricks of the trade
you learn as the years go by:
ÿ When
you park the truck, try parking next to, in front of
or behind a smallish bush, as this helps break up
the outline of the truck. Bush will hide tyres etc.
ÿ If
you are hunting in ‘hot’ jackal areas and you don’t
have a shooting stool, park with the front of the
truck facing down-wind. That is the most likely
direction from which the jackal will appear; and
this way you will be able to rest the rifle on the
roof of the truck for a steady rest. For ‘catty’
areas wind does not matter, as cats approach from
any direction. If you are hunting only for cats, but
you should then park facing the most cover, as cats
like cover.
ÿ
If possible, park your truck so that you have a
mountain behind you in the distance; this way when
the jackal approaches your call it will, 99 % of the
time, come in from downwind, and in doing so it will
look at you with that mountain behind you and this
will effectively hide the outline of the truck and
it will not spot you very easily. (In other words
have a darker backdrop to hide your presence.)
ÿ
If you are hunting
in a camp, but over the “Jakkalsproef” (jackal
proofing fence) there is another camp, always park
close to the fence or on the border of the fence.
Otherwise the jackal will want to come in to your
sounds, but may be on the wrong side of the fence
and won’t be able to get to you. So park on the
fence line or on a corner; this way you cover two
camps and the jackals can approach you from both
sides. (On my last hunt I had to park away from the
fence as I could not stand in the road; a cat
approached from the other side of the fence behind
low bushes and we could not shoot it.)
Another factor to remember is
that many cats and jackals and other game walk on
sandy pathways made by sheep, or they walk on the
dust roads. It is easier for them to walk on the
sandy pathway than in between the Karoo stubble, so
when you park your truck NEVER park across a pathway
or on a road. It is VERY POSSIBLE that, while it’s
getting dark, a jackal or cat can be walking on that
path or road and will suddenly see the structure or
you, and then disappear! (Note: the truck on the
pathway in the photo was only to illustrate
camouflage and its effectiveness.)
ÿ Leave
the environment looking natural. Nothing must seem
different from what was there before. Remember a
predator knows a farm very well. (Have you ever
watched a house cat at home? The moment something
has changed or is new, the cat is VERY CAUTIOUS of
the new structure, and that’s referring to a tame
pussy! Now imagine how a wild animal will respond!
It will high-tail out of that camp as fast as
possible, so ALWAYS leave the lands the way they
looked yesterday!)
Truck camouflage
ÿ Make
sure the net is good, with no huge holes; repair all
holes before leaving home.
ÿ Never
use shiny reflective shade-cloth as a cover for your
truck - it squeaks in
the wind and really glares in bright moonlit nights,
as the material is nylon and shiny.
ÿ
If the wind is blowing, don’t tie down the net too
tightly. It must move freely and look natural.
ÿ
Some netting like
the army camouflage netting comes from the factory
equipped with metal rings sewn into the borders of
the net. You must cut off these rings, as they tend
to knock against the body of the truck in a slight
wind and make a noise, and it’s vital that you are
dead quiet.
ÿ
You can also use
Hessian to cover the truck. (I have used Hessian
sacks and camo net for years without any problems.)
The Khaki colour is good, and you could paint a few
stripes on it in brown and light green with water
paint - never oil-based paints, as they are
very shiny and they smell!
ÿ
Throw a few bushes onto the top of the bonnet of the
truck and tie one at the rear of the truck quite
high up; this all helps provide more ‘natural’
cover.
ÿ
Don’t forget to walk 50-70 metres away from the
truck, get down to jackal/cat height and look up at
the truck to see if you can spot any gaps or
mistakes after you have finished covering the truck.
ÿ
It is also important to take special notice of other
details, such as your rifle. For example, don’t
leave your rifle lying on top of the cab without a
cover, as the red light will shine on the rifle and
scope, and could create a glare. Put the rifle in a
bag and cover it. I have a bandage that I wrap
around the rifle to protect it from any glare. (In
addition, cover the riflescope; you don’t want it
misting up in the cold night air before you need to
shoot).
Never camouflage your
truck with black colours in the Karoo or in
wheat fields. Nothing is black in the Karoo, and
a predator will spot your truck easily at night.
All these tips and hints are
essential for TRUCK PREPARATION & CAMOUFLAGE; they
will bring you greater success. (In a future
paragraph I will explain why you should wear
camouflage clothing at night – and this may surprise
you).
With regards to the camouflage
netting I use a standard product from Alnet called a
SAFARI NET. Here are typical sizes that you would
require for two trucks that I tend to class as
REGULAR sizes, as most farmers
use a long or short wheel base truck (mostly an
Isuzu 250D or a Toyota Hilux):
ÿ
For a SWB truck a net of 12m long by 2m wide for the
body and a 2m square piece for the bonnet will be
ideal.
ÿ
On a LWB a piece 15
metres long by 2m wide would be fine, as well as the
2m square piece for the bonnet.
A new product from Alnet called LEAF
NET comes in a standard width of 1,4 metres and in
25-metre lengths, and is a soft material that works
very nicely.
The nice thing about these nets
is that they DON’T scratch the paintwork of your
truck. The weight is hardly noticeable and when the
net is all puffy it really hides a truck very well.
(I have a set of four tyre covers made of camo net,
two mirror covers, as well as the mud to hide the
red light reflection.) The net comes in a big green
bag; after I take out the net I put the big bag
inside the bakkie to cover all lights on the
dashboard. I really like the Alnet netting; it has
two sides to it, a Karoo colour and an open wheat
field colour so you can match an area pretty nicely.
You can also attach pieces of camo net to a Hessian
sack; Alnet sells kilo bags of camo netting. The
nice thing about the products they manufacture is
that they are well made and rugged - the Karoo
bushes are hard on equipment, so having a strong net
is important.

Alnet has a new concept out now
called a ‘bakkie net’ that I helped them design and
it is a good cover and fits the truck like a glove.
Remember that having more camo is never a bad thing;
the more odd-shaped and puffy the better. The bakkie
net is designed for a LWB bakkie so fits most
farming bakkies perfectly. For camo netting call
Alnet or visit website
www.alnet.co.za.
Suitable apparel
The appearance of the caller and
that of the person holding the light is of paramount
importance, whereas the appearance of the shooter
who is sitting behind the net is not that
significant.
ÿ
Remember that your own personal camouflage is
important; never use black on your truck or for
yourself at night, as nothing is black in colour in
the Karoo at night. If you wear black you will stand
out easily.
ÿ
Use colours that break up the darkness, such as
browns, greens and greys with a tiny amount of black
stripes. These are good shades for night hunting.
ÿ
Always cover your hands and face, because if the red
light is reflected back at you, the predator will
easily spot your shiny face. Make sure you wear a
facemask and cap to break up your outline and hide
your skin.
ÿ
Most quality
camouflage made in factories is UV-Neutral. So
afterwards, when you have worn the items and then
washed them in any colour-enhancing soap, you have
just turned
the UV-Neutral clothing into a
huge neon blob. A cat with excellent night vision
will pick up that neon light fast and spot you! So
use soaps without UV brighteners. (I myself just
wash clothing in fresh clear water).
ÿ
NEVER iron your camouflage, as it will shine - and
never wash it with soap, as this removes the
colours. If you must wash the garments, then do the
washing with the fabric inside out.
Some of the best clothing to wear
at night is German Flectarn camo, the latest
American digital MARPAT camouflage, and Austrian
camo. If you want to obtain any of these patterns I
can put you in contact with a friend of mine from
America. I have a personal collection also for
sale, see my website.
Using the red light
ÿ
Firstly, make sure the light does not light up the
truck. I have a funnel on the front of my light to
prevent the truck from being lit up.
ÿ
Remember that the person manning the light must be
close to the rifleman, otherwise when you spot eyes
in the light, your companion won’t see them in his
scope if he is not standing next to you. This will
cause confusion and any conversation will scare away
a predator. So, stand close together.
ÿ
When you switch off the light, make sure you are not
standing visible at the back of the truck as a cat
will easily spot you.
ÿ
Light up more from the downwind side, this is the
direction most jackals will approach your call.
ÿ
Never light up the predator in the middle of the red
light; put the halo just under his paws, then for
identification drop the light.
ÿ
If a cat starts blinking fast ( unlike cats) that
means your lens is to bright and if he starts
looking around you had better hurry with the shot as
that’s a true sign he is about to leave.
ÿ
Scan around at least twice every time, in case you
miss eyes first rotation.
ÿ
Call for 20 seconds and scan twice, and then repeat
that routine, this is how I have hunted for over 20
years.
ÿ
Always carry extra bulbs and fuses in case a light
bulb blows, I also have a spare light as back up in
my trucks box.
Scent and People
When you go hunting try never to
hunt with more than two people; and that’s already
too many if hunting for jackal. The more people
there are at the back of the truck, the harder it is
to move around. I once took out a father, his wife
and 4 sons, which was a disaster. They wanted to see
how calling was done and sounded. I called in a buck
and I was lucky I did not have to shoot as I could
hardly move at all. The more people there are, the
more alien smells there are filling the air. Often
the wind changes direction for a split second
without our knowing it; then smells go in all
directions, which won’t leave you with much chance
at all.
ÿ
Before you leave home to go hunting, bath in clear
water, without using oils or smelly bath salts.
Clear natural water will wash away and remove all
the day smells that could give your presence away
while calling. (I have used this style of
preparation for many years and it works, and I
firmly believe that if you have a system that works
then don’t change it!)

ÿ
When setting up
your truck before the hunt don’t touch bushes or
urinate in the bush at all, if you have to,
make a hole with a spade and cover the hole
afterwards.
ÿ
Jackals have really good noses; they can easily
smell a piece of bloody raw meat down-wind at
several hundred metres. Cats, on the other hand, do
not smell as well, and will approach a call from any
direction. So when hunting we must prepare ourselves
to confuse the old jackal’s nose – and there are a
great number of methods you could use to confuse the
canine. (This is not to say that all jackals are
clever and have good noses - I have shot plenty of
dumb ones that came in from the wrong direction and
made mistakes.)
-
if you stay on a farm throw your clothes between the
bushes for two days to get that ‘bush’ smell
-
try holding your clothes over a fire and let the
smoke penetrate your clothing
-
rub baking soda in the crotch of your pants and
under the arms
-
spray vanilla essence on your clothing
-
open a bottle of fisherman’s red bait (rooi aas)
next to you - that’s good stuff and smells just like
jackal gland lure (you could also rub this on a few
bushes close to the downwind side)
leave an open bottle filled with urine from cats,
jackals, rabbits or Dassies on the bakkie roof as
this also provides a cover
-
mix a little vanilla essence with the mud you put
onto the tyres and rims
-
the smell of rubber is very effective in hiding
human scent and many camouflage suits have rubber as
a scent lock (a good friend of mine wears a surfing
wetsuit top at night for hunting; the suit is quite
thin, is easy to move around in and is very warm,
and really hides human scent;
I wear gum boot bottoms at night that are made of
rubber)
ÿ
If you have urine from a jackal, walk in a circle
about 20 metres out in front of the truck, and put a
drop of urine on small trees/bushes. This will give
you a circular border, so that no matter the wind
direction, the urine smell will go that way. I have
sometimes used fish oil diluted with water this way
to good effect.
ÿ
Never eat on the
truck while hunting.
TIME MANAGEMENT
The hunting of predators is
different in many ways, especially with regard to
the different times predators take to respond to a
call, and the routes they travel.
The jackal will respond in
different ways and in different times to your call,
depending on the time of the year. For instance, in
the breeding season, May to July, the jackal will
answer very promptly to a ‘challenge call’. He will
come in even faster and be VERY aggressive (as long
as he has not spotted you). Less than 10 minutes
will transpire. However, in a ‘social’ time, January
to April, the time the jackal takes to respond
should be around 30 minutes or less. (Though this
obviously depends on how close or distant the
predator is from you when you start calling.)
Speaking generally a jackal will
take less than 30 minutes to appear. It also depends
on the particular area. Here is an example: I was
asked to go to a new venue in the small Karoo. It
was December and I could hear many jackals barking.
I called for 30 minutes and got nothing, only a few
very very distant eyes. I decided to wait 5 minutes
and call again, as I knew they were around. It was
half-moon with clear skies - not very good
conditions! I was convinced they had seen us. We sat
10 minutes and I tried again; this time combining a
puppy sound with an aggressive-sounding jackal bark.
After 7 minutes I called in a bitch and shot her at
40 yards. So, it pay’s to wait and try again.
Sometimes changing a strategy works. Time management
is important. So make it a rule ALWAYS to call for
at least 35 minutes, or wait and call again, like I
did.
Remember at night when using a
live jackal sound, after you get responses always
drop the volume of the sound you are making,
otherwise if the jackal comes in close and your unit
is on full volume, it will not seem natural and may
‘spook’ the jackal.
Then there are cats – elusive by
nature and needing plenty of time to come in. To be
a dedicated cat hunter requires great patience;
after all, cats are on their own ‘mission.’ Cats
travel far to get to a call, and they take their
time about it, so it is important ALWAYS to stay at
a stand longer than you would for a jackal. Cats can
hear better than a jackal, and will therefore come
from further to get to you. Cats are very
unpredictable, as many predators are, so after
calling for 50 minutes and having no luck, you could
wait for 10 minutes and start again with a different
sound, and give it some more time. Almost all the
cats I have called and shot have been AFTER 45
minutes (and, strangely enough, in conditions where
a very light breeze was blowing).
I called in a camp one night in
the pitch dark; after 45 minutes a cat appeared on a
ridge about 80 yards away. He would not come any
closer, and after another 20 minutes calling he just
sat still. Quietly we climbed from the truck and
walked closer to the ridge, and at about 50 yards
out we put on a powerful white light; the cat lay
dead-still under a bush, but a few seconds later he
was even more dead!.
Remember to identify predators
with great care; cats come in slowly and low to the
ground, tend to stand still for long periods and
just look, have big eyes and blink slowly. The nice
thing about calling in jackal and cat country is you
can call both predators at the same time by using a
‘food’ sounding call.
Please note that when I refer to
cats I am talking about feral cats, Groukatte and
Rooikat/ lynx. I am not referring to bigger cats;
I have no experience with them.
If you intend to hunt a farm or
two or more farms with dedication, keep a register
of events. After a year you will see a story
developing, and the records will tell you what sound
the predators like, the time to approach, etc. I
keep records of every hunt and learn a great deal
from these records.
SECRETS
I am often asked by people what
secrets do I have, I really don’t have ones that I
don’t tell others about, but here are a few you may
find of interest. On my courses I tell people as
much as I know, I don’t hold back at all – unlike
many other predator hunters do!
The rule book says you can never
tell, sometimes you call and the dog runs into the
truck he is so close, then next time he sits on a
hill and barks at you, next time as you put on the
light for the first time and the dog sits at the
speaker in confusion, so its all just a matter of
how the night evens out. Some dogs are not as clever
as others, sort of like us humans, for some of us
our lifts don’t go all the way to the top story or
for some of us we are a beer short of a six pack if
you catch my meaning, same as the jackals, some dogs
are just pretty damn stupid – while others are
clever and cost us thousands of Rands in lost sheep.
I always close up the truck
completely, use camo net NOT
shade
cloth, as it’s shiny and squeaky. Don’t use black
colours
I never park on the dust / sand
road, always pull off the road, predators walk on
roads and they will see you.
Take the shot jackal, slice open
stomach and lay it downwind – tow it behind truck
from one place to another.
I use an owl decoy to lure cats
from cover
I have two calling rigs, one for
cats – one for jackal, and swop hand call sounds
often and never use the same sounds at the same farm
to often.
HERES A GOOD TIP!
– After you call and shoot a jackal, put off that
caller, go to a hand caller, and make a wounded
jackal sound, it makes dogs crazy and they will 99%
of time run into the area – it makes them crazy! If
you want to hear that sound on a hand caller give me
a call.
I use a set of two way radios,
helps talk to each other in bush or when looking for
a predator that was shot. Saves you from shouting at
each other! Also leave a flashing red light on your
truck roof if you walk away from it if on your own,
you will be able to find the truck again if your
hand torch goes out!
ALWAYS if possible, use a sound
that’s on your swivel chair, it will sound like
that animal is moving from a distance as the sound
wave will change as it plays and the chair turns,
the speakers direction changes and so toooooo does
that sound.

Don’t let your calling sounds
echo as a predator will find it hard to get to you.
He won’t be able to tell the direction of that sound
and pin point your exact location.
In breeding time I DON’T USE a
challenge sound to much, it scares away year old
jackals, and you don’t kill many, I use a Challenge
at breeding time (May) for about 5-10 seconds, then
off it goes, then I carry on with a lonely jackal
sound, a jackal looking for company.
Go to the best spot first in the
day and make a stand and await darkness, melt in
with nightfall, don’t drive in with white lights on.
Try matching the jackal yearly
cycle, but watch that Challenge sound,
don’t
use it to long!
http://www.africanpredator.com/cycle_of_jackal.htm
Best time to call Jackal in the
year is March & April. Worst time is end July.
This is interesting, if I go to the first stand
and get nothing, then get to the second and
again nothing, then I change straight away, as
it is not working, then I depending on the cycle
try something different like this.
Lets say it’s November (Puppies are out with
adults and hunting.) I have tried twice now
starting with a puppy sound on and off for 5
minutes and then food for 15 more, but nothing,
next stand I will do this, I will just use food
sounds, then if that works then I will just use
that all the night while hunting. If that don’t
work I will try a lonely jackal sound with a
hand caller at the same time. Once you find
something that worked keep with that all night
at all the spots!
Here is a very good tip NEVER
wear or cover your truck in BLACK, it will stand out
at night – Nothing is black in the Karoo or in farm
wheat lands, so never use black colours to cover
your truck. If you cannot get a camo net use a
Hessian cover with sprinkles of mud.
You can buy camo nets but they cost quite a lot
of money, so ask a company called ALNET to give
you off cuts, they charge R50 per kilo bags, buy
4 bags and sew it onto the Hessian sheet!
GOEDKOOOOOOOP!!!!! – Gooi!
Don’t climb high up into your
chair in daylight and move around, wait till
nightfall, then climb in it, no animal will see you
then.
Moon cycle to hunt - I hunt 4
days after full moon till 3 days after new moon and
remember if you hunt a day before new moon and a day
after it you have three nights of no moon all night
long!
Call close to cover for cats;
call up to an hour for them!
Watch birds flying and
dive-bombing, they have seen something or birds
flushing / calling at night, a sign of an intruder
in the night!
Many of these things you will see
here on my 10 part series on this site -
Predator Calling Info
These are just fine pointers that work well for me!
here are a few more –
I go from one position to another
with red filters over my truck lights or go to the
best place in daylight and set up truck and await
darkness quietly.
Hunting educated jackal I do at
last light and call at ground level slightly
elevated away from my truck, or climb up a windmill
– jackals don’t look up! I conceal myself at the top
and keep dead still, watch downwind and call with an
electronic about 100m from me with a moving decoy or
a lot of feathers tied to a string on a stick. I
kill about 25 jackals this way in a year.
Make sure you are a double team
if hunting from the ground, 100m apart, watching
different directions, keep dead still, just move
your eyes to look, remember a jackal is far more
intelligent than a coyote, he is not easily fooled,
and day time hunts are not easy on success, so if
calling make sure the sun is behind you, and watch
all areas carefully. Wear FULL camouflage.
I also hunt at night if a slight
drizzle - it is good to call a jackal.
These are but a few tricks or tips –
good luck!

Here in this photo we used
another trick for educated jackals, as you see this
photo looks like something out of star wars! Check
it out, we have an INFRA RED lens and a rifle night
scope, so we can call and scan and use no lights
at all, jackals don’t stand a chance, the other
lights are extra infra red and a standard red lens
and a white light also. This is high tech stuff but
good for educated jackals.
NOTE in this photo the
GREEN
cover to cover the Isuzu. NOT BLACK.
Nothing in this photo is black.
This photo was taken to
illustrate the colour set up, we pulled off the road
to call.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here is another good secret –
ALWAYS make sure that you go to the best spot first,
set up and await nightfall, blending in with
darkness + NOW THE SECRET
PART- and make sure that this stand is done
properly, this is the most important stand of the
entire hunt, make sure its prepared correctly with
open bottle of urine facing downwind, I use up to 4
bottles. Also spray a little on bushes downwind 20 m
in front of truck. DON’T touch anything else with
your hands.
Camo the truck well, totally
closed, don’t sit high in shooting chair before
nightfall, and DON’T put tiny reflectors on bushes
to show ranges if a jackal appears, DON’T DO THIS!
Your red light will light them up, anything out of
place and a jackal will run like hell! I know a
person who actually puts them on his Foxpro! Man,
very bad! The Foxpro is the thing the predator
stares at all the time, and he is lighting it up,
NOT GOOD, don’t do this. So far I haven’t ever been
with him while he used this method and we succeeded
to call anything in – point proven!
You have camo net – use it! Cover
as much as you can. And make sure the location is
correct, see this site for the secret to calling
article, make sure it’s correct; LOCATION is one of
the biggest secrets to a happy ending.
Sit down, keep quiet, and don’t
make any noise, AVOID using or wearing clothes
with ….. its noisy!
Light up mostly from downwind,
and keep watch of changing wind direction. I have a
string on my chair to watch air currents.
I use eye drops before I begin
calling, it makes my eye sight clear and much
brighter.
I don’t want
this to turn into a TIP article, as I cover tips in
the course material here on this site.
http://www.africanpredator.com/web_predator_course.htm
Get properly acquainted with your
chair, it will be used in pitch dark nights, so know
how it works, make it NOISE FREE, no rattles or
squeaks, practise locating an eye and aiming fast,
try keep your gun in the ready position so when you
see eyes coming in its fast to get on target. Maybe
use a rifle mounted light, I DON’T use a light on
the rifle, it’s mounted on my chair, my rifle is not
connected to any light.
Remember a bottle of mess / urine
from a jackal and open it downwind when calling
LESSONS LEARNT FROM EXPERIENCE
The following is a true
story and taught me a lesson I will never forget. I
often use this tactic now to my advantage when the
circumstances demand it.
I was asked by a client if I
would go to his farm with him so that I could show
him how to call. (He said he had NEVER called on his
farm before). We set a date that would suit him –
the only weekend he could get away - though the moon
would be too big and bright for comfort.
Driving around on the farm, we
found a carcass, many spoor and I also saw many tyre
tracks (in areas apparently not hunted). We
discussed the night’s action and set up the truck
that afternoon on the border of two camps an hour
before it got dark. It was late January (social
time). As it got dark, we heard many jackals barking
– they were really vocal, but it was only after 30
minutes of calling that we noticed a set of eyes
very far away. (It was obvious to me that the client
had hunted there before and that the jackals had
been ‘educated’ through their exposure to humans,
though why the client had lied about this was a
mystery to me.)
Anyway, without any hard feelings
I continued calling. I called for 50 minutes,
swopping a ‘social’ jackal sound after 25 minutes
for a puppy barking sound for the balance of another
5 minutes. This I did just in case a confused canine
was out there. After an hour had passed I realised
that it was useless; the jackals were probably too
‘educated’ to approach and the moon was also quite
big.
I decided to wait 5 minutes in
dead silence and then begin again. I drank a little
water, put my hot water bottle on my legs and
waited. But after some thought I decided to change
tactics. I pulled out my CASS CREEK electronic, put
it on a cottontail call and put the volume on number
4 (at a range of 200 yards). I scanned the
surroundings after a minute, but there was nothing.
I put the call on number 9 (range of 470 yards) and
waited a minute again, scanned the area and after 3
minutes a jackal ran in to about 60 yards from the
wrong direction. I kicked the client who was now
fast asleep, and he dropped the poundage on the
trigger and pushed a 125gr bullet from his 30-06,
dropping the jackal where it stood.
Now the lesson is this: if you
know jackals are around, try longer and, very
importantly, remember that sometimes you could call
for a long time and get nothing, but after a while a
latecomer or a single jackal will come into hearing
your call very late, as it was out of hearing
distance all the time. Then suddenly it came into
your range and heard the call, arriving later than
anticipated. The jackal we shot was an ‘uneducated’
animal; it was a bitch of two years old - another
victim of the Cass Creek electronic call.
I never asked the farmer or told
him that I knew he had ‘educated’ the predators on
his farm, but I think he knows I know only too well.
So, the next time you call but get nothing, even
though you know dogs are around, just stop and start
again after 5 minutes. You never know, this may turn
the odds in your favour.
Another lesson I learnt
concerning people in general is that some have
patience, some not, some are conservation-conscious
and some not. I was in discussion with a client one
day and we spoke about calling and trapping. He
asked me how often I checked trapping cages I had
set on my farm. I explained that I set out at first
light and again at about 4 in the afternoon, working
this task in with other farm chores to save time.
The client responded that he sets traps and return
in four or five days’ time! But if this is the way
that you operate, then you cannot pretend to care
about conservation!
As a conservationist you should
be ethical in your actions, and check cages
frequently. I once found a porcupine in a client’s
cage in the boiling sun; it had been in that cage
for at least two days. The poor creature was so
confused and weak that when I released it, it sat
outside the cage for 5 minutes. I carefully edged it
to cover near a water catchment spot. The farm
workers
wanted the porcupine for the pot,
but I gave it a few hours to recover. After an hour,
however, it stood up, walked into thick cover and
was gone.
Even for a predator called in or
trapped in a cage, death should be fast and as
painless as possible. This is the only ethical
option.
These tips concerning truck
preparation come with many years of experience. The
more attention we pay to preparing ourselves and our
truck for the hunt, the greater the success we are
going to achieve. But as my friend Lynn Jacobson of
TNT predator calls, Utah (USA) says: “Every hunt is
successful, critters or no critters; it’s getting
out into the outdoors that makes it all so special.”
Yes! To witness the end of another perfect day, wait
in anticipation for the night hunt to take place
within a few minutes, and count the stars above
till you begin calling, is a wonderful way to pass
the time!
To end here is a “reminder”
pointer- When moving
from one place to another tie a dead jackal behind
the truck and drag it along the road to next spot,
with it’s stomach cut open.
End of PART 2
Next we look at: Mixing calls/
Deception, Disorientated predators, Night-hunt
checklist and decoys.
For more info contact Gary at
0824853885, or e mail at
sellis@telkomsa.net look at
www.africanpredator.com
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