The Second Annual Pennsylvania Predator Hunters Association Predator Expo is gearing up to take place on July 11, 2009. The event will be held for the second time at FOXPRO Inc. in the FOXPRO Archery range.

The events include seminars that run from morning through afternoon, including special guest Byron South. There will be vendor's present selling predator calling gear, PPHA merchandise, and food & drinks. The event will wrap up with the second PA State Predator Calling Championship. The contest last year was phenomenal, featuring some of the best mouth callers in the state. Ernie Wilson walked away with the win and a trip to the World Predator Expo in Kansas where he competed with other callers from across the US. Ernie ended up placing second in the World.

The PPHA Predator Expo is a great time for all. We encourage everyone who is interested to come out and join us this year. Last year we had folks come from Canada, Virginia, New York, and New Jersey.

For those interested in competing in the Calling Championship, you can find the signup form below. Also be sure to check out the link to the PPHA website for membership information and for details on upcoming events.

PA State Predator Calling Championship Signup Form:

http://www.spiritedghosthunting.com/PPHA/2009_Contest_Entry_Form.pdf

PA Predator Hunters Association: http://ppha.us/

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The hunting community has taken a lot of flak from groups such as PETA and other defenders of wildlife types over the years, but if all else fails, nothing strikes a chord in the hearts of those folks like the subject of wolf hunting. The mere thought of a hunter shooting wolf is about as appalling to them as a government sponsored gun ban is to the rest of us.

Wolf hunting has been host to many emotional debates; from the folks, who want to hunt them, the folks who want to save them, to the folks losing livestock because of them. And in the middle we have the judicial system, weighing and listening to both sides of the story.

Up until around 1994, the grey wolf was all but extinct in the northern Rockies Region of the U.S. It was at this time when somebody, somewhere pushed the official panic button and signaled to life groups of scientists, volunteers, and other likeminded folks with a common interest in protecting and reintroducing the grey wolf to the region. They put forth a great effort and worked hard to get the wolf population back on track, but let us not stray too far away from the biggest underlying question-how did we let it get to that point? We cannot deny the fact we left it get out of hand in the first place. However, through responsible measures and proper regulations, we should be able to learn from those mistakes and move on.

The reintroduction of the grey wolf has gone very well. Since the start of the "save the grey wolf" campaigns, the population (estimated in 2008) stands at 1,600 wolves in Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho combined. Going from almost extinct to thriving is amazing! The folks involved really did a fine job, but at the same time, when is it time to walk away from that job and declare it finished?

With the grey wolf population on the rise and thriving in Montana, the Montana FWP started drawing up plans to create a grey wolf hunting season in 2008. They figured out that around 75 wolves could be harvested while maintaining the population. But before the ink was even dry on the paper, the anti-hunting groups jumped in, tossed around lawsuits, and creating reasons as to why delisting the grey wolf was premature. The goal of the hunters is get a properly regulated hunting season on the wolves-we are not talking about the wholesale slaughter of the animals.

Federal law states that Montana must maintain 100 wolves and 10 breeding pairs. A 2008 study found that there were around 497 wolves divided into 84 packs and 34 breeding pairs. Obviously, the 100 wolves and 10 breeding pairs regulation had been met and surpassed. Without a properly regulated hunting season, the population will continue to rise and create more negative impacts on the environment through predation.

Government agencies have been carrying out "controlled removal" of wolves when livestock predation is present. One instance cited 19 wolves being killed at one time. Wouldn't it make sense to raise money through the sales of licenses (especially in these economically troubled times) and allow for a hunting season for management?

Instead of focusing upon the saving the wolves, maybe the defenders of the wolves should step back for a moment and consider the negative side effects. For example, wolves, like many predators, pursue animals that are of the least resistance for food. In fact, they don't just kill when hungry, but the kill for pleasure as well.

In May of 2009, the Obama Administration was able to officially remove the grey wolf from the protected species lists in Idaho and Montana. Once again, those groups mentioned earlier jumped in talking about more lawsuits. As of right now, it's not clear as to whether or not there will be a wolf hunting season in 2009 in Montana.



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As the National Sales Manager and Pro-Staff member of FOXPRO Inc, I spend the winter months traveling the country to attend many industry shows to promote or sell our products. While this schedule can be very busy at times, I have had the opportunity to extend these visits to do some hunting and filming for our FOXPRO OUTDOORS video series. One of my personal favorites is hunting with FOXPRO Field Staff Member Randy Watson in West Texas. He has been a wealth of knowledge for me as his predator hunting experiences far exceed my trips to the field.

A typical hunt with Randy Watson starts out just before dusk with a short ride for fuel, snacks, and on this trip so Abner can stock up on energy drinks to help him stay awake through the night. During the ride, Randy's youthfulness comes out as he tells us an abundant amount of jokes and we can't help ourselves from laughing from his infectious sense of humor. I always enjoy this conversation because the jokes are mixed in with stories of the field and that gets me pumped up for the hunt. It's early February at the beginning of a new moon, we stop short of our first stand to put our extra layers on to fight the elements and to get our camera situated in the "Chair".

The Chair is a device that Randy built and it's around twelve feet high when perched on the back of his truck. This chair allows the shooter to get an elevated vantage point over the ever changing foliage as we travel down the dusty two tracks on the ranch. It also puts the cameraman right over the shoulder of the shooter, providing a perfect angle for filming. It is capable of 360 degree rotation and features a shooting rail and a Lightforce light. We would never dream of hunting like this in Pennsylvania so it adds to my excitement. Randy prefers the red lens over the white light because he feels it is less intrusive to any animal at night. While others use a white light primarily for filming purposes, we opted for the red light and a camera equipped with Night Shot to get some great footage.

I begin by shining the light from the chair covering 180 degrees at the back of the truck, while Randy shines in the front. This strategy allows us to cover more ground and reduces the chance of a predator sneaking in on you while you are shining somewhere else with just one light. This hunt begins very quickly with a set of predatory eyes tracking the lucky bird vocalization through the scattered mesquites and pump jacks that make up the landscape for this area. As he checks up at 125 yards, we lower the volume of our FOXPRO Snow Crow Pro 3 to simulate that his prey is attempting to elude him. As the predator approaches cautiously, Randy switches to lip squeaks and convinces the coyote to continue his pursuit while narrowing the distance to around 45yards. The coyote is in the cross hairs of my illuminated reticle and Abner lip squeaks to give me the signal that he has him on film and I have the green light to shoot him with my .223 AR15. The safety is off and the shot breaks the silence of the night as we get our first kill on film. This teamwork is essential to our success and has proven to be effective. Did I mention how much I love hunting in Texas? It's extraordinary country that holds coyotes, bobcats, raccoons, and an occasional mountain lion. Is there any better terrain than that?

As we move to another section, I am hopeful this trip is the one that I get the chance to shoot my first bobcat. But first Abner gets on the gun for a while and kills two bobcats on separate stands to assure me that he is making up for the bruiser that he missed the night before while making me cringe with envy as I have never harvested one myself. Unfortunately, neither kill provides us with good footage. It is Abner's turn to film again. Sometimes it works out that way.

After a few dry stands, it feels like three in the morning as the one hour time change is apparently taking its toll on Abner. Unsuccessfully, his energy drink game plan had failed and left us with a snoring cameraman! That will surely get us busted by the creatures of the dark and prevent us from getting any footage. After a crisp gunshot in a safe direction, we managed to awaken the sleeping giant from his siesta. His eyes were wide open now as we laugh at his surprise. I know it is cruel but it was funny!

As we settled into our next stand alongside a large field, we begin calling a rabbit distress with the FOXPRO Skyote hand call. Almost the instant we started calling, I saw eyes in the distance. They were closing in quickly which led me to believe it was a coyote. The closer it got, I realized my assumption was incorrect...thus proving the old adage to be true when you assume anything. My target would prove be a bobcat for this stabd. I was filled with adrenaline. This cat wanted us badly and was tracking us hard. There was a four strand border fence between the cat and the chair. I pulled up the gun as Randy began the fatal lip squeak sequence that he has mastered through years of practice. Abner gives me the signal that he is on film and I again have the green light to fire when ready. Randy tells me to wait for the cat to jump the fence. I find this almost unbelievable as the bottom strand is high enough for this cat to creep under. Sure enough this cat leaps over the five foot fence and gives us some awesome footage and stalks his way inside of 40 yards. Safety is clicked off, the cat is staring us down, and I fire.... Randy immediately congratulates me on my first cat. What an awesome trip! I cannot wait to go there again!

- John Everly


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I have hunted crows for over 49 years starting at age 11 1/2 years old. Seriously since 1974 when I was 26 years old; I'm now 61 years old as of last February. I had the best season of my life last season. My friend Jerry Byroade (from Maryland) and I shot 3,584 crows on the first 16 hunts of the season last year. This was from late October to mid November. Then my friend, Dick Kilbane (from Ohio), and I shot an additional 6,932 crows from November to February. Our largest shoot last season was 543 crows in one day. We had several over 400 and quite a few in the two and three hundred range. The main reason I love to hunt crows so much is because you just don't setup just anywhere and expect to have a good shoot. It takes plenty of scouting in order to line up a good shoot. I don't get good shooting all the time, sometimes I just don't get in the right spot.

For example, last season Jerry and I were in a known feeding area and shot 179 crows from around 8:00 am to 1:00 pm that day. All morning I could see we were not in the right spot. I saw hundreds and hundreds of crows moving from north to south that were roughly one mile west of our position. When we picked up, I found out who farmed that ground and got permission to hunt it the next morning. Jerry and I shot 425 crows the next day from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm I wanted to share this tip with you, just because you are in the wrong spot does not mean you can't take advantage of it! I had a very good observation post in which to watch those crows all morning and into the afternoon!

I want to talk about shot size because most new guys choose a shot size to large for hunting crows. Can you kill them with 4's and 6's? Yes you can, but you will have a much higher shot to kill ratio with 7 1/2's or 8's because they throw a much denser pattern. This is especially true on long shots because a crow sized target can fly right through a pattern of 4's or 6's without ever being hit-and this is if you're dead on! The reason is because you don't have enough shot in 4's and 6's to plug the holes in your pattern beyond 45 to 50 yards and further. In a 12 gauge load you have 251 6's in a 1 1/8th ounce load. In a 1 1/4 ounce load you have 279 pieces of shot to hit the mark. Now with a 1 1/8 th ounce load of 7 1/2's you have 388 pieces of shot as compared to 251 pieces of shot for the same load. In 1 1/8 th ounces of 8's you have 460 pieces of shot to hit the mark! That extra shot plugs a lot of holes in your pattern down range. A crow is not hard to kill at all, they are thin skinned like a quail or dove. They are also smaller than they appear to be when flying. This is why smaller shot sizes will net you way more crows. Some will argue that the smaller shot will not kill a crow at 50 to 60 yards. I have but one reply for this, go to a trap range and see how a 1 1/8 th ounce load performs on clay targets. Watch the guys shoot at the 26 or 27 yard line because they will be breaking targets at 50 to 60 yards that far back from the trap house! A clay target is a lot smaller than a crow and that is why I favor the smaller shot sizes for crows.

- Bob Aronsohn

On almost a daily basis, I see posts on internet sites relating to volume and the need to use lots of it. Most questions regarding electronic callers are "how loud will it play?"

I have found that, unless calling wide open areas with unlimited visibility or night hunting, using too much volume can be your worst enemy. Granted, when calling at night, where you will be seeking any predator within ear shot of your e-caller or mouth blown call, it can be advantageous to use a lot of volume due to the fact that the light you are projecting will hide your presence from wary incoming predator's eyes-especially when using an elevated killing chair. Likewise, when calling big country where you have large areas of visibility and can use the sun, shade, and vegetation to hide you, allowing you to take that one or two hundred yard shot. High winds would be another good reason to use higher volume. I prefer to let the wind carry my sound out for me and I usually call cross wind. If the wind is blowing hard, I prefer to stay home.

When calling close-quarters, I am an advocate of less is more. To have control of your setup and to have control of the animal coming in to your call, you must not have an animal that is charging in. It makes for great film footage, but the kill ratio goes way down. Rather, what you want, is an animal that is hunting for that sound; coming in slow and searching for that crying rabbit.

Loud volume and decoys both have the same affect on a predator-they excite them and cause them to blindingly race in to the set. Most callers will admit that a moving coyote-even a slow moving coyote-is a bad bet when trying to connect with anything less than a shotgun.

Most of the ground that I call is sagebrush or CRP fields. These types of areas afford the incoming predator a host of tricks to use against you-wash, rocks, vegetation, and those little dips right front of you that you never know about it until it's too late. Most of my coyotes are shot at 70 yards. This is not by choice, but simply the way it happens.

The "less is more" concept will allow you to call a small area more thoroughly. By using less volume you can setup 1/4 mile or less from your last stand and make several stands instead of just one or two-turning limited acres into very productive areas.

I usually start every set with a lip squeak. I can't remember how many coyotes I have called in with that wimpy sound, but is has been many. A coyote can be called with a lip squeak from as far as 1/4 mile if the conditions are right. When using a FOXPRO digital game caller, I start my sets with a volume of 12 - 15 and rarely take it louder than 24.

Try using as little volume as possible and become the hunted. You might find that you will be able to make more sets on a given piece of ground and call in more animals.

- Jerry Malbeck

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An all-new 24 bit electronic game call featuring a TOA speaker and many of the great features found in the FOXPRO Fury GX7 is gearing up to roll out of the Custom Shop. The new Custom Shop unit differs from other similar styled units on the market. Just to start; it is 100% user programmable and comes loaded with 50 high quality FOXPRO Sounds (in total, the unit can store/play up to 500 sounds with the included 4GB of internal storage). Like the Fury GX7, the new Custom Shop unit can play .FXP files (FOXPRO's proprietary sound file), .24B files (FOXPRO's proprietary 24 bit sound file), .MP3 files, and uncompressed .WAV files.

The new Custom Shop unit features TRUE 24 bit audio at 48Khz sample rates. Aside from the FOXPRO Fury GX7, this is the only other unit available on the market today that has been proven to play 24 bit audio files. Not to mention, plays with TRUE CD quality. The system produces loud and crystal clear audio from the lowest volume to the highest volume.

Let's take a more in depth look at the new Custom Shop unit and point out some differences this and other similar style units currently available:

FOXPRO's Custom Shop unit features a USB port for programming sounds from home. Other similar units cannot be programmed from home.

FOXPRO's Custom Shop unit features an auxiliary device jack that allows for controlling of a decoy such as FOXPRO's Jack-in-the-Box Decoy. Another feature not found on similar styled units.
FOXPRO's Custom Shop unit features an external speaker jack with a separate amplifier. This works great in addition to the units ability to operate in a stereo mode. A second speaker added to the new unit can help expand your possibilities in the field.

FOXPRO's Custom Shop unit features a low battery indicator.

FOXPRO's Custom Shop unit features three unique modes of sound playback. You can choose single (play a sound one time), continuous (play a sound through, then repeat), or jukebox (play a sound on time through and then move on to the next sound).

FOXPRO's Custom Shop unit has greater audio power output than other similar styled units.

The new Custom Shop unit comes standard with the TX-500 remote control. Those who are familiar with the TX-500 know that it is the most advanced remote control available on the market today. This remote control gives you:

10 sound presets with custom volume levels and 2 quick access buttons for your most frequently used sounds.

Extra large LCD panel that displays the entire names of the sounds you wish to play (other similar units have NO LCD panel which forces the user to rely upon labels or memorization).

LCD panel displays the volume level, elapsed timer, current audio mode (stereo/mono), battery level indicator, mute status indicator, and has a fully configurable setup through an easy to use menu navigational system.

Sounds can be selected for playback with the rotary selector knob or by directly entering the numbers into the keypad

Much more!

You can review the complete list of features found in the new FOXPRO Custom Shop unit at the link shown below. Review these features carefully and then do a comparison with similar units available today. You can quickly see why FOXPRO is the True Leader in electronic game calls.



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When people hear the phrase "March Madness", thoughts of collegiate basketball come to mind. For me, however, the term relates to the great coyote hunting that occurs after the bone chilling temperatures of winter have passed. Don't get me wrong, I pursue eastern coyotes from fall through winter. The fact remains that most of my successful and memorable coyote hunts take place in the month of March. The following story details one such hunt...

Unfortunately for me, most of my local hunting spots are home to far more red fox than coyotes. After fox season closes, I need to target coyotes and that means an hour drive to some of my favorite hunting grounds. Much to the chagrin of my wife, I typically venture out on a Friday or Saturday afternoon and hunt all night long. For whatever reason, I never feel confident calling after 8:00 AM, so that is when I drive home to be with family.

On this particular Friday night, I started hunting at 7:00 PM and hunted until 2:00 AM. I had howling at every stand, some far - some close, and never saw eyes. It was fun just to hear the coyotes and that makes the drive worthwhile for me.

I grabbed 3 hours of sleep and headed back out at 5:00 AM. My normal method of operation for a morning hunt is to re-visit the farm that provided the most action the night prior. I was torn between 2 farms, so I compromised and went to both. The coyotes howled at the first set up, but never showed. The second set up was great with turkeys gobbling like crazy! I went through quite a repertoire of sounds and a coyote came in at 7:15 AM. It was the first coyote I'd seen in bright day light in 2 years! I missed him on the first shot, well over 150 yards, and he bolted back in the direction he came. I barked to stop him and to my surprise he ran right to the Jack in the Box decoy, which was 40 yards out, sitting right next to my FX5!!!

The hunting heritage of Pennsylvania is well known throughout the nation. These rich traditions can be experienced in about every corner of the state. It should come as no surprise that Pennsylvania provided the birth place to one of the most successful electronic game call manufacturers in the world-FOXPRO Inc. It was from within the heart of Penn's Woods that John Dillon (company president, lead engineer) began to forge a new path in electronic game calls. By developing new, state of the art products, John was able to begin reshaping the future of electronic game calls and establishing the bar of standards for generations to follow.

The history of FOXPRO begins with John Dillon. John was the first born of a large family with nine brothers and sisters. At age 11-while most kids were wrapped up in comic books-you could find John situated beneath the old shade tree engulfed in electronics magazines and books. The world of electronics provided him with enough allure and fascination to keep him intrigued for hours on end. His insatiable thirst for knowledge would lead him to read every book on the subject of electronics that he could get his hands on. Although he may not have known it at the time, the knowledge he strived for would later help catapult him atop of an evolving electronics industry.

Also, at an early age, John quickly learned the importance of hard work, dedication, and developing a drive for success. When he was just 12 years old, being the oldest child, he had to find employment to help support his family. This led him to finding a job repairing television sets. For a young man fascinated by electronics, it was the perfect job to help him continue his quest for electronics exploration and later mastery. That same drive that motivated him to repair televisions at 12 is still with him today while developing new products.

John's passion continued and he eventually became an electronics engineer. Not only was electronics engineering his career choice, he also spent spare time in his home workshop-a two car garage that was transformed into an electronics lab. There he would create new gadgets, experiment, and continue to hone his electronics prowess. At one stage he developed a neophyte receiver that landed him on the front cover of a national magazine, the same one that he read under the shade tree at an early age. An extremely creative man, John was always making new steps with technology, often times being inspired by his observations and experiences.

One particular experience occurred one day when his son, Mike, was heading out a fox hunt with a friend. John watched his son lug around a large and cumbersome game call of that era. It was heavy, bulky, and thanks to the additional cassettes needed for calling, it turned the hunt into a painstaking venture. Just the sight of the equipment provided him with the inspiration needed for developing a new and more efficient way of calling fox without all the excessive gear.

Over the next couple of years, John cycled through various designs, ideas, and concepts until he arrived at the one he felt was best suited for the job. Once the electronics portion was laid out, the next step was to find an appropriate housing for the unit. A trip to a local Wal-Mart uncovered a potential fit for this need. He purchased the find, a Rayovac flashlight, and discovered it to be the perfect fit. The first FOXPRO was born.

It didn't take long for the word of a new electronic game call to start circulating through word of mouth. Phone calls would come now from not only local hunters, but from all over the country. Each electronic game call would be built one at a time in the same garage that they were designed in. After more and more hunters started using his game calls, the FOXPRO name was swiftly becoming synonymous with quality. Around this time, Mike and Steve Dillon would work part time evening and weekends to help their father assemble the units. As FOXPRO began to bloom, John still maintained a full time job. He dedicated his nights, weekends, and every spare moment building units to try and fulfill the rising demand for his game call. Eventually, that demand grew to the point where he had to take an early retirement from his job to put all focus and energy on FOXPRO. Mike and Steve would eventually join their father and become full time employees at FOXPRO.

As time passed, the Dillon's were forced to move operations from John's garage, to the basement, and then to a 4,500 square foot facility. The new space provided some breathing room and more employees were brought in. The additional employees afforded John the time to begin focusing on new product development. This focus would then lead to the creation of the FX3-a ground breaking unit for FOXPRO.

With the release of the FX3, FOXPRO had to bring in even more employees to help keep up with the demand. It didn't take long for the 4,500 square foot building to be outgrown. A new location was needed. FOXPRO finally settled into a 45,000 square foot facility located no more than a quarter mile away from where John grew up and where that old shade tree still stands to this day.

FOXPRO went from a single-man operation to close to a 40 person operation from 1993 - 2009. FOXPRO products are sold worldwide and are not just limited to the predator hunting community. On numerous occasions, FOXPRO has been contacted by universities and government agencies to build custom units for their specific needs. Where other companies did not have the engineering abilities to take on such a task, FOXPRO did-and did so successfully. FOXPRO has also worked with the U.S. military, oil refineries, and many other businesses and organizations. FOXPRO products are used by hunters in almost every corner of the world. From North America, South America, Europe, Russia, Africa, to Australia.

FOXPRO will continue to develop new cutting edge products well into the future. A brief look at the product line from 1993 to current will allow you watch the evolutionary cycle that FOXPRO has gone through and will leave you with anticipation on where it will go next.



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