If you have never tried it, one of the most exciting types of hunting that you will ever do is predator hunting. Nothing gets the blood pumping like fooling the sharpest critters in the woods into hunting you!
I have hunted with & called animals with both mouth-blown & electronic callers. While both can definitely be effective when used properly, I really like the advantages that an e-caller gives you. The e-caller never fatigues (well at least until the battery goes down), it allows you to keep both hands free, and it gives you the option to choose between many different sounds at the touch of a button. There is a huge assortment of quality e-callers on the market today. Prices on these range from a little less than $100 up to over $600. Another option for those of us who like to tinker is the home made e-caller.
An e-caller basically consists of 4 parts - the housing, the speaker, the amplifier, & the sound source. In doing my research, I found that most people are using either a flashlight body, an insulated thermos, or just a watertight box / bag. I wanted to try to make my call with the basic "look" of today's popular predator calls, so I chose to use the flashlight body. I did some looking & decided to start with this model from Walmart - it was on sale for $8!
The first thing I did was remove & discard the lens, bezel, battery holder, & bulb assembly.
Next I masked off all of the black rubber parts that I did not want painted. I then painted the housing then a gray spray paint made especially for plastic.
I had found that most people were recommending a SPECO SPC-5 horn speaker for this type of call. Found one online for $20. It was white so after removing the mounting pedestal & cutting the bracket off with a Dremel tool, I painted it gray also.
Now it was time for the wiring. For an amplifier, I went with the Radio Shack mini amp ($14.99). I planned to utilize the flashlight's existing switch, but I wanted to add an led light so that I would know at a glance if the caller was on or off. I also wanted an input jack on the outside of the housing so that I would simply be able to plug my mp3 player into it . First I drilled a hole in the back of the flashlight housing & threaded a 3.5mm audio cable through it.
Next I took the mini amp apart, removed the built-in speaker, & cut off the original 9v battery connector. Then I drilled a hole in the top of the housing & inserted the small led light ($1.99 from Radio Shack). Finally, with some trial & error, I soldered the mini amp, a new battery connector, & the led light all to the terminals from the flashlight's original switch.
Now it was time to attach the speaker. I used black adhesive caulk to glue the speaker in the black cap of the flashlight.
Then it was just a matter of plugging the 3.5mm speaker wire (I cut some of the length out & then soldered back together to make it shorter) & the input wire into the mini amp, screwing the cap / speaker back on, re-masking the black rubber parts, and spraying on a little camo.
Total time invested was probably about 3 - 4 hours. Total cost was about $50. I really enjoyed putting it together & can't WAIT to get out ion the field with it! Hope to be posting some success pictures very soon!
