LA trip and club meetings . . .

[Frogman]

Guys,

I recently spent a week in the Los Angeles CA area visiting family.  While there I had hoped to get in a few coyote hunting stands.  That didn't work out, but I did get to attend two predator hunting club meetings which were very enjoyable.  On Tuesday evening Sept 7 I was invited to attend the "Predator Callers of Orange County"s monthly meeting near Huntington Beach, CA.  This group even asked me to speak to their group about coyote hunting in the East and the Predator Expo that I attended in Columbus OH in March.  These guys have a really nice club and were very friendly to me.  I had thought that with all the coyotes in the LA area that they would be able to hunt coyotes near the city??  It just wasn't that way.  They usually travel 2 1/2 hours or so out to the Mojave Desert to coyote hunt.  They had a hunt planned for the next weekend.  It was really cool.  The hunt was designed to pair up new hunters with some of the more experienced hunters to help the new guys learn the ropes!!  I would have loved to have had access to an opportunity like that when I first got started!  Since my wife and I were leaving for Las Vegas for the second part of our trip on Sunday I couldn't participate in this mentor hunt.  Here are a few photos from that first meeting . . .



This speaker was explaining the different water systems in the Mohave Desert and how they might impact hunting.



Some of the members in attendance, about 35 I would guess??




The gentleman in the tan shirt standing at the table is Ricky Macey.  One of my relatives contacted him about my visit and he is the one who invited me to the meeting.  He is giving a hand call seminar.  I got the impression that they use e-callers quite a bit out there and don't use hand calls as much.  I got to help Ricky out a little when he demonstrated the coyote seranade with the howlers!  Ricky's seminar was excellent and very educational!  After the meeting they had quite a few nice prizes for a raffle.  I had several of Jon Martin's wvhillbillyhowler  calls with me so I donated one to the club for the drawing.  An enjoyable evening!

On  Wednesday evening the "National Predator Hunters Club" met (I am not exactly sure I got the club name correct??).  Ricky Macey is also a member of this group and he arranged for a member that lived only a few blocks from my relative's house to pick me up and take me to the meeting.  These guys also invited me to speak about the Predator Expo and to talk about predator hunting in the East.   They had lots of questions and seemed to enjoy my presentation.  I also donated a wvhillbillyhowler call for their after the meeting raffle.  I got to demonstrate Jon's calls and the call I donated was the first prize chosen!  One of the members sitting right behind me at the meeting was born at St. Joe Hospital in Parkersburg, WV.  Same place I was born!!  His family moved to CA when he was just 6.  Here are a few photos from this meeting . . .



They had pizza and beer for all attendees!



That's me in the back with the dark colored ball cap on.



Both groups kept mentioning their "rigs"???  I soon learned that a "rig" was a pickup truck set up for coyote hunting. 



They do a lot of night hunting out there.  Also since they have to travel so far to get to the good areas tehy usually spend the weekend.  Thus there trucks are set up for sleeping in the back which is covered with a topper.  The topper usually has a shooting platform on top.  The truck has red lights mounted under the front bumper for driving to stands aat night.  They also have a switch that allows them to disconnect the brake lights!  When they get to a good spot they can hook up their spot lights which are powered from the truck battery and turn on a cassette player which broadcasts rabbit distress sounds through speakers.  When the predator comes in they switch the spotlight from red to white to identify the animal  just before the shot.  Pretty cool, just not legal here in WV!?!?



Man,  I regret not getting a chance to get out for few stands with these guys!!  Just guess I will have to get back out there to try again.  I invited them all to come to WV for some calling.  No takers yet???

I will post about my Las Vegas adventures in another post.

Hope you guys enjoy this one!

Jim

[iahntr]

Thanks for sharin Jim ! Too bad ya didn't get to get out and hunt with em. Still looks like a good time !
Cool rigs too, and yeah, those wouldn't go over to well in Iowa either. 

[FinsnFur]

Man it is unbelievable how many people down there actually converted or built a vehicle for hunting like that.  It seems like everyone in the southwest portion of the country wants to be a predator hunting guide. 

[Silencer]

I like that first rig even if I couldnt hunt off it, beats my 2x4 neon with the blood stained trunk lol

[Jeb]

Good pics and story ! 
                 Jeb