Bill Bynum??

Frogman · January 02, 2009, 09:08:13 PM

Hey guys,
I have a really good coyote hunting book by Bill Bynum. Seems to me like he was from Western Tenn. or Western Kentucky. I remember that he talked about hunting the LBL in part of the book. Do any of you guys know him?? Does he still hunt?? Does he get on the forums?? Just wondered?

Jim

CCP · January 03, 2009, 11:41:05 PM

I have had the opportunity to meet him several times. The last time was in Huntsville Al 2 years ago. He writes for the coo-op magazines still. He was one of the ones that started Predator and Prey magazine. When they went under Predator Extreme magazine took on there subscribers. Predator Extreme Is based 20 min from my home here.

Bill was one of the first using a howler in the 80's here in the East and helped with the production of the eezzy howler by Knight and Hale the footage on the video they had was filmed at LBL. I believe he said they filmed there first footage of a coyote with a howler he made in 81 at LBL.

He guided hunts in LBL for many years and this is how he hooked up with Knight in Hale before they were famous.

He has hunted alot through out the U.S. but has done alot of time here in the East. I believe bobcats were his favorite to hunt and talks about hunting bobcats alot.

I ask him about hunting LBL and our hunt there and ask for advice on LBL coyotes since he has probably taken more coyotes from there than anyone. His advice was hunt close to camp grounds, but at the end of the day it all boiled down to who could make the most stands and had the most luck.

He mostly does seminars now days best I can tell. He is truly a pioneer in Eastern coyote calling and sad to say most people don't know that. If you can find some of his early articles you would be amazed at how we all are just re-hashing out what he has already done. Problem was then everyone thought he was crazy hunting coyotes.

Frogman · January 04, 2009, 07:42:42 AM

Thanks for the info Richard! It would be neat if we could get him to come to LBL and give us some pointers!!

Jim

KySongDog · January 04, 2009, 09:21:04 AM

This thread got me to thinking.

A long time ago, when I first thought about trying coyote hunting, I bought a VHS tape called "The Magic of Coyote Calling" by Bill Bynum, David Hale, and Harold Knight. It is geared to hunting coyotes East of the Mississippi and was filmed at or near LBL I think. At the time I bought the tape I was working full time and spent my vacation days on deer and turkey hunting so I never got in to coyotes.

I rummaged through my old tape drawer and found it. I just got through watching it and, although dated, it has a lot of good info in it that I can relate to now after having a few experiences of my own in the field.

Bill Bynum was hunting eastern coyotes when there wasn't any eastern coyotes. I'd say he knows what he is talking about.

CCP · January 04, 2009, 09:29:20 AM

THANKS for posting that Semp I haven't ever seen that one. I noticed the name is "calling all Coyotes" All this time I thought Randy Anderson was the first video named that? Looks like there was an Eastern Video named Calling all Coyotes first??

If I still have a VHS player I would have to talk you out of that one or at least borrow it.

Edit to say

QuoteIt would be neat if we could get him to come to LBL and give us some pointers!!

He E-mailed me his number a year ago. I will see if it is somewhere here in my computer. If I can locate him I will call and see if he can make one of the LBL hunts one year.

KySongDog · January 04, 2009, 09:45:29 AM

Hey Rich

No problem. You can borrow the tape. Want me to send ya a VHS tape player too.

With as many old tapes as I have I have to keep one around.

FinsnFur · January 04, 2009, 10:12:45 AM

Quote from: Semp on January 04, 2009, 09:45:29 AM

Want me to send ya a VHS tape player too.

Frogman · January 04, 2009, 03:29:44 PM

Thanks guys for the responses. Sounds like someone I would like to meet. I would also like to see the video!

Jim

Frogman · January 04, 2009, 08:02:53 PM

I am sitting here re-reading this book while I wait for new posts. I forgot how good it is. Since I read it the first time a year or so ago my hunting experiences have made much of the information in the book more meaningful to me.

Jim

possumal · January 04, 2009, 10:08:33 PM

That VHS tape and one featuring Gerry Blair were the first ones I ever watched when I first started after yotes. Bill used a turkey diaphragm a lot, and helped Knight & Hale a lot like Randy Anderson has helped Will Primos in the design of their calls. I can remember him talking about starting out with low volume for a couple of series a minute or two apart in case you were close to a yote who was out of your view, and then stepping up the volume on ensuing series. However long you could call with your lungs full of air would be long enough, and your calls should get weaker in each series. The longer on stand, the less you call and the more you watch. Good advice then, good advice now. He came across as a good old country boy with a common sense approach to calling critters. It brings back some good memories having his name come up now.

Frogman · January 04, 2009, 10:48:26 PM

yeah, possumal,
Here are some quotes from his book along the lines of your post . . .

"...a rabbit's lungs are approximately the size of a human thumb, they have a very small capacity in comparison to our own lungs. So such a long calling sequence probably lounds like a 300 pound rabbit to the predator, which is completely unnatural. So the first rule of calling is to do it an a natural manner."

" ...be aggresive with the caller. When i say aggressive, I mean calling with enthusiasm. Use your imagination to put yourself in the place of the distressed creature you're trying to imitate. Imagine you're a rabbit hopping along and minding your own business, when suddenly the razor sharp claws of a feral cat grab you and begin tearing you apart. Would you politely go wee-wee, wee-wee, or would you scream like bloddy hell? This is why the first few seconds of my calling sequence include the loudest and most frantic sounds. Pain, fear, tortue, agony - these are the emotions you need to convey in those crittical first seconds."

"I start with the frantic notes described above for approximately 10 to 15 seconds. Then I lower the calling volume slightly, while trying to impart a quivering effect to the sounds. My entire calling sequence lasts approximately sixty to ninty seconds, after which I usually remain silent for three minutes or so. I want any animal that responds to the initial call to continue searching for the source of the distress sounds. In most cases this means the predator will be moving, which makes it easier for me to detect its presence, as movement catches the eye quicker than stationary object."

and one more . . .

"Sure, my standard technique of one minute of calling followed by two or three minutes of silence has sent scores of critters to their maker.

He sometimes lowers the volume as he continues to call and limits his stands to 20 minutes or so. Good book!!! There are copies on Amazon for 9.95 and up!!

Jim

Jim

KySongDog · January 05, 2009, 05:25:40 AM

Quote from: Frogman on January 04, 2009, 10:48:26 PM

.................................... and limits his stands to 20 minutes or so.

On the tape he suggests 45 minute stands.

possumal · January 05, 2009, 07:44:15 AM

Semp, I don't remember Bill Bynum suggesting 45 minute stands all the time. For bobcats, maybe, or for problem coyotes on particular stands. On a lot of my "All eggs in one basket" setups, which happen a lot when I only have time for one good stand late in the day, I spend 30 minutes to as much as an hour, without even starting the calling portion for 10 to 15 minutes after setting down. Randy Anderson has made the comment many times that hunters that take the 15 to 20 minute maximum approach are leaving a lot of coyotes in the field. That is especially true hunting farms where the yotes interact with people a lot. It is like hunting in another world compared to areas where you can either walk or drive a mile and be on another stand in a few minutes. Either approach works at times, but I believe you will still only average a yote killed for every so many stands in our part of the world. So my approach is to put the emphasis on making quality, well thought out stands as opposed to sheer numbers.

Frogman · January 05, 2009, 10:42:25 AM

possumal,
That's a good point. I have never been able to understand how someone can set up, put out their e-caller, and do a stand in just 15 to 20 minutes. Maybe they mean they are just calling for that amount of time. Most of our stands are from 30 minutes to an hour from the time we arrive at the stand to the time we pack up to leave. After re - reading the Bynum book, I think we are calling way too much and not leaving enough time between calling sequences to watch for critters??? Prolly also calling too loudly?? I usually start out with distress on a mouth call pretty loud to get their attention, then go to the e-caller with a similar sound at a similar volume, after only a minute or so I might change to another distress for a little bit, etc. Then near the end of the stand do some howls both mouth calls and e-caller. If no response by then my last sound is usually coyote pup distress followed by 3 to 5 minutes of silence to see if anything responds. Probably way too much calling and not enough silence in between calling??

Thanks for all your input. This is giving me a lot to think about next time I get out!

Jim

KySongDog · January 05, 2009, 01:35:13 PM

possumal, 45 minutes is what he said on the tape. He said eastern hunting was not like the 10-15 minute quickie stands like out west. You have to give a cautious critter a chance to respond. However, the very few I have called up so far in the thick woods have responded in about 5-10 minutes. But that could also be due to the fact I am not staying 45 minutes like Bynum suggested. I haven't been staying long enough to see if anything shows after the 20 minute mark. I think I may change that next time.

Randy Anderson doesn't hunt in the east, does he?

possumal · January 05, 2009, 01:45:12 PM

Frogman, you can get all kinds of input on this subject from different hunters. For instance, some really good coyote hunters turn on an ecaller as loud as it will go and never turn it down or off until the total time has passed and they are ready to go to the next stand. From my point of view, even though I know they kill coyotes doing that, I have to wonder if they are hunting hard of hearing yotes (lol)

. When you slip into a spot and get set up, supposedly without Wiley knowing you are there, in most cases you can't be sure that he isn't bedded down within 300 yds of where you are, or hunting in a little draw or creek bank where you can't see him. If he is no further than that, I guarantee you he can hear an ecaller at low volume or a mouth call at low volume, something squeaky like a coaxer for instance. I use the Sceery special coaxer I have mounted on my rifle a lot of times for some low volume, realistic calling. Many a yote has responded to that from 300 yds or so away, even further when it is light wind and really cold. So I see no reason to have an ecaller turned up so loud it might break the farmer's windows out of his house. I try to make the whole deal as realistic as I can, much like Bill Bynum talks about in his book and on tape. Anybody who has done much rabbit hunting with beagles has heard the rabbit scream when the dogs catch him after you cripple one, or if they trap him under a wire or brush pile. Man, he is loud! But he is not as loud as an ecaller on full volume, at least not the good ones I have heard from different manufacturers. You have to develop a style you believe in and it ought to be based on past experience and success. Even past failures can teach you if your mind is open. They say curiosity killed the cat, but it will be equally deadly on coyotes. I agree with Bill Bynum that you can get old Wiley curious with something out of the ordinary, so you can't be afraid to try something different. Sometimes after being careful with your volume and sound selections on a stand, just going real loud for about 30 seconds and then no more sound of any kind will get him to come in on the sneak. A lot of big old yotes fall for that one if you have the patience to give them that extra 5 to 10 minutes. I believe they are like big old gobbler turkeys in that regard; they don't forget what they hear real quick. A big old gobbler will come sneaking in looking for that hot hen he heard an hour before, and he won't always gobble either. All the coyotes in the area hear your call, and they all react, but they don't always respond. Quote Gerry Blair on that one.

RShaw · January 05, 2009, 09:20:59 PM

When a coyote hears the call, he can do one of three things. Come-in...go-away....or do nothing. I have seen them do all three. I reckon if you call do nothing a reaction, I agree.

Twelve minutes is about it for me on stand. Most show up between 3 and 7 minutes. If they aint there in 12 minutes, they gotta go to the back of the line in order to die. If I have slipped into a stand really quiet, then I see no reason to sit in silence for any amount of time. I get right into the business at hand.

However, using coyote vocals can slow the stand down. In other words if I have used prey distress for ten minutes, then switch to coyote vocals and pup distress, it is just like starting all over. In my opinion, lots of stands in a days time means a greater opportunity at killing one.

Randy