Move Over Deer and Turkey Hunting,
There is a New Sport in Town
By Bret Rueb

Predator Calling, is it the fastest growing sport in the Shooting and Hunting Industry?

As I sit down to write this article, I am reflecting back over the 30 years that I have been calling. Predator hunting and calling has come a long way.

I still remember the days when I was a wet behind the ears want-a-be hunter. The bounty for coyote ears, in our county was $2.00 each. I would look at the string of ears that dad had strung up on the wall of the garage, and think, wow that is a lot of money. Then as I grew older and was able to drive and hunt myself, I was introduced to predator calling. At that time, in the late seventies and early eighties, fur prices were quite high.

Cheap gas, country loaded with predators, and high fur prices, was a great way to get a farm boy hooked on the most popular sport in the shooting industry! OK, let me get the time line right.

Back in the day, predator calling was kind of kept in the back of the closet of the shooting industry. People heard of it, but most thought that it was just a few rednecks sitting in the country blowing on a whistle, and they were right!

Along came the internet, and print media! The information age had hit the best kept secret in the shooting industry! People started to hear more coffee shop talk, more stories were told in hunting camps, more web surfing was done, Magazines’ started to cover the sport and hunters of all kinds started to take notice. Coyote numbers east of the Mississippi had started to explode! The whole country had predators. Pickups and SUV’s loaded with hunters headed to the country for the super addictive adrenaline rush of Predator Calling.

Holy Cow, can this be true? A shooting sport to rival Turkey hunting, shooting prairie dogs, trap shooting and not to mention, maybe even  DEER hunting! This addiction that was embraced by few, has now stricken the hunting masses. OK, Now I can make the statement “The fastest growing sport in the shooting industry”!

We finally made it! Our sport has grown up! I, myself am thankful to have grown up Calling during the infancy stages. To see the changes and the growth this sport has made has been very exciting. Yes I know there are a few of you readers that were pioneers callers in the fifties and the sixties.  I am sure you are amazed with all the changes as well.

Being involved in this industry as a manufacturer (Predator Sniper Products), the Coordinator and owner of the “Masters of Coyote Calling”, The Midwest Coyote Calling Event and now Promoter of the first ever World Predator & Hunting Expo.

The first ever, expo that will highlight the industry of predator hunting and calling. With a large emphasis on the management of predators, this Expo is for all types of hunters. Water fowl, deer, turkey, upland game birds and many others animal’s populations are affected by predators. The world Predator & Hunting Expo is designed to “Manage the Hunters”.

The world Predator & Hunting Expo is, my (child) graduating from collage, with honors and a Masters Degree! The WPHE will be great for the predator industry and for the hunting public. August 2008 History will be made, as the World’s first Predator & Hunting Expo will take place. I hope many of you readers can attend!
More information can be obtained at www.worldpredatorhuntingexpo.com  

So, if you are a beginning caller, attending as many of the seminars at the Expo as you can, grab a magazine with predator hunting articles and read them front to back, jump on the internet and consume all the information you can! Ask lots of questions (the only stupid question is the one that doesn’t get asked) and practice, practice, practice.

Your first predator called in will be with you the rest of your life!

If you are a veteran caller, take a kid calling and pass on the sport and art of predator calling to him or her. They are our future and they need Nurturing, guiding, show them the love of the sport and push them to be the best they can be!