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Posted by Bofire (Member # 221) on June 23, 2007, 09:17 PM:
On another board I mentioned my beleif that a call I own is magic. An I kinda got this thing about 'good things happening to good people' and kharma, and some fisher-people know how to hold thier lips so they get bites. Its a fact!! (sorta)
And I learned alot of things hunting last year, things I heard and read a hunnert times, but 'learned' them last year and relized what I learned.
Anyway whats your take on luck, or what ever? got a weird story??
Carl
Posted by Krustyklimber (Member # 72) on June 23, 2007, 10:48 PM:
Carl,
I don't believe in "mojo".
I don't believe a call can have it, a gun, nor a person.
The whole "confidence" thing doesn't work for me either.
More often than not, something has "happened" when I was the most sure sure nothing would.
Too many times I have been confident, only to have nothing come of it, for me to believe that what I think, could have any effect on coyote behavior.
Coyotes ARE NOT freakin' psychic!
All things being equal, not self sabotaging and creating failure, I don't think that frame of mind aside from good hunting skills has had any effect on my own rate of success (or lack of it).
The better I get at hunting, the closer I get to success, regardless of how I feel, or what I think will happen.
You yourself said "I think I may have learned some REAL important lessons...
...Its reading the contour, setting the caller in the right spot, the ambush point, when to shoot,I am sure I'l learn more this year. I still feel overwhelmed with the information I finally figured out last year" implying that knowlegde and refined skills are what lead to your success (you mention elsewhere, travelling to target rich environments).
Is there more mojo where there are more coyotes? Or are there just more coyotes?
I call bullshit.
Krusty 
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on June 23, 2007, 10:59 PM:
...yes and no.
Posted by Kelly Jackson (Member # 977) on June 23, 2007, 11:49 PM:
Mojo – to me is the ability to capitalize when an opportunity presents itself……..
I find the more I prepare/practice/participate in an activity the more Mojo I seem to have.
Like when you are fishing a bass tourney and get a bite you need on the last cast.
Set the hook and land a four pounder…..
It happens because you are focused on the situation and are prepared to perform the task at hand.
You did not give up until the very end.
Now with all that being said you are going to call more coyotes and catch more bass if you concentrate your efforts in a target rich environment.
Carl – on a side note, my brother feels the same way
about his Sceery AP-something…….its all he carries.
Regards
Kelly
Posted by Melvin (Member # 634) on June 24, 2007, 12:36 AM:
Krustyklimber,i can't agree with you.If you don't have confidence in yourself how do you expect to succeed.Do you have confidence in yourself as a trapper?Did you feel confident that you could build the trap,Tim and Ronnie told you about?I think you did,you built it!I may not believe in MOJO,but i do believe in confidence.I believe without confidence in ones self can lead to failure,whether it be hunting,fishing,trapping,or other aspects of life.Practice and learning builds confidence in ones self and in return you get better at what you do.I don't believe you can have confidence in MOJO because MOJO don't exist.LOL
Posted by Krustyklimber (Member # 72) on June 24, 2007, 02:02 AM:
Leonard,
You pay to keep the lights on, so you can write answers like that?
Kelly,
Webster's defines Mojo as:
: a magic spell, hex, or charm; broadly : magical power
If you ask me, what you are talking about is experience.
Without experience you would not know what to focus on, or prepare for.
Without experience you'd lack the technique require to stay close to structure to catch fish, without hanging up in it.
Without experiencing success, you have no way to recognize where to find success again.
The bass fishing here ain't much better than the coyote hunting, but I was good at it.
Melvin,
I mean confidence that a stand will be productive.
I know I can hunt, and shoot, and call.
I just never know it's going to be productive.
As I said, as long as your lack of confidence doesn't lead to being sloppy and making mistakes, it cannot have an effect on coyote behavior.
I used to be confident that I would succeed, then after 500 or so failed attempts, I am not so confident anymore.
Who could be?
I think the same thing about trapping.
Confidence didn't get the beaver in the trap, knowledge, skill, a good lure, and experience did.
And I didn't catch a dang thing, until Fred came and taught me.
If you build a lousy set, lure it with something foul, set it with a crappy trap, in a bad location, with no idea why you did what you did... all the confidence in the world won't catch anything in it.
A trap is a machine, just like a call is a machine.
I have a knack for things mechanical.
If I didn't, all the confidence in the world won't undo damage done by doing the job the wrong way.
I followed step by step, black and white, directions on how to modify the trap, and I did the work properly.
That's why it is a better machine now.
I am a good fisherman, I shot the biggest buck in my family and the only turkey, and I am an accomplished waterfowler. In my younger days I was, a top class technical climber, a championship winning motorcycle racer and rookie of the year, world class downhill skateboarder (again rookie of the year), State finalist in wrestling and archery, and more... and despite being dyslexic, I have learned to read and write fairly well.
My list of accomplishments is pretty good, if I say so myself.
Self confidence is rarely a problem for me.
There's only two things I ever tried to learn, that fully kicked my ass, whitewater kayaking, and predator hunting.
The only reason I didn't give up on predator calling, like I did kayaking, is I can't drown trying.
So you guys that believe in "confidence", how is it you think the coyotes know, that I think I'm doomed?
And why do they sometimes show up anyways?
It's not like I have never called anything, I just never killed any.
Confidence (or the lack of it) didn't make me use ammo not sighted in for a borrowed rifle I wasn't used to, missing a coyote.
It didn't make me aim at the one spot on the front of a coyote that wouldn't kill it, not to fire a second shot, or lose it in the jungle.
It didn't make my shotgun misfire, letting a bobcat get away, lose the screw in my scope mount causing me to shoot under one coyote, or misjudge the yardage and shoot over another.
All of those mistakes were caused by lack of experience, and the inability to recognize the steps to take to achieve success.
Being confident didn't help me those days, if I was.
Krusty
Posted by Kelly Jackson (Member # 977) on June 24, 2007, 03:02 AM:
Ok Krusty. I sould have look it up before I posted.
If Mojo = magic.....I don't believe in it.
I have heard and used the term to loosely.
7 years no kills. You are determined and persistent.
I think I would save up for a trip to south Texas next Feburary......Kelly
Posted by Bofire (Member # 221) on June 24, 2007, 08:02 AM:
Well I think that if you don't 'expect' to get something, you wont be at your best performance. You wont sneak as well, watch as well, sit as still or shoot as well. I call it "gettin my mojo going" "spreadin my hustle" (two terms I learned from this weird old guy) all the time the Davy Crockett song is playing in my head. Ya I know, weird. If I think a certain call is going to sound right and work, I have a better chance it will.
Best thing I learned and used last year: Dont hunt or call areas that look like good for coyotes, scout, and hunt/call coyotes! I spend about 4-8 hours scouting for 1 on a stand. Keep a journal.
Carl
[ June 24, 2007, 08:03 AM: Message edited by: Bofire ]
Posted by JD (Member # 768) on June 24, 2007, 09:35 AM:
Nice answer, Leonard ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
I believe in Mojo fo sho!! Every time before I go calling I follow a special routine in a specific order & end it doubled over chanting & groaning my own special mantra, it goes something like this..."ohhhhhhhh my gaaaaaaawd!!! I need to eat more fiberrrrrrrrr!!!!" Then I finish this spiritual experience by lighting a match & giving thanks that I didn`t have to do that while leaning against the bumper between the 2nd & 3rd stands, so far it`s been working well, I even kill a coyote sometimes after doing that so I know it works.
Mojo-Schomjo....forget about lucky charms, find a coyote rich environment & hunt wisely.
As far as confidence goes, I don`t understand, if you thought you were going to fail, why would you even get in the truck & go calling. I "expect" to kill a coyote or 2 on every single stand, it doesn`t happen that way but that`s what I expect & set up for accordingly.
Posted by TA17Rem (Member # 794) on June 24, 2007, 11:30 AM:
Mojo hell yes. I wont go without my lucky rifle and calls. And i give my coyote spirit chaser a good shake. http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f208/TA17Rem/100_0002.jpg[/IMG]] 
Posted by UTcaller (Member # 8) on June 24, 2007, 12:06 PM:
I agree with JD..Confidence is key when it comes to calling coyotes.I expect a coyote at every stand I make.Does it happen? Of course not.But I damn sure am expecting it,and try to keep focused at each stand expecting that coyote to come.If I lost confidence in my calling I would stay home,what would be the point.Some days are fantastic others totally suck,but I still expect a coyote to show up each time I blow the call.FWIW
As far as MOJO goes,I don't know if that's what I would call it but I sure do favor certain calls as my "Go to Call".Experience I guess.
Good Hunting Chad
Posted by 3 Toes (Member # 1327) on June 24, 2007, 01:12 PM:
Call it MOJO or call it shit house luck.....
But some have it and some don't. I do ok but it seems that I have to work hard at things to get them to go my way. I have seen and met others that are just lucky. I remember a few years ago I had a deer tag on Utahs famous Paunsugant unit. I knew another guy that did too. He begged me to hunt together, but I knew that I was going to hunt way harder than he would want to, so I politely declined. I never seen my camp in the daylight for 10 days and finally killed a nice deer. He shot an absolute hog that dwarfed mine on about his second day of driving around in his truck with a nice cold beer in his cupholder. Shot it with one foot on the ground and the other still in the truck. It "just ran out in front of him" he said! No doubt, some are luckier than others....
Posted by Krustyklimber (Member # 72) on June 24, 2007, 01:30 PM:
Kelly,
I didn't mean you should look it up. It's just everyone had a different interpretation of what they thought mojo was.
I figured the conversation is better if we all use a similar definition.
Bofire,
Your theory doesn't account for when you are sure something is going to happen, and it doesn't.
How could your confidence let you down, if having it is "magic"?
Why isn't every single "magical" stand crawling with coyotes?
I'll say it again... As long as lack of confidence doesn't lead to being sloppy, and making mistakes, attitude alone CANNOT have an effect on coyote behavoir.
JD,
Why get in the truck and go calling, even though I know I am doomed?
Because it beats mowing the lawn. And I like being in the woods.
When I do go, I give it everything I have, even though I know I am wasting my time.
It's been said over and over, that "I owe it to you guys", not to quit.
I've been given free gear, that I promised to put to use, so I live up to that.
I have "obligations" to keep trying, that outweigh my desire to give up.
Now I hunt, mostly, out of spite and anger, resentment and duty, and those are terrible reasons.
Chad,
How does my confidence come into play when I am being "guided", when someone else was supposed to make it happen?
Why doesn't their mojo work then?
How many blank stands could you call, before you stop "expecting" it?
After hundreds of failures, I find it impossible to believe you'd go into every single stand with high expectations.
My own experience has taught me otherwise.
I expect nothing to happen, yet again, but I am ALWAYS ready just in case it does.
I don't expect to get hit by lightning, but it could happen.
And wanting, or not wanting, or "believing" it is going to happen or not, won't make it happen.
Nobody has explained to me, if confidence is such an important factor, HOW DO YOU ACCOUNT FOR ANIMALS THAT SHOW UP WHEN I HAVE NONE?
3Toes,
If luck is what it's about, why do I have good luck in most things, and only bad luck in calling predators?
You friend wasn't lucky it was "random chance", that put him and that buck in the same place at the same time.
Not magic.
Krusty
Posted by Melvin (Member # 634) on June 24, 2007, 02:03 PM:
I went to bed last night thinking about this MOJO stuff and woke back up this morning,still thinking about MOJO! Did someone throw a MOJO hex on me!!?....Now where is my lucky rabbits foot?
TA17Rem,I promise you,i will stay out of your neighborhhood ![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
LOL
Posted by furhvstr (Member # 1389) on June 24, 2007, 02:05 PM:
Sceery AP-6 has mojo. I don't know how they fit all them critters inside there. Ten years and half dozen reeds later still has it.
Anyone that doesen't believe in confidence has never played much golf.
Luck? Of course.
Krusty you are an interesting fellow. Are there any coyotes where you call ? Did you used to kill a lot and then had to move or something? You know a lot about calling and make some nice calls.
Posted by varmit hunter (Member # 37) on June 24, 2007, 02:06 PM:
JD. I sure wish I as unable to relate to you're ritual so well. I can't hunt in the dessert. Since my legs have gone the way of the Edseal. I have to hang from a low limb like some kind of monkey.
My MoJoe prepare, practice, persistence, and a Seagulls beak in my left pocket, except the last ten days of the month it is in my back right pocket.
I can't believe I just gave away the secret of all my great success.
Now you know you are old when Edseal is not in spell check.
Posted by furhvstr (Member # 1389) on June 24, 2007, 02:09 PM:
Krusty confidence is very important in nearly anything in life and I think you know that. But it is not the only factor that influences your calling efforts.
Posted by UTcaller (Member # 8) on June 24, 2007, 02:39 PM:
Krusty,
I guess I should have said that if all my ducks are in a row,if I have done everything in my power then I have the "confidence" that the coyotes will come.I don't just go out and sit anywhere and expect them to come in.
Scouting and pre-scouting
locating the coyotes in the area
stand location
which call to use
optimum time to call
Etc.etc.etc.
Again just plain old hard work and experience.Things that can't be learned in the videos..
I think if I had "hundreds" of blank stands of calling coyotes I would either find a new hobbie or find a better spot to call coyotes,I'd definitely put some miles on the truck.lol
Good Hunting Chad
Posted by Kokopelli (Member # 633) on June 24, 2007, 02:39 PM:
A wise man once told me "If you think you're going to succeed or you think you're going to fail....you're probably right."
Quote; "Now I hunt, mostly, out of spite & anger....."
Krusty, you sound like a chuckar hunter!!!!! Evil birds from the depths of Hell.
Posted by Krustyklimber (Member # 72) on June 24, 2007, 03:15 PM:
Mercer,
Interesting... is that the good interesting or the bad interesting?
Yep, many of the places I call have coyotes.
Not in the numbers that makes a "target rich environment", but they are there.
I've even called, and shot at, some of them.
Other than my buck, last year, I have never killed a mammal bigger than a breadbox, with a gun.
In seven years of learning, some of it is bound to stick. So I know the basics, of calling, on paper.
Applying that to the real world, has proved difficult.
It's my opinion that calling experience, and call making, are not related.
Woodworking skills are not connected to hunting skills.
Strativarius wasn't famous for playing the violin.
Call making started for me, as a process of "copying" a Cronk Call by following his written directions, which I eventually refined into a style of my own.
As I stated earlier, a call is a simple machine, that operates on the laws and principles of physics.
I can can use logic, to solve the problems associated with call making.
Coyotes don't know logic, or follow the rules.
Chad,
How do you know all your ducks are in a row, if you don't know what a duck is?
I don't just sit anywhere, my head swims with all the advice I have been given over the years, and I try to put it to good use.
I finally did take up trapping, instead, and haven't made 5 stands since I did.
Kokopelli,
Your wise man doesn't account for the "suprises".
I was pretty good at chukar hunting when I was a kid, they didn't seem to piss me off, the way they did my uncle.
It's sick, but hunting chukars (and huns)on the way back to the truck, has saved more than a few lousy calling trips.
Krusty
Posted by UTcaller (Member # 8) on June 24, 2007, 05:50 PM:
Krusty,
I listed some of those "ducks"....
Pre-scouting and scouting:You're not going to call coyotes if they ain't there,and the less coyotes you have in your area the less you'll call...Just common sense
Locating coyotes:Go out early in the morning or late in the evening with a howler or portable siren,and see if you get a response..
Stand location:Find some good stands in the areas you've scouted/howled at.Draws,ravines,drainages,canyons etc.
And like I said before if you can't call and kill the local population of coyotes,put a few hundred miles on your truck and get into an area that has a higher population of coyotes.
You put in the hard work and time and you'll call the coyotes.But it's up to you on how bad you want to kill one.
Good Hunting Chad
Posted by Bofire (Member # 221) on June 24, 2007, 05:55 PM:
This could be endless!! LOL ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
Krusty, Since you climbed rocks and make beautiful calls you obviously think about what you are doing.
Since you'd normally sight in your gun and use a known load, since you normally are a good shot and dont miss, since your shot gun does not usually misfire, I guess you had "Bad Luck" LOL
Carl
Posted by Krustyklimber (Member # 72) on June 24, 2007, 07:24 PM:
Chad,
My point was, just because you say "duck", and you know what a duck looks like, doesn't mean I know what a duck looks like.
I don't know what you mean by scouting, or pre-scouting.
Other than seeing them, how do you know if there are coyotes?
I wouldn't know coyote poop from raccoon poop if I stepped in it.
I spent more time that you can imagine, howling trying to locate coyotes. I have never had a coyote vocally respond to a howl (around here).
It's not legal to use a siren here, so I have never tried it.
Obviously I don't know a good stand from a bad one. And I am sure I have, made hundreds of bad ones.
I'm not interested in travelling, anymore, especially not just to kill a stupid coyote (or worse get freakin' skunked AGAIN!).
I put 54,000 miles on my truck in the last two years, just on the hunting/scouting trips, and I am surfing for new pistons to replace the broken one, between bouncing back and forth on this issue.
I don't want to kill one, one tenth as bad as YOU GUYS want me to.
Bofire,
This could be endless, that's why I didn't think we should muck up the Bandit thread with it.
Miscommunication, inexperience, and bad judgement, in that order, lead to the mistakes you list.
All logical explainations, why mistakes were made.
Not good African mojo, or bad Irish luck, or anything else.
Krusty
Posted by JeremyKS (Member # 736) on June 24, 2007, 07:52 PM:
furhvstr its funny you mention the mojo of the Sceery AP6. I kind of have to believe in it too. I have called in a large majority of my coyotes with one.
Posted by furhvstr (Member # 1389) on June 24, 2007, 08:00 PM:
Several years ago at the fur sale in NV a local guy that was known as a good contest hunter saw mine hanging from the mirror and asked if I would put it away. He was serious. He said the local guys didn't know about them yet. Said the local shop had brought in three of them recently and he bought all three.
It's probably not magic but I aint gonna fix something that aint broke.
Posted by Kelly Jackson (Member # 977) on June 24, 2007, 09:04 PM:
Tim - that is a good looking spirit chaser.....did you make it yourself or do you have a local medicine man.
Posted by UTcaller (Member # 8) on June 24, 2007, 10:05 PM:
Krusty,
I now see why you lack confidence...LOL
Good Trapping Chad
Posted by furhvstr (Member # 1389) on June 24, 2007, 10:09 PM:
Krusty, not that it matters but how do you know my name? Is it on here somewhere?
Also if Leonard is member #2 who is member #1 ?
Posted by TA17Rem (Member # 794) on June 24, 2007, 10:23 PM:
thanks kelly... a friend makes a few every year.
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on June 24, 2007, 10:56 PM:
There have been a couple references to Mercer, and it's a rather uncommon name.
As to who is number one, the short story is that this is the third version of Huntmasters, the first was owned by North American Hunting Club's hunting land enterprise. The chairman had sent me a blank program after the wheels came off the second edition, but he had already registered himself as member number one. He's totally out of the picture, they have a separate message board, just for the use of their executive board
And, that's why this Board is called the "New" Huntmasters. So, the buck stops here, I am administrator, webmaster and owner, and responsible for all complaints.
Good hunting. LB
Posted by Krustyklimber (Member # 72) on June 25, 2007, 12:33 PM:
Mercer,
Yes, Leonard addressed you by name, and I remember almost everything I read.
I don't know why but your screen name throws my dyslexia into a loop, spelling your given name flows off my fingers much more easily.
In other cases, to protect the users' anonymity, like 3Toes, I only use their screen name.
I know you say "not that it matters", but if you'd rather I didn't address you by name, I'd be glad to oblige?
It doesn't matter when people call me Jeff, but I'd rather be called...
Krusty
Posted by furhvstr (Member # 1389) on June 25, 2007, 04:36 PM:
I honestly couldn't care less. It just hit me as I was reading and I thought you might have picked it up from another board.
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