Inside Out Outdoors

I recently purchased one of the Johnny Stewart Compact Digital Game Callers for a Coyote hunt that I went on about two weeks ago.  I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the call.  There are five different models:

1) Predator 1 - Baby Bird, Cottontail, Puppy Cries, Rodent, Woodpecker.
2) Predator 2 ( Call being reviewed ) - Cottontail, Howls, Coyote Pup, Fawn, Jackrabbit.
3) Deer - Buck Grunt, Doe Bleat, Estrus Bleat, Rattling, Snort Wheeze.
4) Turkey - Cluck & Purr, Cutting, Excited Hen Yelp, Locator Gobble, Soft Hen Yelp.
5) Crow - Come Here, Crow Attack, Discovery, Distress, Owl Attack.

I purchased and used the Predator 2 model.  It is affordable at a price point around $40 and comes pre-loaded with sounds, meaning there is nothing more to do except take it into the field and see if you can call in any critters.  We were hunting a small lot of woods and while the sound was quite loud, if you are looking for a very long distance call I would recommend picking up a set of external speakers. One of the Cass Creek Bighorn remote speakers would work perfectly with this unit and can be found for about $50 at  CassCreek.  The included remote was also a nice addition as it allows you to change sounds easily.

Pros:
- Light weight
- Pre-loaded sounds (no need to download or purchase others)
- Remote that works up to 50 yards away
- Reasonably priced
- Quality sound from such a small unit
- External speaker jack to hook up your own speakers
- Speaker pivots 180 degrees

Cons:
- There are only 5 sounds and no way to add additional sounds (though for the price this is still not a bad value)
- Volume not remotely adjustable

So if you are looking for an affordable caller for a specific species of animal, I would suggest looking into one of these units.  You can read more about the unit at Johnny Steward Attractor Calls.  You could even purchase multiple units and use them with the same external speaker and you would still have spent less than purchasing one of the bulky programmable electronic callers.

As for one result from our first time using this unit, during our first hour of the hunt we had a coyote answer back and were able keep him interested for about 15 minutes with this caller.  While we never were able to get a shot, I plan to use this call again in the near future; hopefully this time with a dead predator or two by the end of the day.

If anyone has had any experience with the other versions of the call or if you'd like to share your experiences with this Johnny Steward call with others, please leave us feedback with your comments.

-Paul Nicolucci