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KTOT-FM 89.5 serving the northeast TX Panhandle is off the air due to the failure of both air conditioning units needed to cool it's high-power transmitter. We are currently working on repairs and evaluating whether the units need to be replaced. We apologize for this this loss of service. In the meantime, you can always listen on-line through the player above or on HPPR's mobile app to either HPPR Mix, KTOT's regular programming, or HPPR Connect featuring all news and information programming.

Winter varmint calling

This week around the campfire, Larry Weishuhn and I were talking about winter varmint hunting.  Winter is a perfect time to get out and do some calling.  With varmints here on the High Plains, this is a true challenge.  You don't have to be a pro, even extreme novices can be successful using an electronic caller.  Now my friend Larry, you can't believe the sounds he can make with his mouth.  It is unbelievable.  He can sound like white tail deer, rabbits, but me, I have to use a call. 

Experienced hunters know there is a definite difference in calling in a bobcat versus calling a coyote.  Coyotes will run right in to the call.  Cats, on the other hand, are cautious- they will sit back and take the situation in before they come on in.  Cats also respond to subtle sounds, like a mouse squeaker.  You wouldn't think they could hear it, but they sure can. 

Awhile back, I was hunting with a guy from North Dakota.  He would get up on a hillside before daylight, and sound the assembly call.  I was running the camera, and I tell you what- he was a pro.  He called in a coyote from half a mile away.  It was an exciting thing to see.  Larry did the same thing in Eastern Colorado.  He was out on a photo shoot working to call them in, and the response gave him some great shots. 

There are a serious number of coyotes across the high plains, and if we can get out there, we may be able to boost the number of deer and antelope.  This time of year I don't think there is anything more thrilling than testing your skill calling in a varmint.   

Outdoors writer, radio host and book author Luke Clayton has been addicted to everything outdoors related since his childhood when he grew up hunting and fishing in rural northeast Texas. Luke pens a weekly newspaper column that appears in over thirty newspapers.