http://www.night-vision-wildlife.com/ Night Vision Scopes, Goggles, Binoculars and Monoculars by ATN en-us Copyright (c) 2002 - 2008 night-vision-wildlife.com general@night-vision-wildlife.com webmaster@night-vision-wildlife.com Fri, 29 Aug 2008 02:26:20 GMT Night Vision news http://www.night-vision-wildlife.com/night-vision-news/8 When you are hiking along in the twilight you will probably notice various birds going to bed; indeed, often you cannot help but notice them, so noisy and fussy as they are! Have you ever heard a rookery settling down for the night in the high tree-tops? What a cawing! A lot of it sounds rather like swearing, I fear! Most birds go to sleep, or to roost, in trees, or at any rate somewhere above the ground. It is a deep-rooted instinct to seek safety during the night hours from prowling animals to whom a bird is just a tasty supper. Even the domestic fowl that lays your breakfast eggs, and has lived in captivity and almost completely protected from the wild for countless generations, needs a perch to roost on, and if there is no bar indoors it will hop up into a tree if it can, or on to the roof of the dog-kennel, or somewhere above the ground. The pet canary will not sleep on the floor of its cage; it perches on the swing bar for its nights rest. Seeking Safety Pheasants go to roost in trees, and the cock birds crow as they go to roost, as if to call everyone else to bed. So do big fat turkeys and heavy guinea-fowl; and even the proud peacock is not too proud to take refuge as high above the ground as he can get at night. Sparrows and swallows and most of the woodland birds, too, pass the night in the trees, sleeping on their safe perches and sheltered by the leaves. Perhaps you may wonder how it is that a bird can perch on a thin twig, or a telegraph wire, and go fast asleep for hours, and yet never fall off. Well, the fact of the matter is that once the bird has settled, it is more difficult for it to rise and fly away than it is for it to fall off. For directly the bird has perched and taken a grip, certain muscles come into use which lock its claws, and so even in the deepest sleep the claws cannot relax. Tendons that pass from the thigh part of the birds leg to its knee and its toes, or claws, lock the leg with the knees bent, and so it can stay on its perch without effort, without growing stiff. When dawn comes and the bird wakes up, it has to unbend its knees by a conscious muscular effort before it can take flight, or fall off the twig. Swim and Sleep Not all birds are perchers, though. Naturally, the web-footed ones cannot perch on a twig. Ducks and geese usually sleep on their natural element, the water, and ride at anchor, like ships in harbor, as far away from the land as possible, safe from their enemy, Brer Fox. If the water is a moving stream, they automatically and unconsciously paddle with their feet to keep themselves afloat and in the same spot, and to save themselves from being carried near the shore. This is a sort of self-protective instinct that they possess. Strange and wonderful, isnt it? There may be a chance for you to do a good turn in the winter time. Sometimes ducks go to sleep in the middle of the pond, and the pond freezes over, and then Brer Fox may come on the scene and try to reach the birds. So break the ice near the edge, if you are there in time, and save the ducks. Partridges are birds that do not perch in trees at night. They know that the safest place for them is the middle of the biggest open space they can find, and there they sleep on the ground. In some hollow, providing a wind-break, in the center of an open field, meadow or ploughland, twenty or more of the birds will roost together on the ground, lying close, wing to wing, for warmth and safety. They all sleep with one ear, at least, wide open, and at the first hint of alarm they set up a terrific noise, and are prepared to take flight if needs be. There, they are as far as possible from any trees, hedges or other cover for a stalking enemy, and you will find it quite impossible to approach them unobserved. Try it! Cuddlers and Crooners Many of the smaller birds cuddle together at night in the eaves of houses, or in a hole in a thatched roof, or inside a deserted barn. Wrens snuggle down very cozily, even when fully grown. In the twilight you will often see parent birds of such species as swifts and swallows and martins chasing the youngsters to bed. They fly around after them with loud cries, and pursue them into their nests under the eaves. By the way, if you like amp;quot; crooning amp;quot; listen for the young martins at night ; they seem to croon all the night through as they sleep in their nest. On the other hand, there are the night-birds, such as the owls, who sleep by day and sally forth, when dark comes, to eat. You sometimes come across a sleepy-looking owl in the daytime, drowsy in a hollow tree or the roof of a barn, in a loft or a dovecote, or the church belfry. Mother owl sits by her eggs, and every now and then she counts them with her claw, as if to reassure herself that no one has stolen a precious egg. She makes the most extraordinary hissing and snoring noises, too ; and if you go too near she will lift a big claw and threaten to scratch and fight in defense of her family. Usually the owl wakes up about an hour before sunset, which is the time when the field mice come out to play. The owl then sets out in quest of prey, and you can watch him hunting for mice along the hedges and over the cornfields. When a mouse is caught, it is held in the claws and carried off to the owls nest, there to be consumed in comfort. By the way, the white owl, or barn owl, the kind of owl that inhabits barns and lofts and churches, does not hoot, or very rarely, though it sometimes screams while flying; but it does snore and hiss, as mentioned above. Owls and Howls The weird hooting that most scouts can imitate so well is made by the tawny owl, or wood owl, which usually nests in a tree and frequents woods, avoiding buildings. That is the owl that gives the amp;quot;tu-whit, whit, hoo-ooo-ooo amp;quot; cry, so softly and weirdly. The long-eared owl, which also haunts woods, especially fir-woods, gives a long wavering cry which is somewhat similar, but not so prolonged ; it also utters a sort of bark. The short-eared owl also barks, and utters a short harsh scream ; the little owl makes a kind of soft mewing noise, and it snores too. Queer [strange] birds, owls! The Nightingale This book is not intended to be anything like a complete guide to the night-active creatures of England, but mention must certainly be made of the nightingale. This bird whose song is so highly esteemed is a shy summer visitor to England, about six and a half inches long fully-grown, and of quiet plain brown color, paler underneath. It haunts woods and thickets, and builds a nest of dead leaves and grass on or near the ground at the base of a bush. You may perhaps see it in daytime, though it is difficult to see. It sings in daytime, too, but its song is more noticeable in the quiet of the night, especially because it sings loudly compared with many birds. It is indeed a lovely song, as those of you who have heard it, either directly or over the wireless [radio, television, Internet], know. Have you ever seen a nightjar? Probably not, though you may have heard them often enough when in camp, especially on the moors and downlands. It is much more often heard than seen, because it lies hidden and probably asleep all day, and its plumage tones very well with the heath or turf or stone land on which it lies concealed in the daytime. At dusk or after it comes alive, perches on a tree or a post or a fence, and sings, if you can call it a song ; it is rather like a sewing machine working busily, and sometimes this purring note is sustained without a break for two minutes. You may recognize it, if you chance to see it, by its gray plumage, barred with brown, buff and black ; the tips of the outer tail feathers of the male bird are white. Its amp;quot;song amp;quot; is terribly monotonous, as is that of another night songster, the corncrake, which utters a harsh croaking noise at night. Bats are Not Blind Another creature that you commonly see in the evening, and often quite late at night, is the bat. Although it flies, it is not a bird, but a mammal, a hand-winged animal. It has four legs, and the leathery skin covering them enables it to fly. Although its Wing-span may be twelve inches or more, its body is only about three inches long. There are about a hundred different species of bat in this country, and many of them are useful because they eat beetles and other harmful insects. The commonest bat in England is called the pipistrelle, and it often flies in daytime. The night flying bats sleep by day, hanging by their claws head-downward in the roofs of barns and belfries ; and that is how they pass three or four months in the winter, sleeping all the time with their wings folded round their heads. By the way, people talk of amp;quot;being blind as a bat amp;quot; but bats are not blind. They have eyes, and very sharp ones too, for spotting insects at dusk. Source: www.inquiry.net/outdoor/night/nature.htm http://www.night-vision-wildlife.com/night-vision-news/8 general@night-vision-wildlife.com Night Vision news 2005-07-20 http://www.night-vision-wildlife.com/night-vision-news/9 Can you see in the dark, like a cat? As a matter of fact, it is doubtful if a cat can see any more clearly in the dark than any other animal, though it is quite likely that it can, because its eyes have such large pupils. These collect every faintest ray of light reflected by objects round about, and so enable it to see objects that reflect so little light that many other creatures cannot see them at all. I Anyway, whatever cats and owls and bats, and other nocturnal (or night-active) creatures can do, we humans are not naturally very clever at seeing in the dark ; but we can improve ourselves in this respect by training and practice. First of all you should make yourself really expert at Kims Game, which is fine training in observation and the use of the eyes. Practice Kims Game until you are a hundred percent accurate every time, using the variations of the ordinary game that you can think of, and you will find the benefit when you need, to use your eyes at night. You will be better able to concentrate on looking, for one thing. When you go hiking in the dark, with a pal or two, in open moorland or across country, or through the woods, you find that loss of sight brings with it loss of the sense of direction, and uncertainty about the line you are taking. In the daytime, if you are blindfolded and told to walk forward across a big field, you will not be able to keep going in a straight line ; you will walk in a circle--or rather, a sort of spiral course. This is why people often get lost in a mist or fog, or in a jungle ; if you cannot see, you almost always fail to walk in a straight line. Be Prepared! The remedy for you on your night hike is to take particular precautions when you start. A compass, a map, and an electric torch [flashlight] with which to read them, will be useful guides, and it is up to you to learn how to use them. Or if it is a clear night, the stars will be your guides. We have already learned how to find the Pole Star, and how to steer a course by it, so a knowledge of the stars will be useful. But if the stars are hidden from you by clouds or rain your difficulties will be considerably greater. You may be able to discern a slightly stronger light in the west, during the earlier hours of night, due to the sunsets afterglow; or in the east towards dawn. Such light will give you a rough idea of direction. The wind, if any, may help, provided it blows all night from the same direction, and provided you noted that direction when you started out. But a change of wind, which often occurs just before dawn, may not be discerned by you, and of course it will throw you out altogether as regards your direction. Really the only thing to do is to try to note landmarks as you go, and memorize them. Look to the skyline on each side, ahead and behind, note objects that stand up against it, such as church spires, prominent trees, factory chimneys, or hills, and try to fix each in your memory. Look back at the landmarks, too, in case you have to retrace your steps; each one looks quite different when viewed from its other side. But, of course, when you know that you are going into such strange country on a dark night it is best to Be Prepared, by equipping yourself with compass, map and flashlight. Creeping Up A good stalking game will help you to get used to seeing in the dark, and also to moving quietly at night. Let one fellow stand in the center of a field, on a hillock, or where there is a natural skyline if possible. Send the rest off a hundred yards away, in any direction they like, away from the solitary spotter on the hillock. The umpire blows his whistle for the game to start, and squats down at the spotters feet, out of his way. The stalkers then start creeping as near the spotter as they can. When he sees what he thinks is a stalker, he points in that direction, and the umpire walks out in a straight line to the spot indicated. If a stalker is there, he must come in and squat down; or he may forfeit a amp;quot;life amp;quot; and go back and start again, which is the best way to get plenty of practice. If no one is at the spot indicated to the umpire by the spotter, the spotter loses a point. The umpire should count his paces each time, and points can afterwards be given to the stalkers who crept up nearest to the spotter before being spotted. As an addition to the game, when most of the stalkers have been spotted and hauled out of the game, or have lost three amp;quot; lives amp;quot; and cannot start stalking again, the umpire may order the spotter to shut his eyes while all the surviving stalkers move forward two yards. Then they lie low, and the spotter tries again to spot them. Shades and Shadows You will all, stalkers and spotter, find that the power to distinguish objects increases with practice, though after a long spell of the game the eyes begin to play you tricks and you think you can see objects where there are none. You will find that black things show up more than lighter things, if the night is not absolutely pitch black, or if the background is grass or light-colored trees or walls or hedges. A boy with black hair, wearing a khaki shirt and shorts, will look like a small black balloon floating through the air, especially if he covers his face and knees with grass. A dark blue shirt or jersey is visible against grass at as much as thirty-five yards, and a boys head uncovered at twenty to twenty-five yards. You should be able to see a moving figure at a distance of about twenty-five yards, though I have known stalkers get as near as twelve yards from the spotter on a pretty dark night, and with a light grass background without much cover. By way of judging distance, the red end of a lighted cigarette can. be seen 560 or 600 yards away, according to the degree of darkness of the night. It is easy to mistake a bush for a crouching Scout, and a Scout for a bush. If you are uncertain whether, a group of somewhat indistinct distant objects are Scouts or bushes, watch carefully to see whether they move, and count them ; also, fix their position relative to some recognizable stationary object, such as a prominent tree, or a break in the skyline, or the edge of a wood. If there is no movement for some time, and if the number of visible objects remains constant, and if their position in relation to the fixed object is unaltered, most probably the group of objects is a clump of bushes, or something that is not alive. The objects may, of course, be sheep or cows ; you will have to judge of this by your hearing, your knowledge of whether the field is pasture or not, and whether there were sheep or beasts in it in daytime, and perhaps your sense of smell if you are to windward of them. Lights Show Up Lights can be seen a long way at night. A cigarette end has been mentioned. Another thing that can be seen a long way off is the dial of a luminous, wrist watch. Many a soldier was shot in trench raids or scouting expeditions in No Mans Land during the Great War, because he forgot to remove his wrist watch, or cover the dial, or turn the watch round to the inner side of his arm. The flash of a torch [flashlight] can be seen afar off, too, if the watcher has quick eyes. If you must use a torch to study your compass, map or watch, or to look for something you have dropped, hold the light low and shine it downwards. Cover as much of the bulb as you can with your fingers and use only a thin pencil of light for the job. If you are with your Patrol, get the other fellows to stand round you in a close ring to shield the light. When you are night hiking, or going on your First Class Journey, you may need to light a fire to cook your supper. It adds to the fun, both of hiking and of the journey, if an amp;quot; enemy amp;quot; Patrol, or pair of Scouts comes out to stalk you; and the thing they will look out for, and will most easily spot you by, is your fire. A good Scout does not make a huge roaring fire to boil a can of water on, or even to sit by to keep warm. He chooses wood that gives a good heat but little smoke, makes a small fire, and cooks on the red embers, adding only small sticks to keep it going. What gives away the position of a fire is the reflection of it from leaves of trees overhead. So if you are camping in a clearing in a wood, try to keep your fire right away from overhanging branches-even high ones-if you wish not to be observed. If you are watching for an enemy at night, you have to trust much more to your ears than to your eyes. That sentence in Scouting for Boys has already been quoted in this book, but the Chiefs words need to be kept in mind, and the hints he gives are always well worth taking. He also gives us a game to play, called amp;quot; Night Patrolling, amp;quot; which is good practice for ears and eyes, too. Night Patrolling In a clearing in your wood-or near the end of your field-post some sentries in a line, each equipped with a whistle. The rest of the Patrol or Troop go out a given distance from the line of sentries, and when the umpire blows his whistle for the game to begin, they start to stalk the sentries, trying to get as near as possible to them unseen and unheard. If a sentry hears or sees a stalker, he blows his whistle and points, and the umpire goes in the direction indicated until he finds a stalker, or until he reaches the spot pointed at by the sentry and finds no one there. When a sentrys whistle is heard, every stalker must stay until the umpire has done his stuff and returned behind the sentry line. If the sentry was right, he scores a point ; if wrong, he loses one. If a stalker can creep up to within fifteen yards of a sentry without being detected, he puts his scarf or some such article on the ground and creeps away again, to make an attack on one of the other sentries. He counts five points for each sentry he thus amp;quot;kills, amp;quot; proving his claim to a kill at the end of the game by taking the umpire to the place where he deposited his amp;quot; bomb amp;quot; on the ground. If this is more than fifteen yards from the sentry line, however, the stalker does not get his points. This game may be played in daylight, the sentries being blindfolded, but this does not give either the practice or the thrill that the game provides when played at night. Still, daylight practice is always helpful, and good fun ; and it helps to get the younger or more timid boys used to Night Scouting. Here is another popular night game: Hares and Hounds Everybody first pairs off with a pal ; though preferably an older fellow should pair with a youngster-PL with Tenderfoot Tim, and so forth. Then choose one pair to be amp;quot; hares, amp;quot; the rest being hounds. Arm the amp;quot; hares amp;quot; with a watch, a whistle, and an electric flashlight, and give them one minute to get clear of the camp or base. After one minute, they must blow the whistle and flash the lamp, and must go on doing this every half-minute till caught, or until the end of the game. The pairs of amp;quot; hounds amp;quot; set off in pursuit, going quietly and listening for the whistle, and also keeping their eyes open for the quick flash of the lamp (which, by the way, must be shone upwards, not down on to the ground). amp;quot; Hounds amp;quot; must try to spot and stalk the amp;quot; hares amp;quot; until the moment comes for a rush to capture them. They are caught if a pair of amp;quot;hounds amp;quot; (not a lone hound parted from his partner) gets within five yards of them. On being caught, the amp;quot; hare amp;quot; with the whistle blows one long blast, whereupon all hounds stand still. The captured amp;quot; hares amp;quot; then hand over the watch, whistle and lamp to their captors (who become amp;quot; hares amp;quot; in their stead, and clear off, starting to blow the whistle and flash the lamp a minute after they start, and continuing to do so every half minute). No amp;quot; hounds amp;quot; may move until the first blast of the whistle by the new pair of amp;quot; hares amp;quot; is heard, or until two minutes after the long blast blown by the captured amp;quot; hares. amp;quot; (This is in case the first blast by the new pair is not heard all over the field.) The umpire blows a rally on his whistle after fifteen or twenty minutes, and everyone can then come in and compare notes. It is essential that pairs remain united all the time. It is against the rules for one amp;quot; hare amp;quot; to be caught separately while his pal remains at large ; if that is allowed, the result is chaos. This explanation is rather long, but the game is really quite simple, and fast. Another good eye-training game is played with three good-sized lamps, either those large square electric ones with a handle on the top, or the old-fashioned but very useful hurricane type. Snatching the Lamps Place the lamps in a straight line, and post a sentry five yards behind each lamp. The rest go off to an agreed distance, and on the umpires whistle signal for the game to begin, they start to creep up towards the lamps. Their object is to crawl up and grab a lamp, and get fifteen yards away with it, without being named out loud by the sentry behind that lamp. No stalker may go behind the line of lamps, but he may go anywhere he likes in front of that line, naturally avoiding the direct beams of the lamps as much as he can. There should be at least five yards between the lamps. The stalkers must not mask or cover their faces, though they may bend their heads down, turn up their overcoat collars, or walk backwards towards the lamps. The umpire returns each captured lamp to its place immediately. You will find that this game is not as easy for the sentries as you might think. Spotting Your Foes Going back to the subject of spotting enemies at night, here are a few hints which you will find useful. First, when looking out for an amp;quot; enemy, amp;quot; try to face away from the moon. It is much easier to see anyone if you have the moon behind you. Secondly, always remember the skyline. Anything may form a skyline : the brow of a hill, a wall, the line of tree-tops of a wood. Human or animal figures always show up against a skyline, unless the night is really dark; even then the moonlight or the stars make a skyline against which a figure may be discerned. If it is absolutely necessary that you cross a skyline, lie down and crawl over very slowly. If you are watching a skyline in the hope or expectation of seeing an amp;quot; enemy amp;quot; cross it, select a place to watch where movements are most likely to show-against a distant light or row of lights (such as a railway station shows), or against a light patch in the sky, towards the moon, or the sky-glow of a town. In strange country you may see the skyline of a dark mass of something or other, and want to know what it is. The skyline of a hill is generally smooth and regular; that of a wood is jagged, and also the shadows vary in intensity. Hollows or bushes on a hillside will be darker than the rest of the surface of the hill. A level, straight skyline will be a railway embankment, probably with signal lights somewhere along it; or a canal embankment, with no signal lights. Tell-tale Glimpses Use your eyes to spot tell-tale things like railway signals, motor headlights on a road, a lighthouse on the coast, moonlight reflected from ripples in water caused by a silently passing boat, the blur of an amp;quot;enemy amp;quot; slipping over a skyline, the flash of moonlight reflected from a field-glass, the luminous dial of a wrist-watch, or the unnatural bulge of an enemy hiding up a tree, seen against the stars. Use your ears for the sound of trains shunting in goods yards or thundering over a bridge, motor-cars slowing down to turn at a cross-roads, the clink of a boot heel on a loose stone, the alarm call of birds disturbed by a passer-by, the lowing of beasts in a farm building, the bleeting of sheep in a field, frightened by an intruder, or the barking of a dog when a stranger approaches. In conclusion, here are a few more tips about using your ears when Scouting at night. Remember that sound travels upwards best, so that you will hear better at the top of a hill than at the bottom; or near the top of a wall than the bottom, if you are listening to what is going on on the other side of it. Sound also travels well along water; if you lie on the bank of a stream or river with your ear as close as possible to the surface, you will be able to hear noises made quite a long way up-stream, the sounds being carried down to you by the flow of the water. You can hear a human voice talking ordinarily, or the hoof-beats of a horse, about 150 yards away, on a fair night ; a group of people talking, or walking along a hard road, about 600 yards away. Sound travels at the rate of about 380 yards a second or about 250 yards for every beat of your pulse if normal. You can check distances by sound if you can see anything that becomes visible at the same moment as the sound is made, such as (on a moonlight night) the puff of steam from a locomotives whistle and the sound of the whistle, or the flash of a rocket bursting in the air and the sound of the bang. Source: http://www.inquiry.net/outdoor/night/eyes.htm http://www.night-vision-wildlife.com/night-vision-news/9 general@night-vision-wildlife.com Night Vision news 2005-07-20 http://www.night-vision-wildlife.com/night-vision-news/3 We were both huffing and puffing when we finally got to a rise in the darkness that seemed like a good vantage point. It was hard to tell, judging only by feel. It was two in the morning, we had been poked by mesquite thorns and stumbled along in the night for better than a half hour. We could finally relieve our aching arms from the load. The load of a heavy car battery carried in an old metal milk crate that drained our arms strength while the other arm was busy carrying an old twelve-volt spotlight and a twenty-two rifle. We had been pretty lucky at calling coyotes in the daylight hours, but knew the night hunt would produce a truckload. After all, there was a ten-dollar bounty and at the ripe old age of thirteen, we knew after one night, we would be pretty much set for life. After a few minutes of catching our breath, all the while attempting to hook up our makeshift spotlight, I mustered enough breath to let out a squall on the Burnham brothers long-range predator call. I had saved my money and ordered the predator combo, which consisted of a long-range call and a cottontail squeaker. They had been responsible for the death of many a wary coyote. The silence of the darkness was broken by a blood-curdling cry of a Jackrabbit having his toenails pulled out. After many years of rabbit hunting in West Texas, I had a good idea on how to imitate the most excruciating cry of a big ol Jack. As the resilience of the first squall was fading, we sat there in total darkness. Feeling some apprehension and a lot of excitement, I continued to send out the sounds of an easy meal to any unsuspecting critter within earshot. My buddy and I looked at each other through eyes the size of silver dollars when we heard a growl that sounded close enough to be one of our stomachs. As he scrambled to find the switch on the light, the hair on the back of our necks stood up like porcupine quills. The light switched on, and there in front of us, not twenty feet away, was a huge set of eyes staring at us like we were dinner. Before I could get the gun up, out of self-defense, he panned the light three hundred and sixty degrees, to see what appeared to be a string of Christmas tree lights that had us surrounded! Good news was that I was brandishing an old Marlin automatic twenty-two with lots of bullets. Id like to tell you I shot with pinpoint accuracy and stacked up coyotes like cord wood, but the truth is, I found myself pulling the trigger on an empty chamber after thirteen shots left the barrel in all directions into the night. I had seen John Wayne take on an insurmountable number of Indians that Saturday morning, but there is no way he was as scared as these two kids running for their life, still packing the now weightless milk carton and battery, yelling and crashing through mesquite at a rate that would have made Jessie Owens proud. Somehow we cleared the fence with all of our gear and were now safely out of the brush. We heard loud thumping that turned out to be our hearts attempting to jump out of our chests. We stood there, scratched and bleeding as our fear turned to laughter. I was hooked! That was no doubt the most exhilarating feeling I had ever had, and I knew I would do that again, hopefully with different results. This started a life-long quest of the night and the animals that hunt the night. Luckily, Ive learned a thing or two since. I was quite successful in the early years on the ground getting coyotes, fox, and an occasional Bobcat close enough to take with my twenty-two. As time went on, and I got a pick-up, things started to get better for me and not so good for the varmint population. The twenty-two graduated to a magnum, then a hornet, and eventually a two twenty three bull barrel that has led to the demise of literally thousands of unsuspecting predators. Drivers license put a new spin on night hunting. While all my buddies were out partying, chasing girls or whatever, I was out dealing misery to the local varmint population. I hunted from the back of the truck, then the top of the truck shining a white light and blowing on a call for hours. As I grew up, my passion for the sport was fueled by fur prices going through the roof, allowing me to now actually justify this madness to my Father. Ill share with you folks, for what its worth, some of the tricks of the trade of this wild and exciting game. Ive made enough mistakes over the last thirty-four years to learn a bit about what it takes to successfully put a few critters in the back of the truck. First of all, the light is the key to having a successful night hunt. A sub-standard light will make a sometimes-challenging process become extremely difficult. Predators eyes are unique in that they collect and reflect light through a series of cones, bars and stuff that I really dont understand. This characteristic make the little buggers eyes shine like reflectors when hit with a light at night. Now, shining a white (clear) light seems pretty easy, and, granted, it does make things easy to see, but varmints dont seem to be compelled to amp;quot;walk toward the light amp;quot;, like the poltergeist girl. A clear light will usually spook a coyote long before you can get a shot. The remedy for this problem is a red lens. The red lens, or filter, makes the harsh bright light a soft, red, less intimidating glow, which will illuminate the eyes even better. The red lens allows the caller to detect an in-coming predator at distances of over five hundred yards. The trick is, to keep the light high and just above the predator, while he approaches. This is especially important with coyotes. For some reason, foxes and cats dont seem to mind the light as much. Some areas where coyotes have seen a lot of night hunting, they can become amp;quot;light shy amp;quot;. It may be necessary to have a dimmer control to turn the light down a bit, making the glare not quite so intense. This makes the eyes a bit more difficult to see, but it may allow shy dogs to come close enough for a shot. Some people like to hit them with a clear light when ready for a shot, but Ive found it much better not to change anything at that crucial moment. You should learn to call in and shoot with the red light. Brand names dont much matter, but anything from a two hundred thousand-candle power to a million candlepower works really well for us. Ill talk more about the use of the light later. Whatever mouth calls you are accustom to using in the daytime in your area should work fine at night. A howler can be used in some cases, but a distress call has always seemed to be the best bet. Electronics can be used, as long as you keep the caller at or close to your vehicle. The predator needs to be looking in your direction in order to reflect the light, enabling you to see him. A remote caller, away from the light will have him looking in the direction of the sound, and you may not be able to see him. Its also a good idea to have a squeaker handy, or be able to smooch, or lip squeak. Some varmints will come in and hold up a little. The squeaking will usually bring them right on in. The evolution of the light and the calling equipment is really a major advancement to the sport of night calling. I think the greatest adaptation is the use and perfection of what we call amp;quot;The Chair amp;quot;. After years of having to hold the light still, while getting the crosshairs on em, and squeakin a little, I decided there had to be a better way. I got out in my shop and started fooling around with some ideas on how to make a calling, spotlighting, shooting, hunting, and riding stand up in the back of a pick-up. I needed one that was able to hold the light for me, give me a good stable rest from which to shoot, a steady and safe place to ride as well as a good viewpoint as I called. What I have come up with is a multi-function chair with more amenities than your lazy boy. I used a nice office chair and on the bottom of it, built a metal plate to accommodate a shaft that would go into a cylinder for three hundred and sixty degree maneuverability. Next, it had to be stable enough to hold a big fellow through the sometimes-rough terrain of the rocks, hills, and wash outs around the local area. I secured it to my truck by attaching it to the angle iron rails down the back of the truck. After a couple of braces and a little welding, the chair took the form of something just short of amp;quot;Road Warrior amp;quot;. Shooting a heavy varmint barrel rifle, I wanted to be able to support the weight of the gun, as well as having a place to put the gun when the terrain gets a little hairy, or I just flat get lazy. I came up from the bottom of the chair with a bar and crossed the top of it with another bar for a shooting rest, onto which I built a gun rack. I needed it to securely hold a spotlight in the direction in which I was looking and shooting, so I mounted a light on the front of the bar that supports my gun. As I had learned from many hard charging foxes, and a few coyotes, you sometimes need a shotgun. So, I built a small rack behind the chair for a shotgun. My feet rest on a circular support to allow me to turn the chair with my feet, so I can keep my arms free. I stuck a walkie-talkie up there to be able to communicate with the driver and added a higher armrest on the right for stabilizing the rifle. The whole set up got me off the ground about twelve feet. This makes for a very good vantage point to see over the tops of mesquites and brush. With all this great equipment available, it should be simple, right? Well, you still need to know a few things about night hunting that are real contrast from day hunting. Finding an area with a good field of view is a good idea. After all, if you can easily look in all directions, by simply turning the chair, why not try to find a place where you can take advantage of that? We usually hunt to the first stand. This meaning we roll along (slowly) and try to spot eyes that are simply at the wrong place at the wrong time. When this happens, I hit the button on the radio, alerting my partner to stop. I then squeak until the critter comes in. We have taken many Bobcats like this. Once we reach the area we want to call, I always take a look around just in case one is looking at me close enough to see. A loud call right off the bat will sometimes scare off a close-by critter. If I see nothing, we begin to call. Just like with day calling, start easy and low volume, then graduate slowly to a full-blown calling session. As you call, turn slowly and pan the red light high, right above the tops of the brush. When you see a set of eyes, KEEP THE LIGHT ON THE ANIMAL, but do not directly shine the center of the light on the animal. Point the center just over the top of the eyes. We call this having them in a amp;quot;halo amp;quot;. You will be able to see the eyes just fine, as they are very reflective. It is of the utmost importance that you properly identify your incoming visitor as a predator. Just because you are blowing or playing a call that attracts predators, that doesnt mean that only predators could come in. Ive had many deer, dogs, house cats, pigs, and even a few calves come to the call. Trust me, you dont need that kind of aggravation. Once you have positively determined your guest, remember to leave the amp;quot;halo amp;quot; on him. The same thing that makes him a night hunter, gives him the ability to see your vehicle unless the light is on him. The brighter the night, the more important this is. If he gets close and you move the light he will most likely see whats up and be gone. The downside of night calling is that if they turn away and bug out, you usually dont get a shot like you sometimes do in the day. Once the critter is in your range or close enough that you want to take him, squeak, smooch, bark or do whatever necessary to stop him for the shot. Ive actually had fox get under the truck while focusing on another one, or just because he wasnt stopping. Thus, the shotgun mounted right behind me. Getting used to this whole night thing is fun and a bit challenging, but the rewards can be many. Weve had nights when we took over twenty coyotes, and one when we bagged six Bobcats, four Fox, three Coyotes and three Raccoons. Most nights we take several different animals. Thats part of the fun; you never know what might come in. The action is sometimes intense, with multiple responses, hard charging Coyotes, or maybe a big ol cat sneaking in on you for a kill. If you havent tried night calling, give it a try, you may be pleasantly surprised. Good Hunting. Randy Watson http://www.night-vision-wildlife.com/night-vision-news/3 general@night-vision-wildlife.com Night Vision news 2005-04-19 http://www.night-vision-wildlife.com/night-vision-news/1 It was a dark night. Above in the moonless sky, millions of stars shown down on the dry cactus and Mesquite of west Texas with a brilliance I had forgotten from boyhood. The only sound was the cold amp;nbsp; north wind moaning across the plains. On a distant highway I could see the glow of a cars headlights as it sped through the night. My cold fingers felt the comforting grip of my Remington 700. The laminated stock was warm while the blued steel of the .223 bull-barreled varmint rifle intensified the cold slowly creeping through my hand. My trigger finger twitched slightly as it rested alongside the trigger guard. Through the Simmons 6.5 - 20 amp;nbsp; scope I could see only blackness. Suddenly, a tortured scream ripped the night air. The sound of an animal in agony broke forth from just behind me, sending a different kind of chill down my spine. Again, Doug blew on the Burnham Brothers quot;Mini-Blaster quot; predator call, sending a high-pitched, pleading scream echoing into the night. He paused long enough to sweep the area with a red-lensed spotlight. About 200 yards away, two sets of greenish eyes reflected in the light. Two deer, a doe and another that might have been a small buck, grazed in the dry grass, oblivious to this nerve-wracking sound. amp;nbsp; Doug continued to call into the night, sweeping the light in a circle around us. We were standing in the back of his Chevy pick-up. A steel-tube frame wrapped in foam pipe insulation provided a rest at chest height for the heavy rifle. Suddenly, the light stopped in mid-sweep and locked on a set of close-set, orange eyes as they burned out of amp;nbsp; the night. Doug touched my shoulder to make sure I had spotted them. I nodded and changed position slightly to get behind the optics. Through the scope I could see disembodied eyes staring back at me through the Mesquite. The eyes began to move slowly to the right, gradually coming nearer. The brush and Mesquite blocked a clear view and any chance of a shot at the animal. Doug kept up the calls and tracked the animal in the halo of the light, careful not to shine it directly into its eyes. The animal had now gotten downwind of us and it seemed unlikely we would be able to bring it out into the open for a shot. Fortunately, this varmint must have been hungry. His stomach getting the better of his instincts, he made up his mind and came almost directly toward us and out of the cover of the brush. He stopped, broadside, about 60 yards away, highlighted by the red light now pointed squarely at him. quot;Take him! quot; whispered Doug. I placed the cross-hairs of the scope on his shoulder and touched the trigger. The Remington spoke in a much louder voice than had Doug. Just as I lost sight-picture I saw a blur of gray as the foxes senses finally convinced him that something was wrong and he bolted. The Starke 55 grain, hollow-point bullet met only empty night air as it impacted just beyond where the fox had stood. quot;Doc quot; the third member of our party was sitting in the warmth of the truck and Doug reassured me that Doc was quite familiar with the feeling of having missed at such short range. This of course started a round of friendly banter common between good friends and hunting rivals. amp;nbsp;RULES OF ENGAGEMENT First of all, let me assure you, spotlighting on private land (with the owners permission) in Texas is legal. This does not include county roads and highways. Nor does it include game animals such as Deer. Non-game animals such as Rabbits, Fox, Coyote, etc. are legal. For specific details, consult the Texas hunting and fishing guide available at any sporting goods outlet. You must have a Texas hunting license even for non-game animals. amp;nbsp; Now that we have that out of the way... Hunting predators at night is one of the most exciting and challenging types of hunting. Seeing a set of glowing eyes approaching out of the dark and not knowing for sure what they belong to is, to put it mildly, a bit unnerving and exciting at the same time. This was my first attempt at spotlighting combined with calling. I had spotlighted Cottontails and Jack rabbits before but never had I gone out with the intention of calling a predator in on my position. I appreciated the fact we were up several feet off the ground. The idea of amp;nbsp; Mr. Bobcat hopping into the truck for a visit was disturbing to say the least, much less having one crawl into your lap while sitting on the ground. There were plenty of other critters out and about that night. Deer, Possum, Skunk, etc. We saw more bunnies than you could quot;shake a stick at quot;. But, we were out for Fox and, as Doug said, it was a good night to be a rabbit. EQUIPMENT Aside from a gun, the primary tool of a night varmint hunter is the spotlight, some of which can put out as much as 1,000,000 candle-power of glaring, white light. That is a lot of light, 200,000 candle-power is plenty. The idea is not to turn night into day. All you need to do is highlight the animals eyes. A white light is fine for spotting bunnies but for predators, a red lens is preferable. Snap-on lenses are available at most sporting goods stores. Most lenses leave gaps on the edge that spill white light out the sides. The spillage of white light is a bad thing as it fouls up your night vision and lights you up as well. However, it is necessary so the spotlight doesnt overheat and melt the lens. To remedy this you can put a cowling on the light so the lens is recessed. This allows the cooling vents to remain open but keeps the white light contained. Modifying one of the wifes black, plastic flowerpots works great. Spotlights are commonly powered by clipping the leads directly to a vehicles 12-volt battery or plugging it into the cigarette lighter. Re-chargeable lights are also available. Be sure to test the light before you go into the field. I have seen poorly wired leads melt down or fuses blow due to the power these lights can pull. This will ruin your hunt and for me a quot;kitchen pass quot; from the wife timed with good weather is sometimes hard to come by. Carry a backup light or a replacement bulb also (Doug says he carries five lights in the truck.). Another type of spotlight mounts directly to your rifle. With the sport of varmint hunting growing by leaps and bounds several have appeared on the market. Some mount on the scope and others can be affixed to the rifle itself. Initially, the thought of mounting a spotlight on my rifle scope turned me completely off. I dont even pick my rifle up by the scope much less mount some big bulky spotlight on it. But, if you are hunting alone, holding a spotlight in one hand and trying to aim your rifle with the other is a bit awkward. I solved this problem with a visit to Burnham Brothers in Menard, Texas. They have a couple types of lights available that work quite well and are light amp;nbsp; enough (no pun intended) not to damage your scope. One is a 12-volt, 100,000 candle-power light that weighs only one pound and is powered by your vehicles 12 volt battery. A rechargeable battery pack is also available. It is currently it is priced at 49.95. Another model has 50,000 candle-power and sells for 34.95. Red, blue and yellow lenses are available for each model. Still another light system available from Burnham Brothers is the quot;SL-18 quot;. This light is much smaller and snaps easily onto any 1-inch scope. Powered by two 9 volt batteries contained internally, it has amp;nbsp; a silent on-off switch attached to the forearm of the rifle by an elastic band. It comes with an orange lens installed in the housing. The unit sells for 34.95. (Note the switch on the left, front of the stock.) One that I came up with is shown here. Intended to be cheaper, it wound up costing about the same as the Burnham Brothers units. When my son received a quot;Maglite quot; flashlight for Christmas, I just had to have one also. Then Doug contacted me and asked if I would like to go night hunting and I had the excuse I needed to purchase one. The model I selected uses two D-cell batteries and cost 15.95. I purchased an accessory kit ( 6.95) with red, blue and orange lenses and a snap-clip for mounting the light in a vehicle. I had some Weaver tip-off mounts for a 1-inch scope lying around and I hit on the idea of attaching the Maglite to the heavy barrel of my Remington 700 BDL/VLS. I purchased a Weaver scope ring base for a Ruger 10-22 ( 5.17) and attached the rings to it. I then attached the snap-clip to the base. The rings were for a 1-inch scope and the barrel of my rifle was just a little smaller than that. I went to the local home improvement outlet and found what I was looking for. In the plumbing section they had clear rubber tubing of almost any thickness imaginable. The tubing created a shim to bring my barrel up to the desired thickness, provided protection for the barrels finish and added some shock-proofing for the flashlight. What I like about this rig is the Maglites beam can be focused. I can remove the mount quickly with an Allan wrench, or if I need to use the flashlight for something else, I can just pull it out of the snap-clip and replace it again quickly. SAFETY An important consideration for night-hunting with a rifle-mounted light is you will be pointing a loaded weapon at an unknown creature in the dark. Positive control of the safety mechanism and keeping your finger away from that trigger is of paramount importance in this situation! Visually identify your target before taking the safety off or placing your finger near that trigger! You need to be completely aware of the surrounding area you will be shooting in. During the daytime you can see your backdrop or what lies beyond the target. At night, this is normally not the case. If the land has livestock on it, this increases the need for caution. Shooting the owners cattle is not a good way to get a return invite. A stray bullet passing through his or her bedroom in the middle of the night can create a stir as well. Another safety concern is safe gun handling. Driving around while someone stands up with a loaded gun in the back of a truck on bumpy terrain is downright dangerous. You should always hunt with a buddy in this type of scenario. If two or more persons are present, have one hold the weapons while the other(s) climb in or out of the vehicle. As you will be handing a weapon up or down to a person ensure positive control of the muzzle, keeping it pointed in a safe direction at all times. Do not extend a weapon to someone with the muzzle pointed at them or yourself and of course you should never chamber a round until you get into shooting position. TARGET RECOGNITION Different animals eyes reflect different colors in a spotlight. amp;nbsp; Fox have close-set, amber colored eyes. Some cattle also have amber colored eyes that are set farther apart. Whitetail deer have greenish-blue eyes and some animals have reddish colored eyes. This is not an accurate method of identification. ALWAYS visually identify your target. (Okay, okay, no more safety lectures...) (Cover picture copyrighted. Used by special permission from The VARMINT HUNTER Magazine, Pierre, SD 57501.) As you look at the animal through the scope, watch the movement of the eyes. Obviously the direction they move will tell you where the animal is going, but the way they move is noteworthy. If it is a slow drift, he is stalking you. When he starts to trot or run the eyes will bounce up and down. But remember, as long as you can see those eyes, he is facing towards you. At one point we saw three sets of eyes watching us from beyond the brush line, all in the same general direction, downwind of course... Doug was driving... he was also swinging the spotlight from side to side, probing the darkness for eyes and shapes. Occasionally the beam, now a glaring white without the red lens, would brush across a shape darting amongst the Prickly Pear and Mesquite. Most were Jackrabbits, some were Cottontails, racing away from the pickup as it growled along the dirt road, slinging dust into the night air. As the beam swept across a denser portion of trees Doc hollered for us to stop. quot;What was that? quot; asked Doc. amp;nbsp; quot;What was what? quot; I asked. Doug backed up and brought the truck to a stop. Bedded down in the trees was a Deer, a Whitetail Buck. Still young but with a strange, twisted rack on his head. Somehow he had managed to break off many of the spikes on his crown. We continued on down the winding road as Doug swept the beam back and forth. Suddenly he slammed on the breaks and swung the light towards the rear of the truck, lighting up a Gray Fox. The Fox was sitting near the road, calm as can be, just watching us drive by. Bad choice on the Foxs part. I dont know if the Fox realized his mistake, recognized Doug from the posters in the Fox post-office or just plain took off instinctively. He leapt up and started running parallel to the road, another bad choice. Little did he realize that Doug was already pushing the barrel of his Remington quot;Seventeen quot; out the window of the truck. Doug gave a little squeak with his lips and the Fox made his final mistake, he stopped to see what was making that noise. The last noise he heard was the sound of Remingtons bark. The round caught him broadside, directly behind the right shoulder. A perfect shot. Doc remarked that it was to bad Doug had quot;Gut-shot that one quot;. And another round of banter ensued as I looked on, grateful that Doug was the target of Docs wit and not me. My self-confidence was now at a new low. Somewhere back along the road I had not only missed another Fox but a bunny as well. (Thats all I have to say about that...) There are many types of calls on the market today by a variety of companies. Mouth-blown, tapes, electronic, etc. Many of these are very effective and it comes down to a quot;Ford vs Chevy quot; type of situation to state a preference. But I will say this, I prefer the mouth-blown type. It gives me a thrill to to quot;speak the language quot; of the animals. I feel I have better command of the situation being able to change sounds, volume, intensity, etc. without having to fumble with the buttons and knobs on a mechanical device. If a target seems a bit hesitant to come in, its easy to increase the level of pleading in the call or change to a sound that may be more tempting, such as a squeak. This will sometimes help a reluctant varmint make the wrong decision. Be aware this type of hunting is very addictive! Even though there are many other topics that I would like to cover in this article I will leave some things for you to discover on your own so as not to spoil all the fun and surprises for you! Shoot straight, good luck, be safe... http://www.night-vision-wildlife.com/night-vision-news/1 general@night-vision-wildlife.com Night Vision news 2005-01-20 http://www.night-vision-wildlife.com/night-vision-news/2 Recently a conversation of sorts began on the quot;Go Go Varmint Go quot; message board about night hunting tactics and equipment. I got to reading it over and realized this could be a very helpful instructional conversation for the novice. In fact it reminded me of one of those interviews you read in some magazines. So, what the heck, lets do it that way. amp;nbsp; JOHN: I have seen the proof that red lenses work for spotlighting varmints. What I am wondering is this: Some of the equipment for sale out there comes with amber lenses and I have seen blue lenses for sale. Has anyone tried them and how does the effectiveness stack up to the Red lens? Is the Amber or Blue more or less likely to spook or bring in the varmints? BILL D: Im surprised we didnt get on that subject and Im glad you brought it up because it is a damn good question. A few years ago, I spoke with Gerald Stewart (Johnny Stewart Game Calls) at length about this and he felt that light intensity was more important than color, but I dont think anyone has ever done intensive research on the subject of one color being better than another. I know from experience that critters dont care for a bright white or red light square in their eyes, but you definitely have to partially blind them with the fringes of the light or they will see the vehicle. On full moon nights, I used to pull off the red lens and work the white light very fast to try and pick up the eyes before critters got close enough to see the truck - once they got hit square with the light then I could work em in with the edge of it. Probably like a flashbulb going off in your eyes - the light stays burned on the retina for a while. ALEX: Nocturnal animals normally are quot;red blind quot;. Foxes do have some quot;red quot; vision. However, the quot;blue quot; and quot;amber quot; are not good choices. Guess I qualify as an quot;expert. quot; Spent a lot of time doing this sorta research while at the quot;U. quot; JOHN: Just out of curiosity, what is it about blue and amber that makes them different. At the risk of getting a college education in here can you elaborate on that blue and amber thang a bit? ALEX: It has to do with where in the spectrum you are most sensitive. For instance, humans are most sensitive in the quot;apple quot; yellow green, unless they have a vision anomaly or cataracts. Night vision animals have increased vision in the blue, and almost no sensitivity to the red end of the spectrum. Possum are night critters, I think, but Fox are not. They (Fox) DO have red vision at night, but it is diminished (just as in humans) if the light level is kept low. (This is why the lesser intense of the beams works better) As for amber, it would reflect from the eyes better (empirical observation) so would be useful there, but if the critter is night blind, it wouldnt matter too much (wouldnt spook him too much). Indeed, the Corning 505 amber lenses make good night driving glasses because they cut out the blue which causes glare, much as yellow glasses do for shooters. Remember it is blue that night critters see best. So.... red is better, amber is not quite as good from the spook point, but best for reflection from eyes, and blue is a no-no. JOHN: Now THAT is the explanation I was waiting to hear. Okay, blue is out. Amber not so out. My Burnham Brothers SL-18 scope light has an amber lens. It puts out a pretty good light for about 100 yards, enough to cause the eyes to shine anyway. I think the reason it doesnt have a red lens is because it would not reach as far. RAY: I suppose I need a bit of an education also. If an animal is red blind as you say, what color light will the animal see? If the red is canceled out, then they will see white or an off shade of something else, correct? I can agree that they may not be able to determine red as a color on a surface, but we are talking about a bright light pointed into the eyes. I doubt that a person that is color blind would miss the light, but it would appear to be a different color. Reference, my uncle is red color blind and many years ago he had a habit of running red lights, this is before a national standard of Red on top, green on Bottom was established. amp;nbsp;LEONARD: As Bill said, intensity is important. My vote for night hunting used to be amber, and it for sure works. Nothing picks up eyes better. The only animal that really is light shy is the coyote and when he is light shy, red is the answer most of the time. All predators will come in under an amber light, its just a matter of how well they respond. I have called in lions, Bobcat, Coyote, Badger, red, gray and kit Fox, Raccoon, and Ringtail Cat under an amber light. However, I use red most of the time. There are places where the distances are so vast that using a red can work against you, because it wont pick up eyes beyond a certain distance, and coyotes can hang up outside of that distance and you never see them until you burn a 360, then they get spooked, so no amount of coaxing will bring them in closer. They usually blink and adios amigo. And then there are the dumb ones, thank God for the dumb ones. JOHN: Yes, thank God for the dumb ones, especially those dumbern me! BILL D: Im sure not an expert on Red Fox because I have called so few of them, but my experience tells me they are the most light shy of all the critters. Ive probably only called a dozen red fox at night, but all except one put on the brakes as soon as the red light hit them. I know some of these reds had never been called before - day or night. No problem calling reds during daylight hours - they come in fast and furious just like a gray. Several friends have also told me about having trouble with reds at night using a light. LEONARD: I not an expert either Bill. I think we hunt pretty much the same stuff from time to time, and I havent even seen as many (Red fox) as you have, so I really shouldnt generalize. Also, Ive only seen two Ringtail Cats, and I want to state that I left them be, because they are protected in most states. I dont kill Kit Fox either. You know, this whole topic of night hunting is under-documented, if you know what I mean? For instance, you know what I meant by burning the 360, others may not. DAA: So, uhhh, well, what DID you mean by burning a 360? Im assuming it aint like the ones I used to do in my 68 Chevelle? Night hunting has only been legal for a few years here in Utah. I dont know ANYBODY that knows ANYTHING about it. Weve lucked into a few critters just hitting the light at random but I dont think it was anything more than luck. LEONARD: amp;nbsp; I use a home made double light with a 100 Watt aircraft landing light superimposed on a red fog, which throws a wide narrow band of light. The quot;burn quot; light isnt used at all until the shooter calls for it, and then he usually has no more than 5 seconds for target acquisition and touching it off. This doesnt blind the Coyote, it is just for identification and selecting the center of mass. If however, nothing shows up after whatever you are satisfied with for the stand... 10-15-20 minutes/ you make one or two quick circles (360) with the pencil beam, sometimes you will light up a dog that was cooling his heels beyond the range of the red fog. Usually you cant do anything with him, but at least you have something to build on. ALEX: Red, or any quot;color quot; blind doesnt mean that you dont see that color. You just dont see it as well. For instance, none of us can see in the ultraviolet.... unless we have had the lens removed and the replacement lens doesnt have a UV blocker (not a good idea, but a bunch of implants without the blocker were put in during the first lens implants) Therefore, like Rays dad, I believe, you just dont see that color very well. One of the famous artists was color blind. Cant remember his name, he was the one who cut off his ear. You can see the strange colors in his paintings. You really dont know what color anyone sees, except you. BILL D: amp;nbsp; I call at night from the bed of a pickup mainly because I can hook up a 12 volt spotlight and have an elevated position to pick up eyes better. I use a red lens over a Q-Beam spotlight and usually use a cassette caller so that I have both hands free and you have a much greater choice of sounds to use with cassette tapes. For coons, I usually start with a Woodpecker distress tape and after 10 minutes, I switch to a Raccoon fight tape. The fight tape is available from Johnny Stewart and is the best sound I have ever used for consistent Coon calling. It mainly attracts big dominant Coons and they usually come fast and mad - you may have to bark at them when theyre 30 yds. out to get them to stop for a shot. JOHN: I can vouch for the effectiveness of Bills technique. We brought in a big Boar Coon just a couple nights ago with the fox fight tape. He was coming fast and furious! Good thing Bill was keeping an eye on his Fox Fight tape or it mighta disappeared. That one tape has called in most of the critters we have gotten on our outings. BILL D: amp;nbsp; John St.Clair successfully avenged his somewhat tarnished reputation as lousy shot by single-handedly fending off an awesome attack by our furry foe. Two running shots made off hand ended the career of a Coon and a Fox that were closing in rather quickly. Two head shots on sneaky snipers peering from the brush brought to rest another Fox and a lowly Opossum. I am not going to say that we called up a Opossum as everyone knows this is impossible, but a Opossum suddenly appeared 50 yds. out glaring at the red light and listening intently to the sweet sound of a Cottontail in distress. Now, about the sneaky sniper Fox, he took it 1/4 inch away from being shot right between the eyes and needless to say this fox is way beyond plastic surgery - were talking about a near headless fox. Well John, I congratulate you on your comeback and I am proud to say that I was your radar operator and had a ball watching you take out the elusive targets. ALEX: After reading all these stories on night calling, and sharing them with Cousin Bobby, I called Johnny Stewart and he picked up a light and quot;redded quot; the lens with dikum, and off we went last night. My wife asked me if this was going to be like our usual spring gobbler hunts (or, for that matter, many of this years Duck hunts... wish DU would get it right!). We werent sure we wanted to advertise what we were doing, so we took my virgin Hornet and his 22 Mag. First setup was near where we call up Turkeys. Scope set on 3x we swept the tree line (boy is the little Nikon bright). Might need a little more dikum on the lens. Put the quot;Super Coon quot; tape in his car stereo, opened the doors, and cut er on.... Gawd is that an awful sound! Swept the light back and forth along the tree line every few minutes. Nothing.... Then, all of a sudden, they attacked! So many came it sounded like a herd of cattle...... It was! About 50 head, two bulls, and another 50 calves! They had come from two fields away. Boy, is that call effective! Next time we have a fence problem, we know how to reassemble em. We set up in two more places, got cold, and figured we needed to do some more research. Came back in the house about 10:00. Among questions to ask is how loud do you run the call? How bright should the light be? How long to call in one spot? Is there an effective tape not attractive to cows? Had a good time anyhow. Coon season ends Tuesday night. Will we see one before then? One thing I may do is NOT TAKE THE VIRGIN HORNET! Think Theo remarked that Hornets were beset with a really malignant jinx. JOHN: We set up with area all around us so the critters can come from nearly any direction. Gives you 360 possibilities stead of 180. Often they will come in and then circle downwind at less than 100 yards out, usually 50 or so. Sometimes they come straight at you till you feed em something with a high lead content. As for volume, start out loud for a while, then reduce it a bit. You dont want to blare like the helicopter scene in that quot;Apocalypse Now quot; movie but fairly loud. Take into account whether you are fighting a wind. Sound will travel better downwind than into it. Use a directional speaker and rotate it in all directions for a while. Dont know what that quot;Dikum quot; stuff was you put on your light but it may not be what you need. If the light is to bright it will spook the varmints. You can get a red lens at your local gun store for about 6.00 that will fit most lights. Your light doesnt need to be bright. A spotlight with 250,000 candle power is PLENTY. Sweep the light around in a 360 degree circle. We had critters come in from all directions. They have come out of the brush, trees, rocks, up fencelines, across wide open fields and even down the ranch roads. You just never know. I have never heard the quot;Super Coon quot; tape but I do know this, we played our Coon fight tape for some time at a couple locations and did not get a response from anything. We played the Fox fight tape and got nearly instant response from several locations. In fact, after switching from a Coon fight to a Fox fight is when that Boar Coon came in. He didnt care about other Coons fighting but them Foxes ticked him off! We have gone out a couple times at night and not a single response either. Be aware you may have quot;dead nights quot; Dont give up yet. The last thing I would say is, get yourself a variety of tapes. As I said sometimes things came in on one sound and not another. Try one sound for about 10 minutes or so and then try something else. What we are starting to do is have two tape players, the primary to call em in and a secondary for a different sound in case they start to leave or wont come all the way in. Try a hurt rabbit and then switch suddenly to the Fox or Coon fight. ALEX: Thanks, John. Know we did a bunch of things wrong. Regardless, its always fun to get out. Kinda hard telling Cousin Bobby that his 2 million candlepower stadium lighting system isnt the thing to use. Havent been able to locate a light in our local sporting goods stores, cause quot;Jacklighting quot; for Deer is very illegal hereabouts. We were really careful last night, since it is not unusual for folks to call the Sheriff to tell him about unidentified spotlights at night. Legal to spotlight Fox, questionable about other critters. Have a Johnny Stewart call system under my desk at the office, and hadnt brought it home (sneak in problem). JOHN: Assuming it is legal to spotlight some critters, pick up the phone and call the local Game Warden and/or Sheriff. Let them know where you will be and what you are doing. If you have any doubts about legality, just ask. Better than being told after the Warden shows up. That red lens will limit the probability of someone seeing your light very far. I had a game warden tear into the driveway at my in-laws one night when we were out spotting before this red lens thing was widely known. He had seen our light waving around and had come from a location over 20 miles away! We didnt do anything illegal but it impressed upon us the need to notify someone. Seems he had been trying to catch somebody for sometime that was road hunting in that area. That system needs sneakin eh? I think you need to review the recent posts about that. Guess they have all been deleted but you probably read them. (Talked about how to get new toys past the wife without her finding them. Very amusing conversation indeed!) Personally, I think a regular old boom box will work for a tape player. You can get a directional speaker for about 20.00 at local gun stores. That should work fine. I havent tried it yet but I have a 14.95 AM-FM Cassette player that has an earphone jack in it. Speaker should plug right in. amp;nbsp;BILL D: Alex - Raccoon Fight, not Super Coon is the tape to use. It is best to start with a primary critter calling tape like a squealing Woodpecker or Cottontail for 10 minutes then switch to the fight tape. John has yet to see the Raccoon Fight Tape work like it usually does, but the night before he and I went hunting, I called up three Coons with it and have called hundreds of Coons with it over the years. Be sure to work your light continuously from the moment you start calling and use pretty fast 360 sweeps to try and pick up the eyes before the varmints spot your vehicle. Their eyes are so bright even with a red light that you cant miss seeing them even with fairly fast sweeps. With lots of moonlight, it is very important to sweep fast. Even though most Coons come hard and fast to the tape, if one hangs up then start lip squeaking and turn the volume down some on the caller. Dont forget to charge the battery on your JS caller before you go hunting. Dont over call an area - try to line up several different places to go. When the season ends, keep on calling and leave the gun at home - you cant imagine how much you can learn about critter behavior to different sounds when you are not trying to harvest them - I have played with Gray Fox for 10 minutes by switching to several different tapes. JOHN: By the way, Varmint Hunting season never ends here in Texas. Legal year round! http://www.night-vision-wildlife.com/night-vision-news/2 general@night-vision-wildlife.com Night Vision news 2005-01-20