NIGHT VISION & CALLING PREDATORS This is an article to help you in making up a very mean system that can assist you in killing predators such as Caracal and Jackals, read this it will help a lot. Firstly this will deal with 1 st generation equipment as its cheaper for the general hunter and if you know what you are doing it will be fantastic to work with and totally adequate don t listen to people who say 1 st Gen is rubbish, if they do they have no idea as to what they are talking about, if you enhance power and clarity you have an awesome package to kill with.
BINOCULARS Firstly you need a good quality BINOCULAR a night vision unit and one that is good but not to expensive, I will advocate going towards a Luna PB5 model, it is a top class unit and very strong / rugged. It is in this photo and is 1 st Gen. Price about R16, 000-00 LASER You then need to buy a laser to enhance the Image you are viewing, this is NOT A cheap red normal laser, this is infra red and can be set from close range to very far to see targets, the closer you turn the dial the more concentrated the image and clearer at long range out to 500m or more! This item is a must. Price is about R7000-00. INFRA RED SPOTLIGHT This item is best from 1, 5 million candle power and you need a good halogen bulb, infra red will not work with LED bulbs. So, get a large spotlight and fit the Infra red lens to the light. This IR spotlight works together with your binoculars and gives you extra infra red light to see with. Price is about R1600-00. With this system you can scan with night vision and watch a predator come in, then put down the night vision and turn up dimmer on the red light to shoot. With this system you will be able to kill many predators, but need to use a red light still to shoot, now to go more advanced look at the following ideas, remember to never buy a MONOCULAR as that is putting huge strain on one eye, and you will get headaches etc. Using a binocular stops stress.
RIFLE SCOPE AVOID buying a night vision scope with a crosshair like this, the hair is very thick and will cover far too much of the animal far away, rather get a crosshair as shown below. Remember predators are small and a thick crosshair will cover far too much, and not allow for accurate shot placement. This is a better option and this is what I have, it is a V upside down and I put that tip on the spot I want to hit, I have good success with this and it does not block out any parts of the animal I need to see. The actual V is a lot thinner in real life, but this is a good idea to give an example. A good rifle scope I can recommend is a COBRA system, my partner and I both use Cobra systems, both binoculars and rifle scope and it s a real good unit. Try getting a 50 objective with a 5 power magnification. I use a laser on this as well to increase the viewing ability or use another system as mentioned below, another system to increase viewing even more.
TACTICAL INFRA RED MODULE This Infra Red module you can buy from China, postage is free, and it can be put in a Sure-fire torch as a direct drop in replacement, see the models it works on mentioned on the site, I use it on my G3, and made a basic mounting bracket, then it clips on the rifle scope on top and my visibility is even better. See here for the link http://www.tactical4u.com/en/product/item/168/product_detail.html My IR module I fitted in the torch and I made an exhaust pipe to throw the light more forward, this system on my rifle scope is awesome. It has the pressure switch for easy on and off settings. Don t be fooled by my rifle being a battle gun, this R4 with a long barrel drops crows at 150metres no problem and at night with a night sight aiming at bigger targets is a breeze.
TACTICAL Infra Red on Rifle Scope If you want to call predators, and want a nice cheap set up, one that allows you to use night vision effectively this is the way to go. I have used night vision for many years now, and it really does pay, I include an article about calling Caracal at the end of this article so you can read what I say about Night Vision, good luck to you, I hope this helps you out. See sighting in target below for just how accurate a night scope can be, I sight in at 80m.
Two different groups, left group was first attempt when I put the scope on, sighted in at 80m in pitch dark. Two shots. The right group was after turning a few clicks, dead on and ready for action. This is like a day shooting group; you cannot fault this at all. The right group was one shot as fast as I could shoot and my partner took one shot as fast as possible, not bad at all. Happy calling. Gary
CARACAL CONTROL I have called many cats in my time as a professional predator controller on farms, and I keep records of all the farms and details that occur, such as dates, times, moon conditions and all relative aspects, and ONE thing that always stands out is WIND, it pays to work in the wind! I get a lot of criticism from my website as I reveal a lot of information that other professional predator callers try keep secret, but why should I, we are all fighting the same war, so if I can help farmers all the better! Helping other farmers and showing them ways to ethically remove predators is a great way to get the aspect of poison and gin traps away as these are barbaric practises and I for one are totally against such deployments. This is an example of a small Rooikat that made the mistake of coming into a distress caller when he heard the distressed animal in pain. The cat approached from the tree direction behind the Hilux 350m away, it is of vital importance when cat calling to know how to select good spots, and many aspects are part of a system that makes it a success and a text book hunt, lucky for us these predators are not as intelligent as jackals so this makes the job at hand a lot easier, cats are elusive animals but they can be called with the proper preparation.
TO SUCCESSFULLY REMOVE ROOIKATTE Many aspects go into calling Rooikatte successfully, the moon for one, must be ZERO, absolutely zero moon, zilch, nothing, cats see very well, so it must be pitch dark, you must cover the truck you use with the same colours that are around you, and never ever cover the truck in black, as it stands out on a field even in pitch darkness. Never use shade cloth, it squeaks and is noisy and shines, don t play sounds to loud as cats ears are very sensitive, and play a busy sound as cats like busy sounds, the direction of the cat travelling to get to you can be from anyplace, as they DO NOT work wind and cannot smell to save their lives, unlike the jackal who uses wind all the time. Another very important thing to remember is time. Always wait a long time for action, I will say in 25 years calling about 99% of all my cats came in 45 minutes to 50 minutes. This cat was 45 minutes; the previous two I shot the last month in a good moon condition was over an hour, so patience is vital. Do not make any un natural sound on the truck and keep dead quiet, cats come in low and most of them slow and take note of all happenings around them, the slightest thing wrong and he is gone! The lights you use must be on a dimmer system, the moment eyes are spotted in the distance drop your light down so that all you see is his red robot eyes and nothing else around you, so dim that you can hardly see them. Cats are very light shy and if he suddenly blinks a lot that s a sign your lights far too bright and he will vanish very soon. Only use red filters, it s the best, I use red gel filters and they are awesome on cats. The area you select must be close to cover and areas that cats can travel in or hide away, avoid standing near blind spots and furrows that cats can travel in and hide, in other words dead ground, avoid dead ground at all costs. Now for a tip I have learnt over the years and it stands out 99% of the time, and this is WIND, if I look back over the years cats like to work in wind, just about all the cats I called, the records show it was windy, sometimes so much wind that the nets get blown off the truck! I have these hunts on DVD and old VHS videos, these last hunts all of them also was in the wind. I don t know why but it is a proven fact, calling cats you stand more of a chance in the wind. This above hunt, it was very windy, the wind was pumping and in comes Mr Rooikat to get his dinner. Maybe they feel that the quarry they are intent on targeting won t hear them as the wind is blowing, I have no idea but it does work better to hunt cats in the wind. This past hunt, I said to my wife, come lets go, the wind is blowing and we stand a good chance, and so we did, another text book hunt within 45 minutes.
Cats are inquisitive and will investigate this is why to trap a cat in a cage is very easy, same as at night when calling, the sounds you use must be attractive, remember unlike a dog, a jackal will come into second hand sounds of jackals you play at night he will come in to that, BUT Mr pussy cat will not, he don t reply to cat meeeuws on a disc etc, unless he is very close and will pop up his head to see, but calling them on a cd with a cat meeuw wont happen, so we need quality sounds, one of the best sounds you can use is a squeaker that comes out of a squeaky toy, they love that squeak, but don t use the one with a plastic reed, buy them at most pet shops, most of those have a steel reed and it is a real killer. A typical rabbit distress works well, and you will have more success calling a cat with a hand caller, electronics don t have the same effect. Although I use a Foxpro sound JACKRABBIT DISTRESS to great effect. Another thing to remember on cats is don t place that caller far from you at night, they look at the sound and will come in low, and you may not see his eye reflection if it is placed far away, it is better to place the call near you so you spot him fast. Lastly is an alternative that s a little costlier BUT is a better option, night vision, in legal places, predators come in faster and closer to you because they are not hindered by any lights at all. The cat in this article came behind that tree line, I saw him at 350m and watched him come closer, and at 75m I put down the night vision binoculars and switched to the rifle scope, and shot him in the head as he looked at the caller at 75m. Night vision is more expensive but you cannot compare results between the use of red lights and that of Night Vision, they cannot even compare at all. After a lot of calling in predators and cats especially, when you use night vision and make use of infra red lights, you watch them approach the caller while you light them up with infra red as seen through the night vision equipment, the infra red lights has absolutely Zero effect on them, they have no idea they are being illuminated with infra red and they come in without a hiccup, when they look around and stare in your direction they have no idea at all they are being watched, I use on some hunts, 3 infra red lights, a massive IR spotlight, the binoculars has a tactical infra red light I bought overseas, and then the rife has an infra red laser mounted to it, and all this extra light allows me to observe that cat like day time, the infra red and shooting in total darkness helps you kill more cats because now you are using no lights at all visible to him or humans, all infra red and everything is concluded in the pitch dark. Hunting with night vision is the best way, I always say, you can hunt predators for years, BUT until you hunt with night vision you haven t hunted at all, its another world altogether, and also because you can identify your target 100% before pulling a trigger!
ANOTHER METHOD OF REMOVING ROOIKATTE This is a real patience tester, but it DOES WORK, unless he was shot at or scared badly, this will work, try this. If a cat kills a sheep, you will now have a 99, 9999999% chance he will be going to come back to the crime scene and have a snack to eat, I have seen that 99% of the killers will come back the very next evening, and a fewer will come back the next night. My money is on the following night, I sit at a kill site, my night vision rifle is sighted in at 80m, and I sit at 80m from the dead sheep, I get there at least an hour before the sun hits the horizon, I cover the entire truck, OR use a small table top with legs 30cm high, with a small swivel chair on it, and I wait. Or sit on the truck on a chair and wait, full camo, everything in place and I wait. When the sun goes down I scan with a normal binoculars at a distance to see what s happening and don t sit on the chair as that movement he will spot easily. When it is after dusk I climb into the chair and turn and scan area with night vision, and watch the area all the time, now is a time of high alert, and up to I will say 10 o clock you must be awake! When you use night vision you can see the incoming cats body language and if he is relaxed or what that cat in the photo here was so relaxed he knew nothing, so you watch him, if he appears relaxed and on alert coming back to his kill site, watch him, when he gets to the sheep, shoot him, I normally wait a minute and let him start eating, and then go to the night vision rifle scope, and kill him. I use a massive infra red spotlight on my chair that assists the infra red night vision binoculars and rifle scope, I can see like daylight then as far as 250m. But using night vision gives you an edge, it helps a lot. You need patience and to be awake, as you don t know from what area he will come back from, so you need to spot him long before he arrives at the sheep, in case he is heading directly towards you. REMEMBER Be wide awake when calling cats, a while back I worked a farm that was having issues with Groukatte killing poultry and I called over an hour, I never saw him come to the sound, but when I looked on my next scan he was opposite the caller about 5m from it, staring at the funny looking rabbit that was screaming, I never saw him approach at all, he was just suddenly sitting at the call as if he was a ghost, so be awake. When calling scan with a red light every 15-20 seconds, never wait longer between scans.
I hope this will help you in controlling the Rooikat population as they are bad news and cost farmers a load of money every day throughout South Africa, once you master how to call, and know the factors that achieve results your success will increase and you will be able to remove them far easier. My general loads are as follows; 223 Calibre; S321 powder, 25, 5 grains with magnum primer. Sierra 52 grain soft point head stock No #1330 222 Calibre; S321 powder, 23, 5 grains with magnum primer. Sierra 52 grain soft point head stock number #1330 Gary Laubscher www.africanpredator.com Head shot 75m in pitch darkness with Cobra rifle scope. Copyright 2013 africanpredator