 DISPATCH #1: Making this predator hunting video…I have had scores of predator hunting enthusiasts send in emails asking various questions about predator calls, rifles and bullets, coyote hunting tactics, and so on. One question was; exactly how did such a unique predator video like Winter Magic come together. Well, I thought I'd share a bit about the origins of the video with you.As you may or may not know, video is my profession. I was a television producer and host for a decade and I continue to produce business and hunting videos today. So when I suggested to my hunting buddy Pat that maybe we try to capture some hunts for coyotes and red fox and see where it goes, it wasn't really a strange suggestion. It worked hand in glove. I worked the predator calls, Pat manned the rifle. Our very first success with camera was a female coyote that appears on the DVD and I have to tell you… when she appeared after about three minutes of blowing on the jackrabbit call, both Pat and I were both stunned and elated. We had our first predator respond on camera! Our first hunt and kill on tape! Well the rest is history as they say. It took us about three years of hunting here in the East to get those segments together, keeping in mind that mange hit one of those years and some in another. Those poor fox and coyotes that responded to the call never made it to camera as they were in terrible condition. Needless to say it slowed us down for a while. However, I am very proud of the video because it is different and people love that. Plus, we have shown folks that you can effectively kill predators in the East using a variety of hunting tactics and techniques. I have to take my hat off here to Pat Cameron for his deadly shooting prowess. Regardless of whether it was a little fox at over 200 yards with a 30 mph crosswind or a charging coyote intent on running us down, Pat was death in white with his precision rifles. He is an accomplished marksman on furbearers and without him the video would not have been possible. It is not easy in the least to produce a predator hunting video like Winter Magic, the days afield, brutal winter temperatures, scathing wind, video equipment failures, the ones that got away, it all takes its toll. However, to have a double of gorgeous, fully furred, prime red fox on the snow and the whole thing on tape is hard to describe. So it all evens out. If you haven't picked up a copy of the DVD, I highly recommend doing so. If you love predator hunting then you love the video. I'm pretty confident about it. More on the making of Winter Magic in another dispatch, there are some interesting and humorous stories to tell. John Summerfield  |
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