Bear Calling

Bear Calling

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
Recently had a fun chat with Mike Jenkins, owner of Up Front Outfitters in Washington State. The subject matter was calling in bears. "I use a mouth reed. They make wooden distress calls for predators, coyote and the rabbit in distress but I prefer to use a mouth reed for all my calling. I use that for distress calls as well. It makes a great high pitched fawn in distress or cow/calf in distress call. It just works unbelievable. You need to do it repeatedly because bears get bored. Quick. If you don't stay on it they will usually quit coming. How did you learn to perfect making that distress sound? I lived in Alaska for several years and during the spring, fawns are up and down the roads. You can drive up and down the roads in Southeast Alaska and see hundreds of baby deer all over the place. The deer would lay down in the grass and hide from traffic. We would get out and go and pinch them and see what sound they would make. ( Laughter) Just kidding. In the spring you just go in and hear the babies cry. This is especially true when their moms run off into the tall grass. That is where I first started hearing the sound. Being a professional hunting guide, I spend a lot of my springs outdoors around the babies, so I am around to hear the noises that they make and that lost, crying sound is the sound that I go for.
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