# African Song Dog - Past weekend



## Gerhard

I planned to have a relaxing weekend but that flew out of the window when a farmer phoned me late Friday afternoon.

I have called and killed 6 jackal on her property around end of July.

The sheep ewes are busy lambing and she lost 17 lambs in 3 nights.

I could not make it out there on Friday night but drove out on Saturday.

Reached the farm around 13:00 Saturday afternoon and immediately went and look at the lambs that was killed the previous night...










This confirmed that it was jackal that killed and fed on the lambs.

I prepared my killing chair on the back of the pick up. Confirmed the rifle still shoots spot on and was on stand just after sun down.










After calling for around 45 min on stand I shot a young female.










Moving to the next stand I got another jackal to come in quickly.

Wind was bad and he gave me a long shot with the 22K Hornet.

The hit was good, he was a spinner but lost him out of the light and could not pick him up...

"Tag & Release" Hate it when it happens.

Moved to the 3 stand.

Started with a jackal call and the track did not even finish on the Foxpro Spitfire ...

Had to switch off the caller and stopped the male around 60 yards from the pick up.

The K Hornet barked and the 45gr SP put him down in his tracks.










He was a big male but still young. Around 22lbs

Moved back to the sheep and called for another 45 min with no success.

Unfortunately the farmer keeps on have stock loss.

Hope to be able to get out there again this coming weekend...


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## youngdon

Nice shooting Gerhard. 17 lambs in three nights would make it tough to keep a constant number of producing sheep. I'm sure you have helped ease the situation, but as you said she continues to have losses so there must be more of the crafty devils around. Good Luck.


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## Mattuk

Yes well done Gerhard, you'll be making a few trips back out there yet as once they find the supply they'll keep coming back just like foxes over here. Keep at it!


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## hassell

Great pic's., a hot place to hunt.


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## On a call

How about trapping in addition to calling and shooting.

Like that killing chair ! Did you make it ?

Do you ever do day time calling ?

Good work ! Wish I could help.


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## Gerhard

On a call said:


> How about trapping in addition to calling and shooting.
> 
> Like that killing chair ! Did you make it ?
> 
> Do you ever do day time calling ?
> 
> Good work ! Wish I could help.


Very little trapping is allowed in South Africa. It is mostly used by poachers.

I had the design but a friend that was more skilled in working with steel than I am build the chair for me.

I do not do a lot of day time calling but if I go out this weekend it will be one of the options I am going to use to try the sheep thieves ...

In April this year I called in and shot 20 jackal in a 4 nights over a week.

Now that is a hot area to work in... lol


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## cornstalker

Very cool!!

I am surprised how much they look like coyotes.


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## Gerhard

cornstalker said:


> Very cool!!
> 
> I am surprised how much they look like coyotes.


Thats why I call them African Song Dog's...

I use a lot of the same tactics you guys use in the USA here in South Africa...


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## cornstalker

Are those Goldens or Blackbacks?

Is there communicative similarities to a coyote as well?


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## Gerhard

These are black back jackal...

Golden Jackal are found in the Northern Parts of Africa.

They do not howl like a yote but yes we do use jackal calls loaded on the foxpro to call them in.

The different calls also depend on the time of year and then your food sounds like javelina or jack rabbit as an example work very well.

Mouth calls like a critter call is also very effective...


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## cornstalker

This is very interesting to me. If you ever get footage of such an event I would love to see it. Do you ever hunt wild dogs or hyenas? Are wild dogs protected?

What all cats do you call there?


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## Gerhard

I have placed 2 video's on here that will give you an idea of how I call...

Hyena and wild dogs are a protected species that you dont find often outside of game parks.

Caracal are the ony cat you are allowed to call in and shoot.

Cats like african wild cat and serval are protected.


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## Mattuk

Thats good to hear about the Wild Dogs, they are a beautiful animal thats been treated very poorly by man. Africa wouldn't be Africa without the Hyena's chatter at night!


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## Antlerz22

Nice shooting, wish I could help--Id hurt their numbers as I would hunt every waking hour for a week around the area. What about live trapping? Like a big hav-a-hart or the like, then check daily if its a jackal then snuff him, if another critter let em go--just a thought. That way numbers are being adressed daily whereas she could learn to check & set them till you had time for gun play.


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## On a call

To bad snares are not allowd. Easy and effective, however non target species might get hammered. I guess that is the reason you can not use them. As for traps...you can release non target animals.

So what is thier arguement for no use of traps ?


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## cornstalker

Mattuk said:


> Thats good to hear about the Wild Dogs, they are a beautiful animal thats been treated very poorly by man. Africa wouldn't be Africa without the Hyena's chatter at night!


Wild dogs are probably my favorite African animal.

Gerhard,
I am pretty new here. Where can I find the videos?


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## On a call

Cornstalker...just bring up his name and then go through his postings. You will find them fast enough.

BTW...welcome to PT if I did not tell ya howdy already !


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## youngdon

There was a downloadable seminar from Steve here but as I recall he put a time limit on it, I believe he sells cd's/DVD'c of his seminars from his site.


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## On a call

Thanks YD..did not catch that


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## JTKillough

Gerhard, I've been seeing a lot of your kills here lately. Do you use a call machine? If so, what type and what sounds are you using. Have you tried mouth calls? It appears that Africa is still the premium predator paradise. I would really love to make the trip and do some calling on the dark continent. One last question, do you call in larger predators such as hyena or cats, if so, sent us pictures.


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## Gerhard

JTKillough said:


> Gerhard, I've been seeing a lot of your kills here lately. Do you use a call machine? If so, what type and what sounds are you using. Have you tried mouth calls? It appears that Africa is still the premium predator paradise. I would really love to make the trip and do some calling on the dark continent. One last question, do you call in larger predators such as hyena or cats, if so, sent us pictures.


I use a foxpro spitfire. For back up I use open reed calls like a critter call medium and pee wee as well as a couple of custom close reed calls a friend in the US made for me.

Hyenas and the big cats are now mainly found in the big game parks, I have had the privileged to call in some of the smaller cats like the African Wild cat and Serval (watch the video).

The above mentioned predators are all protected by law and may not by hunted unless you have a special permit for a damage causing animal.

Hope that answer your questions...


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## JTKillough

Good enough, still awesome hunting. About how big are the Black Back Jackals compared to our coyote (most coyote around here run about 25 to 30 lbs or around 12 kilograms? Also, about how many do you generally call up in a day or night of hunting? Sorry about all the questions, I just find it interesting that the same techniques work well, world wide. I bet you have had a few surprises show up during the hunt. I myself have been surprised by many different critters that I wasn't targeting in particular. Some dangerous, I guess, but nothing compared to your dangerous predators of Africa.


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## Gerhard

JTKillough said:


> Good enough, still awesome hunting. About how big are the Black Back Jackals compared to our coyote (most coyote around here run about 25 to 30 lbs or around 12 kilograms? Also, about how many do you generally call up in a day or night of hunting? Sorry about all the questions, I just find it interesting that the same techniques work well, world wide. I bet you have had a few surprises show up during the hunt. I myself have been surprised by many different critters that I wasn't targeting in particular. Some dangerous, I guess, but nothing compared to your dangerous predators of Africa.


The average size for a male jackal is around 20 to 22 lbs. But they do get bigger at times and the biggest I have shot was 26 or 28 lbs this is an exception. Females will average between 18 to 20 lbs.

It depends on your location and stand location...

If you call where nobody else calls you might get 3 to 6 on one stand, the most I have called and shot from one stand was 9 jackal.

Some nights in the same area you will work hard to get 1 or 2 jackal.

I have had a lot of the smaller predators come and have a look. Also a lot of owls.

Every now and then you will have antelope like grey duiker or steenbuck come in and investigate the sound.

I am still a professional hunter although I do not guide anymore.

I have enjoyed it a lot taking clients from the USA out at night to experience a calling session.

I prefer not to call in area's where white rhino and cape buffalo are as you dont want to get mixed up with them in the dark when you go and pick up the foxpro after the calling session ... lol


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