On all my trips to Africa since 1986, I've usually taken a couple of calls with me. So have many other western US varmint-calling fans. Lately, it seems most PHs I've encountered have heard about calling and several have even had their own US-made calls with them. Most tell me they tried the calls without much success, apparently because they "tooted" instead of "screamed" with their calls. Their success rates went up after learning proper technique. Personally, I would not use a call if I were in lion country in Botswana, Zambia or Zimbabwe. I did, inadvertently, call in a leopard one night in Zululand. We were calling jackals that night, and I did not have a license for leopard. The big cat hung around at the edge of our light for a couple of minutes before slinking off.
South Africa now has a varmint-calling club, with 80 to 100 very avid members. I believe Magnum magazine has published an article on calling, and US-made varmint calls are sold at most sporting goods stores there. PH John Finch of Pretoria, I'm told, takes clients out on vermin-only nighttime hunts and uses mouth-blown calls. Varmint calling has not gone unnoticed by nature departments in........(continued)
