| About Us |
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Ken and Steve Nordstrom have been
calling coyotes throughout the Midwest since the early 90s. Always searching for ways to
call more coyotes, they experimented with many of the different howlers and predator calls
that were available. These included howlers from call makers like Bill Austin, Dan
Thompson, and Herb Bruseman to name just a few. These were all fine howlers and many
coyotes were called, but they were looking for something a little easier to blow. |
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In the summer of 1995, they took
some PVC pipe and designed their own mouth piece. One that didn’t require as much
effort to blow. The mouth piece was then mounted in a cow horn to give it a better tone
and increase the volume. When calling in open country or during high winds, the extra
volume always comes in handy. A few howlers were made for calling buddies who heard what
good luck they were having. The current howlers are laser engraved with Silver Dog
Howler surrounding a "cartoon style" dead coyote. These calls are all
handcrafted and tuned by Steve in his basement work shop. Quality is a top priority. |
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They have only two requirements
for a good coyote howler. It has to call coyotes and it must be easy to blow.
These howlers have a higher pitch and sound more like a young coyote. The older coyotes
come in to show their dominance and the younger coyotes are not intimidated. Ken and Steve
do lots of double howling and yipping, in addition to the typical yips and howl, with
great success. If you’re new to predator calling or an experience caller who wants to
start howling for coyotes, the Silver Dog Howler is a the call for you. |
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Manufacturing Process |
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I make each Silver Dog Howler by hand in
my workshop. The effort required to work the horns into a howler is labor intensive and
time consuming (a bit smelly too). First, the tips of the horn are cut off and a hole is
drilled to accommodate a mouth piece, along with some sanding to remove the sharp edges.
Every horn is different, so no two howlers are the same. You are getting a very unique,
one-of-a-kind coyote howler. |
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The horns are sent to Cameron and Bill
Hoeper of C&H Custom Horns and
Hardwoods for some fantastic laser engraving of the Silver Dog Howler Logo. They
custom engrave for some big name call makers and I highly recommend them. Cameron and Bill
also make some of the best custom duck and turkey calls on the market. |
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The mouth pieces are crafted using PVC
pipe and a scroll saw. I mark the outline on the pipe using the original pattern jig made
of wood. After the main piece is cut with the scroll saw, I use a grinder to remove any
excess PVC material. Then, a palm sander is used to make sure the slope of the mouth piece
is smooth and the edges are gone. I cut each reed with a reed punch my cousin, Mark Hangas
of Ruana Knife Works, crafted for me. Because
each mouth piece and reed are cut individually, I have to assemble them and test out the
sound one at a time. |
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The mouth piece is glued into the howler
and allowed to set over night. The next day, I re-test each Silver Dog Howler to verify
the sound and quality. The howler should produce yips and barks easily, not requiring much
air or effort. If the slope of the mouth piece isn’t just right, the call will shut
down too easily. Now you have a professionally crafted and tuned Silver Dog Howler coyote
call. |
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Coyote Decoys |
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We have been using a coyote decoy
built with an aluminum frame and a tanned coyote fur for many years. Most coyote calling
contests don’t allow the use of decoy dogs, so we had to find another option. The
coyote decoy is large enough to be clearly visible in taller cover and there is no
substitute for real coyote fur. Nothing will look as natural as tanned coyote fur.
The decoy will give you an advantage over the coyotes and your competition too. All you
have to do is shoot a couple extra coyotes and the decoy has paid for itself. Then, you
get to use it for years to come for free. |
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Predator Call Collecting |
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Over the years, I’ve used almost
all predator calls at least once. When I would come across a used call at a gun show or
the new latest and greatest gota-have-it guaranteed to call coyotes predator call at
Cabela’s, I just had to buy it. At first, I used every newly acquired call until I
called in at least one coyote with it. Some I would use over the course of a whole season.
This was the start of a passion for predator call collecting.
Predator Calls Wanted
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Al Lux with a nice Nebraska bobcat. |
I’ve spent many hours searching for
the ever elusive varmint call that’s missing from my collection and I met some really
nice people like Walt Holt, Al Lux, and Jay Nistetter along the way. The four of us have
been fighting like cats and dogs to get the most rare calls and increase the size of our
collection. |
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