The Catmobile
How Burrell Hunts Year-Round Hunting from the Catmobile
 Editor’s
Note: The Catmobile, a varmint-hunting van designed
by Gordon Burrell, a professional varmint hunter, will
help you take more predators. Burrell says,“I’ve
built the Catmobile to keep my hunters warm, dry and
comfortable and to make sure we leave little or no scent
in the areas we hunt.” Burrell’s hunters
only get out of the van to retrieve a downed varmint,
remaining the rest of the time inside the van or looking
out the top of the van while Burrell or the hunters
call to the varmints.
According to Burrell, he can hunt predators year-round
in the Catmobile. “We can hunt with a light at
night all year long in Texas fo r
non fur-bearing animals,” Burrell reports. “We
can hunt fur-bearing animals in Texas all year. Although
the top domestic fur-bearing animals in Texas are bobcats,
they’re not listed as fur-bearing and neither
are coyotes. In Texas, fur-bearing animals are classified
as coons, foxes, skunks and badgers. Coyotes and bobcats
are not classified as fur-bearing animals. Because of
the tremendous population of feral hogs, neither are
they. Hogs can be hunted in Texas by day and night,
with or without dogs. There’s no limit on the
number you can take. On the La Escalera Ranch, you can
shoot coyotes, coons in season, bobcats and hogs.”
After our hunt in the Catmobile, I asked Al Morris what
he’d learned from that night in the Catmobile.
His answer was, “Most of the areas I hunt in the
Northwest can’t be hunted at night. After the
hunt in the Catmobile, I not only learned how Texas
hunters hunt predators at night, but I learned how to
hunt right. Gordon has years of hunting experience learning
how to hunt right, and also in building a machine like
the Catmobile that’s strictly designed for predator
hunting and predator hunters. The Catmobile’s
one of the neatest hunting mac hines
I’ve ever seen because: it’s extremely comfortable;
there’s light inside so you can see and get to
your equipment easily; there are plug-ins for the lights
to keep the cords from going all over the van and being
in the way. Then when you stand up in the hole in the
roof, you have a solid shooting platform to shoot from,
a good rest to lay your rifle on, and a convenient place
to put your calls. Once you take a predator, you can
open the back door of the van and hang your animal on
the rack there. I really like the two-light setup that
Burrell uses with the rheostat on his headlight and
the big spotlight inside the coffee can, to keep the
lights out of the hunter’s eyes and scope. I think
the most-important aspect of hunting with Gordon is
that he teaches you how to predator hunt effectively.”
Morris also mentione d
the safety of hunting from inside a van instead of on
a platform in an open truck. “Inside the Catmobile,
you have a completely-controlled environment for the
hunters and their guns,” Morris emphasizes. “Gordon
has made predator hunting idiot-proof. Regardless of
the hunter’s experience or inexperience, they
can get in the Catmobile and have a fun, safe night
of predator calling and hunting. We don’t want
anyone to get hurt by falling off a truck or tripping
when they’re walking. This style of predator hunting
ensures that every aspect of the hunt is safe. For me,
this hunt has been totally awesome to be able to watch
a true wolfer ply his craft and a master of the sport
bring the level of predator hunting to this degree.”
For more information you can contact Rick Adley of
Trophy Wildlife Adventures at (817) 656-1200. For more
information about Hunter’s Specialties top-quality
calls, go to www.hunterspec.com.
Tomorrow: The Evolution of
the Catmobile
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