Mark Horsfall Reviews: the Western Rivers Mantis 75R
You regularly get to read Bushwear's own opinion on products, but we'd be remiss if we didn't acknowledge that every retailer is a little bit biased towards their own products. That's why we've enlisted the help of real customers from all shooting disciplines to review the goods we sell in a real environment. This week, Mark Horsfall gives us his thoughts on the Western Rivers Mantis 75R digital caller. If you'd like to be featured on our blog and social media, drop an example review to marketing@bushwear.co.uk.
I've recently had the pleasure of field testing the Mantis 75R made by Western Rivers and sold through Bushwear.
When the package arrived in the post I was surprised at just how compact the unit was. It fits neatly in the hand and the shape ensures it's not only easy to hold but is comfortable, even after prolonged use. The hand grip is rubberized to ensure that even in wet weather your grip remains but it also comes with a lanyard for extra security. The rubber hand grip also folds down creating two legs allowing the unit to be positioned away from the user, be it in a field, on a wall top, etc. The remote included with the unit is probably the easiest of all remote controls to use for digital callers with it only having two buttons, play and stop. While easy to operate, I feel the omission of volume up and down buttons somewhat lets it down a degree. It's also stated that the remote has a 300 foot range (direct line of sight) which I was unable to replicate. The furthest I was able to activate the call was 204 feet away, 68 yards. However, this could've been down to batteries being drained as this particular call had had heavy use.
The unit is built from a tough plastic that's capable of taking a few knocks which, in my truck, is a frequent occurrence. One of the best things about the unit, apart from its rugged durability is that it's simple to use. It has a power, mode, up, down, left, right, and enter buttons on top that are controlled with your thumb. Underneath the unit you'll find the play/stop button, this is operated with your forefinger. There is also an external speaker point which allows the attachment of an external speaker, although the 105db internal 2” Mylar speaker, unless in strong windy conditions should be adequate for almost all situations.
Pressing and holding the power button will switch the unit on and off. Once on, the display will light up, you then simply use the up and down arrows to scroll through the categories of calls. Pressing enter will select the category and, where applicable, open a sub category. Again the up and down arrows allow you to scroll though with enter selecting the sound. To play the sound you simply press the play/stop button with your forefinger. Adjusting the volume is just as simple, you use the left arrow to turn the volume down, the right to turn it up.
Once you've selected the sound you want, changing it to another is simply a case of pressing either the up or down arrow to select from the sub category or pressing the mode button again to take you back into the main categories menu. If you press the mode button once more you're taken to a settings menu. Here you can set whether the unit repeats calls automatically, set a delay or 2 or 5 seconds or even a random selection between repeats, whether the remote is switched on or off and select whether the backlight is on or off. I found the backlight to be very bright on a night, so much so that I felt it illuminated me too much as I selected calls.
Speaking of calls, the unit has a good array with 75 pre programmed calls to choose from. Admittedly, most calls are aimed towards the American market with the likes of elk, whitetail, raccoon and moose but don't in any way let that put you off! I don't know about you but I know I've never come across raccoon babies while hunting in the UK but some of the best results I had came from using that very sound. The foxes just seemed to go wild for it. I travelled to an estate in Cumbria to go out with the head keeper and that night we called 4 foxes within a couple of hours. The keeper was that impressed with the call that he went out and bought one! It's since accounted for many more foxes. I, myself managed to call 5 one night and 3 the following night which was a great result. For the money I think you'd really have to go a long way to beat it.
So to summarise, the Western Rivers Mantis 75R offers an affordable, compact, ergonomically designed, 75 sound digital fox call that is more than capable of rivalling any other in its class. The tough plastic surround offers a rugged durability capable of taking knocks while the 105db speaker produces clear, uncomplicated, digital sounds. It has a clear LCD digital display allowing easy viewing, although the backlight is a little bright. The remote control is a good size and is practical, even if lacking volume controls.
Mark Horsfall is a Wildlife Manager in the Yorkshire area with extensive knowledge of stalking, shooting and pest control. Mark is a prominent figure in the wildlife control Twitter community and has also recently begun writing a blog on countryside issues. For more information visit https://wildlifemanager.wordpress.com.