Crow Hunting

[max3]

It's almost 10 days since a single crow post.    I hope you haven't given up .I got a friend all excited about going and hopefully this weekend rain will clear some of this snow away. then I will dust off the old decoys and we will go. I plan on bringing a camera so I can post some pictures .

[Dave]

I have eaten crow MANY times, but it was figuratively, rather than literally.... : ....

I've seen what THEY eat....I feel the same way about possum... ??? ....

Pygmy I wonder if if tastes like the wet beaver?

Dave

[Dave]

Remember guys you can hunt crow with rifles. So feel free to put a 30-06 round through a crow at 150 yards, if they get too annoying. lol.

Never hunted crow , what is legal and not legal to use on them. Can I use a 22 or 22mag.?

Dave

[pistolp71]

Yes, they can be hunted with rifles.

[max3]

Anything is legal. But safety first as I am sure everyone knows. Most times the shots are wide open so a rifle may not be the best choice.We will be using decoys so a shotgun works best for this application. As funny as crow hunting sounds it can be a lot of fun once and a while.

[martin]

I had a blast yesterday hunting crows. We shot about a box each and was laughing the whole time upon cursing for missing. Its always challenging. We had one crow with missing feathers fly in "HOT" 3 times and missed him. Can't wait to see him next time.

[martin]

We went out again and saw our buddy with the missing feathers. Missed him again to. I got 3 and one of them was an adult. it was big. We had 50 birds come in at the same time this morning. It was awesome. Only got one shot off. I downloaded a call from wester rivers and for some reason the birds love comming in to it. Not sure what it is. Only a few more weeks left..Bummer...

[Pygmy]

Martin... Adult crows and crows that were hatched last spring would be the same size... You wouldn't be able to tell the difference at this time of year..

If you shot a bird that was significantly larger, you may have shot a raven , which are protected...

I'm not busting your chops, just letting you know ...

[Dave]

Martin... Adult crows and crows that were hatched last spring would be the same size... You wouldn't be able to tell the difference at this time of year..

If you shot a bird that was significantly larger, you may have shot a raven , which are protected...

I'm not busting your chops, just letting you know ...

Thanks Pygmy I didn't know that, now I do.

Dave

[Pygmy]

Yeah, Dave, back 30 years ago when I was doing a lot of crow hunting, it wasn't an issue..

Then one day while running the electronic call up near Monterey , a big ol' crow came in and I dumped him.. I went over to pick him up, and he was at least half again the size of a common crow.. I knew what he was, because I had seen ravens in Canada...

Since then ravens have become very common here in the southern tier..I see and hear them daily when I am hunting..They WILL come in to crow calls and they are federally protected..

I'm not saying that it is a great crime if one accidently gets mistaken for a crow, but crow hunters should be aware that there is a difference.. Enough said...

[martin]

  Thanks pygmy. I know your not busting my chops. It was a big bird. It could of been a raven. Here's a question..How can I tell the difference between the 2 when they are flying. I appreciate your expertise and like to learn from everybody. I'll take any knowledge that you'll share. have a great weekend...Marty

[Pygmy]

I don't know any foolproof field ID tips that are easy to make QUICKLY, but here are a couple of things that might help...

Unlike crows, ravens  are not flocking birds ,at least not  in most cases..A single large black bird responding to your call may be a raven...

Crows often call when responding to a caller..Ravens seldom do..If they DO they have distinctly different vocalizations than crows...Google up some sound bytes and listen to thier calls, to help you ID them...

If they happen to pass directly overhead, look at the end of the tail..The end of a crow's tail is FLAT and the end of a raven's tail is distinctly wedge shaped...

Good luck....Have fun....Don't let fear of shooting a raven spoil your fun crow hunting..It's just best to be aware that it is a possibility...

[Elmo]

Yeah, I haven't gone out much of late.  Went out this past Saturday for an hour but didn't see anything.  Maybe try again this coming Monday or so before the season ends.  Maybe give Stewart State park a look.

[DTG3k]

I was practicing using my crow calls for spring turkey season. And i had two crows answer me and come in. Wish i had my shotgun on me at the time lol.

[Dinsdale]

Remember guys you can hunt crow with rifles. So feel free to put a 30-06 round through a crow at 150 yards, if they get too annoying. lol.

A 270 closes the deal well too, and is good practice

Best shot this year...205 ;D

[max3]

Finaly got out today . I have not gone in years. Probably twenty . In any case we got there and put out 6 old dusty plastic decoys. Within twenty minutes of calling here they come. They busted us and flew away with out coming in. We did have fun though. Calling back and fourth with them. But they just were not buying it. They must have seen or heard us start laughing when we thought we had them coming.

A lot of fun I think I will try and get out tomorrow.

[Lawdwaz]

Remember guys you can hunt crow with rifles. So feel free to put a 30-06 round through a crow at 150 yards, if they get too annoying. lol.

A 270 closes the deal well too, and is good practice

Best shot this year...205 ;D

Well done!  Smoked crow & a Blaser!

[martin]

Hey max3,

  Glad you got out like we did. I'm laughing with you. My friend shot one and said he's going down, I said yea right. WE got up to the top and didn't see him. SO I tried to stalk one solo in the tree's, as I was walking I found his wounded bird. Shot at him 15' away and missed. I was laughing at my self. Since their were rocks in the area, I chased this bird for 5 minutes with my friend laughing at me the whole time. He was giving he hand signals of were he was ,which I already knew. The bird started to walk around this bush si I thought I would cut him off only to see he saw me and went back the other way. So I finally caught up to him and finished him off.. I was tired walking up and down this hill. Anyways we called at this new spot and had a lot come in but it was really windy. We did get a few more shots off. We did have a eagle fly over us a few times. That was totally awesome. Of course we had to stop till he left. Even though the season is coming to a end, you can still hunt crows on farms with permission.

[max3]

Hey Martin glad to hear you also were able to get out. I think you and I answered this thread in the beginning with the same response. I guess you can call us a couple of "seasoned" crow hunters ! LOL!  I might go again this afternoon.

[Elmo]

Gave it one last go before the season ended.  I placed out my two decoys (one with a built in electronic call) and we initially got nothing but a pair of falcons circling it for a while.  It was awesome.  One of the falcons landed on a tree next to me.  I swear I could have thrown a rock at it and killed it.  Towards the end of the day, we decided to circle back to the spot where we drew in the falcons and this time the crows came.  One came within 20 yards.  My brother unloaded two rounds but missed.  After that, no other crow came within a 100 yards.  I think wearing blue jeans and a black jacket made us stood out like a sore thumb.  Oh well.  We were happy to even get crows to come in.  Till next season!

[max3]

Hey you sound like you are becoming a crow hunter ! You didn't make mention of laughing though I am pretty sure you guy's had to be. Look for decoys at yard sales this summer and try and build up your decoy arsenal. Back in the day we would try and think up all kind of crazy decoy set-ups. Once while setting up and waiting for another friend when he finaly did show he had rigged one of the decoys to sit on his shoulder as he set up. Sounds kind of corny but it was funny and everyone was laughing there ass off while watching him set up........ It's the memories ! LOL!

[martin]

Hey toruk,

Glad you guys got out and had a good time. Crows can see blue,So nothing blue at all. It's all about laughing and enjoying the day. Only 150 days tilll the new season starts.

[Elmo]

I don't know if "laughing" would be the word I would describe it.  It was pure excitment and a bit of an adrenaline rush.  Followed by a "I can't believe I missed!"  You have to keep in mind...my brother is an 8 year combat veteran with multiple medals for marksmanship and reported kills out beyond 600 yards so whenever he misses it is like "what the heck just happened?"  We were both excited that we were successful in drawing the crows in at all and we were both very disappointed that this was the last week of the season because boy do we want to get back out there again!