crow issue.....help needed

[upstatehunter]

A friend and i attempted to hunt crow yesterday morning.....we had one come in but spotted us.....the rest would circle at about 200 yards out......we used mouth calls and 3 crow decoys......i bought camo netting to hang above us but any other help would be appreciated

[growalot]

Ground blind

[upstatehunter]

I was thinking that but i didn't know if when shooting up in the air if the windows would allow the angled shots

[Lawdwaz]

You have to kill the sentry.......then the rest will come.  If it's wounded and flopping around all the better.

You don't need a ground blind.....you won't be there long enough to justify.  Shoot a bunch then move to a different area.

Electronic callers are deadly.

[The_Real_TCIII]

Tagged, because I really want to try this


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[upstatehunter]

How do you get them to commit to approach the decoys......are we wasting time with mouth calls? I have a speaker that hooks to a phone which i can then play crow calls

[Renegade Hunter]

I wouldn't even use a crow call. I have had them pile in around me while coyote hunting- using rabbit in distress. They all flocked around making a racket, landing in the branches all around me. If I had a shotgun it would have been a shooting gallery. 

[Zag]

Like lawd said. I've heard about them tying a wounded one to a tree branch and it works like a charm. Never hunted them tho. Kind of a weird bird for me.

[Lawdwaz]

Oh a mouth call is excellent.....no need for a electronic but they give a big advantage.  I love my wooden Faulks calls, they fool crows and gooblers.....

Just stay hidden; pick a hedge row and NOT the center of a woods.  DEcoys are good, crow and owl type. 

[Lawdwaz]

13 minutes ago, upstatehunter said:

 I have a speaker that hooks to a phone which i can then play crow calls

Is it that loud?

[Lawdwaz]

I think Pygmy has lots of experience with crow hunting.  Another buddy (age 79) as a kid had a pet owl.  You can't imagine the crows they killed via THAT decoy.

[turkeyfeathers]

Remember can only hunt Friday thru Monday I believe. Finally killed my first 2 last year. I suck at wing shooting lol. White bed sheet with head and arm holes cut out works in a pinch   Wife may be pizzed. Hoping to get a Fox pro for my upcoming birthday. Cassette caller works for crows but not conducive to hunting predators with wind in mind. If you can locate a roosting area set up on flight in morning or evening. Saw a murder of crows 1000 or so flying to their roost area a few weeks ago. That would be some fun. 

[wooly]

Funny this should pop up today.

 

I've been trying to photograph a hawk over a gut pile/deer carcass for a few days now. Seems every time the crows start going bonkers, the hawk shows up. Not sure who is being attracted by who here, so I'm trying to call the crows for starters.

I've been calling the crows with an electronic crow distress and owl call, and it worked like a charm....... THE 1'ST TIME!

Had them all around me going nuts 20ft from the blind on my first sit and the hawk even showed up with the flock.

 

After that first attempt, they just fly right on by now without getting too excited anymore. I think they got smart real quick after that and it's time for me to move my guts again. I have a trail camera over the carcass and they don't even visit it anymore when I'm not around to talk to them. My second sit in the blind I tossed a half eaten salami sandwich 10ft out the window. A few minutes later a crow swooped in to grab a free meal and split,lol

The hawk hasn't been back either... I don't think I'm gonna be able to fool any of them here again for a while even with so many around. Challenging birds for sure once they get educated.

[Lawdwaz]

They are very smart birds.  How many road killed crows have you ever seen??

[wooly]

42 minutes ago, Lawdwaz said:

They are very smart birds.  How many road killed crows have you ever seen??

Yeppers!

And no crow in my area can possibly resist a tipped over garbage can on the side of the road.

May be time to swap out the gut piles for a ripped open bag of dirty diapers,lol

[Paula]

We shoot them, every time one falls we arrange them to make it look like they are hanging out in our yard. We have also cut out silloettes of them, doesn't work

Edited December 25, 2016 by Paula

[wolc123]

I shoot them occasionally from my bedroom window with my 22 rimfire, off the carcass pile that is 100 yards out back.  I missed one on Friday.  I don't think I compensated quite enough for the crosswind (22's get blown off pretty good at that range). 

[coonhunter]

When I was a teenager we set up on hedgerows next to a fence. We put out a great horned owl decoy and hung black socks on the fence and on tree branches. We never shot the first one that came in. He almost always flew off and a few minutes later a flock would come in, giving us a few minutes of good shooting. Then we would pick up and move to a place to start all over. 

[Elmo]

8 hours ago, Lawdwaz said:

You have to kill the sentry.......then the rest will come.  If it's wounded and flopping around all the better.

You don't need a ground blind.....you won't be there long enough to justify.  Shoot a bunch then move to a different area.

Electronic callers are deadly.

I read somewhere that they always send down one scout first before the rest follow so you're not suppose to shoot the first one?

[turkeyfeathers]

9 hours ago, Elmo said:

I read somewhere that they always send down one scout first before the rest follow so you're not suppose to shoot the first one?

I've herd that az well.

But I've also heardd that seelf pleasuring one self maikes ewe go blinde.  Sorry aboute the type o's but I can't find my glasses.

[Pygmy]

I haven't hunted crows much in years, but back in the day my buddies and I killed hundreds of them.

In the winter, I always preferred evergreen cover if I could find it.. Crows are EXTREMELY sharp eyed and it is tough to hide from them.  You need to set up where they cannot see you until they are over your head, at which time it should be too late for the crow.

I usually used an electronic caller for this kind of hunting.

 

Another extremely effect  way to hunt them is to build a blind and hunt them like ducks, using decoys..For this you need to locate a feeding area, such as a field where they are feeding on freshly spread manure. I used a hand call for this type of hunting, but if you have a few decoys out in the right place, many crows simply see them and come in to join the feast, and no calling ( or very little) is necessary.

Use  light loads of small shot.   Crows are a small target and the denser patterns of 7 1/2, 8 or 9  shot are very effective on them.

I have killed a bunch of them with #9 skeet loads.

Edited December 26, 2016 by Pygmy

[Merlot]

I hear a stuffed owl works, given that crows and owls are enemies.

[turkeyfeathers]

11 minutes ago, Merlot said:

I hear a stuffed owl works, given that crows and owls are enemies.

Stuffed owls would be a Federal offense. Not even allowed to possess a bird of prey feather. Buddies son took an earful from a DEC guy at a primitive bow shoot for having a hawk feather he found on his quiver.

[upstatehunter]

We went out today with homemade black bag decoys sees how someone forgot theres......also put ketchup in snow as i have read.....saw a few in distance and had one come into what i think was shotgun range.....we didnt shoot due to thinking it was a scout......and that then ended are excitment as nothing else came......i went tonight and bought an electric call, decoys and and an owl decoy.....will be out to try again saturday

[Lawdwaz]

31 minutes ago, upstatehunter said:

i went tonight and bought an electric call, decoys and and an owl decoy.....will be out to try again saturday

I'd say you're taking this kind of serious...........I like that.