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Post Info TOPIC: Slow season, few crows
Top Cat


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RE: Slow season, few crows
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WNV didn't kill that many crows around here at the time;just the occasional bird ...but what West Nile Virus( that was created in Plum island New York) oh by the way-did annihilate to the point of endangerment many once common birds not related to corvidae; notably the Blue Jay.

When the shooting  was spaced out as it often was for the crow typical flocks of 20 jaybirds would make it across the field  one by one in case of the infrequent attacks by the sharp shinned hawk-a bird slightly smaller but every bit as aggressive as the larger Coopers and  even bigger Goshawk ...But I didn't specific see or hear much of  WNV  killing the crows which depended a lot around here on the smaller birds for food which did suffer heavily as the result of WNV infected mosquitoes...nut what is weird now we have darn few mosquitoes so hopefully the birds will replenish subsequently  the crows too will return. Sure there is always a few around but read that as 3-4 but not more; even in migratory season...!



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Top Cat


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There are guys in the Plains and other crow rich areas oddly I do better when I go then they do and that's here in NH! By no means true of every crow shooter in the Plains basically these types don't know where to go! For the most part where I go I would get 20 crows or so each time out  and the  drawback was  I was using lousy "El Supremo" ammunition from Walrus Mart that frequently  jammed and I learned that this was nationwide-pumps included ..by the time I corrected this scenario competitors came along (this was actually their territory) and ended my crow shooting that season!

 The bottom line is know where the crows are to get any numbers...I mean there is no reason in my mind why a guy in Western NYS or southern Oklahoma only gets 5 crows?!?!



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Top Cat


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I stand corrected rather sit corrected: the blue jay is a cousin to the crow and as are all jay birds in all their configurations across the USA. There may not be any crows in some areas but there can be found the jaybird whether a Stellars' jay in the Northwest or the Green Jay in  the south somewhere or the Scrub jay of Florida....I meant to say that many bird species ere devastated by WNV from A-Z but here's a kicker; this year I saw hardly mosquitoes!  Oh there a few but I remember you could stick your hand out and it would be covered in 5 minutes! Today or these days I can move across the yard at night and maybe one or two might attack!

 Corvidae family takes in  also the magpie and the raven as well and like a true family they do not get along!



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Redditch


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Much the same here, most groups at the moment are only 20-30 birds, but waiting for the new sowing of the winter crops, then it will be busy. Unfortunately the corvids here (corvids = crow species. Magpie, carrion crow, rook, jackdaw, hooded crow (greater and lesser), Raven, grey back crow, Jay, the Jay and Raven are protected, the rest is 365 day hunt except Sunday's) have gotten to know my vehicle, and my face, and the farmers now say I'm the best scarecrow they have. I only have to appear on the main road hill 100 metres from the farm drive which is another 300-400 long, and the crows instantly go into Panic mode and fly off from the farm LOL.
That said, sometimes I still catch them off guard,and my usual bag just pottering is 5-35 a day.
If I want big bags, I have to be set up with my decoys an hour before first light, were full camo including face veil, and have my truck parked at least 600-800 metres away

but I hunt crow and pigeon 6 days a week (except when they have young, I try to avoid shooting then, as don't want young starving to death, that's no way for anything to die). 

Fox and rabbit we can hunt 7 days a week, 365 a year. 

in England and Wales (not sure on Scotland, but I think the same) they can hunt crow and pigeon 7/365 though



-- Edited by Redditch on Monday 19th of September 2016 11:27:50 AM

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killer Crowalski


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nhcrowshooter wrote:

The NH fall crow season started on 8/15 and we are more than a month into it.  Crows this year are noticably fewer and further between previous seasons.  I have yet to go out and not get a shot at a bird but too often that is all that it has been.

I have taken 71 birds thus far (and the 10ga, full choke and #6 shot has helped a lot).  Sometimes a long shot is all I get.  Looking at my notes I have been out for a couple of hours minimum on 22 days.

Have hunted most of the time with a partner.  Out of 22 days 13 have been 2 birds or less for myself.  Only 2 days have been in double digits, one day was 10 the other 20.  The 20 bird day we shot 39 between us.

Not sure what is going on, we had a dry summer, it's been warm so far.  Corn has come in early but there are few birds in the area.  My guess is local birds have headed south and migrants have not arrived.  Still waiting and hoping for the "Big Push" which usually comes in Oct.

Anybody else experiencing a "slower" than usual season?

For the beginning of this year this is exceptional. At no time in my crow shooting "career" was I ever do that well when I'd go in August....September in my "good old days" definately had more and better shooting with October the peak of my activities but it would rapidly die off after October with November-again-in the "good old days"-a one bird day each time out after that with 7 being a great day  in that time period...

 



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killer Crowalski


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What I saw of two years of "no crows" should have read:"They all came down just before or after the season ended...now you know why I think the season should at least be expanded if not changed to something that eliminates August to the end of September or at least August...times have changed apparently with an extremely unpredictable bird. What got hit pretty hard around here was every warbler species; the starling, the pigeon, all wood pecker species except the pileated and red bellied wood pecker-red headed wood peckers started disappearing in the 70s....) all hawks except the Bald Eagle (I only see the Golden eagle in spring and fall)and the Osprey..unknown about the owls...but the closest cousin to the crow-the Raven was untouched but Blue Jays are almost endangered when in my time (the 70s until the 80s) they were almost as numerous as migrating robins, second only to pigeons and starlings being competitive numerically with the pigeon...until fall at the time when hundreds of various black birds from Canada would pass through in mid to late october...but you should have seen the impossible crow activity in the seventies in Connecticutt region...for NH it was incredible and impossible!!
I think many took a different path westwards these days despite the still shootable numbers it looks more like a ghost town these days in fall when following the river you might see 15 altogether in a morning cruise...

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Island Shooter


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2 pages and 56 replies... been awhile since that has happened!  Crow season is starting to crank up!!

Around here two things are keeping me out of the crow blind.  A) Our season starts in November. and, B) Temps in the mid-90’s - Humidity in the mid-90%s - RealFeel temps around 105!

I’ll be sticking with clay pigeone for a little while longer! wink

Demi



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killer Crowalski


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Two years straight the crows came though late just within days of the seasons' end or after and in numbers too! I was amazed and stunned! How can this be? Anyways I had to pack it in....both years..there they were but after the season was all but over or clearly over...otherwise I don't get it...I do know a couple of years one area was hot for what that is worth given NH

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