Crow Busters Forum

crow commander · Senior Member

wrong target species

Puppypopper · Senior Member

We have been out to call a little of everything. We have had Owls hit the Foxpro, Eagles buzz the set, hawks smack our sentries and Vultures attack out motion decoys. So yes that crap happens, most of the time it pretty funny.

JaredinPA · Member

I've called in hawks before. When I was younger, before I could hunt, I'd tag along with Dad on crow hunting trips. That's how he got me started in hunting. Anyhow I remember one time while calling using the JS Death Cry of a Crow we had a gray fox respond. It hung around for a few minutes until it figured out there was no free meal to be had. Needless to say it was very thrilling for a youngster like me!

jonthepain · Guru

that must have been really cool as a kid

davejohnson2 · Veteran Member

have had a hawk hit decoys the last 2 times we have been out

Bob · Guru

I've had red tail hawks hit the decoys in the trees in the past. My partner Dick had a coyote damn near run right through his tumble weed blind that he was in one morning years ago.

I've had Canadian geese pitch into the dead crows on the ground when visibility was poor, this happened last season on a field hunt. I could have had a limit of geese with a 12 gauge trap load they were so close!

Bob A.

Glen · Senior Member

Yeah the Hawks are always finding their way to the dekes. I've even had on 2 seperate occasions a deer come & check things out.

8fishermen · Guru

Have had hawks swoop in and kill cripples. Talk about an authentic death cry!!! Have had to run the buzzards off on occasion. Have had many other birds land in the blind with us. Doves seem to buzz us frequently. Had a mouse in the blind with us the first time out this year. We have had ducks buzz us at daylight.

Still waiting on a yote to bust up in the mix. That won't go well for him.

We were hunting under 2 large dead snags the other day. Both were hollow with holes running into the ground. My son ask "what would happen if a coon ran out of the hole with all the noise the callers are making?" I told him "it would get real exciting for a very short period of time!!!" biggrin

crow commander · Senior Member

canadian geese & a gray fox! i hope i get an encounter like yall sometime. i would have tried them. lol ive never taken either but would b delighted too.

Island Shooter · Guru

This morning, we had a Cooper's Hawk fly into the monofilament line hanging one of our sentry decoys in a tree. He's still trying to figure out what hit him! The decoy bounced pretty high, too.

I.S.

nhcrowshooter · Guru

I am surprised nobody mentions Ravens. Probably the most frequent visitor in my parts after crows. They are a PITA because they are protected and look similiar. They are annoying.

jonthepain · Guru

don't thin i've ever seen a raven.

shaddart · Guru

red tails, seagulls all the time. 1 eagle & a coyote comin in to the ecaller, heard him but didn;t see him

Pat B · Senior Member

The most often visitor is ravens followed by bald eagles.
Have had bald eagles come and pick up a cripple that was out of range and running for the hills. The eagles have swooped over the decoys before I had dead on the ground. I've had deer walk through the decoys.

Pat

Gadget Bob · Guru

Hi CC,

We get owls, hawks and buzzards quite frequently. One time a hawk landed and ripped a wing off of a Wounded Woodpecker "flapper" about 20 feet from me.

Once I had a coyote come in and give me 200 yard shot with my .17 Remington. Dead yote.

Another time a buddy and I were hunting - we both fired simultaneously - I thought he was going to claim "my" crow and he walked out with a very nice red fox. I lost that stand!

Regards,

Gadget Bob

crow commander · Senior Member

to gadget bob
i live for close encounters with wildlife. u have to b pretty still to have a hawk come in 20'. ive never had owls or buzzards but after reading other peoples funny days, mines coming. lol i cant believe u got a coyote with a .17. isnt that smaller than a .22. i shoot deer with a .280 & they run off. thats just my luck though. & red foxes always trump crows in my book too. lol

M12Shooter · Guru

Ravens are a common non-target species. Magpies are the most common though. Had a black bear stick it's head into my blind last September... that sared the he!! out of me!

Ted

8fishermen · Guru

crow commander wrote:

i live for close encounters with wildlife.

Then may I suggest Frog Giggin'!!! Last year we had nearly ever species of wildlife that lives in Mississippi and dwells at night within just a few feet of us. Something about the swamps with a flashlight. At night, critters will let you walk or paddle right up to them. To name a few...owls and other birds of the night, deer, coons, possums, rabbits, bob cat, fox, diamond back water snake, banded water snake, cotton mouth, copper head, mud snake (absolutely gorgeous), rat snake, king snake, craw fish, leaches by the thousands, turtles, more alligators that I can count (side note: kids get a kick out of it when you poke one with the paddle and it fills the boat with water) nutria rat, beavers, otters, and the oddest of all... a greater siren. All of the above mentioned were within 20 feet of us and on public land, a lot of which was in city limits. Very cool stuff.

crow commander · Senior Member

hey greg
ive never been frog gigging for real. i say that cause i built a gig once & used it in the ornamental pond in the backyard. it was dirty & had 2 frogs living in it that were huge. lol it sounds really cool though. im def gonna try it this spring. i never thought about going from a boat. everyone tells me to go to ponds. i like hunting swamps just for that reason, all the cool wildlife. i never been at night though. i got a spotlight for christmas & a canoe. i want to try this as well.

i bet the little ones do like the alligators. lol even i would. i take my sisters kids fishing, squirrel hunting, & trapping with me and they like it. they would really freak out seeing a gator.

crow commander · Senior Member

ted,
i would have squealed like a pig if i came face to face with that bear. lol

8fishermen · Guru

crow commander wrote:

ted,
i would have squealed like a pig if i came face to face with that bear. lol

Yes sir!!!! That would have been real exciting for a VERY SHORT period of time!!!! biggrin

M12Shooter · Guru

8fishermen wrote:

crow commander wrote:

ted,
i would have squealed like a pig if i came face to face with that bear. lol

Yes sir!!!! That would have been real exciting for a VERY SHORT period of time!!!!

I never heard it coming as my Fox Pro was playing. Bears are usually quite noisy when the approach. Thought it was a large black dog at first as it poked it's head into my blind and took off when it got my wind. Then I thought "hey, dogs don't have round ears" blankstare

. Spookie thing being that an older guy picking berries was killed by a black bear three years ago very close this location.

Ted

Mike27 · Senior Member

Bussards, lots of the time they beat the crows.

8fishermen · Guru

I had a flock of pelicans buzz the tree tops yesterday. They weren't interested in the decoys, just happened by. They are beautiful birds when they are flying. There is a large flock that winters here every year. We also have ducks and doves buzz the decs.

Splash One · Senior Member

Like the other guys,

Turkey Vultures, Hawks (Red tailed - Red Shouldered - and Kestrels), Grakles, Great Horned Owls, Starlings, Pigeons, Red Wing Black Birds, Deer, Ducks, land owners, and other hunters.

During dove, duck, and goose season some hunters use a crow decoys as a confidence decoy... does not suprise me that a crow feeding call brings in other critters.

-- Edited by Splash One on Saturday 22nd of January 2011 05:27:06 PM

crow commander · Senior Member

to gregs response
i have always liked pelicans since i seen them up close. their freekin huge & often mean. lol they like to block fishing piers sometimes by standing in the middle. i want 1 mounted to keep in the house. lol

motiondecoy · Guru

Ravens are frequent visitors to my decoy spread but just as common are those crazy bold sharp shinned hawks both sexes but never at the same time...red tailed hawks are fairly common for what that is worth but hawks like that tend to drag the crows away to harass them being hawks and will actually have the crows attacking them at the end of a field with few crows breaking off to come over....one day a golden eagle came through and the crows chased it all over the place and the crows did not come over at all...eventually the golden eagle soared off gliding down river...pretty amazing sight!
With all due respects I won't disclose where...I will say however I did see one about a month ago somewhere not far from here( I was only driving down the road home)...very very odd!

Veteran Member

I've had turkey buzzards and hawks come in and try to take my decoys. One of the strangest things to happen though is after a few hours of shooting, I had a small flock of turkeys walk all the way across a field to come and look at the motion decoy (buster II). They stood there for a few minutes just looking at the decoys and then they moved on. I guess that's why we can't use electric decoys for turkey hunting.

Crowslayerking · Veteran Member

My Dad and I were out a couple of years ago and had a Bald Eagle come into the call with the decoy spread!

Crowslayerking · Veteran Member

Was a great sight to see!

Old Artilleryman · Guru

During our MI AUG-SEP season, I have way too many skeeters coming in to see what's going on.

Redditch · Guru

When decoying and calling for rooks and crows, we get everything coming in.
Pigeons (wood and feral), magpies, and jackdaws, are all shootable, and foxes come too, also shootable, but not with birdshot.
None prey species that come in are Raven, Jay, BADGER, stock Dove, Collared Dove, sparrow Hawks, kestrels, red kites, owls, not too mention all the song birds.
So you have to be very careful when you swing onto a fast flashing past bird, as you have to clearly identify it before you pull the trigger.
Shooting the wrong species here would not only get you a MASSIVE fine, but Upton two years imprisonment, and the certain loss of your firearms certificate

As we are near the coast, we often get seagulls and albatross come in too, not to mention cormorant, BUT, only two species of gull are allowed to be shot, the lesser black backed gull, and the greater black backed gull, all others are out of bounds

-- Edited by Redditch on Wednesday 8th of July 2015 10:19:19 PM

motiondecoy · Guru

I forgot to mention that geese have showed an interest in hanging out with crows decoys too....not lately however but in old stomping grounds..it was very interesting! I should have gotten a duck stamp that year...but so it goes....haven't had that since-oh yes-pigeons often come to the decoys too as well as blue jays, starlings and various types of black birds including starlings-birds like that....a coyote came once but nothing to bring it down with...Turkey vultures? Oh yes...that has happened but I don't do mosquito season crow hunting any more...why should I? Not that many around here to begin with let alone to shoot at as they all moved away to another portion of the state!