This past Saturday 10gacrowshooter and I hit one of our favorite places in nearby Maine. It could have been a great day as birds were migrating north for much of the morning. Most birds were very high, heading due north and usually in balls of 20 to 100 birds each. We managed to knock down 21 between us by 10AM.
We were using our Parker 10 bore doubles with 1 1/4 ounce of lead #6.
The problem we encountered was an unexpected pair of crow hunters set up 400 to 500 yards to our front. Their shooting and their setup kept birds spooked and or high. We had a several well decoyed birds but the majority of our shooting was 40 to 65 yard shots. We often hear in the shot size debates, "I like to get them in close", (like we don't). We both believed that had we been using our tight choked 12ga guns we would have only taken half the shots we did with our 10's, which were glad to have been using that day.
Sometimes circumstances are out of one's control, and you can't bring them in close and when that happens, big bores, tight chokes and large shot is an asset.
My favorite shots are to get them in close IF POSSIBLE. The big tens have it all over everything else when they hang up high and no doubt about it.
It really stinks when one has competition in the same area like those conditions you described. But you got that covered with the ten gauges.
The very last thing a crow hunter wants is another crow hunter in his territory! Especially if he has you cut off before the birds get to you, makes a guy want to set his hair on fire!
__________________
To listen to this radio talk show go to episode 12, Bob Aronsohn
