This morning I set up a blind for a small crow hunt planned for Friday AM.Came back to the house to clean up and around noon I was leaving the house for work.I was carrying my FoxPro after changing the batteries in preparation for the hunt.Said, what the heck, I’ll see who is around.
Walked to the truck and turned it on.Before I could get loaded and/or hidden, a cloud of fish crows came over and I had a ball!In 15 minutes, I had 3 or 4 waves of them rallying around the dead on the ground.Most of them were very high (75 yds.+), but A) I like the very long high shots, and B) Fish crows have thin skin and glass jaws.One of them I dropped 2’ from the hood of my truck and another hit squarely on the roof of our golf cart (I thought it was going through the plastic!).
Ended up with 13 fish crows.No camo, no blind, standing in the driveway in street clothes shooting my O/U, which cost me a couple of birds due to constant reloading.
What a nice way to get yourself in the mood for work!
Demi
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The man who thinks he can, and the man who thinks he can’t are both right.
I do like those high overhead shots. I like the "whizz" sound of a bird falling from a good altitude. I can't help but laugh when I need to jump out of the way of a falling dead bird.
Oh yes Honker! Those high overhead passing shots are such a joy. At times I forget to point at another crow as watching the dead plummet to earth can be so mesmerizing!!
Ted
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Life's tough... It's even tougher if you're stupid. John Wayne
Ted,
The only gun & ammo I had in my truck at the time was for sporting clays. I was using # 7 1/2 in 1 oz. loads! A little light for common crows, but the smaller fish crows were quite allergic to them.
If you are into sporting clays, you will recognize that the loads and the long shots were just like shooting FITASC.
Demi
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The man who thinks he can, and the man who thinks he can’t are both right.
Island Shooter, the effectiveness of good quality trap loads on high crows is an eye opener for many. And the common crow is not much tougher than your fish flavored variety as well!
Ted
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Life's tough... It's even tougher if you're stupid. John Wayne
Island Shooter (Demi): Contained in your fine post are several lessons or facts about crows and crow shooting that cannot me mentioned too often. First, always have your FoxPro or equivalent IN your truck/car for targets of opportunity with proper weaponry. Secondly, both crows and fish crows do have "thin skin and glass jaws" and do not "carry" shot very well so ( I will get in trouble here ) low brass with smaller shot work nicely even at longer ranges. Third, O/U and doubles...are not weapons of the crow wars--too much time spent reloading and losing targets if your goal is a high TBC. Forth, with virgin or "green" crows proper hides are not nearly as important as Demi outlines here but good shooting is and Demi is a superb shot. Lastly, rain crows ( also called coastal crows ) are about 80% the six of a common crow so they visually appear farther way than they really are. So using Demi's 75+ yd. estimate of range coupled with the 80% factor and the tendency of FITASC shooters to overestimate ranges, the corrected distance is really 37 yards!! Good shooting Demi!!!!
Skip
How did you do on the Friday morning shoot you mentioned?
I've shot with you, so having you give me accolades as a shooter is the supreme compliment! Thank you SIR!!
Now about your lesson on what to have/not have: Guilty as charged on most counts. Do note, however, that I did NOT run out of ammo (sorry, couldn't resist).
37 yards!!!!???? HA, HA!
And lastly, Friday is tomorrow. I'll give you a report, if warranted.
Shoot Well,
Demi
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The man who thinks he can, and the man who thinks he can’t are both right.
Opps: Guess being old and senile is sufficient to explain why I am not sure which day Friday is!!!! Fact is, I am headed out in the morning myself to sample some crows so perhaps we can compare notes. Good luck tomorrow, sir!! I will try to avoid... the running out of ammo thing. It is not fun.
I feared you might wince at being found out as to the real distance involved. We must strive to be truthful on the CB board!!!
Demi
