Last week I got a call from a friend who has a high-fenced dove field adjacent to his house. Pete was complaining about the crows eating the sunflowers, as the high fence keeps out the deer, but not the crows. I scouted the field and found a good spot near where they were feeding, but it was rejected by Pete due to some nearby houses. This forced me to set up the blind facing northeast where I was afraid the sun would be a big problem...it was also void of crow activity, but I no choice.
We met this this morning for the hunt and fortunately there was an overcast to help with the sun. We set out a nice spread of decoys, plus a couple in the trees. Right away they started coming over to us and we were bringing them down! About 75% of he crows were common and the rest were fish crows. We had a blast!!
There was no gate near us and we dropped a few crows over the fence and into the next field. That became a problem as several crows got hung up rallying over the dead ones, so I crawled under one fence and climbed over the other to retrieve them. For a 64 yr. old man, I was proud to still be nimble enough to climb a 9' fence twice!
At about 11:30 the game was over, so we cleaned up, counted the tally, took pictures and broke out the beer to celebrate. We had killed 128 crows! What a great way to spend a cool morning outdoors! This hunt brings my year's total to 908 crows. Pete also gave me two other leads for good fields with active crow problems, so I might make the 1K mark for the first time.
Unfortunately this old coot doesn't have the technology to post pictures. I'll email one to you, Skip, in case you want to follow up. As far as the shots were concerned, most of them were the run-of-the-mill sporting clays type shots, with a few long FITASC shots mixed in. My buddy is an avid hunter who only uses a 20 gauge, but the way he shoots, very few got away due to the lighter loads.
That's the report. Hope you had a similarly great hunt.
Demi
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Demi: WHAT a fine shoot! Any crow hunter that enters the "Century Club" in a half-day hunt gets a CB gold star! ( Wish there actually was such an award ) Well done, sir!! Two guns, overcast, light winds, lots of virgin crows, good hide, good shooters is a prescription for a high TBC. I bet few escaped. Few things are as inviting to a shotgunner... as a black crow against a gray sky--what a visual~~!!
You were shooting your Benelli, right? Might I ask what ammo, choke was used? With your buddy using a 20 ga, sounds like you two were involved in a "close-in shoot" and to me, it does not get any better than that. And by the way, what is a FITASC "shot"? Sounds like "Fired at IT As Soon as I Could.
I too, am not technical enough to post your picture, sorry! Will see if I can get someone else to do so.
Now, to this business of you climbing (please send videos) a 9 foot fence to retrieve dead crows ( or were they hopping away?) as incoming birds were "rallying over the dead ones". I have found that while inbound fresh crows will do as you say...hover over dead birds some distance from your hide, but after a few seconds of orbiting that scene, they head towards your call even more eager. I tend to think I scare off more by exposing myself retrieving than I miss allowing them to hover over the dead. Just one opinion here.
Personally, I was glad 25% were rain crows--around here they do not respond well to a crow calls and tend to come in higher. Their "nasal" sound sure sets them apart.. sounds "non-crowish" to me. Pile up all of them you can.
Your 128 was more than double my day sir: 55 KIA's was the total but "crow presentation" was just super. Over the years, I have grown to enjoy the quality of the shots over the quantity, at least to a point. I will still take 128 over a 55 day every time!!!! I had no wind, perfect gray sky, temps around 50 and I was done by noon as well. After 58 years of chasing crows, I can honestly say Friday was just about as much fun as my first crow hunt at age 15! With crows, the "shine" never wears off. We are a most fortunate band of brothers.
Yes, I knew it was going to be a good hunt when the first group of four crows came in and left as a single! A serious question (that could warrant a seperate thread) is on your comment about stray dead crows.
Which is better? I knew I lost several birds being exposed to new birds while policing up the far crows as I have been taught by Jerry Tomlin. Now you say they will rally only for a few seconds and come in? The concern I have by leaving them has to do with them starting a crow storm. If they rally around far dead ones and bring in the whole neighborhood, then come over, have you not educated all birds vs. the original small group?? What is your read on this?
Demi
P.S. On your comments of the joy of hunting black winged doves, I just got a call from Pete, who I hunted with on Friday (his 2nd crow hunt ever). We are now planning a second trip elsewhere. While talking, he started laughing uncontrollably while he recounted the fun we had!! He is most definitely hooked!!
-- Edited by Island Shooter on Monday 8th of December 2014 05:39:26 PM
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The man who thinks he can, and the man who thinks he can’t are both right.
That looks like one fine shoot Island Shooter!! And my goodness...what a formidable fencing system that is. Have to wonder what one would intend to exclude...or include with that fence! Bit more wire and a tower that could have been a set from The Great Escape
Thanks for sharing
Ted
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Life's tough... It's even tougher if you're stupid. John Wayne
Demi, Nice shoot.. i've been busted many times while picking up birds that fall out of the decoy spread.. I think it is very important to keep the birds "policed" up and arranged within the decoys.. what is unclear, birds seeing you while picking up birds become educated? My guess is yes, to some degree.. but if you have birds getting hung up on a dead bird out of range then you do not have a chance at shooting him and he will certainly start calling his buddies.. and then you know what happens... in Tomlin's case, his obvious goal is to take a nice picture around noon.. So, getting the birds in shooting range is the goal.. All the best!!
Yes, that is one of the finest high fence jobs I've seen. Around here there is a healthy competition for who has the best dove field, and I think Pete is ahead right now. They fence them off for the deer & hogs (the deer around here will move in and devastate a crop in days). But when the crows come in, I want them to call me for the solution !! These guys will work on their dove fields all year to have it just right for the season. It's hard to find a weed anywhere in the field!
Mark,
Re: Busting crows while policing, Jerry T. has the advantage of being in a pecan orchard when crows come in. In an open dove field, there is NO cover, so I have decided to cut way back on my trips away from the blind to see how it goes. Last night I bought a clicker/counter to keep track of my dead-but-lost crows so I can remain hidden. Skip says they should leave a dead crow to come to the decoys, so unless they bring in the whole neighborhood, I'll work with them. I will report the results later.
Demi
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The man who thinks he can, and the man who thinks he can’t are both right.
What I have experienced with long dead crows mostly in orchards, the crows will rally over them and more come to them and we have had no luck in getting them in. This has happened several times this year, so we go bring them in even on fields we shoot. I don't know if our inexperience is why they won't come in but I believe even after we spook them off a dead one and don't shoot we get some of the birds back at the set. As with any hunting nothing is 100 % but down here for us this is our best strategy till we learn something better.
This is a great topic hope others speak on this.
The pic was great and again Congrats.
"Picking up dead crows outside the decoy spread" This is an interesting topic and worth further discussion I think. I compare it to one of the perennial board questions/topics: Do you shoot the first crow that comes in? Answers are on both sides of that question as most know, but my position is " do not shoot the first bird that come in, kill the first bird that comes in. If you are not confident of a killing shot--don't shoot.
Both Demi and Mark are veterans of Jerry Tomlin's approach to crow shooting and his is a very successful method--expensive, but successful. Jerry wants all birds that fall or hop out of the spread picked up as has been described here. Personally, I care only about hoppers.. that I shoot immediately, as they can hop 100's of yards away from your hide and garner the attention of incoming birds too far away for my liking. So shoot all hoppers! We are talking "feeding set-ups"" not run & gun.
As for the rest of the downed birds that fall outside of your spread meaning inside 100 yards of your set-up, I see no need to expose myself, scare off incomers, vs. leaving them be. I cannot remember an instance, and there have been 100's.. perhaps 1000's of such, where a dead or immobile wounded bird outside my kill zone caused a problem. Sure, incomers see them, often rally over them, crying for 10-20 seconds, etc.. but if you continue calling, I cannot remember a single instance where they just flew off vs. ultimately coming towards me even more fired up, upset, etc. I sort of like having a bird 50-75-100 yds away to attract the less eager, or more cautious birds. They are more willing to approach it, get motivated over the dead, and let emotion override reluctance, come into range and get shot.
Skip,
Good discussion and I'm happy to share this thread. But you dodged the question.
If a dead crow, say 150 yards away, is the focus of attention, will the rallying crows bring in lots of their buddies and become a crow storm before coming to your spread??
If that is the case, it is a bad thing. I'd much rather deal with 4-5 crows comin in, rather than 10-15.
What is your experience with this?
Demi
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The man who thinks he can, and the man who thinks he can’t are both right.
My opinion on your question listed above is that a crow rallying around a dead bird 150 yards out will not stay out of gun range long enough to gather a dreaded large group of birds like you mentioned. Yes, they might circle out front momentarily a time or two but will generally come within gun range if calling continues.
Skip,
It's funny. I have the exact opposite strategy on hoppers. I let hoppers go as they will generally hop out of noticeable range in little time. Or, they might head for the nearest cover and hide. Either way I save the shell to the delight of the local hawk or coyote population. If I do pick up any birds it is those that fall between 15 and 75 yards downwind. I don't think it is a requirement to do so but sometimes a clean path on the final 75 yards of the approach can bring the birds in tight.
Demi: I wish one of my crow problems was dealing with crow "storms"! Given I run & gun ( as BH correctly noted ) vs. orchard or open field hunting, techniques are different and mine probably is. For sure a bird in the open ( orchard, field, etc.) often will get birds hung up out of range of your stand. In my cases, those birds that rally around the dead one number just a few.. perhaps 2-3..maybe 10 at times. They almost always eventually head towards the calls after they get tired of messing with the deceased. Remember, I often cannot even SEE those birds ( I am in the woods ) but can hear them hollering.
With a dead bird 150 yards away and in clear view of incomers, I can certainly see incomers getting hung up.. even a storm, etc. All I am saying is, my experience with such situations tells me to just keep calling, the bird or gang will eventually head towards me if they are not spooked. I am not a fan of exposing myself during action. I think doing so provides a net loss of kills.
Just thought I'd chime in here for a bit. I hunt mostly open country as well and thus make darn sure to dispatch all "walkers" or "flappers" immediately. Wounded crows can put distance on fast and theses do interfere with the shoot at times. My young son hunts with me on an increasing level and I usually task him and his young legs and eyes with the search and destroy mission. This however is spring shooting where crows arrive in pairs at the most.
Fall shooting in my theater of operation usually encompasses heavy cover, clear skies and huge numbers of crows...a "crow storm". Walkers or flappers here usually fall into thick standing crops or weedy river bottoms where their struggles go mostly unnoticed. I only wish I could come across situations at this time where the thousands of crows at a particular roost arrive in a more orderly fashion as high kills are unlikely with hundreds of crows spinning above.
Picture of a typical crow storm or tornado... Incredibly hectic shooting for a short time before those involved smarten up.
Ted
-- Edited by M12Shooter on Thursday 11th of December 2014 06:01:37 PM
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Skip, that photo was take just after I cut into them. Usually let a portion of the flock pass by as shooting at leading birds only pushes the remainder of the group back. With a good wind one can chew up a box of shells in a few short minutes as targets are more numerous due to shots muffled by wind and crows struggling to get by into the wind. Calm conditions will result in a dozen or so KIA's... and a thousand getting a good education
Ted
-- Edited by M12Shooter on Friday 12th of December 2014 03:58:32 PM
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Life's tough... It's even tougher if you're stupid. John Wayne
I would also be interested in your perspective as to decoy numbers and placement Here in NC or in SC we can get by with one GH Owl and four Crow decoys, however when I was stationed in NM, or TX or OK...we hunted in more open areas, and tended to use more numbers of decoys, and tighter chokes.
Same for when I hunted crows in southern IL, or in SE MO when I was stationed in those states.
Decoy spreads are subject to the type of crow hunting you do. In my case, I prefer "the duck hunting method" and rarely use the electronic call except to get crows to come back into the spread. This brings them in a few at a time. So when using this method, I usually put out about 12-15 in the field about 15-20 yards out from the blind and a couple of sentry birds in the trees (not close to the blind).
Using decoys when "running & gunning" is different. Not many, if any, are required. A good start for me it to throw out 5-6 dead crows and no decoys.
YMMV, but I hope this helps.
Demi
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The man who thinks he can, and the man who thinks he can’t are both right.
Given I run & gun ( as BH correctly noted ) vs. orchard or open field hunting, techniques are different and mine probably is. For sure a bird in the open ( orchard, field, etc.) often will get birds hung up out of range of your stand. In my cases, those birds that rally around the dead one number just a few.. perhaps 2-3..maybe 10 at times. They almost always eventually head towards the calls after they get tired of messing with the deceased. Remember, I often cannot even SEE those birds ( I am in the woods ) but can hear them hollering.