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Island Shooter


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Hunting Crows With A Dog
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On Saturday morning a friend and I went out to a peanut field that we had hunted last October (shot 110 then).  This time we set up at another spot in the same field and when we met at 6:30, he had his German Shorthair with him.  I've hunted with dogs before and had mixed results.  This dog was quite active, but pretty well behaved.  His name was Chaos and it was obvious that they named him appropriately!

We were set up with decoys and calling them in, mostly in small groups...AKA the Duck Hunting Method.  It takes a pretty smart dog to run past dead crows among the decoys to pick up the freshly killed birds beyond.  This dog was plenty smart enough and did well.  It was fun to watch him work, but there were two (minor) downsides.  First, the dog was large and hyper enough to re-arrange our blind material.  By the end of the hunt, our blind was quite "casual" in appearance with vegetation spread out in all directions!  We were situated well into the shade so it didn't matter too much as we had plenty of blind material in front of us.

The second flaw in hunting crows with a retriever is that having a dog run through the decoy spread to pick up a bird is not conducive to getting the crows back over us to shoot at a second time.  I'm sure we lost a few birds due to this, but that is the price we paid for watching a good dog work.  We also enjoyed seeing the interaction between the dog and a few wounded crows... he had to be quick to avoid the beak and a couple of the crows had a good hold on the dog's lip with firmly clenched talons!  He didn't like that very much.

It was a fun and productive morning.  Total count at the end of the morning was 81 crows. 

Demi

P.S. Here is the picture, but if it is sideways, just know that this is the 3rd time I've tried to include it right-side-up without success. 



-- Edited by Island Shooter on Monday 9th of February 2015 07:01:14 PM



-- Edited by Island Shooter on Monday 9th of February 2015 07:16:05 PM

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Skip


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Love to see fine K-9's work points and retrieves... on upland birds/water fowl. Few things are more visually enjoyable. But dogs on a crow hunt and screen doors on a submarine are counter productive to the mission at hand.. sir!!smile

Skip



-- Edited by Skip on Monday 9th of February 2015 07:05:28 PM

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Butch


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I.S.

Enjoyed the Hunting story,Congrats!


Butch

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Big Honkers


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Good shoot! Thanks for sharing.

BH

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bpshunter


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I always heard a cripple crow would peck at a dogs eyes. Anybody had any experience with this or is it an old wives tale?

BPShunter



-- Edited by bpshunter on Tuesday 10th of February 2015 11:43:04 PM

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Island Shooter


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Although I don't have what you would call extensive dog experience, I have not seen it happen. A good dog knows what can happen and will pick his chance to dispatch the bird. Sometimes it takes a few tries.

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Lone Star Phil


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IS:  Regarding the sharp talons and beaks, I'm surprised you didn't receive some responses to your post urging you to provide protection to your dog.  

I introduced my pair of mutts to crow shooting and besides being a disaster for all the reasons you and Skip observed, there were absolutely no 'walk offs', 'runaways' or 'walkers'.   My casual observation was that a grounded, wounded crow adopted the "super cringe" position when facing an 80-pound canine locomotive approaching at 0.8 Mach.  Gadget Bob graciously let me field test my pair and I naively thought the crows would be agitated by the presence of these undisciplined hounds munching on their buddies such that they would become more aggressive but the opposite happened.

I honestly tried a pair of "Doggles" on one of my hounds and she kept the Doggles on for two or maybe three nanoseconds before backing out.  If you are concerned about your prized retriever's eyes, that product may be an effective safety measure.  They certainly look cool.

Any field activity your dogs can participate in is a blessing!



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Mark


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My buddy brings his dog when we dove hunt.. I do not like it. It flares the doves, picks up others hunters downed birds etc, etc.. Absolutely no way any dog would be allowed to hunt crows with me... 



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KenCrow


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There are three things that you DO NOT take crow hunting with you. Dogs, your wife, and alcohol. Taking someone else's wife may be ok!

There is an old proverb....."love thy neighbor, but don't get caught".

KenCrow



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Island Shooter


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KenCrow wrote:

There are three things that you DO NOT take crow hunting with you. Dogs, your wife, and alcohol.

KenCrow

I agree with the dog and the alcohol, but the wife part is conditional... if she is a good shot and a better sport, then take her.  Here is a picture taken this past November of my son, my wife and I when we shot 95 crows.

My wife says she likes to hunt crows because, unlike deer hunting, it is OK to talk when you are in the blind! smilesmile

Demi



-- Edited by Island Shooter on Wednesday 11th of February 2015 07:56:14 PM

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Old Artilleryman


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Island Shooter wrote:
KenCrow wrote:

There are three things that you DO NOT take crow hunting with you. Dogs, your wife, and alcohol.

KenCrow

I agree with the dog and the alcohol, but the wife part is conditional... if she is a good shot and a better sport, then take her.  Here is a picture taken this past November of my son, my wife and I when we shot 95 crows.

My wife says she likes to hunt crows because, unlike deer hunting, it is OK to talk when you are in the blind! smilesmile

Demi



-- Edited by Island Shooter on Wednesday 11th of February 2015 07:56:14 PM

I've been working on my wife with the concept of "Crow Hunting" for some time. Though she thinks knows I'm a bit strange at times and has hung around for 45 years out of sheer curiosity I believe (not really...), I really haven't been getting much farther than the part when I say that you have to be in position 30 + minutes prior to sunriseno.

She's a keeper, however, just like yours!

Happy Valentine day, All! Don't forget your "spousal units!" (That's "Army" for your wife)smile.



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Lone Star Phil


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IS:

Depends on how much you appreciate your dogs.  In that one hunt with Gadget Bob, they candidly had a net negative impact as they are ill-mannered and can't stay still, spooking crows.  The plus side of the ledger however included absolute annihilation of any crow hitting the ground that showed any sign of life.  Those events were rich with motion and flying feathers.  

In one spectacular athletic display, my eighty pounder was in pursuit of a crow that GB had wounded and that was still aloft and desperately trying to leave the AO and it was quite a drama to witness.  The crow initially traded some altitude for speed after getting shot and having re-established the minimum airspeed required to avoid impacting the earth, was slowing increasing it's velocity and altitude.  Boodle launched herself at the precise moment in time and space required and nailed that crow followed by violent side-to-side head motion and flying feathers converting Bob's 'Probable' into a 'DRT' ("Dead Right There!").   



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Hizzoner


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Hello Island,Butch,Big Honkers,Phil,

            I use my labs all the time hunting with me. However I just bring one per trip. I "always"  SHORT LEASH EM to a

            Tree or something solid as with rapid shooting they will try and BREAK. Even using an EC. With SHORT LEASHING 

             It reduces the crows seeing movement in the blind. Where I hunt on a HUGE marsh the dog is INVALUABLE 

            Retrieving wounded crows that can RUN and HOP like a 800hp HEMI!!!! So it helps retrieving those wounded

           Crows AFTER the SHOOTING VOLLEY has died out. Otherwise later incoming crows will concentrate on those 

           Wounded crows and IGNORE my spread. Yes they do PECK the dog and the have come close to getting 

           SPEARED with a BEAK SHOT but I've/ dog been lucky. Having had dogs all my life I usually use a MATURE      

            Dog on crows as a SPEAR shot from a wounded CROW can ruin a dogs AMBITION TO RETRIEVE!!!!

             Just my Experience hope all is well with you guys!!         

                                                         Hizz

 



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Wingsetter


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Buck's Crows

 

I've been fortunate to have a dog that makes my day when we go out... That's why opinions are great, some guys like numbers, others the relaxation and enjoyment of just being out. We enjoy practicing our retrieves. Although he gets plenty of work during waterfowl season. Attached a hunt that I took a group of Veterans out from Hero's Hunting. Below are a couple photo's of Bucks recent hunts.

 



-- Edited by Wingsetter on Friday 27th of February 2015 10:56:31 PM

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Sniper John


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I am on the opposite of the spectrum from most in that I don't crow hunt without a dog. For me it is just a fun way to extend the hunting season for the dog to have some fun. My older dog Blaze has been on hunts spanning 9 years before she went blind related to complications from a tick disease. My young Vizsla Dash I did not take crow hunting due to running him in pointer and retriever tests both time conflicts and I did not want live crows on a test creating a distraction. But now 3, he has matured enough I probably would have no problem taking him. Hunting with a dog, sometimes I sit the dog remote from me, sometimes in the open at heal, sometimes with a stay placement under a camo net. Most of the time I have not noticed the Crows have a problem with the dog if sat in the open and probably just think she is part of what is going on making all the racket. Of course a dog must be under control and must not break. An injured crow will attack a dog, but an experienced versatile dog get's attacked by all sorts of crippled game be it squirrels, big geese, etc. and learn to deal with them. I remember one of Blazes first retrieves on a crippled crow, she turned around and the crow had hold of her lip just hanging there and would not let go. She had a look as though she was saying "really, you want me to retrieve this nasty thing?". I do strive to double tap all crippled crows if possible before sending the dog on them and as said, I do not recommend sending a young inexperienced dog or an overly soft dog to retrieve any crippled crow to prevent creating a learned problem that would effect retrieving other game. These pictures not in order span over 9 or 10 years.

Live Crow swimming across the Red River from Oklahoma to Texas trying to get away.

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Mix of retrieve pictures

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-- Edited by Sniper John on Sunday 1st of March 2015 05:06:25 AM

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Sniper John


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And one of Dash. If I could include all three registries he would be SHR Vermilion Dash Rip Rock JH NAVHDA Prize 1. This was not on a dedicated crow hunt. At my hunting lease west of Ft Worth often I have been hunting with my dog in the timber along our creek and have groups of Crows follow the dog overhead from tree to tree and make all kinds of racket while we are hunting. I of course know how to put and end to that when it does happen.  I imagine the Crows around there do this to the Coyotes if found out hunting during the day. 

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And that is exactly how this old picture from a Squirrel hunt with Blaze turned out. Crows were in the woods we were hunting eating pecans. The Squirrel hunt turned into an unplanned Crow hunt. I would walk a few hundred yards, stand by a tree, sit the dog away from me, make some crow mouth calls, shoot a crow or two when they came in circling the dog, then move on a few hundred yards and do it again. It was a fun hunt. 

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Old Artilleryman


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Really enjoyed your photos and hunt descriptions. Thanks!



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Butch


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Sniper John,

What O.A said !


Butch

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