Crow Busters Forum

one of my best hunts ever was with a mojo hawk without the wings. it seem to drive em crazy! BUT we were also close to a roost, scouting is more important than anything.

Hi guys,

I bought a mojo hawk last year and only tried it once.  Didn't seem to work...but like I said, I only tried it once.  I'm in PA and you can not use motorized decoys but I don't think that matters much (at least when putting out a hawk deke.  It would be cool if we could use motion crow decoys though).

Anyways, Shanedog (or whoever) can you explain your set up when using a red tail?  Is it about the same as owl/crow set up?  Put the red tail higher than the crows.  Have some crows sitting somewhat close to it looking like they are scolding it???

Thanks.

Hammer

For what it is worth. I get to watch the activities of 8 crows everyday. They live at the facilities that I work at. I listen every morning to when they come in. I watch how they interact with each other. I watch them run other birds and crows off. We had a Red-tail Hawk make the mistake of stopping by the other day. Beautiful bird. Up to the point to where one of the residents seen him. It was on. The crows fired up and started in on him. The hawk did not stutter on them much. He just sat there and would move over bit by bit. Just as if to say, " Ya, I see y'all ". The crows started to grow in numbers. Other crows from around the area started to come in. Finally the numbers got up to about 20 to 25 birds and the Hawk figured that the numbers are to great. Plus the crows were getting closer. Please understand the pain I was going through while watching this. I am on one roof top, 50 yards away is a Hawk and I have all these crows flying around close enough I can hear the wind being cut by their wings. It was truly as sight to see. But after seeing the reaction just from a Hawk sitting down, never have made a sound, was amazing.

After viewing that I can not see me going to the field with out a Hawk in hand.

Damn, I gotta buy another decoy.

Hey Puppypopper,
You have the makings of a decoy wh?re. I have a friend that's one for duck decoys. That man cannot walk by a duck decoy without at least handling it. Right now he has a seventy-five goose decoys split between field and floaters and he has almost two hundred floater sea duck decoys on six longline sets.

Nice foxpro caller
is that a fence post? What do you do carry a sledge with ya?
I need to try the owl again every time I use it they flair away never had a kamakazie experience

Us pa guys need to organize and get the game commision to allow motion decoys for crows. Does any one know where or who I need to contact?

1983 & Hammer, the post in the photo is a hundred year old cedar fence post I salvaged from a scrap pile at a farm. It is light as a feather and the whole set up takes only a few minuites to deploy.

I don't require a sledge to stand the thing up as the ground is soft in the spring. I use a three foot hunk of old shovel handle to form a circular hole for the pole to stand in...as the end is sharpened to a point.

Should the ground be too hard or frozen as it often is in the early spring, I simply tie the thing to a short sapling or barbed wire fence with some hay wire or baler twine. Just make sure the owl is not cantered as crows don't like this.

Works best set up in a rather open location, put the wind at my back or there about and I hook my FX3 onto the decoy pole as depicted. Take cover no more than 20 or so yards distant and let the FoxPro do it's magic.

First crow killed is fixed to the owl with a fish hook in a manner that looks like some poor crow has become dinner for the owl. Bust both it's wings as they will move with the breeze should it be strong enough and give added movement.

If your incomers are flaring then something is wrong with the set...ie: the crows are likely spotting you, they are just simply educated birds or the owl is being used at the wrong time of the season.

I make 6-8 stands each morning and rarely get skunked at any as crows fixate on the owl and shots don't seem to spook them much... as long as they don't spot you that is! Take the first crow that shows up as following birds will move up like to a magnet. Letting incomers "boil up" in a group above the deek rarely results in larger kills/set and IMO simply educates too many crows.

Also I never us any commercial crow deeks. I will tie dead crows together by their necks with black baler twine and toss the lot up into bare branches of higher trees should I choose to stay at a location for an hour or so.

Good luck!

Ted

Thanks M12.  As JD said..."must be the wrong time of year"....

What time of year is the "best"?


JD - I'm not sure who we could get in touch with about getting the game commisison to change their decoying rules for predators.  You can use a motion decoy for coyotes but not for crows.  Don't get it.  I guess if we start using them for crows then all the waterfowlers (I hunt geese, so I'm not ripping on the waterfowlers) will want them to make motion decoys for ducks/geese legal.  Could open a big can of worms.  But it's worth a shot to get them to know what we think.  I say just make motion decoys legal for predators (coyotes, fox, raccoon, crows, etc.).

OH, M12, do you think a red tail hawk on a post with a crow at it's feet would work like the owl?  I have both the owl and hawk decoy.  Just wondering.  From what I hear and read...crows HATE owls worse.

Keep me posted.  I am willing to join the fight.

Hammer

Ok will do

Puppypopper,

If it was a duck decoy you would have competition for highest bid. Seeing as it is a hawk decoy...you might get competition from crowbusters. Mind you after a while you will need a horse trailer just to haul your decoys around.......


Pat

I have had success many times with the owl..I am gunna try both decoys fightng over a crow decoy!

Great horny owls and red tailed hawk decoys work fantastic including the plastic peregrine falcon decoy when used in conjunction with crow decoys. The mojo red tailed motion decoy works really great despite the duck like rythim of the wings.I don't have to even call 99 9/10% of the time! Just put a buster 2 below it or have a mojo crow attacking it! The drawback? heavy for decoys if you trek 400 yards. Just make sure a lot of crows are in the area to make it worth your while..bring lots of ammo!