Sunday started out damp and by daylight got worse but ended up with 23. All done and packed up and back to the truck by 8:00. Recovered 30 sum hulls I know I missed a few. All in all I would hunt in the rain again just next time I won't believe the radar and go with my gut on the rain gear. I left at 8 cause I was soaked.
__________________
If you are gonna be dumb you gotta be tough
You can't fix stupid!
O yeah I kant spel eether
Nice job JD!! As I said before I have had great luck in lite rain or misting conditions,depends on the crows.One time I sat in a blind with my rain gear on (the skys opened up after I was set up) for an hour of heavy rain. When the rain stopped I pulled in a bunch of crows and put them on the ground. But as I get older I tend to not go when it looks like rain. Here is tip for you I use,when in the blind,I take the sling off my shot gun,when your shooting its a flag moving around and it tends to hang up on stuff and it gets in the way when you have to load fast.
-- Edited by SHANEDOG on Sunday 22nd of August 2010 01:46:43 PM
-- Edited by SHANEDOG on Sunday 22nd of August 2010 01:48:10 PM
__________________
WELCOME TO THE MACHINE
Four in Bengazi died, Obama and Hillary lied,We must never forget!!!!!!!!!!
I don't know what you use for a sling but that thing I use Is the cats meaow. It's called a quick sling you can use it as a conventional sling or it can hang your gun across your chest like a tactical rifle so when I normaly hunt I am tucked into the brush my arms don't get tired holding the gun. And it is easy to mount quickly for a shot then when you bring the gun down it is in a ready position across the chest. When you don't need it it tightens straight and tight. This was a mist before day light then the wind picked up and started coming down in sheets. Radar said all clear. I gave in before the crows did. But the majority of them were ones I had already shot at. Should have had my rain gear on.
__________________
If you are gonna be dumb you gotta be tough
You can't fix stupid!
O yeah I kant spel eether
A mist is one thing, rain is another. A few small rain drops from a cloud that soon passes you by won't hurt either, but a steady rain is quite another thing. Drew Moore and I got caught in a rain storm that moved in after we were setup. As we were loading our gear into the bed of the pickup it started to hail, pea size hail, and boy did it smart when it hit you.
There will always be some exceptions to any rule, but for the most part trying to hunt crows in the rain is not very productive. If it's a down pour and you get you're shotgun & equipment soaked it just makes a mess of things in my opinion. This is why you need to take you're magazine spring out of you're magazine tube on you're pump or semi auto and dry out that magazine tube and spring. If you don't and rust sets in you are going to have a potental problem with you're gun feeding after the first shot.
Bob A.
__________________
To listen to this radio talk show go to episode 12, Bob Aronsohn
It was a mist when I loaded the truck before daylight then after daylight the rain came and I thought I could see a light spot but it only lasted 10 min then back to raining.
__________________
If you are gonna be dumb you gotta be tough
You can't fix stupid!
O yeah I kant spel eether
I might add that 23 crows with 30 hulls is a 77% average which is very good if you took the crows as they came and not just shooting the gravy shots. That makes a guy feel good any time you are shooting that well.
Bob A.
__________________
To listen to this radio talk show go to episode 12, Bob Aronsohn
I was using the fox pro for a little till it started raining then I used just hand calls. For fear of water and my fox pro. I recovered 30+ hulls I would say it was more like 55-60% you can bet there is a few hulls lost in the weeds. When I gathered up the first few birds I also picked up the fox pro counter read some where around 30-45 min I think.
as far as decoys I use 13 plastic un flocked flamb.decoys. I modified them by cutting the stake out so I can place them on stakes in different feeding poses. Gun is a 930 mossberg 2 3/4 handloads of 8 shot loaded for skeet so they are real light loads.Improved cylinder choke.
Bob I hate to say it but I will let birds circle to get a good shot so I am pickey. Most shots where under 25 yards out and less than 35 ft off the ground. It was really windy so when I would let them circle they would just hang over the decoys all most hovering. I put my decoys out at 20 paces is the closest decoy and put the others near by. But I did not pass on any crow that did come in if i thought they were not going to get any better I took what they gave me. One thing I did do was if there were more than 1 coming in I would let the first one or two pass by because they would turn back to the decoys and take the third and usually got shots at the passed birds as they re decoyed. Quite a few doubles that way.
-- Edited by jd1983 on Sunday 22nd of August 2010 10:50:16 PM
__________________
If you are gonna be dumb you gotta be tough
You can't fix stupid!
O yeah I kant spel eether
You're an honest man there Justin, telling us how it was that day.
Thats using your head letting them in if they are decoying well. You will notice that later in the season "if you wait, sometimes they still won't come in and give you a decent shot" They are just coming by for a quick look and thats it! Thats when you have to make the "judgement call" should I take em or not.
Bob A.
__________________
To listen to this radio talk show go to episode 12, Bob Aronsohn
O there were a few today that blew by but I try and read them and am getting better at telling what there going to do by there body language and sound they are making coming in. Honesty is the only way we can pass things on to each other. I do take choice shots on decoying birds. Now when I run and gun if there in range there getting some lead.
__________________
If you are gonna be dumb you gotta be tough
You can't fix stupid!
O yeah I kant spel eether