Well the Shanedog had to go solo today,I formed up at fire base,hill 881 at 5:00 a.m. put out my spread and got in the blind and waited.Well lets just say that from 6:40 am to 12:30 pm is a blur,of feathers shells, and diving maniac crows!!It was insane,my Franchi 620 20 gauge fired over 150 shells,in fierce action without skipping a beat!!! And of course I missed a ton of dick shots,and made some that I still dont believe. It took me till 1:45 to pickup all of my gear and dead crows!! I ended up with 86 on the ground and I know I had a least twenty or thirty crips,runners and crows dropped in the brush. Wow what a shoot!!!!! And all less than a mile from my house!!
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What can I say! Awesome, great shoot, wonderful pics......all that and more. I dream of days that more than 35 fall to my gun. You live them ! Jealous but in a good way if you know what I mean. Not green eyed jealous. Maybe envious is a better word. But no hard feelings. Shooting is getting better with the ecaller. Knocked down five of the neighbourhood crows the other day using it. I set it on the roadway today to see how far I could turn it off/on, used a fighting call and four showed up.
Great pictures and report!! That is some beautiful scenery you are graced with - I could sit in your blind for two or three hours just enjoying the view! Are you shooting a 20-gauge?
Nicely done... I like to talk to my TCP brethen about "miles per crow" since we are now ranging out 150 miles or more to some of our new shooting locations. When you drive that far one way and only get a handful of crows, it is certainly sub-optimal. Taking 86, less than 1 mile from your home is simply awesome!
We are using our 12 gauge "Metro" pumps right now, but I will break out my Franchi 20 later in the season. Aren't they a delight to tote afield?
Daddy Likes!!!! I only have 24 hours, This time 3mar morning I will be smashin em,Hell is commin to breakfast!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You were due a shoot like that Shane great job and nice lookin Decoy spread
What "sounds" do you use out of your e-caller? Can you run us through a standard calling sequence? That's probably one of the most intriguing aspects of this sport (What others do to be sucessful).
For me/us (Watch Em & I), we usually throw out anywhere from 4-30 dekes (when we are not running & gunning) and mainly use non agressive calling (to start). I'll run the caller for about 2-3 minutes and then shut it down..sometimes less than that. I mouth call off and on too. We sometimes wait 10 minutes between calling. If I see birds on the horizon I turn on a crow gathering or crow come here type call to get their attention...(not super high volume either)...
That's basically how we do it until they quit showing up regularly...then we use distress and some fight sounds.
Hammer Thats exactly how I do it!! Except if the crows are circling and agressive I will keep the callers going full blast. If the crows wont come over I will play different sounds and see what works,I may play Hawk sounds,owl sounds,mixed with crow sounds and distress. I always start with hand calls,them I go to crows mobbing,or crows gathering sounds. I really never use and owl in my set up,I have used a Hawk,but I like feeding set ups better.
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What about decoy placement? I've never put much thought into placement...like facing them into the wind, making a "J" hook like a goose set up, an "X", or leaving an opening etc. The birds seem to come take a look regardless of how I have them set up.
Hey Shane, is that a Buckner? If so, how do you like it? Worth the cost?
Season starts here tomorrow and I've been thinking about doing like you said...starting with a feeding set up then going to fighting calls after the action dies some. I've never tried a feeding set up. Do you pull your decoys that are on the ground before you start the fighting sounds or do you leave them?
Levi I love my Buckner call!!! I need calls with a little back pressure due to a voice box injury I have. I never pull my decoys or the dead, for fighting or distress calls,I leave them out and stay in the blind and run the callers. It seems every time I leave the blind for a reason,here comes a damn crow. My moto is overload thier senses,weather its crows or coyotes,leave the dekes for the visual,have a bunch of different hand calls and ecaller sounds,couple that with some motion from a Buster or other moving decoys,I want them,mad,confused,that gives me enough time for a shot.
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WELCOME TO THE MACHINE
Four in Bengazi died, Obama and Hillary lied,We must never forget!!!!!!!!!!