As promised, I recorded some of the PG rated advice from Skip to the Texas Crow Patrol we gleaned during his "intervention" (I mean visit) last month:
1. Never use "Metro guns" for maximum TBC (TILT! ) 2. Hide much better – use an effective blind and setup before the crows are in the area 3. Never let crows see you enter a shooting stand – make a stealthy approach 4. Don’t waste “shooting” time stopping to eat, talk to landowners, etc. 5. Setup upwind 6. Start with month calling or non-aggressive e-calling 7. Keep moving when a given location fails to produce 8. Remember you can bring crows in right until dark 9. Cut calling periodically to determine if new crows are in the area and from what azimuth they might approach 10. Don’t use slings on your shotguns (we disagree but humored him!) 11. No bills on your cap (Texas Matt really liked this one and I already had adopted it) 12. Get a pair of specialized glasses without bifocals and with large lenses for hunting (I like this one and will acquire some in the coming year)
With the exception of his first tip, we found his suggestions to indicate a sound mind and his continued ability to articulate somewhat lucid thoughts.
And lastly, Skip insisted we eat all of our meal’s here for some unknown reason:
Hunting with Skip was really cool and we are still laughing at some of his sharp witted comments!
Hi JD,
His R-rated tips mostly referred to what Texas Matt, Lone Star Phil and I should do with our *#@&*! "Metroguns".
Hi Shane,
You raise a good topic. I know Skip used a .22-250 for a lot of this crow work and burned up a number of barrels in this pursuit.
I have been taking my .17 rimfires on recent hunts and been having a lot of fun with them dropping those crows that land beyond shotgun range. At most of our hunting locations, centerfire rifles are a little too much in terms of noise and range.
One thing I just learned from the good folks at Volquartsen is to use the best rings on these semi-auto .17's. I was experiencing some wandering zero issues and they explained the bolt in my .17HMR weighs almost a full pound and that its reciprocating action will move a scope in cheapo aluminum rings. This is true with the semi-auto .17M2, too, to a lesser extent. I upgraded to Warne TPA Maxima rings on the .17HMR last night and have additional Warne rings on order for my .17M2 and .22LR Volquartsen on order with Brownells.
Perhaps Skip will weigh in with some of his rifle shooting tips. With over 8000 crows "rifled" no one knows more about shooting crows with bullets than Skip!
Yep, he's the type of guy with all the paper work, that you can honestly say " He's The Man ".
I had the chance last year to have lunch with Skip. Wow, how time flies. It's truly aggravating to know that he is only right down the road and I have not even had the time to at least call to chat with him. 2011 it going to be different. I finally get all the vacation time that is coming to me.
As the least interesting member of the Texas Crow Patrol I feel an obligation to chime in at this time. You had a unique opportunity to hunt with the Most Resourceful, Most Malicious Master of Mechanics, Gadet Bob and TCP's own candidate for the 2011 Apex Predator of the Year Award, Texas Matt. Pecan orchard whacking doesn't get much better than that dubious duo. I, for one, am happy that you made it out of Texas with nothing more than the vestiges of night mares after spending time with those gentlemen.
Interested readers will delight in knowing that the Texas Crow Patrol isn't a one-trick-pony show. Our activities are not restricted to only attentuated shot guns with Texas-size barrels shooting marginal, low-power rounds at hapless crows.
The TCP is an agile, mobile and hostile force; we go "quiet" most times but other times, we resort to "full power" and revel in that exercise. We face a variety of varmint foes and address those challenges with rifle, shotgun and pistol, smokeless and black powders, hollow-points, ball and shot. We have tried and use every conceivable type of blind, decoy, decoy placement, electronic call, mouth calls, camouflage and kill-box configuration. We use radios and cell phones, local human intel, trade orgainizations and satellite photography. We transit our AO's via trucks and trailers, SUVs, four-wheelers, bicycle and boot sole. Every sortie is replete with numerous quotes and references to the likes of George Patton, Stonewall Jackson, James Van Fleet, Bull Halsey, Frederick the Great, Curtis LeMay, some dubious childhood friends of Texas Matt and various federal prison personnel that Gadget Bob has rubbed shoulders with, all with guns discharging.
But we are always careful to question the results of each sorite in terms of what we did right and what we could have done better in.
Thank you, Skip, for sharing your knowledge of this unique hunting with the TCP. Leave it to me to suffer through the constant, "Well, Skip does it this way . . . ."!!
I like #11, never have a bill on your hat. I could not agree more. I won't wear a hat with a bill for hunting anything that flies. (crows, ducks, geese......)
Slings are great to get to the blind while carrying everything, but once there, I always remove it until it's time to walk back to the truck.