so my main honey hole is about a 30 acre corn field with fresh manure spread on it daily. its the crows main feeding area and its not uncommon to see several hundred birds on it at a time. we hunted it once and got 3, a week later we hunted it and got 12, 2 days later we hunted it again and got 3. now, a full week later, do you think it is still good to hunt? should we maybe set up in a different area of the field?
I would hunt a new area if possible. But at least move to a different part of the field and change up your sounds. This is a good rule of thumb if the birds are frequenting the area they want to be there, sometimes little or intermittent calling will keep them from becoming call shy. The birds will let you know when they are be "over-hunted" because they will simply not respond.
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ok, we are switching from a foxpro to a johnny stuart, along with adding some full body dekes to the spread as well. hopefully that will help. i think some new birds come in every day though, because you can tell what birds had been shot at and which ones were green
I have an orchard that I hunt once a week or so. I change it up a little every time I go. Some hunts are 50,60,70+ birds, some just a few. I killed 57 near it this morning. Change it up as often as you hunt. Don't hunt the same blind twice in a row. Vary the number of decoys. Do a feeding setup with a meal decoy (McD's bag or a road kill/pelt.) Add a buster. Change sounds. Hand call. Get out in the middle of the field and make a temp blind that can be taken with you when you are done. Hunt early, Hunt late. Change, Change, Change. If this is a Crow hot spot, there will likely be new birds in there as often as you hunt and the change will sometimes work on the old ones.
We can kinda tell the difference between the new birds and the old ones. You learn when to let them come on in and when to pop it the First chance you get because there won't be a second. The crows with the PhDs will usually come in high and often silent. If he almost gets in gun range, SHOOT IT! That will probably be your only chance.
I have lots of places to hunt but I really prefer to hunt educated birds to see if I can trick them into gun range. It really is a challenge. You will become a good crow hunter in a hurry. I just started this year and I am getting good at killing birds that have been hunted. As of today, we have killed 674 birds, most of which have come form the same fields. I make a lot of short hunts by myself or with one of my kids on the same fields. I save the virgin spots for when my partner can go with me. Its those days the the TBC usually climbs in a hurry and with all the practice of fooling the educated birds, it almost isn't fair to the crows.
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"If money can fix it, it ain't broke" The great theologian and my crow hunting partner AW.
ok, we are switching from a foxpro to a johnny stuart, along with adding some full body dekes to the spread as well. hopefully that will help. i think some new birds come in every day though, because you can tell what birds had been shot at and which ones were green
DJ2, Move to another field or opening if possible within a 1/4 to 1/2 mile or so upwind,I had the exact same problem a couple weeks back and when I moved I was pulling in several different incoming waves of newbies before they targeted the feeding zone where most there had there butts burned up there already. I noticed the same thing in this one marked feeding area of spread siliage, So I moved as stated above and killed just as many as the very first time I hunted the current feeding zone.
ok, there is a half standing corn field about 1/4 mile down hill from the original field, i might set up in that one, however the thing i dont like about that is the birds will have to come over some tall trees in a hedgerow, the other field they had no trees to come over. decisions decisions,lol
Half standing corn sounds great! Get out in the middle and make a blind out of it. Educated birds will often come in low over an open field. If you have enough sound, They will come investigate. We have had much greater success away from the food source that right in it. When you are away from it, you pull birds to you. They don't seem to be as spooky and they don't come in in such large numbers at a time.
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"If money can fix it, it ain't broke" The great theologian and my crow hunting partner AW.
does it matter what toy my meal comes with? :D lol
well looks like im actually not going to be able to get out this weekend (it was -14 this morning) and my buddy haas to go out of town, then im not going to be here next weekend, so it looks like the crows will get a 3 week break
does it matter what toy my meal comes with? :D lol
well looks like im actually not going to be able to get out this weekend (it was -14 this morning) and my buddy haas to go out of town, then im not going to be here next weekend, so it looks like the crows will get a 3 week break
I prefer the ones that look like small animals or birds of prey. "Taz" works well too! Stay away from Elmer Fudd. He never could kill that wabbit. He sure couldn't out smart and educated crow.
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"If money can fix it, it ain't broke" The great theologian and my crow hunting partner AW.
to shanedog i wish it was either 1 of those. this fish is a shortnose or longnose gar from tn during a bowfishing trip. i have trouble telling the difference in these 2. spotted & alligator r easy to distinguish. i didnt know till later but if this was a shortnose i would have beat the state record. its around #8 & mine was #10. lol id never caught a pike or snakehead. i did see someone catch a pike here on a pole while i was bowfishing the same swamp though this summer. as for snakeheads twra says their here but id never seen 1. oh yeah if u have never tried bowfishing its as fun as crowhunting. lol u dont even need a boat. i shoot from a bridge. people say it couldnt b done cause its 16'-30' high (depending on the pump station) but im proud to have proved them wrong. im getting off topic but bowfishing is my favorite sport & crows a close 2nd. lol
Crow,Yes I forgot the gar has a rounded tail.Yes I used to bow fish for carp when I was a kid,loved it. I can not pull a bow back anymore,I got few nice bass and pickrel also.
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oh man im sorry to hear that. ive seen special made slingshots for bowfishing for around $100 & i bet they got crossbow versions if u ever tried it again. (try bowfisher.com maybe.) im kinda new with a bow but i love shooting it when they wont let me shoot guns cause of seasons. lol ive gotten gar, carp, drum, shad (true. i got witnesses) lol, turtles, buffalo, & squirrels with my bow. someone told me that pike i talked about was a green pickerel. my dad says their the same. i dont know.
