Great stuff I am reading so far. I am in SE Virginia around lots of pines and large fields. Most of my hunting is done with a foxpro in timber short enought to shoot out of and involves 3-4 bird groups coming in and shooting 1-2 and the rest not coming back around. I have found that if I move deeper into the woods sometimes they will come back. I have yet to try a decoy set on a field and I just got a Buster II decoy and and Mojo Hawk on the way. Any advice you guys could add would be great. Thanks for taking the time to respond on different setups.
If not shot at before crows will often come back for a second look, that is if they have not spotted you. IMO no decoys are really needed for true R&G. For me in the fall it is typical for 20-40 crows to appear all at once. A quick double can be had and maybe a third with all the confusion.
I then switch to a dying or injured crow which will often bring maybe half those numbers back for a second look. Knock a couple more down and the whole lot is off for good. I then switch back to crows fighting and often one dummy will still insist on a high fly by.
These are fall crows, high percentage of young ones that have never been shot at before. Spring crows up here are a different story alltogether.
Ted
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Life's tough... It's even tougher if you're stupid. John Wayne
If you have plenty of birds, the decoys will allow you to "set the shots". By plenty of birds, I mean a roost near by, a feeding area they are conjugating in, or a flyway between the two. I hunt feeding fields and flyways into a pecan orchard and just started run and gun.
When hunting large numbers of birds, I set decoys, Start off soft calling and get more aggressive as they slow down. R n G I just use aggressive calling and one buster.
Large number of birds for us in Mississippi is a 50 - 100 bird shoot. Mid west may be 500 - 1000 birds. not sure what that means for you.
Learn to choose the location and set those decoys up well and your TBC will skyrocket. All of my "bad" hunts this year have been because I picked the wrong location or I had the right location and a bad decoy/blind set.
There is something magical that happens when you pick the right location, build a blind pointed in the right direction in the correct spot on that location, and then have your decoys set correctly. Down here we call them "skillet shots". Get those things correct and there will be skillet shot after skillet shot after skillet shot.
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"If money can fix it, it ain't broke" The great theologian and my crow hunting partner AW.
Thanks. The most I have ever killed in one day is 18. I am in SE VA and wedon't have large roost areas here. The most I have ever had come to the call at once is about 8. I am enjoying my experiences none the less and looking forward to getting better educated. Thanks for your input.
