First time posting on the site, but I've been cruising these boards almost non-stop for quite a while now. I've read a couple of places that shooting the first crow on the scene is a bad idea because he acts as the scout for the rest of the group and if you miss, the rest won't come near. Any truth to that, or just a good way to blame something for not seeing many crows?
I'm just starting out, hunting public land only, but looking for private land to get permission to hunt on. I went out last week and got a couple crows to come into my set up (3 decoys and a mouth call), but missed the first and winged the second (still leading like they're doves). Thanks for any advice!
-- Edited by NGillespie10 on Tuesday 27th of December 2011 06:27:38 AM
Myth. Shoot any crow that comes within shotgun range including the first one. Poor concealment and movement the crow can see is THE reason crows stay out of range. Head to toe camo and a really good blind are critical. Welcome and keep reading here, use the search feature there are many threads with pictures of blinds people use.
I think most if not all have asked this question. The first time I asked that question to my crow shooting mentor he said, "Oh we GONNA' kill the first one, but you don't have to, but we GONNA' kill him anyway."
NH is right, concealment and bad setups are the reason crows wont commit.
Good luck.
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"If money can fix it, it ain't broke" The great theologian and my crow hunting partner AW.
Thanks for the tips! I think my problem has been mostly my lack of a good blind and partially my crow setup. I'm going to try to conceal myself a little better and work on putting some decoys up in some trees.
Shoot at the first crow and kill him: Good. Shoot at the first crow and miss: not good.
I think the bottom line here is.. IF you have a good kill-able shot on the first crow.. take it. If not, hold your fire. A miss at first can alert the gang or worse.
What you saw were what they call murders of crows. They hang together in groups rarely smaller than six and rarely larger than 12. These groups will start gathering in an area called a staging area between 2:30 pm and an hour before dark. This area will be within 1 to 3 miles from the roost. These are the areas you need to find and watch which way they are coming in from. Get between them and the staging area and you will have a good shoot. From what I have gathered watching these birds for hours is a staging area is for the murders that got split up during the day to regroup. I believe murders are family groups . The murders gather together to form a mass that roost together. It is said that mature birds have 1 to 3 broods per year. The yearlings do not breed the first year, they help their parents tend to the young. This explains why a murder only has 7 to 11 birds in it. When the young pair and breed they start their own murder. If you take the time to watch em in the wild and study their habits it will help you have good hunts. But if you are having a wierd year like me there isnt much you can do about it. A crow is the smartest bird on the planet in my opinion. They hear a sound and NEVER forget it. We all use the same sounds basically nation wide. Its killing the e-caller hunters. Getting good with a hand call is the way to go in my opinion.........Sorry guy's I am gonna stop rambling...........
Thanks Chip! I've been out one afternoon, probably about 1.5 hours before sunset and looked for any crows moving...nothing. That was on the back roads north of town, while the crows I saw this morning were west... guess I'll head that way tomorrow afternoon to see if I can't find this staging area, and ultimately the roost.
