Looking for some advice guys. Deer season here ends in about 3 weeks and I will try and get in a couple crow hunts in Feb. I have shot crows in Feb before but have never had near the luck as I have had in Oct and Nov.
Is that just the way it is or do I need to look/try a different setup or location type.
I hunt in farm country, pecans and peanuts.
Any suggestions/tips will be appreciated.
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I have found that the later the season gets the tougher the hunts get. They get educated and no specific set up really changes things. Just my opinion.
Elk I tried three different things last year that helped me a little. First of all your numbers will go down in Febuary because 1 your young crows have either been killed or educated, 2 the birds you have in your area now have Harvard scrolls hanging around thier necks. I used smaller set ups, I would always put a single decoy outside of my spread about 25 yards away from the rest of the decoys. The birds will be pairing up soon and this always attracted birds to the lone decoy. Sometimes if the birds were cutting my spread wide I would put my hide up to 60 yards wide of my decoy spread. Try these little changes and see if that does not help some. That is what I would be doing now if I had any birds here
Elk I tried three different things last year that helped me a little. First of all your numbers will go down in Febuary because 1 your young crows have either been killed or educated, 2 the birds you have in your area now have Harvard scrolls hanging around thier necks. I used smaller set ups, I would always put a single decoy outside of my spread about 25 yards away from the rest of the decoys. The birds will be pairing up soon and this always attracted birds to the lone decoy. Sometimes if the birds were cutting my spread wide I would put my hide up to 60 yards wide of my decoy spread. Try these little changes and see if that does not help some. That is what I would be doing now if I had any birds here
Good idea Chip. I like it.
It makes me wonder though.........maybe a little lipstick and eye liner with some fishnet stockings on that lone decoy..............................the "old men crows" would be lined up in a holding pattern to get a chance at her!
Numbers here in Mississippi seriously declined last Feb. Yes some of it was educating them but mostly due to a lack of birds. I think they start moving back to wherever they come form around this time and the concentrations are not here.
They do get educated after a while but with so many other hunting opportunities in the south there are very few serious crow hunters. I really believe it is movement of the birds that affect us the most. This is just my observation form last year.
Last year I was hunting an orchard that we had shot to death. I tried a feeding setup using a wild hog head and cape that was cleaned the day before. I set the decoys on and around it as if they were at a feast. The few birds in that area were well educated but came straight into that setup. They acted spooky but 30 something didn't make it out. It is worth a try on late season birds.
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"If money can fix it, it ain't broke" The great theologian and my crow hunting partner AW.
