Crow Busters Forum

Yeah , I hope they dont play dead than come to life when he has a grip on it. oh well it will a be show and I hope he comes out on top .

This seems to be the stuff I have always heard, I think it would be fun to have him out there but your right is it worth it. I dont think so , a crow is a hell of

tough bird alot tougher than a blue bill.

Im glad to see someone does it, Im sure there is more out there. I know my dog and he can hold up the fort. The thing is your only issued one set of eyes, If there is more guys out there who do this love to talk. Thanks for the input ...............Paulie

Iowa Crow Hunter wrote:

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I have always hunted with my black lab.  It took him a little while to figure out how to outmanuever a wounded crow, but as soon as he did, he loved it.  Just had to learn to flank rather than go face to face with a crow.  I've seen dogs that didn't want to pick up a downed crow, but I never experienced this issue.  My lab lived for it.  Where else is a dog going to be able to retrieve 80-100 birds a day??  He recently passed, and I can truly say that crow hunting without a dog may allow for better concealment, but just is not the same. 

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 We all hunt crows for enjoyment, to me, having my dog with me really adds to that enjoyment.

Of course, it's always possible that a crow could damage your dog's eyes, but there are other things possible too. I was helping a friend run bear dogs a few years ago. As the dogs were baying the bear, one dog started sqealing like a pig, we closed in expecting to find one of the dogs with its guts ripped out. When we got there, the dog instead had tree limb sticking out of its right eye socket. Apparently, while running through the woods during the chase, the stick jammed in his eye and broke off.

Just an example that anything can happen and you can't protect them from everything.

Kev

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Paul:

You've received some good advice on both sides of the issue.  Its your dog. 

You can get a pair of "Doggles" though that will protect your dog's eyes.  Now, whether or not he'll wear them, well, as they say, that answer will be evident to the parties after the fight!  I wrestled a pair onto my older dogs head and they stayed there for two, maybe three nanoseconds.

I've taken my pair of ill-mannered hounds on two pecan orchard crow hunts. It was a sub optimal experience as Gadget Bob says as I couldn't keep them still and their presence jacked the flights of crows up from ten to twenty feet over our kill zone.  Having said that, I will also share an observation with you - any crow that hit the ground wounded, stunned or running was terminated with prejudice.  My hounds will never be accused of having soft mouths.  I didn't worry about their eyes because the crows were not offering any defense to the incoming black locomotives.  That's a good description of the energy exchange that occured when either dog hit a downed crow.

If I had an expensive dog trained for bird hunting, I would counsel you to try the Doogles route and stay on the safe side.

Phil

Big Honkers wrote:

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Maine,

I dont know why but I laugh every time you post that pic. 11lb dog with 300lbs of attitude, lol.

BH

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Glad you like it, everytime she does that, I almost wet myself laughing.

You really should see her tackle a crow that is only winged though. Or better yet, last summer while fly-fishing, I hear lots of barking and growling. I found her with a groundhog cornered under a stump. With a few words of encouragement, she went in the hole and pulled it out. She killed it after a brief struggle.

Kev

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Paul:

Here's a picture - albeit not a very good image, of one of my mutts sporting her new eyewear.  They were out of the camouflage models, so I ordered the ones with skull and crossbones on the frames.  As I mentioned, this was the only time I had them on her.  The instructions said to only put them on the dog in bright sunlight because the lens are dark and the manufacturer cautioned against freaking out your hound.  If you are  deligent and had a pocketful of treats, I think you could convince your dog to adopt shades.

Phil

surfscoter wrote:

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Yeah the doggles sound like a reasonable idea , as far as him wearing them...

not so sure . I cant get him to wear his parka, he gives me a look like what respectable lab wears a jacket. It only goes on  when the mercury goes down around single digits, and I still have to corner him and go for a linebacker tackle. I will give them a try. By the way {mainehunter} that is a great shot of your little phsycho, thats good **** right there... paulie

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 Here's the little psycho on a groundhog that she pulled out of a hole and killed;

Your killing me , you pup looks like the red barron. Where did you order those, I must have a pair. I like the jolly roger nice touch. Can you imagine that mug being the last thing you see. Thats great

Paul:

Some other thoughts:

1. When the Texas Crow Patrol sorties, we're hunting pecan orchards with loud electronic callers, decoy displays, where cover and concealment is challenging, involving relatively large numbers of crows coming from different directions, and, if we've done the aforementioned properly, high volume shooting.  Under those circumstances, it's hard enough to keep your gun stoked without adding a dog or two to the melee.

2. As much as I love my hounds and cherish time afield with them, their presence on crow operations would reduce total body count in our typical hunting scenario and its all about piles of dead crows when it comes to preserving the favors of orchardmen.

3. A dog's nose is of little value in the closely mowed floor of a pecan orchard, so, candidly, there is little to gain by adding a dog to our force.

4. When I leave in the morning I buy off my guilt with a pre-dawn walk and some Milk Bones and, upon returning, I'll take them for a longer walk to provide some fox squirrel distractions - everybody wins!

we've had this discussion on here numerous times,you could search and read all of them for a general consensus.
my 2 cents, my lab loves going but when I go with a partner he stays home usually,he has brought back numerous wounded crows,the worst problem I've seen is twice he has brought back a crow that was firly clamped on his lip, but he didn't seem to notice, and there was no bleeding or anything.
it's your call,I haven't heard of a crow taking out a dogs eye.
another thing I'll add is that I like to leave the dead crows on the ground.it really helps bring in more.

-- Edited by Low and Slow on Sunday 22nd of January 2012 08:33:03 PM

I love old labs they mature with alot of charm.when you hang together there like an old journal, ther old salt and pepper muzzle tells a long and crazy story.

Im sorry i sound so sappy but i love all my dogs from my first as a kid to boomer right now. When I think about the freeezing nor'easter missions to overhot early season's I chuckle.