What do you guys do with your crows after you kill them? I know you can eat them, but if you weren't planning on eating them what would you suggest doing with them if I was hunting on public land? Thanks
Yeah I know, I just don't want other hunters or the DNR to think I'm just some guy who hunts for the sake of killing something and that's it. I know that it is not wrong to leave them there, but I don't want others to think less of me. I don't know, maybe I just care too much about what others think.
Yeah I know, I just don't want other hunters or the DNR to think I'm just some guy who hunts for the sake of killing something and that's it. I know that it is not wrong to leave them there, but I don't want others to think less of me. I don't know, maybe I just care too much about what others think.
I rarely pic up shot crows. Most simply dissapear into the crop or tall grass and brush. Only the dead ones in plain view or on a manicured locations such as a park or cemetary I take the time to collect. Collect some for a photo or two as I enjoy posting on this forum for all like minded to view as well. Personally if your worried about others spotting or stumbling across you kills, you should be as your advertizing. Wise to make all evidence of a good shoot dissapear.
Ted
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Life's tough... It's even tougher if you're stupid. John Wayne
Haha yeah I bet they will. It just feels wrong shooting them and just leaving them there. Oh well I guess.
Crows are a nuisance animal that has very few predators other than man. Owls may get one ever once in a great while but not enough to keep them in check. Left to do what crows will, they are devastating to row crops, pecan orchards, song birds, and waterfowl. I found out this past weekend they are very tough on watermelon farmers also.
Here is an example as per the Georgia pecan association that I read some time ago. A crow will eat on average 2 oz of pecan meat per day. To get that 2 oz they will peck another 2 oz and waste it. They estimate they will pick up and carry off another 4 oz and peck around on it or drop it and go get another one. That is a total of 8 oz per day over a span of 3-4 months. Lets say they are half right, and they destroy 4 oz of pecans per day per crow over a 2 month period. That is a total of 15 pounds per bird per season at $8 per pound or $90 retail value.
Now consider this, this season we have killed 948 out of pecan orchards alone. Lets cut the above retail estimate in half again. Now we are assuming the GPA is only 25% correct, that is $45 per crow times 948 that will not pick another pecan next year for a total of $42,660.
You think a pecan farmer will say no when you ask if you can shoot his crows? You think he will feel bad you are not doing something with them?
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"If money can fix it, it ain't broke" The great theologian and my crow hunting partner AW.
Birds and animals cause Georgia pecan growers to lose 12 to 16 million pounds of pecans each year. This represents considerable monetary loss. The greatest damage is caused by crows, bluejays, and squirrels. Some damage is done by deer, raccoon and rats.
A crow eats approximately one ounce of food per day (about 6 percent of its body weight). If pecans yield 50 percent meat, then a crow must eat two ounces of pecans to get one ounce of food. The loss is greater because some nuts are contaminated by pecking or are carried off and lost. Assuming three times as many pecans are contaminated, wasted or lost as are eaten, then a crow can damage one-half pound of pecans per day -- 15 pounds per month.
Blue jay consumption, wastage and loss are about half that of the crow . Thus blue jay damage amounts to 7 1/2 pounds per week and waste or bury about another two pounds. Squirrel damage will amount to 14 pounds of pecans per month per squirrel.
These three pests will take nuts from the tree and from the ground. Squirrels begin eating as soon as the kernel forms (about September 1). Crows and blue jays wait about a month longer -- until the shucks open. Nuts will be eaten until harvest is complete -- usually the first of the year.
Animal
Damage per month (lbs./mo.)
Vulnerable Time (months)
Expected Damage (lbs./animal)
Remarks
Squirrel
14
4
56
To estimate total damage, multiply the expected damage for each species by the number present and add for all species. Damage due to other species is usually not great. However, a complete damage control program should include them since there would be no additional costs.
Crow
15
3
45
Bluejay
7.5
3
22.5
Damage Control Program
The best control program is one that incorporates several different methods. It might include:
alteration of the habitat so as to reduce available cover,
fencing to preclude entry,
scare devices and repellents to chase out intruders,
direct reduction when necessary and
a rapid harvest of the crop to reduce the time available for depredation.
The method chosen will depend upon several things; the amount of damage, the species causing damage, the money available for control and the particular situation in terms of the orchard and owner.
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"If money can fix it, it ain't broke" The great theologian and my crow hunting partner AW.
I like to put them in a pile and set them on fire. Then I videotape it and sent it to PETA!! Ravens are OK, but crows are varmints and kill and eat the eggs and hairless baby songbirds. That's why I love to POP-A-CROW any chance I get!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If I can get to a point where I'm killing some, I just bag them up and hit the dumpster. I can give them to my son who is a biology major taking an ornithology class -- he takes them to his professor for examination.
We usually leave them lay where they drop(unless they are easily visable) . I have shot 10 -12 crow one day and came back just a day or so later and every one was either gone or a pile of feathers from some other predator eating them. We hunt coyote as well so we kill the crow to feed the coyote so we can, in turn, hunt them. In the winter, when a dead black bird is easily spotted against the snow, we pick them up and put them where we know they will get eaten in a out of the way spot so people can't see em
I don't usually hunt public land. On farm land (except for one farmer) I just let them lie and the eagles, hawks, fox, coyote, racoons, etc have a feed. The one farmer that does not like to see dead crows on his land will let me throw them into a drainage ditch so that they are out of sight until consumed. I suppose if I had a good spot then I would pack them out to somewhere else. Some of my spots are on the shores of the Bay of Fundy (Atlantic Ocean) and the tide does a good job of moving them so that lobster and crab can eat....you know those bottom-crawling, garbage-eating, crustaceans that are related to grasshoppers and locusts.
Generally speaking, if the dead crows fall in an open area I take some time to pick them up and throw them into the nearest tall grass/tree row/etc. I realize that most of the bodies will be taken care of in short order by other critters in the area but I try to maximize respect to the landowners. I do not want to give them ANY reason to not let me hunt again. The last thing I need is the farmers daughter complaining to dad about all the dead stuff out back that she saw while on a quad ride (for example)....the reasons to get booted off property is endless and thus far I have a clean record and plan on keeping it that way.
On public land I do the same for reasons of self-preservation. I do not need the attention of other hunters or users of the land. I do not transport the birds out of the area, I just make sure they are hard to find.
I threw about 100 in the woods behind my house one day last year, and the coons had them cleaned up in about 2 days..........there were big piles of wings left at the bases of big den trees.....
My experience is that if the dead are left on the ground, they are consumed by something in short order, even if it is carrion beetles, maggots and ants. There does not appear to be any long term deterrence. As Ted said "being shot at from one location a couple of times will". I have seen fields that used to produce (in this area) a decent shoot to eventually be avoided by crows because someone (or several ones) has repeatedly used it. If your concerned about others finding your spot.....hide them or pack them out.
On private ground I always pick them up and haul them away. Public I leave them lay but move them to a ditch out of sight. Evidence of a fun hunt will get you burned by prying generation x eyes. Can't compete with that generation, they don't require sleep!!! It's amazing
Chip I agree with you. All my birds unless I have exclusive permission to hunt the peice of property get collected and taken somewhere else to be disposed of. On the few parcels of public I do hunt they also get collected. There is no better way to advertise a hunt than leave carcasses in the area.
I pick all the dead crows that I can find. Hoppers and MIA's don't count. Why do I pick them up? I have an agreement with every landowner that I will pick up all I can get to along with my hulls. I do not want the owner to see a mess after I leave. The hulls will be reloaded or discarded. Also, yotes have to eat too and if they are not going to be neat about it they can eat in the woods. I would rather not have walkers or other users of the land see the aftermath. Some might end up in my blind instead of me. I am very careful to get permission to hunt on any land and have very positive relationships with the land owners. I usually do not have to check in before I hunt unless there is another use going on that would conflict with hunting. Then all I have to do is find another location nearby.
I pick up most, leave a few for the critters, ever try to pick up a contractors bag full to the top with crows??? let me tell you it's a 2 man job,then off to the dumpster, or drainage ditch far away, or if you wanna have some fun and scare people into thinking theres some rampant bird disease sweeping the area try driving along the highway .tossing one out the window every so often
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Just how I like them "low and slow"
