Hello everyone, being new to this site I'd like to introduce myself. I am 38 years old and have been hunting for the last 26 years. First as a kid with my dad, on my 18th birthday I got my own license. Having said that, I am relatively new to hunting crows with decoys. Last year was my first season hunting with decoys, and it was a very interesting season. Crow hunting to me is not only very challenging but also extremely important to protect our wildlife. Unfortunately I have no chance to hunt Crows nearby (where I hunt in Germany it's only wild boar and deer) so I have to travel for two hours to hunt with friends in Bavaria in their hunting areas which we call "Revier". I hope to get some info here on the subject, but I'd also like to share some experience - which will not all be first hand from me but also from crow hunting friends in germany. With the end of the season here, the next couple of months will be spent on stocking up on decoys and some DIY improvements on them. As soon as the DIY session starts I'll try to post pics and info on how to do it. I want to make the decoys more durable, add motion and add some gimmics to enable me to use every decoy as sentinel as well as the usual deke on a stick. I am already looking forward to the summer and the opportunity to put my new gear into use. It's quite interesting to see the difference between hunting crows in Germany and the US, I am looking forward to finding out which tactics work on both sides of the Atlantic. So much for now, I hope to talk to you guys soon. Regards, Zeddicus
Welcome to the site from the other side. There are members on here from Germany. I know November post on here and I think some others also.
Good luck over there. We love seeing pics for other places. Post some up of the areas you hunt when you have a chance. Doesn't ever have to be the exact area you hunt if you are concerned with giving away secret spots.
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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 welcome. Will add pics as soon as I figure out how :)
November is one of the most experienced and dedicated crow hunters I know, his letters to antis, gooddoers and self proclaimed conservationalists are a piece of art.
Hi Buzz, we hunt crows all over germany, my crow hunting is mainly in Bavaria. Pics will follow, but it'll be a while. I've started pimping my decoys, as soon as I have my gear back from my dad I'll post a foto series of what I do and why.
Welcome to the site from the other side. There are members on here from Germany. I know November post on here and I think some others also.
Good luck over there. We love seeing pics for other places. Post some up of the areas you hunt when you have a chance. Doesn't ever have to be the exact area you hunt if you are concerned with giving away secret spots.
YES, I agree. I love to see photos of other countries and how you might hunt differently than us.
- scouting, finding the flightroutes and feeding spots in the morning (where most of the hunting is done) is crucial. - placement of the blind - if possible no high structures around to be watched from - decoy placement (not too far (30m max to indicate the perfect killing range), also leave a killing hole where they can drop in) - always use sentinels, the higher up the better - too much movement in the decoys seem to spook em here (none of most experienced hunters use a carousel!) - concealment (has to be perfect, make sure clothes match the blind) - blinds, they have multiple layers. One to see through, the others so tight, that movement in the blind can not be detected against the sun. Camo netting must not flap. If possible, build a roof! - mop up dead birds ASAP! - ABSOLUTELY no whitnesses! Sometimes big flocks are not shot at to make sure they don't get smart, blinds are put up in darkness, first thing to pack are decoys - shoot sitting down if possible - keep still in the blind - decoys, they have to be clean! More on that to follow in a DIY thread, once I am ready to go... - callers, electronic callers are illegal, the tone is much lower than your standart American calls
Have all this right, and you should have a chance :)
Sounds like a lot of the same things hunters do over here. I have seen people post things on here that work for them, but may not work for others. I guess there are some minor differances in areas, terriane, and bird counts etc.
I live in a run and gun area, where you typicaly find small flocks....6 to 12 birds is norm, but have found and hunted bigger flocks. We dont use blinds, mostly cuz it's to hard to carry anymore gear than we already do.We may hunt 5 or 6 spots in a morning. We have good luck with full camo...face /hands etc..and camo that blends, snow camo when needed etc. We will usualy stand 15yards to left and right of decoys, place caller under decoys. Birds are so focused on dekes and caller that we don't get spotted.
I have a "carousel" decoy, the one with 3 dekes . I have only used it twice, but plan to use it this weekend to give it another chance. Jury still out for me on it....can't say it hurt anything....just don't know if it helped ?
Hi Buzz, what I've written is pretty much valid for all germany. Probably because we can hunt only one species of crows (not counting magpies). Additionally germany is Ever so slightly smaller than the US ;)
Run and gun does not really work here. The "pro's" are pretty set on most rules because we can not afford to smarten the crows up. Our shooting areas are fairly restricted sizewise so if you make mistakes in your area you have not much opportunity to rest a place sufficiently and move to a different area.
Man, it doesn't take very many mistakes to wise a crow up ! I remember when my buddy and I first started crow hunting. We found a spot where there were some crows, called them in and missed them repeatedly, then went back about 5 weekends in a row..........lol!
You can't get a crow to fly under a mile high in that area to this day !! Part of our early education into crows.
I can see what you mean about educating them if you have to hunt the same basic area all the time. That would be very critical for you guy's.
How many crows would you guys average on a good day? Can you go back to the same area the next weekend and repeat that ? (if weather conditions are simaler)
Any double figure day is a good day! The biggest bag I heard of was 75! If you can manage to pick them off in 1s and 2s you can go back to a spot. If you wise up a flock it gets hard! Some change to the fighting setup with a big owl late in the season to get the smart pairs. Much depends on hotspots. If there's a big dumpster it'll always pull crows. In general our flocks seem to be smaller, from videos the kind of crows we have seem to be a bit less forgiving than the ones you come across. But this is just an impression which might result from the fact that nobody puts up a film from a bad day...
problem is not only that you hunt the crow population alone and might make them smarter, but due to the rather small sizes of our hunting areas and the far larger roaming areas of the crows, having a hunter in one of the neighbouring areas who keeps making mistakes, makes the crows smarter, you are hunting as well. this pretty much is why most of the serious crowhunters in germany really stress the basics of crow hunting. this also is why we actually try to "teach" crow hunting in theory and in the field to people who are interested. I mentioned that in another thread, i guess
Hi November, yes, you had mentioned the "each one teach one" crow hunts. I was waiting for you to drop in :)
@ Pat: It's no problem leaveing the dead ones out there, but in the right position (head proppedup with a stick or on a cradle). But not lying on their backs and twisted etc.