Crows are easy to decoy in summer, especially the young, as they have no experience, and are just starting to get out regularly on their own. I've left them for about a month now, but is about time I gave them a wake up call again, and reminded them that not everything is a free meal. I use 4 lofted full bodied, two floaters, two on a whirly magnet, 6 FUD and 7 full bodied on the ground, and two flappers, plus a Gibson basic, and a Sam Neyt FT3 Smetimes I'll chuck down a solitary magpie off to one side, other times, I'll add some pigeon to the mix, or may e again off to one side. Variation is what keeps them coming
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If it moves and is legal but also moral, SHOOT IT !!
The heat of summer is always a tough one, more so on the hunter than quarry. Up here in Canada the crow hunter is met by hoards of biting insects, wood ticks, poison ivy heat and humidity... and yes it does get hot up here in Canada too
Further, crows are in the breeding season so they are spread across the rural expanse in small family groups. Large kills are uncommon and run and gun methods work best. At this time young crows are beginning to fledge and come in to calling with reckless abandon.
By mid to late summer up here small family units have combined into feeding flocks numbering into the hundreds if not thousands. This IMO is the time to construct blinds and set decoys with scouting and studying habits of local crow concentrations as decent kills can be had with a bit of effort.
The short of it here and to answer the original post, summer for me is a time for relaxation, leasure, sport fishing and such. Other than trap, my shotguns only come out for a bit of run and gun. Shooting 6 or 8 crows here and there is enough "crowzac" to keep a smile on my face. Heck, at this time I've even shot crows wearing a white shirt and shorts
Pics of my "sidekick" and past summer crows.
Ted
-- Edited by M12Shooter on Friday 6th of July 2012 12:11:01 AM
Find the resting trees and scout the lines they fly to feed. Set up along those lines not too close to the resting place. In the mornings they'll stray fom their lines for a (your) feeding setup. In the afternoon, when they gather to fly back, find those gathering points and hit them hard...
It was hot as hell up here the past week or so with temps in the 100 range and humidity in the 70-80% range, but the heatwave left so I'm fine getting out and trying some hunting. No one ever drowned in sweat. Gonna head out tomorrow morning and ask some farmers for permission and see if we cant locate some birds. Last summer was our first real attempt at hunting crows but we didn't have decoys just some mouth calling which worked out nice for us. Could of had a few more than we did but our shooting was sub par to say the least.
But as for decoys I was told that you should really try to put one or two or how ever many possible up in a tree to make the crows feel safe when they're coming in to land but with all this leaf cover I don't think I could put any in the trees or if they will even see the ones that I do.
So do you think I should put all of them on the ground or what?
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A man can be beaten in two ways... he gives up or he dies.
lucky you guys. ITs dead winter over here in Australia at the moment!
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Here it's been cold and wet for weeks, and is forecast the same for at least another 2-3 weeks, maybe more, although they reckon by August it should dry up
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If it moves and is legal but also moral, SHOOT IT !!
A flying type decoy, mounted on a thin steel or fibreglass rod, that is inserted into a metal tube hammered into the ground. The flying decoy then floats in the air and moves left, right, up, and down with the wind, and appears to other birds to be going in to land, but is stood still really, hence floater
-- Edited by Redditch on Saturday 7th of July 2012 03:25:15 PM
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If it moves and is legal but also moral, SHOOT IT !!
Flyers you can usually buy on the Internet, although I make mine myself. Just get some thick card/neoprene/plastic, and spray Matt black. Then cutout a large fan shaped tail, and two wing shapes. Now cut a slot in BOTH sides of a full bodied flocked decoy, and the same again in the tail. Take a wire, and slot it through both side slots, and after pushing the wings into the side slots, use the wire to act as a support and keep the wings out straight. Push the tail into the tail slot, and then mount onto a 6mm (1/4 inch) thick steel rod. The rod should be bent at the top and bottom 33 degrees, so it forms an elongated S, NOT 45 degrees, as the weight of the decoy causes the rod to sag. Check YouTube for details, and also to see how the work. Don't forget the steel tube to go into the ground, which allows it to swivel with the wind