Got up yesterday to the soothing sound of falling rain at 4:20 to meet my friend at the place where we had shot 42 a couple of weeks ago.
We were hunting a field that is constantly fertilised with vegetable farming waste. A really good spot that always draws them in. We took shelter in a permanent hide but added a camouflage net for more cover and a roof made from an old US Poncho another camo net.
After putting out the decoys and sentinels we were ready for action at 6:30.
One and a half hour later the first crow decides to come in. It followed our kind invitation to stay. Soon to be joined under our bench by more of his friends. All the while the rain kept falling, turning our blind into a farly wet affair. Including two hunters.
By 9am we had 9 birds when a biig lull started. Nothing happened! Afte a good while with no action we decided "one more crow" and call it a day.
THEN DISASTER STRUCK! HARD! Everybody who is hunting or fishing knows that when nothing is happening you have got to break the routine. As a pipe smoker this means - smoke my pipe to spice things up. This had worked in the morning. I light my pipe, we hear crows. Drop the pipe, start the call - nothing. I light my pipe, we hear crows. I drop the pipe - you get the picture.... Until the birds started to fly.
This time it was to be different because of the abovementioned disaster!!! I had brought two lighters, both were wet and ceased to function. This is a baad sign!! (Question: Is it bad luck if you are supersticious?) I would have none of that so I guzzled down the coke I had brought and was soon due for a little trip into the woods. 5 mins later my blind partner was ready for a trip. And how he broke the spell (don't ask!). Within 5 mins we were up to 15 - he never had time to come back into the blind (LOL!). Business continued until about 11 when we finally finished up with 22. So we brought in the wet decoys, folded up the wet netting, put it all into the wet bags and got our wet selves into the reasonably dry cars.
Now, 22 is not much for you guys, but any double figure day is a good day. We should have gotten more, but while putting away the decoys I found out, why they did not come in as confident as they should. Our blind was not tight enough. I recon they saw movement inside....
The good news of the day: My new SAM FT3 call is brilliant!! My old one was never up to scratch so I asked SAM for help. Something was wrong with it so he kindly replaced it. And boy did it work. A couple of times when we heard not a single crow I gave it a good blast and shortly after they were rushing in. Also managed to pull a few from the trees 200 yards away. I love my new call. Now I can not wait to receive the ordered Gibson Long Range call. I friend of mine has started to build calls and I can also not wait for that one.... My aim is to have two loud calls (SAM, Gibson) and two sweet talkers (DIY and Haydels). Add the SAM MID call and "MR CROW BEWARE!".
Afterwards we were trying a couple fox holes with the terrier but Mr and Mrs. Fox were out....
Blind, decoys and sentinels when the skies finally became a bit friendlier...
The outcome:
Drying decoys:
Hope you enjoyed the story.
All the best, Zeddicus
PS: For those of you who are concerned, worry no more. I had a fresh box of cigars in the car plus a dry lighter. ;)
Thanks for the pics and story.........and most importantly for not leaving us hanging about the wet lighters....... Sounds like a wet day turned out good, especialy as you had a dry lighter and a cigar in the car.
22 Crows is a decent day in my area as well.
By the way......rain isn't a issue for my Skoal....
Hi Buzz, I just smoke to get things started, otherwise I'd have given up smoking long ago! :)
Skoal just won't cut it. Unless the box is really really hard to open and therefore takes all your concentration. Then it could work... ;) Btw: In my toolbag for crowhunting is a 15 yr old box of scoal... Maybe I should try it...
Zedd, I was never a smoker of any kind myself but my dad was a smoker. As a kid hunting when ducks with him I always wondered why a duck would buzz the decoys almost every time he was in the process of lighting a cigarette
Ted
__________________
Life's tough... It's even tougher if you're stupid. John Wayne
Zeddicus: Not one single thing wrong with a TBC of 22! My bet is, there are many of us crow hunters that never bag that many in a single day. You clearly take pride in what you do. That shows!
Oh wow! Thanks guys for your comments. I was under the impression that you guys regularly have much bigger numbers than we do. I've been hunting crows for the second year now, and only twice I came into double digits....
I have taken 42 "stands" (alone, easier to track numbers) since Aug 1st (some days I take more than one at different locations), of 42 only 9 produced more than 22 kills per day, the birds shot on those particular 9 days totals near 300 birds (about 33 a day). Although one can roughly predict the migration I can't always be in the right place at the right time but when it happens it's great. I am happy with any day that ended with 22 crows.
-- Edited by nhcrowshooter on Monday 5th of November 2012 11:10:29 AM
Oh wow! Thanks guys for your comments. I was under the impression that you guys regularly have much bigger numbers than we do. I've been hunting crows for the second year now, and only twice I came into double digits....
no migration here. skip and the a-team have 100 kia days but i sure don't.
don't really care, though. to me it's not about the tbc. i like the fellowship and being out there and the challenge.
maybe it's my surf fishing background. that's a sport that really teaches you patience.
speaking of which, i just found out that my neighbors where i grew up weathered the storm ok on long beach island nj. the island was completely under water but they stuck it out. the ocean wiped out the dunes just a block north of them. whew!
Oh wow! Thanks guys for your comments. I was under the impression that you guys regularly have much bigger numbers than we do. I've been hunting crows for the second year now, and only twice I came into double digits....
this is also my 2nd year of crows, hit double digits twice, 14 and 10 we also seem to average 7, but we sure have a ball doing it, my wife gets sick of me talkin about crows all the time
... but we sure have a ball doing it, my wife gets sick of me talkin about crows all the time"
Now THAT sounds familiar! :)
On a different thing: We have no migration either. The crows are here all year round eating eggs, hatchlings, rabbits, destroying crops and agricultural facilities. Hunting crows and predators for me is very actively supporting biodiversity. It's also very challenging because any mistake is punished immediately. And it's rewarding in many many ways... :)
