Our crow hunting here in north Texas has been very slow this fall, but we still decided to expand our ranks by one. Many have asked to officially join our merry band, but we waited to identify the very best candidate. You might recognize this fine fellow! When we invited him to join, he said and I quote "I rarely hunt crows, but when I do it's always with the Texas Crow Patrol!".
The TCP wishes everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
We took this photo last Friday on a new property where we have been engaged to reduce the coyote population. The ranch manager says those yotes have been eating his calfs "like popcorn". In January, when the calving season is in top production, we should have a field day. Texas Matt has aleady taken two coyotes and I whiffed on one at long range. All of these shots have been from our suppressed rifles.
Being the Texas Crow Patrol, we dropped 13 crows and 29 pigeons on this visit, at no extra charge, while T-Matt bagged that 35 pound, 9 ounce yote. The ranch manager's wife wanted a bushy tail for a a craft project and Matt delivered in spades! He called in 3 on this stand and dropped the alpha male, as he is prone to do!!!
That is truly one of the scarest pictures I have ever seen! Do you actually have to shoot the crows or do they just fall out of the sky once they see the dreaded "Metro"?
I assume you boys know that a swift, disapproving glance from a member of the TCP with a Metro-barrelled shotgun in his hands will clear the sky of any approaching crows.
OK guys, I'm new. I'll bite. What is the Metro Barrel? It's not April 1st, but they sure make it look as if it is. I won't blush--I'm used to big long guns.
-- Edited by Old Artilleryman on Thursday 6th of December 2012 09:16:40 PM
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"Arms are the only true badges of liberty. The possession of arms is the distinction of a free man from a slave." -- Andrew Fletcher 1698
I know you guys over there have been using these for a couple of years now. What is the max range of these barrels with subsonic loads? Have any of y'all tried to stretch one out to see just how far you can kill a crow with them?
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"If money can fix it, it ain't broke" The great theologian and my crow hunting partner AW.
You'd be surprised at the effective range. I have been! With IC chokes, they seem to throw a tight pattern. Don't ask me about pellet counts and pellet concentrations. Skip will be disappointed that I haven't pattern tested with my Texas long guns since time behind a gun is precious and I'd rarther spend my gun pit time launching loads at crows.
We commonly experience the lone recon crow gliding over the kill zone at angels twenty, seemingly out of range, eyeballing the crow carnage and deeks far below, listening to the siren's call of Bob's Fox Pro. That's not behavior we approve of, so someone's targeting computer will whirl and spin, there'll be a soft cough and, if you listen carefully, "MayDayMayDay"! Nobody looks for free.
We don't run and gun or shoot flyways. We shoot supermarkets and restaurants. And for the latter, "quiet" is the most productive manner. I believe we put twice as many crows on the ground using the metro guns than if we didn't.
The TCP has been quiet now for four or five years and the long guns don't cause any discernable problems in the field. Once you've acclimated yourself to the quiet but long guns, their use gives you a slight edge and that advantage makes all the difference in the world because time behind a gun is precious and you need to make the most of it!
NHCrowshooter posted this chart a while back. It shows that 7.5 shot starting off at 1200 fps is already down to 967 fps at 10 yards, they would be down to 900 fps at about 13 yards. Our shells start off at 900, so that would mean we lose about 13 yards of range in pellet energy, but we make some of that back up in pattern density (our patterns at 40 yards will be much tighter than a normal pattern at 53 yards). So with those factors at play, we probably lose 5-10 yards of effective range. Full speed 7.5's will cleanly kill crows at 50-55 yards, so our effective range is probably 45 yards. Most of our shots are much closer than that, but we occassionally throw the hail marys at fleeing crows, and they fall more often than one might expect.