Hey guys, greetings from South LA! I'm new to crow hunting, but definitely not new to hunting or shooting. I'm a member of the NSCA, and compete as much as I can, so I'm fairly competent with a shotgun (or so I like to think). Anyway, just got a new Winchester SX3, added a Briley extended bolt handle and I'm thinking about doing some "serious" crow hunting. This may or may not lead to a small magazine extension to my gun.
Here's my setup now: 12 Flambeau foam decoys, which I've got a flocking kit on the way for, one flocked decoy that has a "Feeding Crow" sound looped and a speaker in it, my SX3, plenty of buddies, and a reloader that can reload anything in 2.75" that I want.
Here's where I plan to hunt: My grandparents line in Melville, LA, which is a farming town and, to my inexperienced eyes, it looks like it has a veritable TON of crows hanging around. They will congregate in small woodlots behind my grandparents house, on the powerlines, or in a small peninsula of trees that stretch out into a field. I see the largest groups, 20-60 birds approx, on the little peninsula, with a few sentries and many, many crows on the ground. So what location should I try to set up on first?
P.S. A FoxPro Wildfire with the B.A. sound pack has been calling my name, what are the calling sequences you guys like to start with, and which do you use after you shoot, when you see some WAAAAY out there, etc? I do have one hand call that I plan on using as soon as my instructional DVD comes in.
The actual crow shooting is the easy part. The hard work of it all is the scouting and preparing BeFoRe the first shot is fired. If you are where the birds want to be, your setup is right for the location you are hunting and you are well hidden, all else is gravy. Lots of info in the forum. Use the search function and ask questions. Try not to over-hunt your birds which means you have to be on a constant search for new land to hunt.
You say you have lots of buddies. I would limit the hunts to 2 shooters, maybe even three if they are the right three. It is hard enough to hide two people from the eyes in the sky, much less three. Also you end up shooting the same bird so lots get away educated.
Sounds that work well for us are crow fight, crow come here, and crow and owl with the owl edited out. Good luck.
Enjoy!!
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"If money can fix it, it ain't broke" The great theologian and my crow hunting partner AW.
