I went out yesterday morning at a location that I had tried once last year with a friend and failed miserably. We played the wind wrong and had a poorly camouflaged blind due to there being very little natural material to make a blind in the cow pasture that we were hunting in.
This time I was a little more prepared though hunting solo. I brought pine branches from my old Christmas tree to use in the blind and got there earlier to have more time to find a good location. I also played the wind much better, thanks in part to suggestions made by members of this site. From 7am to 10am I had pretty constant shooting (something up until now I had only heard about) while using a home-made ecaller and some sounds I found for free online. I ended the day with 10 crows on the ground (it only took 50 shots to do it...), but saw close to a hundred and would have downed more if I was a better shot. All in all, it was the best day of crow hunting I have had in my short career and a personal best for TBC.
P.S. you can see whats left of my blind in the second picture after the wind picked up and blew most of the lighter material off. This happened during the hunt so I had to remain very still in order to not tip off the crows until they were close enough. The base blind (poles and camo material) is a work in progress and I want to get some thicker camo material.
NGillespie, sounds as though you are hunting somewhat "educated" crows. From the pics it can further be clearly seen that cover is very sparse as well. Long shots make for and interesting hunt. Kill/shot ratios will also reflect this. Thanks for posting!
Ted
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Life's tough... It's even tougher if you're stupid. John Wayne
M12 - The natural cover was VERY sparse. I was trying to get out there the day before so that I would have time to make a better blind, but due to work and getting late confirmation from the land owner to hunt there, I wasn't able to get out there like I wanted to. The only vegetation I could find besides some leafless branches was thissels. I'm still digging out needles from my hands. As far as the crows being educated...probably 1/3 flared early while approaching my setup, so I'm not sure if that was part of the problem besides just my blind.
NG - Was thinking the same thing as you... very similar hunts we had!
Yesterday, at another location, I discovered something, although it was too late in the day and crows were headed to the roost. They showed great interest in the Fawn in Distress call on my AlphaDogg! Hahaha! I'm going to have to try it again when the timing is right.
Thanks for sharing - sounds like a fine day afield. And good numbers too! That's what I would call a "double, double" - ten or more rounds fired and ten or more birds on the ground!
Neil: Like Lone Star Phil said, nothing wrong with a fine "double-double" on crows!! I can add only one thought: the crows that flared probably SAW you or saw movement. Your blind is sort of thin/sparce as you say.. and crows see so well. It is difficult to overdo hiding... unless you are so hidden you cannot shoot!!
Neil Congradulations on your ten bird success, beats the hell out of watching football! Thank you for posting the pictures along with your hunt details. I'm new to this form and haven't obtained everything needed to get out crow hunting yet. But reading all of these post really helps us new crow hunters out a lot. I see a few of the important things are A good Blind, Camo Clothing with hands & face covered, Stay motionless until you shoot, Get much needed clay pigeon shooting in, and share your hunting stories so others will benefit from your experiences weather they be good or bad. I've been saving the pictures so I can go through them later to see the different blind set-ups. This forum is a great place to learn the fundamentals of hunting the crows. Pat
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Walk lightly, Carry a Big Stick & NEVER WALK AWAY!!!
Pat - This site is an amazing source of info and is basically where I learned everything. Glad I could help out someone else (though I'm definitely not the best source for info compared to others on here)
I have been trying to hunt crows for a couple years now. I severly underestimated their intelligence. I am just now starting to get good at calling them in with my mouth call. I have had alot of luck with the crow in distress sequence. My best day happened about a week ago I shot 12 in about an hour or so. I was hunting over the deer carcass that I cut up the night before. It was a lot of fun I am starting to get addicted to this crow hunting thing after im starting to figure them out. Glad i found this website and know that im not the only one crazy enough to sit out in the cold and wait on a murder.
The very moment in time that you get your opponent to do something he doesn't want to do or shouldn't do, you own him.
Title passes at that instant of time and whether or not you shoot the crow is beside the point. Focus on obtaining title; that's the goal and consequnces will follow.
Watch a high school basketball game as the guard brings the ball down. As soon as he crosses the ball over and drives passed him (because the defender did something he shouldn't have done) the contest is over. Whether or not he made the lay up is not relevant to the argument. The defensive player failed. He did something he shouldn't have done.
When you entice a crow, one of the most intelligent beings on the planet, to come into gun range, you've accomplished what a fraction of a per cent of the population has achieved.
You've obviously achieved that skill.
Shoot, repeat, shoot. Share pictures.
-- Edited by Lone Star Phil on Friday 11th of January 2013 03:57:03 AM
-- Edited by Lone Star Phil on Friday 11th of January 2013 11:26:24 AM