Well we are in the woods so no layout blinds and trust me waterfowl have a very keen eyesight and you need to be super blended in if you want to have them landing 10 yards away from you........
So what are you trying to tell me? I have hunted waterfowl and crows going on 40 years. Ducks and geese will land 10 yards from you if you don't move and have some camoflage clothing. Hell I have had ducks land that close with an unruly black lab bouncing around next to me.
Crows are different critters, just being in the woods is not usually sufficient.
Again a few decoys helps, they will investigate those when they come to the sound helping to take their eyes off you.
-- Edited by nhcrowshooter on Tuesday 12th of February 2013 01:46:25 AM
Ok so me and my buddys are huge waterfowlers, but after the season closes and the snows arnt around we get bored. So we decided well try for crows, it all started last year and im really enjoying crow hunting. There isnt a HUGE population around and we always scout for geese but rarly see crows in a field feeding( one spot theres always 200 tho in a tree). The averge we call in is 2 to 10. We have been using a foxpro with crow party and crow fight and they will come in, but usually for not long and they stay rather high up depending on where we are setup. I was wondering should we get decoys and try to use a calmer set of calls so they dont come in looking for a fight and see some crows just in a field? We are getting really blended in, staying in shadows and wearing face mask ect ect. We might have moved and got busted a few times, but for the most part we are very well conceled. I think they come for a fight and dont see any crows and leave? We hunt in the woods a little bit along a field and we just spot jump. Hunt a spot for 15 minutes or so and keep going. We dont really know what were doing, but we killed 3 crows last year and came up empty handed yesterday, 9 shots, 0 crows lol! The crows were about 40 yards i would say. So any addvice for us new crow hunters? WE are shooting 6shot threw full and mod chokes incase we need to reach out and touch them.....thanks for the help!
You are not as concealed as you think you are would be my guess. You need to step up the concealment 10 fold from waterfowling. You didn't mention using blinds, search this site for pics, concealment is paramount! Yes you should get some decoys. 1/2 dozen will do it. Keep the wind in mind in your setup just as you do waterfowling. Try get J/S sounds on your e-caller, they are better quality, Crow Fighting Owl, Crow Come Here, Death Cry of a Crow are the best choices.
ok i will tryt o get them sounds, any links on where i can get them? Well we are in the woods so no layout blinds and trust me waterfowl have a very keen eyesight and you need to be super blended in if you want to have them landing 10 yards away from you........i will see if we are not camoed in enough, but i keep feeling like they dont have any crows to look at so the sounds is just there?
Try to find an area that gets less pressure it will be worth the drive. How many guys are you hunting with, 2 is indeed company and 3 (or more) is indeed a crowd. It only takes one guy in jeans or one guy moving his head at the wrong time to wreck it. Shooting inside the woods is tough for two reasons, crows are going to fly above them and it's harder to shoot well because instead of focusing on your target you are trying to pick an opening. Put you blind on the edge of the field and camo it up really really good.
Here are some examples of effective blinds.
-- Edited by nhcrowshooter on Tuesday 12th of February 2013 09:40:12 AM
well all i am saying is when you drive around a small area and theres say 15 fields and 4 to 6 of them it gets tough hunting, and you really need to make sure blinds are blended in and decosy played close to your blinds to break up the "box" effect and the shadows. I live in pa and it is seems like one of the hardest hunted state. I watch videos of guys out west with there faces outta there blind and killing them, but if we would attempt that then they would flare. I am sure that our camo isnt the best but even when the crows come from tho other treenline(were you can hear them, but not see them) i wouldnt think they could see us? Waterfowling is growing and seems like everyone is doing it, it has gotten alot tougher from the good ole days( from what i am told). We will work on our camoflage to see if that helps, not trying to be a know it all. Thanks
i meant 4 to 6 have decoys in them......Well we find trees that have limbs that will concele us and let us get some shooting, and we stick to the shadows.......i will deff work on egtting everyone conceled before i start calling, because maybe i am camoed good but the rest of the guys are not.
Welcome! Nearly everyone here uses blinds, not sure about layout blinds, but free standing blinds with open tops. They don't have to be expensive or anything super crazy, just tall enough to cover you (whether sitting or standing) with enough room to shoulder your gun on the fly and an open top to shoot through. Natural veg is huge and NO MOVEMENT is also a biggie. Get those decoys as high up in those trees as you can to give the incoming crows something to look for when flying in. Also, if you are setting up under really tall trees the crows are going to stay higher, where lower veg keeps the crows lower (at least in my limited experience).
I hunt a lot of waterfowl myself. One thing is for sure, crows are way, way more intelligent than any duck or goose. The crows will spot you much quicker, noticing your movement, anything shiny, some one's face, bare hands, anything that isn't natural.
Just keep hunting, keep reading on here and leave your brother at home. Either that or the next time he moves when the crows are coming in, turn and knock him out cold. He'll eventually learn to sit still.
hahah to be honest there were 4 of us lol, but yeah we will work on getting hidden much better and such.........i have another queation. I have heard of the scout crows coming in and such, and both times 2 crows came in then like 10 minutes 10 came....wre the 2 scouts or just incdental? I am wondering should be shoot the first ones or let them check it out and then go back and hope they all come? Because i feel like they will only circle once and then leave and we missed our oppertunities.
we are also run n guning right now...no decoys just hitting multiple spots in a day so buliding a blind would be rather a waste of time if we have never hunted the area and its our first and maybe last.........