Crow Busters Forum

Edrish · Member

My first crow hunt (Finland)

Rook-ie · Senior Member

Erik -

Great story! For just winging it, you guys did pretty well, and found out about crow behavior. They are incredibly smart, and yes, they learned more about you than just your crow call! Now that you "have gone and done that," you will find the more you learn about crows, the more there is to learn. They can see and hear very well, they surmise that something is not quite right very quickly, they communicate with one another, they scout, they post sentries, and can recognize faces and the color of your truck!

There is much to be learned from the articles and postings on this web site. Just start exploring it! There are rousing debates about shot size, etc., but everyone is very helpful and willing to share their knowledge (maybe not their favorites spots to hunt). The experience of the crow hunters here is vast!

I like the cheapest 7 1/2 shot shells I can find, and usually go with the modified choke - middle of the road pattern. That way I can occasionally reach out and touch one if necessary.

There are static and motion decoys, there are hand calls and electronic callers, depending on your local regulations. There are friendly and fighting set-ups and calls. There are roosting and feeding areas, and finding somewhere in between can be fun. you just might have to give up duck hunting!

Have fun and welcome to Crow Busters!

Jerry K

Gadget Bob · Guru

Hi Erik,

And welcome aboard! Your story was very interesting and please share photo's in the future as we love those, too. We take the vast majority of our crows with Metro-barrelled shotguns but really savor the rifle/pistol shots that our successful. I am an Anschutz man, too, and my .22 Hornet/.22LR Sporters are great precision arms.

I have been using my .22 MAG Volquartsen Superlite on skunks, armadillos and raccoons lately, and missed a crow with it last weekend. With Hornady 30 VMAX loads mine gets 2212FPS at the muzzle and shoots tight groups. With my suppressor, it sounds like a .22LR rifle, but hits a lot harder. We like .22 Mags for night hunting for safety reasons, too, over centerfire rounds. Their 100 yard plus range is fine for almost all night shots, too.

For long range daylight crow work, the .223 or .22-250 Remington rounds get the job done.

Good Luck and Good Hunting,

Edrish · Member

The tin shots clearly were to light for 25 meter shooting, third or forth shot not so humane... and i used modified choke that i took the two with. Then later i tried with full choke butt then i missed, too tight? The benelli supernova standard chokes are not the best should i buy extended ones the get uniform patterns?

Electronic callers are illegal in Finland Im trying to learn myself to mimic the crows :D

I must try the owel fighting setup and try my best.

Erik N

Zeddicus · Senior Member

Hi Eric,

Which cartridges did you use? When using steel, don't go too tight on the chokes!!

When getting crow calls, try SAM's FT3 and his MID!! The European crows sound deeper than the US counterparts. The gibson call is excellent!!!

Rook-ie · Senior Member

And Bob Arohnson's CD will teach you some basic calls. I can say stay away from any quick caww-caww-caww- caww because it means "Danger."

Gadget Bob · Guru

Hey Eirk,

Do you shoot a Sako, too? Very fine rifles designed and made right there in Finland, I have a pair - .223 Remington and .308 Winchester. Excellent performers and nice to look at, too.

Regards,

Edrish · Member

Hello rookie,

the crows started communicating to each other caaw-caaw-caaw slow phase only three in a row and then pause... What does that mean? Yes i need to study more the language of crows:)

Edrish · Member

Here is were i sat when i shoot the last crow, if you look at the furthest away tree par the tree the crow sat on was even further away behind the trees in front so i had to shoot from my hands..

The image is the same as my avatar now butt bigger version so that one can see..

Edrish · Member

Bob, i have an tikka sporter .308 for elk hunting, same manufacturer as sako it the cheaper line butt still good rifle. Its a bit on the heavy side because its for sports as well butt good if your at an stationary post.

motiondecoy · Guru

Crows do get "educated" and learn to avoid your decoys and calling in short order. Here is a crow who answers your call you might use all the time and suddenly a loud "KA_BOOM!" and his buddy drops like a rock-yeah-I'd say they get the hint.

What eventually happens besides you there watching flock after flock totally bypassing your set up one will actually sit way out there in a tall tree warning all new comers even to stay away from your blind...other times they will fly so high as to appear as tiny dots in the sky-perhaps hundreds and that lone crow way below telling the migrants to keep on rolling to that next field a mile or two down the road...however m9igrants will actually ignore the locals and dive down with folded wings from 2,000 feet up and check out your decoys at the same time...but i've seen them ignore my set up thanks to 'mr.Loud mouth" sitting in a tree a quarter mile away or so warning all incoming crows...the oNLY time it works in your favor is if the crows coming in from behind you to join "Mr.Loudmouth" sitting in that very same tree...here it backfires on "Mr.Loudmouth"...but by and large educated crows can keep your ammo unshot for the amount of time you remain in that field...but there are things you can do to neutralize "Mr.Loudmouth" if it's safe to do by plugging his bacon with a long range center fire varmint rifle or set out far more decoys than you previously had...use a different set up...put a couple in a tree...put out as many as you can on the ground! Another idea is to get a half a mile or so from the crows headed for their roost and get underneath the fly way and carry plenty of ammunition!

As for me? I'd give that field a break for a few weeks before I return. Sometimes you got what appears as a hot location and some one was already there...the week end before and suddenly very few crows are out and about...also try and choose areas not readily accessible for the passing hunter...this has always paid off for me...if you like to get skunked over and over again shooting fewer and fewer crows stay in the same location...you'll educate every crow in the county by the end of the month!

motiondecoy · Guru

And that's the call I often hear newbies using ! Why? Because that is the call they hear when they attempt to walk up on the crows!!

Edrish · Member

Yeah I noticed after a while that mr loud mouth came and sat on a tree. Screaming caaw-caaw-caaw then when I tried to answer he flew off. Thats why I changed lokation and waited for him to come back. Then i got him with my 22 mag. And I think that my crow call is for American crow. Higher pitch than the Scandinavian crows...need a new one maybe.

Rook-ie · Senior Member

[Hello rookie,

the crows started communicating to each other caaw-caaw-caaw slow phase only three in a row and then pause... What does that mean? Yes i need to study more the language of crows:)

__________________
Erik N]

Erik -

I don'ta speaka the language, so I don'ta know. Check out the Beginner Techniques on this site. www.crowbusters.com/begtechn_dc.htm

Jerry

Bob · Guru

Erik & Rookie,

Three drawn out calls spaced apart is a location call, they are letting the other crows in there group know where they are at. They keep tabs on each other in this manner when they can't see one another. The crows have several location types of calls, some are drawn out in sets of four or sometimes five caws at a time.

Bob A.