Hello, Looking for tips and advice! I have been hunting crows for 2 years now. I have about 12 crow decoys and a Owl decoy. I have been hunting just off the fly ways (maybe a half mile) in different locations. Trying to mix it up as much as possible. Typical hunts, I probably see around 25,000 birds and have real opportunities with 300 birds or so... Hunting about 10 miles from a major roost. I am having issues with getting the birds down low enough to shoot. I manage to shoot a good bit 30-50 birds in a hunt. I would like to see that number improve. I am up for the challenge though. I am starting to get into hand calls but have a hard time with getting good sounds. Using the Mallardtone crow call very difficult for me to use. Currently using the Wildlife Technologies Mighty Atom MA-15 with about 15 different crow calls on it. The Atom works very well.
Any advise is welcome. Thanks for your time!
I shot my first Piebald Crow as well Pictures Attached!
*The birds have seen hunting pressure elsewhere.
*You are hunting the same birds too much.
*Your set up location may not be ideal for in-your-face shooting.
*You may be hunting them in the wrong wind as they travel back/forth to feed/roost.
Thank you for the advise! Could you please explain a little more about the wind. (*You may be hunting them in the wrong wind as they travel back/forth to feed/roost.) This is could be a problem, I am interested learning more on it.
Ghost,,,,, Assuming you are particular with your camo, and being hidden well I think honk hit everything on the head with the exception of volume control. I am a stickler for it. You don't hear it discussed much on this forum but a lot of guy's go balls out on the volume to get the attention of large groups or small groups of birds and don't decrease as they approach. That could be a problem. Pressured birds wont buy in to loud calling. That is what makes perfecting hand calls so sweet. I have the cs-24 with the 30 watt krakatoa. I reach out and touch em from a looooong way out, but always decrease volume on approach. Try working with it, that may help you. Just one of the gazillion things I picked up on thru the school of hard knocks,,,, and I'm still trying to figure it out.