Crow Busters Forum

CrowWhisperer · Member

First-ever crow hunt yesterday. I think I'm hooked!

BUZZ · Senior Member

Sounds like you had a good day. It takes a while to learn the crows, what they like or don't. It does pay to learn the difference in their calls, excited, fight, gathering....etc.

motiondecoy · Guru

you are getting it! beautiful classic remington and beautiful wooden calls....become a member and learn the calls...

motiondecoy · Guru

I do not use any of the crow busters' calls as frankly the crows around here (New England) don't sound at all like that....our crows have raspier bassier calls...but generally the same rythymn and you will be in for a headlong surprise if you hear the fish crow...they are more of a challenge I am told..never shot at any but I've seen them!
But whatever you don't make it a practise to not shoot up a roost! It isn't fun chasing roosts around to see where they moved to! years ago depending upon where you are there were gigantic roosts of unimaginable proportions west of the mississippi but huge ones none the less east of the mississippi too none the less ...what happened was some overly ambitious crow hunters shot right in the roost and the crows left the area even hours away! Ask anyone who was at the legendary Ft Cobb Oklahoma roost!!!! Some yahoos got into it and destroyed it! It sucked the economic lifeblood out of Ft.Cobb now a ghost crow town!

Butch · Guru

Congratulations on a great start!
Lots of info in the older threads plus you can search topics, this saved me a lot of trial and error. One bit of advise "hunt to make yourself happy". Good shoots are up to the person, some areas will not produce large kills but I know hunters that have a blast Huntin these areas, so as you start just enjoy your hunts don't compare with others. To kill a lot I travel on average 3 hrs one way and the numbers we get are way less than others on this site. Of course scouting is a big key in any type Huntin, crows are no different. Down here it's food sources and I'm sure same there except the migrations I read about. So now your in the same boat as all of us are in, your after a very smart adversary that doesn't play fair! Keep up the posting I and others really enjoy reading about the hunts and seeing the pics. Just remember sucess is in the enjoyment of the hunt, and from your post I can tell you had a great time!

Butch

Rook-ie · Senior Member

CW -

Nice job! You're not alone on the total bird count -- I don't usually get more than a few, but it is fun. I'm still not very good at it, between concealment, calling (or overcalling), and shooting I always need to get better.

Definitely, those rapid succession calls 5-6 at a time is "danger." You can mix up the cadence, number, and duration of "caws" in unlimited combination -- I do like to mess with patterns, like a long "cawwwww" that drops off followed by a couple short ones, or 2 caws followed by 3, then one, or so on. Don't be afraid to mix it up.

Not sure if your decoys were all on the ground, but getting some (at least one) in the trees as high as you can is a plus. Also, I don't know if that crow flew 5 miles with a mouthful of corn because it heard your call or just for kicks, but they do have great hearing, eyesight, and intelligence.

You might consider, after a couple of waves with the "friendly" relaxed calls (or, if it's really slowed down), kick it up with some "fighting" words. If you listen to Bob Arohnson's calling CD, it's amazing how much you can wail on and mix up some very excited, frantic sounds on the call. Just be ready, though, because they can come in very hot very quickly, and then often it's over. You can get overwhelmed with birds -- they do love a good fight.

Have fun and welcome!

Jerry

Big Honkers · Guru

CW,

Great post and thank you for sharing your excitement with us.

Wishing you many more successful hunts!

BH

CrowWhisperer · Member

motiondecoy wrote:
you are getting it! beautiful classic remington and beautiful wooden calls....become a member and learn the calls...

Thanks for the kind words of encouragement, greatly appreciated! I've always felt that I learn at least as much from failures as I do victories, so, I was glad I got myself out from behind the computer and gave it a go! The fact that I got ANYTHING is all the encouragement I need! (wasn't expecting to, if I were to be totally honest) Thanks for noticing the shotgun too~I inherited that when my grandfather passed in 1977 and it has a ton of sentimental value to me. The fact that it chugs along like a steam engine regardless of what you feed it~just a bonus! Not sure if you noticed the charging handle. I keep the original in when it's in the safe, or at the trap range...but it's pretty stubby for use with gloves. I bought an 1100 "tactical" charging handle and adapted it for the ball detent system the 11-48s have. (on the bottom, not the edge) Worked great! Your comment about "become a member"...what does that mean? I'm a member of the forum already of course.

Motiondecoy~your comment on the calls. I've been paying allot of attention to crows around here in recent years, but wasn't sure what to expect from these. The truth is (after a whopping, 1 day's experience with them) I did have to work on keeping the pitch in check, the crows I was hunting were maybe a LITTLE lower, but mostly pretty close. Some were higher (the short blasts I heard/copied) and you had to bite down gently to achieve it. So far, I'd say I'm pleased with them...but I guess time will tell.

I look forward to reporting on the next hunt too, but will ask one more question of you guys~while coyote hunting a couple of years ago, a friend of mine brought his FoxPro and if memory serves, he let out NO crow sounds. All wounded critters of one kind or another. BUT, boy did it get the attention of the crows...and red tail hawks. They came in good numbers, but with only a .223 in hand, all I could do is watch. I have wounded cottontail mouth calls, other coyote calls~worth a go for the crows? Don't have the budget for an electronic caller of any kind right now, so, it's mouth calls or nothing. Interested in your thoughts. Thanks!

M12Shooter · Guru

I like the camera angle on that first pic CW! Oh, and welcome to the addiction...

Ted

motiondecoy · Guru

I like your attitude and every thing you have done and I am sure you will always be pleasantly surprised!

Rook-ie · Senior Member

CW -

You got that right on the wounded and dying critter sounds. Crows are very opportunistic - promise of an easy, fresh meal is almost too much to resist. Maybe a rabbit or fawn distress mouth call would work. Boy, they do come to crow distress/injured calls, too, and you can recreate those with a mouth call. Some believe that crows want to help their fallen comrades, but I think they just want to get the eyes first! Hahaha.

Rook-ie · Senior Member

Oh, and as far as "joining" Crow Busters. if you go to the website itself, you can join for $5 for life and access the advanced articles, etc.

CrowWhisperer · Member

Rook-ie wrote:
Oh, and as far as "joining" Crow Busters. if you go to the website itself, you can join for $5 for life and access the advanced articles, etc.

^Thanks for the clarification~I'll do that!

Lone Star Phil · Senior Member

CW:

Great field report and we can all see that you are an attentive observer! And I wouldn't begrudge your number of downed bandits. The crow, after all, is a smart being.

killerky · Veteran Member

Good work out there Rob! Keep at it because it only gets better.

CrowWhisperer · Member

killerky wrote:
Good work out there Rob! Keep at it because it only gets better.

^Thanks killerky~I'm working on it! Just bought a flat of #7-1/2 today!

ecuchief · Senior Member

Congrats on your start. If you're looking into electronics, don't go cheap. Buy a good rig and you won't have to buy another. Sorry, I can't give you any recommendations, but my favorite brand is Foxpro. My Dad introduced my bother & I about 40 years ago with a Wrightman Electronics. Now I have my own money and my own calls.

For you nostalgic folks...

Western Rivers Caller

Calls

-- Edited by ecuchief on Thursday 13th of November 2014 06:20:09 PM

CrowWhisperer · Member

Hey guys~thought I'd update this post by reporting that I got out again this past weekend. This time, with my daughter. No wind, almost no crows...so...very little action. She was armed with her 20ga (21" barrel, full choke, #7-1/2) and as my apprentice here in Ontario, I have to watch over her and not be shooting alongside. Anyhow, in 3 hours...I called-in exactly 1 pair of birds. One got cold feet on the approach (out of range)...the other committed. 3 shots from the 20ga. didn't find their mark, but, my daughter was all smiles anyway. "THAT was FUN dad!!! Did you see it stop mid air and high tail it out of there!?!?"

Had a great time, but the learning curve looks like it might be a steep one! As we were leaving 2:30pm it seemed that either the crows KNEW the threat was gone...or...were just moving around more towards the end of the day/last few hours of light. We could suddenly see crows where there had been none for the previous 3 hours, and, more seemed to be moving in. grrrr... lol

Butch · Guru

CW,

Sounds like a good time with your daughter, some areas are just tough to hunt, as you gather info on your areas crows you will increase the odds more to what you want to accomplish but sounds like to me you've got the having a good time already secured. Enjoyed the post!

Butch

Top Cat · Senior Member

Remember now; roosts are sacred or should be treated as such. Late afternoon crows suggest a roost isn't terribly far away....of one size or another?

Island Shooter · Guru

CW,

Great to hear of your success! There is something magic with that time that you call your first bird into the decoy spread!

Here is one more tip: No need to prop up the dead bird to make it look lifelike. In North America it seems that they are not bothered to see dead crows in all positions splayed around the decoy spread. It even seems they are more excited to come in to the group when there are dead ones everywhere. Going out to police every bird will invariably expose you to incoming fresh bird(s) and it is no fun to be busted as they have the advantage in that situation.

Keep up the fine work and reports!

Demi

Redditch · Guru

motiondecoy wrote:
I do not use any of the crow busters' calls as frankly the crows around here (New England) don't sound at all like that....our crows have raspier bassier calls...but generally the same rythymn and you will be in for a headlong surprise if you hear the fish crow...they are more of a challenge I am told..never shot at any but I've seen them!
But whatever you don't make it a practise to not shoot up a roost! It isn't fun chasing roosts around to see where they moved to! years ago depending upon where you are there were gigantic roosts of unimaginable proportions west of the mississippi but huge ones none the less east of the mississippi too none the less ...what happened was some overly ambitious crow hunters shot right in the roost and the crows left the area even hours away! Ask anyone who was at the legendary Ft Cobb Oklahoma roost!!!! Some yahoos got into it and destroyed it! It sucked the economic lifeblood out of Ft.Cobb now a ghost crow town!

You need to get British or European crow calls if you want deeper raspier sounds.

Your crow calls sound more like our rook or jackdaw calls (but then your crows are small than ours, more jackdaw size I believe )

Gibson now do a few raspier calls too though, as I just had a new one from him and it's a bit deeper and raspier, more like our "branchers" (Young carrion crow)

jacobhwrd · Senior Member

yeah I have a few calls and the Gibson is by far my favorite. I use my mallard tone for my Fun and Frolic calling while my foxpro is running. CW it sounds like youre figuring it out. I have been at it for a few years now and LOVE it. Here in Ky (central ky) we have plenty of birds but they dont seem to be as concentrated as they are out west (even western Ky). I do almost all soft calling so they come in smaller waves of 1-5 at a time. We have a lot of food sources but they are smaller by comparison so it seems like our birds will just fly from one to another as soon as they get any kind of pressure or perceived threat. I do go pick up my birds up in these sets. When i do hard calling I will leave them where they lay. What kind of decoys are you using? I didnt see any on Hard Cores website. I use several different kind but all of fully flocked decoys (FFD). I really like Green Head Gear (GHG) but they are big and can be a pain to carry in on some public lands here so i also use Lucky Duck that are a little smaller and and i can fit more into my bag to walk in. I dont know how they birds are where you live but it took me a while to get around to putting a sentry decoy in a tree. That helped me a lot with birds that would post up and just watch over my sets. I now use two sentries since i was getting birds landing beside mine and it has basiclly stopped (happend once since then). I know some people say there is no such thing as to many decoys but i have found that to not be true. Most of my stands are only 2 sentries and 6 on the ground. I still have another 2 dozen that i can put out for larger sets over corn fields or feed lots. I just wish i knew to buy bigger decoy bags and better calls at the start.