The MI crow season is on. I figured I'd share a recent hunt. It was one I barely got out of bed for, thankfully, I stopped hitting the snooze button.
I had scouted this area for some time. I never really saw a massive amount of crows in the area, but every time I scouted it before 2pm there would be birds on the ground and birds in the air. There was also a tendency for the birds to always be moving in the same direction every time I visited the area. "Good signs, good signs" I told myself.
I got permission on 3 parcels of property in the area so I had the ability to hunt a couple different wind directions.
I have been around the crow-hunting-block enough to know that I might have a decent shoot, but still, I never saw the big gobs of birds to give me the assurance that I prefer.
The morning of the hunt, I had a real hard time getting out of bed. *Note to self: stop staying up so damn late. I nearly turned off the alarm and went mid-morning scouting instead. I had off of work and did not want to waste it PLUS I had the right wind for the best set up in this area. I wanted to take advantage of the wind direction, I could not let the opportunity pass me by and rolled out of bed.
I hunted solo.
It was cool outside but not cold. Upper 20s with a 10+ MPH wind. I really like that. Its just warm enough that I do not need to wear a coat. A good pair of bibs, a sweatshirt, and a fleece makes shooting movements & gun mounts much easier VS wearing a bulky winter parka.
I set up close to a small woodlot that surrounded an empty silage bunker. There was no crow food in the bunker, I was choosing my location purely upon previous crow movements and wind direction. I set my blind just outside the upwind corner of the woodlot. I was hoping those crows would fly right up the tree row to my trap.
...And they did.
I shot 213 crows by 1pm. This hunt was my favorite of the year because of the pace of the shooting. The pace was really steady all morning, not a ton of super fast flurries and no real dead spots until about 12:30. Lots of super soft shots too. I could have made a crow pillow with all the crow snow.
I shot mostly my favorite load: reloaded AA & STS hulls filled with 1oz of #7s.
I only set 7 decoys. 6 in a nicely overhanging tree and 1 on top of my crow pole.
A shot from the blind looking upward at BH & the decoys:
Here is a nicer shot of the decoys; crow pole on the right:
Here is an up-skirt view of the pole sentry:
Check out this bird, seems like there have been some good oddities taken by various members this year:
Inside the blind picture. That is a 7 gallon bucket. The gray rod is from a portable horse fence rig. It serves as a nice push pole in case I get a wad stuck in the barrel from one of my reloads. I have only had to use it one time over the years.
The blind and the bulk of the "Death Spray."
BH thinking: "Not bad. Good thing I did not sleep in."
When I got back to the truck, there were some blood globs on the hood and 5 more globs on the windshield. I guess one or more of the non-clickables were leaking pretty good. I parked about 150 yards away.
Hope everyone enjoyed.
Keep after 'em.
Good hunting,
BH
-- Edited by Big Honkers on Thursday 4th of February 2016 04:45:07 AM
BH...how do you get your decoys up into a tree. It appears your decoys are Flambeau. It appears, from what I can see, that there are no hooks in the eyelet on the back of your decoys. How do you get them to hang?
Big Honkers I shot a crow Saturday in South Arkansas that had that same growth on his feet but only about 1/4" around both legs. I also put decoys in the trees and I use an old softball with an eyelet screwed in it. I buy the old cheap $2.58 reel of fishing line at wally World in 30 lb. test. I tie the softball to the line and while holding the reel of line in my left hand(much like a open face spinning reel) I throw the softball over a high limp and then attach my crow decoy and pull it up into the tree. I've tried a kids bow and arrowalso with marginal success.
Depending on where I'm heading I'll always bring my 16ft painters pole. In the end there's a hole to place the end of the hook into so you just go up past your branch and then the hook catches as you lower it. I've been known to throw the step ladder in to. I try to get to a hunt an hour before shooting time if I'm on my own, half to 45 if there's a couple of us. I got no problem sitting in the hide early relaxing with a coffee, once they're flyin there's no breaks for a while.
-- Edited by Wingsetter on Friday 5th of February 2016 05:49:34 PM
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Good idea on tying 2 crow decoys together. If I used smaller line like 10lb test then I could probably break the line to get them down with my crow pole which is an old electric utility 40' switch stick. I leave it in the truck just in case I get a decoy hung and have to retrieve it. Wow! I keep learning things here that I can use. Thanks again.
I shot a crow like this once only it was on its' lower belly-apparently the one i hit with a pellet rifle sometime before that about -I guess now-6 miles south of that in the spring sometime ....it flew away and i am guessing the lead pellet caused the growth. Now I am not sure but you could see where something went in that was pellet sized...that growth was plain old every day weird period! I did not see it until I shot it with my thunder boomer!
None the less it did not look like that pinkish tinge of sorts on your crow....weird weird weird! NHCrowshooter shot something like that last October ..so the posts go?
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BH: A 200+ solo bird morning is a fantastic shoot!! Well managed, sir!! Loved your pictures and well written report! Also noted your FoxPro remote.. which of their devices do you use if I can ask?
Good idea on tying 2 crow decoys together. If I used smaller line like 10lb test then I could probably break the line to get them down with my crow pole which is an old electric utility 40' switch stick. I leave it in the truck just in case I get a decoy hung and have to retrieve it. Wow! I keep learning things here that I can use. Thanks again.
try a slingshot to get your crow decoys up in the tree. Attach a lead sinker to your fish line the pull your decoy up with the line
I simply nick down a sapling, attach my decoys to that small tree while its on the ground and stand the setup up tying in place to another tree or shrub if need be...as per attached photo.
I simply nick down a sapling, attach my decoys to that small tree while its on the ground and stand the setup up tying in place to another tree or shrub if need be...as per attached photo.
Ted
I like the technique, but you can't get away with that everywhere around here.
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"Arms are the only true badges of liberty. The possession of arms is the distinction of a free man from a slave." -- Andrew Fletcher 1698
If there was that much blood on your truck imagine what you didn't see everywhere else. I doubt the direction of your truck was their only line of retreat. What size(s) of shot were using and how far did you stretch your longest shots on average? That is not just evidence of flying cripples it is strong evidence a lot of birds were probably hit that you thought were completely missed.
I shot mostly #7's on this hunt with approx 3 boxes of #6's also fired.
My crow-to-shell ratio was pretty darn good on this hunt....just shy of 75%. Well, that is pretty good to me anyway.
The truck was parked on the other side of the group of trees. I did have some birds get into the timber as I pulled the trigger. Those are never easy shots but it always amazes me how well a fella can shoot thru small branches if he can keep his swing. Nonetheless, I avoid shooting thru trees whenever possible.
With any good shoot, Im sure you hit more than you realize. I think that would be true of a fella shooting #9's or #4's. I have fired a large variety of shot sizes at crows and it is impossible to completely avoid that dreaded "fire-flinch-and-flyaway."
BH, 75% on crows is great, I'd say you are a good wing shooter for sure. Straight #7 shot (Not 7.5)? You must reload to be shooting 7's, a bought a couple of bags of #7 a few years ago but pretty much stick to #6. I load them into any trap/skeet reload recipe, usually staying with velocity in the 1145 to 1200 fps range.
Like you, I seem to have more confidence with 7 1/2 shot, I load 6's also and they will kill em snot dead but but so will the 7 1/2's.
Going to have to try 7's but have only seen it in steel down here.
The wind was near perfect for this set up so that helped my average.
Yeah, I do reload. I shoot 1oz of shot at crows.
I like #6s fine but I prefer #7s. For some reason I have more confidence with #7s. I have no factual argument to back that up but its in my head.
Looking forward to your spring hunting reports from NH.
BH
Reloading is a fun hobby in it's own right. 1 ounce load in a 12ga are comfortable, non fatiguing and very effective on crows. With a bag of lead shot at + or - $50 lighter loads stretch the dollar. I started shooting 7/8 12ga loads at 16 yd trap and skeet a couple of years ago. Scores are the same. People who don't reload don't have the flexibility with shells we do. You don't give up as much with lighter loads as many people think because shell for shell a 1 ounce load will throw a better percentage of it's pellets into a 30" circle than a heavier load. Winter/spring shooting here can be slow, the last week of March can be good but then it closes on 3/31. No matter it can be good to get even if the numbers are low.
I've never seen 7 shot up here in Canada. Probably be awesome on crows as I would love to try that shot size. I load quite a bit of 12 gauge fodder as well. 7/8 oz loads for 16 yard trap and for skeet as well. I've shot 1 oz 12 gauge hand loads for decades on crows. WW pink wads or Claybuster clones at 1290 FPS will drop crows stone dead out to 40 yards plus.
As for factory fodder can't go wrong with 1 1/8 ounce value priced shells. A Canadian Company up here markets shells under the name of "Challenger" and loads 1 oz. ammo that have a MV of almost 1400 fps. These crush crows and pattern very well considering the velocity but this ammo is a bit punchy on the shooter in high volume situations.
Ted
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I've never seen 7 shot up here in Canada. Probably be awesome on crows as I would love to try that shot size. I load quite a bit of 12 gauge fodder as well. 7/8 oz loads for 16 yard trap and for skeet as well. I've shot 1 oz 12 gauge hand loads for decades on crows. WW pink wads or Claybuster clones at 1290 FPS will drop crows stone dead out to 40 yards plus.
As for factory fodder can't go wrong with 1 1/8 ounce value priced shells. A Canadian Company up here markets shells under the name of "Challenger" and loads 1 oz. ammo that have a MV of almost 1400 fps. These crush crows and pattern very well considering the velocity but this ammo is a bit punchy on the shooter in high volume situations.
Ted
Speaking of Canadian ammo, are you old enough to remember these? I cut my teeth as a teenager shooting Canuck's in the early 1970's. I found these two boxes after my father passes in a closet. $3.99 a box.
I remember the brand; Canuck made a .22 LR standard velocity ammo that served us well at the time as a practice match ammo in the mid-to-late 60s. Decent stuff for club training and matches, as I recollect.
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"Arms are the only true badges of liberty. The possession of arms is the distinction of a free man from a slave." -- Andrew Fletcher 1698
NH, I sure am old enough to remember Canuck shotgun shells. In fact, I cut my teeth shooting much older paper shells as pictured. Was cleaning out my fathers hunting locker as his tenure on this planet is all but up. Happened across many boxes of Canucks, Maxum and Imperial Long Range all made by the same company. These were some of the most wonderful shell one could shoot. Smell of a spent hull brings me right back to my youth in the duck marsh on some cool October morning.
NH, I sure am old enough to remember Canuck shotgun shells. In fact, I cut my teeth shooting much older paper shells as pictured. Was cleaning out my fathers hunting locker as his tenure on this planet is all but up. Happened across many boxes of Canucks, Maxum and Imperial Long Range all made by the same company. These were some of the most wonderful shell one could shoot. Smell of a spent hull brings me right back to my youth in the duck marsh on some cool October morning.
Ted
This web site really needs a "Like" button. Sorry about your dad. I sometimes wonder where have all the years gone since I was shooting those shells.
