Today felt really weird, It was really windy. 25 with 45 MPH gusts. I was in the timber which helped slightly. Had a decent shoot to put 30 on the ground, but there were a lot of shots that I felt hesitant and thought I should make. They would set into the wind and they were almost motionless it seemed and I whiffed a few of those shots. Or if they were above me they were like in a swing moving left to right and not really flying away. The normal pull through just really didn't transpire today. So as the day went on I started to second guess Myself and I didn't even pull the trigger a couple times on birds that were way to close to have survived. Wind is dropping down for tomorrow and I'm taking out a first time crow hunter should be fun.
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If you aim for nothing you'll hit it every time!!!
I don't go out in high winds because around here, it seems they're not as active and my (small) caller sound is dampened by high winds. However, you did real well under those conditions Sir!
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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
Never experienced what you described, but I've had the days that I couldn't hit a bull in the butt with a bass fiddle (lol). That's what I like about crow huntin, sometimes it's just their day for whatever reason and then sometimes it's your day and you do it all and feel like a million bucks. Congrats on the hunt and probly tomorrow you will be deadly!
On days where you are getting winds in the 30 mph plus range you need to be in a good sheltered spot out of the wind.
I know exactly what you are talking about when you mention that the birds were swaying back & forth left to right and visa versa. Crows are very erratic in those heavy winds and it is very very difficult to score on more than one at a time as you are only going to get one half decent shot! Now you know what it is like to think you have the right hold on a bird and faster than you can blink your eyes it can side slip on you and you miss the shot. Been there and done it many times over the years.
If I see weather like that coming from a weather report I will stand down until the wind slacks off to 10-15 or 10-20 mph.
Wingsetter,
We shot in those same conditions 3 or so years ago and it was a blast. Fortunately we were in a pecan orchard they had to be in.
Shooting a nearly stationary bird is harder than it looks! Great shooting and thanks for a good report.
Demi
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The man who thinks he can, and the man who thinks he can’t are both right.
There was a spot in the bend of the Arkansas River about 15 minutes from my house that was made for a high wind day as you describe. Boyd & I called that spot "blood alley" because it could be blowing 30 miles an hour and in that little bend and it was almost dead calm. You could score on doubles and some triples because the birds were not erratic, they were out of the wind as well when they presented themselves in front of the blind.
This spot was one mile straight north of the old Medora crow roost which held one million plus crows back in those days. If you got setup by 12 noon you already had birds starting to dribble back from further out. They used that river as a windbreak and usually the last hour before sundown it really got wild, as fast as you could keep the guns loaded.
This is not the Arkansas River but the bend in the river is similar. The Arkansas was not near as wide as the river in this photo plus the trees were much shorter in height.
River/creek valleys and in the lee of large tracts of trees are great spots should one choose to hunt of windy days. Situations as this present lots of "floaters"...crows that maintain almost motionless flight for a few seconds. Lots of floaters are missed due to forward allowance that is not needed. In fact at times these floaters are actually slipping slightly backwards with the wind. A hold slightly to the rear is often needed.
Another point regarding high wind situations would be that once a shot pattern is exposed to high gusty wind it can be moved several feet to the detriment of the shooter. Small shot is much more affected by this as opposed to 4's or 5's we used to used on ducks and geese. These days I generally stay home under these conditions as much of my "boyish" enthusiasm has waned
Ted
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Life's tough... It's even tougher if you're stupid. John Wayne
Thanks for all the replies, as I mentioned I took Brian out for his first Hunt Sat. he had a blast and also went out with me on Sunday. He's not a avid hunter so getting on these darting targets proved to be a big challenge. He pulled the trigger a lot though. I figure I'll be getting some calls from him to tag along again in the near future.
