A lot of folks will be unhappy reading this-me included. I will be getting emails and the forum will be full of complaints and discussion about all the causes...a lack of crows. There will be talk of the government created "wet Nile Virus" again...well the deal is I believe is so long as a crow has this comfort zone they on't move. Many posts in here tell us that for example a predicted snow storm pushed thousands of otherwise left over crows onward creating an almost second migration....well I believe just when some will think it's been a bust, the crows will magically appear in full numbers and and my colleagues will be in ectasy about their crow numbers. I am seeing the same thing this year as the last meaning they'll be here -same as last year.
I personally know of someone who quit for the season to keep the peace one week before the area had crows everywhere.
Now there has been changes over the years that caught me totally by surprise: the crows no longer followed their old flight pattern. Proof was they were still assembling in their winter roosts in the same amount of numbers, just taking a different route that unfortunately doesn't include my area. The former farms they followed were no longer there.
I'd like to comment too that our spring crow season is too short: the season ended with 2 foot of snow every where only to see the crows suddenly arriving in numbers all of a sudden in April! Gee that sounds like the crow seasons in different states where the season ends just as the migration begins in fall!
None the less I wish every one the best where you are. You are only getting one or two and sometimes 20-30 well it will pick up-mark my words! I couldn't believe it myself about what happened last year. You van be sure I will be getting up earlier this year to greet the Canadians with open choke!
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Top Cat Statutes never replaced or rewrote the constitution!
No shortage of crows up here in Western Canada. Local gatherings of fall crows will vary from year to year depending on what crops have been planted and where the birds decide to dine. Nothing is for sure with the crows, why scouting is a very important activity.
Ted
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Life's tough... It's even tougher if you're stupid. John Wayne
Sorry; I was talking about this region of the USA. I sure don't know much about Canada except what you folks post.
This never used to be this lousy however it was always a seasonal state(here) the best times were always going to be spring and fall for the numbers. But at one time they could be found everywhere and late summer when they began roosting decent shooting could be had.
They don't poison the crows up there do they? The local farmers used to poison them here. It was called "crow chex"...!"hearty" breakfast indeed!
Oh yes I am scouting and some places have began cutting corn. Little by little.
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Top Cat Statutes never replaced or rewrote the constitution!
West Nile Virus is not a joke and I don't believe for one minute it was fabricated by the government. In the world of international travel pathogens moving across oceans happens. When WNV broke out nobody cared if crows died or bluejays, they were concerned about people catching the disease. Here in NH there were reports of dead crows being found and turned in for examination to the state and WNV was confirmed. The following article provides details of a peer reviewed study that went to great lengths to determine the effect of WNV in crows. The result, if WNV became present in your location the expected loss of crows was about a 67%. If I recall correctly WNV first showed up in New York state and did make it's way to NH. Somewhere around 2002 - 2004 we had the scare. September crow hunting before that time frame was much better than after. Other changes since then include a decline in farming/agriculture and open dumps. There are still crows to be shot we had a low double digit morning this morning. It ain't what it used to be but is still a good time and only gets better when the annual fall migration pushes through next month.
Plum Island NYS has a "cute" little laboratory across from Lyme connecticutt where the government dumped lyme disease infected ticks into Lyme Connecticutt with horrid results; lyme disease is military grade syphillis meaning guaranteed death...a slow horrible painful death...and West Nile Virus came from there too. A visitor to the area told me (she was from that area) that the government was trying to get rid of all the sea gulls and crows due to the problems with such numbers..."calling cards" for example....amazing mosquitoes that made it to NH huh? Did they travel Grey Hound?
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Top Cat Statutes never replaced or rewrote the constitution!
BH you came pretty close to ruining my computer when coffee shot out of my mouth and nose from laughing so hard Funny how there is always that one guy who speaks up and says what everyone else is thinking
-- Edited by nhcrowshooter on Thursday 15th of September 2016 04:31:07 PM
Ohhh, but not shooting Sunday's CAN be a real pain, when there are hundreds of crows and pigeon on the freshly sown crops, and you can't touch them :(
then you have to wait till Monday and just hope they come back, which sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.
the biggest pain though, is often due to the amount of rain we get here, when we suddenly get a few bright days, ALL the farmers plant or haven't as many fields as they can, and then the birds have lots of choice,many a few shots and they move to other fields.
Thosee days you often only get 30-50 birds. A good average day here is 80-100, and it gets nice when we get just a few fields planted, and then hungry birds coming in, and those days you can get 300-500 per shooter easy. But alas, days like that are few and far between, and usually due to a farmer having had broken machines, so being later than everyone else
that said, in England and Wales (maybe Scotland too, not sure) they can hunt crow and pigeon 365 days a year.
everywhere in the UK it's forbidden to hunt game and wildfowl on a Sunday, but fox, rabbit, rat can also be hunted 365 days a year everywhere, so it doesn't mean I'm totally bored on a Sunday if I wish to I can do some hunting LOL
-- Edited by Redditch on Monday 19th of September 2016 11:37:15 AM
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If it moves and is legal but also moral, SHOOT IT !!
Funny how there is always that one guy who speaks up and says what everyone else is thinking 
