I went back to the same blind where I shot 66 yesterday, I figured they were migrant crows that were long gone and new fresh flocks would be moving across the state out of the north again today. 10ga joined me today, birds didn't really move until 10AM and the big push was over for the most part around 1PM. We had a 45 minute period starting at Noon of non stop shooting for 45 minutes. We hunted from dawn to 3:30PM but just couldn't get the birds to cooperate for a triple digit day. We shot 99, but that ain't too bad in the state of NH is it Topcat?
Here is a panoramic shot of the results.
-- Edited by nhcrowshooter on Wednesday 26th of October 2016 09:47:45 PM
Well done to you both, and good call on your part. It takes Huntin savy to get great results! Keep knocking them down.
By the way Y'all put it on us today as we shot a 25 acre pecan orchard and could only manage 35 and only saw maybe 50, it was a strange a:m. Congrats and hope it continues for y'all .
That's a good morning any day!! It sure beats being stuck in an office.
__________________
Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air,....
MattW
I had hoped I made it clear that this is highly impressive for what NH is worth. Highly unusual and very unique for this otherwise crow drought ridden state!
Now again quite impressive given that I have read reports in otherwise known big crow states where some how the hunters there only get 5 for some very odd reason. So if a little state like NH gets 66 on Tuesday and 99 on Wednesday something is going well for the Granite state but quite vacant in big crow states?
Sure I salute you. No question there at all. The only people I see getting any numbers are you and someone in the southland-Alabama? And little numbers counted on the hand anywhere else. hunters of the plains have not started just yet. But it doesn't in the least bit belittle your accomplishments of Tuesday/Wednesday-nothing to sneeze at in the least...had I been able to get out could I have done the same? I cannot say....maybe not likely but I could have gotten my fair share of the western areas here? we won't know until the week end now. I anticipate my usual; twenty birds so that isn't really too bad given what every one else is getting but naturally pathetic compared to your annual shoot. I was worried something was wrong until I read the reports. I hope to get a fair amount this week end is all I can say about that. I always expect others to do better than I-it's how I learn. Condemning the location? Noo....hey I hope you can do it again. I hope i do as good. If I had your shooting ability in the old southwestern connecticutt river days I could have gotten a hundred each week end but those days are long gone...and i never did anything close to a hundred.If you got the crows you'll get the numbers-who can argue that? In the 70s I had the crows but hardly the number of hits for what that is worth.
But on another note are you saying it was because of the double trouble? That I would argue. Because reality is you had the crows so basically if you could hit them it doesn't matter what you shot-the crows were indeed there. You would have had to have some good success! Who could argue that?
__________________
Top Cat Statutes never replaced or rewrote the constitution!
Thank you. Nothing to worry about as far as migration, crows migrate intensely during the last week of October here in NH, they always have and they always will.
Yes the double troubles matter because shotgun fit matters. Not all shotguns are equal. Just about every Parker double has slightly different stock dimensions, they were not built in cookie cutter fashion and many were ordered by the original purchaser who requested dimensions, weight, chokes and other things including trigger pull. The trick is figuring out what dimensions work best and then finding a gun with those dimensions. Having a shotgun that fits is a critical element to wingshooting. Did you know that each and every Parker was test fired at the factory and adjusted so that the point of aim was perfect? One is not assured that a modern off the shelf shotgun shoots point of aim. They were also pattern tested and adjusted until the chokes shot the specified pattern %. What manufacturer does that today? Yes I have a slower rate of fire with a double but I also have the choice of two chokes instantly when I want more or less choke (double triggers), I like that. The doubles are also reliable with any ammo. No shotgun is perfect, each has it's advantages and disadvantages. I do pretty well with an old side by and I am happy with them. If I had crows like Bob A. shoots I would use an automatic and factory ammo too but that kind of volume shooting is not available in NH.
Backing up a day of 66 with a 99 is fantastic in anyone's book. Well done! Working for that number 100 can be very trying, but don't lose sight of how much fun that 99 was to attain.
It frustrates me that at one time we had the Connecicutt River Valley to provide for exceptional shooting and so much so it was noted in Field and Stream around the mid 70s...so even though NH Crowshooter was able to do remarkable shooting those black buzzards didn't hang around. Well see in the old mid 70s era they actually did to some degree but every time I went it seemed like fresh crows were about. Oh well, great memories. For me at the time it was unbelievable as my local area the last week of September was incredible. If I didn't go that last friday before October 1st then I'd have to wait until next year to try again. Well anyways the farmer annihilated my blind and the trees directly behind me and that was the beginning of the end.
To make matters worst new hunters discovered crow shooting and the rest is history. Total and complete.
There are some areas where the crows hang around until the ground ices up then it is absolutely over -season or not.
__________________
Top Cat Statutes never replaced or rewrote the constitution!
Thanks GB, we could have shot 100 I am sure. We were both tired and hungry when 3PM rolled around, the intervals between crows arriving had gotten longer. We have have hit 100+ before so hitting that number would not be a first. If it would have been the first time shooting 100 in a day I or we would have stayed. After picking up I was driving out of the field and as I got a short ways down the road from the field I looked up and saw a long string of crows moving north and south, so if we wanted 100 to happen it could have been done.
TC you are correct every crow in NH is earned, finding spots to hunt that have crows is not easy, shooting crows outside of the migration can be slow and must be satisfied for a mere handful for 3 or 4 hours stand. Times have changed, hunters are not as welcome as they once were and I have told 10ga nobody likes a crow hunter. Too many hunters look down their nose at a crow hunter spouting the mantra I only shoot what I eat. Animal lovers detest it, hikers dog walkers, mountain bikers are frightened by the gun fire. We have someone tearing down our blinds where we have written permission to hunt, a couple of years back we had a guy pull a speaker out of a tree and stomp it until we popped out of the blind and said WTF. Some land owners don't want the constant noise of an e-caller within ear shot others don't want dead crows left on their land yet don't allow a vehicle so you can clean it up easily. Hunting in general is becoming more frowned upon by society.
Hunting in general is becoming more frowned upon by society...NHCrowshooters' observation...
Yeah and what started this anti-hunt mentality was all those overseas wars we didn't need...George Washington warned against it as did others of that era-but we did not listen; another story...in my day; I never had any problem getting permission to shoot crows but -yes-others hated us; especially bow and arrow deer hunters. Pheasant hunters didn't respect us letting their orange clad dogs run right amongst the decoys; others would walk right through; good luck. Losing the dumps was a huge blow as to keep crows around they had to go somewhere to eat in the late fall....people moved into the state buying up properties and stuffing 1.5 million dollar homes on the land. So even if the land wasn't posted; it might as well have been....the idea of so called silencers? Not really, they reduce sound-not eliminate no matter what James Bond movies say-not center fires anyways.
Houses springing up every where is what did in northern Massachussettes nearest me which was the most effective gun control as people couldn't use their guns to target practise with and the farms were crowded out like the southwestern Connecticutt river valley and what houses didn't do the land was either posted or reduced corn production and anyways the bulk of the crows in fall didn't hang around...those passing through stop long enough to burp but won't be there the next day...further east of there? You'll find factories on former cornfields and the crows long since split too..they were actually long gone before the building actually...neighboring towns had dried up anyways-all crows split by then anyways so it wasn't really any losses there....the local hunters didn't do it..because see the crows would always magically appear(that very Monday of the new week and hang around) prior to mass exodus (vacancy) of crows. Did they die off? NNooooo....there just isn't any reason to stick around any more...if you are getting numbers I salute you of course. But the state is shrinking for reasons A-Z....
-- Edited by killer Crowalski on Sunday 9th of September 2018 05:34:53 AM
-- Edited by killer Crowalski on Sunday 9th of September 2018 05:37:56 AM
Back on Long Island New York in 1972 one of my best spots off of 25A one mile from C.W. Post College had changed hands. I go to talk to the new owners and they said they did not allow any hunting. That was there right, they now pay the taxes on the property. I said to myself "no way am I going to spend the rest of my life on the east coast" Within two years I was outa there and moved to Kansas. Best move I ever made.
Back on Long Island New York in 1972 one of my best spots off of 25A one mile from C.W. Post College had changed hands. I go to talk to the new owners and they said they did not allow any hunting. That was there right, they now pay the taxes on the property. I said to myself "no way am I going to spend the rest of my life on the east coast" Within two years I was outa there and moved to Kansas. Best move I ever made.
You are absolutely right but if one does; or is able to; got to know the general geography...got to know the critters and their habits to avoid difficulties with nasty wild life and rabies. Got to understand the snakes who don't attack humans but to avoid accidents. It sure isn't like around here where a chance encounter wuth a timber rattler is more a case of visiting Rattlesnake mountain or screwing around the Dublin rock quarries...and be aware of the weather. The plains can be sunny in the morning and you're looking for cover in the afternoon....otherwise learn the climate and other conditions and who knows? One might get decent bags of black bandits.
California would be almost ideal if not for the political climate making it a disaster and a sea of irony.
But you know BobA; everyone wants to go where the crows are and really one don't have to go to the Plains to do some really good shooting but it was a great idea. Right now I got a hot tip about where to go even though it could involve an overnighter in a "flea bag motel"(I'll never forget that-never slept in one though). I could drive there and come back or spend the week end.But first requires scouting in that area. And I won't be welcome. Just because one hunts crows don't mean others want visitors...they don't. Competition locally when it was half ways decent soon destroyed the quality of the shoot but fast...nobody wanted to drive a couple hours as everyone wants to just go up the road...and this ruined everything. Soon as a pheasant hunter left another piled in so there was steady traffic there. As we know a crow hears a shotgun and they don't know what you are shooting at so they pack it in. The dump was only about 3/4 mile away tops so...anyways it's going to be a good year this season!
-- Edited by killer Crowalski on Sunday 9th of September 2018 05:54:05 PM
-- Edited by killer Crowalski on Sunday 9th of September 2018 05:54:55 PM
-- Edited by killer Crowalski on Sunday 9th of September 2018 05:56:22 PM
Sure I salute you. No question there at all. The only people I see getting any numbers are you and someone in the southland-Alabama? And little numbers counted on the hand anywhere else. hunters of the plains have not started just yet. But it doesn't in the least bit belittle your accomplishments of Tuesday/Wednesday-nothing to sneeze at in the least...had I been able to get out could I have done the same? I cannot say....maybe not likely but I could have gotten my fair share of the western areas here? we won't know until the week end now. I anticipate my usual; twenty birds so that isn't really too bad given what every one else is getting but naturally pathetic compared to your annual shoot. I was worried something was wrong until I read the reports. I hope to get a fair amount this week end is all I can say about that. I always expect others to do better than I-it's how I learn. Condemning the location? Noo....hey I hope you can do it again. I hope i do as good. If I had your shooting ability in the old southwestern connecticutt river days I could have gotten a hundred each week end but those days are long gone...and i never did anything close to a hundred.If you got the crows you'll get the numbers-who can argue that? In the 70s I had the crows but hardly the number of hits for what that is worth.