Hello to ya'll . new to the forum, first post. been hunting crows for several years, mostly on my own 30 acres. done fairly well, even got a white crow that i had stuffed & will be posting pics of. i've got the camo and the blinds down pat. even upgraded from my old johnny stewart card caller to an icotec -500. But about decoys, I have always used a few made out of black rubber conveyor belting that i hang from branches BUT quit using them as soon as i get a few kills. I freeze 6 to 8 dead ones and have always used them for decoys. after reading on the site here it appears that is not a great idea and may explain why i have had crows do a fly by and leave not to come back ! some times the frozen dead bring them in, sometimes not. just bagged 3 yesterday by putting one at my owles feet and using the distress call. SO, i would like some advice on decoys, stake em in the ground ? all in trees ? how many and any certain brand name better than others ? one thing i have learned thru trial and error is that one decoy way up top of a tree as a sentry works out well !!! i'll be using the cable & pully trick. and, do any of you have luck without any decoys at all ? thanks in advance.
In my hunting (duck hunting method vs. running & gunning), I find sentry decoys very helpful. Like you, the higher, the better. Unlike you, I only take them down after the hunt.
On the topic of real vs. decoys, I simply throw the dead birds amoung the decoy spread, but don’t save/freeze any. I’ve got enough stuff to carry for setup as it is.
Hope this helps. Good hunting and keep the reports coming!
Demi
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The man who thinks he can, and the man who thinks he can’t are both right.
Decoys: If I knew how to post a video...I have a 20 second one that shows the finest decoy on the planet. I need to take a still photo.. which I plan to do this Wednesday. But in the meantime anyone interested can see this device (decoy) at nick@flightlinedecoys.co.uk The effectiveness of this decoy on crows is the single most remarkable I have ever seen or used. The basic reason: the decoy is a freshly killed crow.. mounted onto a frame that support open wings that flap at whatever speed you like.. and a notch that holds the head erect just like a live bird. This decoy has been mentioned and discussed before on this board but it was improperly used causing the electric motor to fail. More later when I can get the pictures.. or perhaps someone who has one can post.. video too.
i did the frozen crow all nice & neatly secured to a piece of small rebar & then attached a small section of grey pcv to the top of a long sapling as a receptical & stood it up next to my decoy tree, the crow was about one foot above the actual tree top & realy looked good. easy to stand up & take back down. now i need a few with spikes to put in the ground. AND catch that flock of about 50 that comes thru randomly about once a week !!! the flapper looks great, probably a little more labor intensive than i would like. i'm sure the many hawks around here would like to attack that !!!