With Jerry Tomlin's guidance, we had a fun and productive hunt last month. But since his death, I tried to salvage the second half of our annual crow hunting gathering by acting as the guide. Here is my report, such that it was. Keep in mind that this gathering is as much about social interactions as it is for hunting, and one of the attendees was my son from Colorado, so crows or not, we were there for the fun.
After reconstructing three of Jerry's orchard owner contacts, I did some other scouting that so far has not yet brought in additional properties. One of the three "in hand" orchards was in the process of picking up nuts, so that location was out. The other two were perennial crow producers, but there were no backups for the two days of hunting.
Our first day was almost a washout, but mainly due to the weather...rain and foggy conditions kept most of the crows on their roost. We quit early after coaxing in a few flights. Another problem was that most of the groups flared on my newly-expanded blind setup now designed to handle 4 hunters. The blind was brushed properly, but the wide open space that housed four shooters and gear made the interior highly visible. Not even the FF-5 flapper could overcome this defect. We ended with 13 crows, and due to the rain and low number, we didn't even take a picture.
After the hunt, we shot a round of sporting clays at the Palmetto Shooting Complex in Edgefield, SC and at least got some quality trigger time along with some friendly competition. On the way back, we set up the blind in a nearby orchard, making interior "partitions" by planting one palm frond between each shooter. All was ready for the next hunt.
The next morning weather was more cooperative, but no so much for the crows. We fought hard to bring in enough to get 17 crows for a total of 30. The good news was that our modification to the blind made a very big difference. Hardly a single bird flared on our blind setup.
That is the report, so the next step is to continue prospecting for orchards and/or peanut fields to hunt next year. We will miss Jerry's hard work in scouting, setups, alternate properties and other work that he did for his clients. Hopefully, next year's Crow Week will be back to the high numbers that we enjoyed while hunting with Jerry.
Demi
Picture 1: Happy Hunters w/ Blind Modification
Picture 2: Father & Son, in uniform.
Picture 2: Day 2 Lineup
-- Edited by Island Shooter on Monday 12th of November 2018 07:29:05 PM
-- Edited by Island Shooter on Monday 12th of November 2018 07:32:01 PM
13 & 17 !!! Those are great days in my crow hunting world Demi. LOL. I can see how a bigger blind would have it's challenges especially out in the open rather than tucked in the tree line. I noticed in some of your post's you all were wearing eye protection. I thought that was odd since it is probably seen by the crows however after fireing a shot from my kawasaki mule one day the empty case bounced back & popped me right above the eye. That hurt. It's probably a good idea for everyone to the right to wear them.
I noticed in some of your post's you all were wearing eye protection. I thought that was odd since it is probably seen by the crows however after fireing a shot from my kawasaki mule one day the empty case bounced back & popped me right above the eye. That hurt. It's probably a good idea for everyone to the right to wear them.
Paul,
As an avid sporting clays shooter, along with many I hunt with, we are big on eye and ear protection. Although on a recent hunt I took my glasses off because they were fogging up on a muggy day. Shortly after, a shot blew back debris into my eye that required a trip to the eye doctor...should have kept them on!! Another time I shot a fish crow straight overhead and while aiming at the next one, #6 shot came raining back down on me.
In sporting clays we have a name for the people who don’t wear ear and eye protection. We call them “Deaf, Dumb and Blind!” 😀
Demi
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