Rookie mistake to set up in heavy overhead over or tall trees. Best is lower trees and shrubs where shooting is for the most past unobstructed. I lop down a young sapling 10-15 feet tall depending. Put my deeks in the tree while its on the ground and stand it up against another of similar size. Tie the decoy tree to the healthy on and start calling...
Those are the boondocker style shell deeks They have a slit where a branch can be pushed through the shell. These decoys are flocked and look very authentic. My only complaint with these was that they tend to crack and split in cool weather.
Ted
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New to crow hunting so I am looking for some advice. What is the best way to get your decoys up high in the tree branches besides climbing up one.
andrews1958,
Check the "Hawk likes my decoy" topic posted a couple days ago. Good ideas discussed there. The search feature will yield good results as well. Good luck.
Be advised that “cool weather” in Manitobia, Canada is somewhere in the 10 below zero range! 😁
Demi
I have a dozen Boondockers and really like their portability. Just found one split yesterday. It'd been pretty cold last week so I should have put them in a warmer spot. Nothing a couple wraps of electrical tape won't take care of.
When the Boondockers arrived they were all crammed together. So I have various sizes, big to small. I numbered them according to size to eliminate confusion of repacking them in my back pack After each hunt. This has helped in stopping damage to the flocking as the cold weather tends to peal the flocking off of the wings.
First, the coat hanger setup I use is not a hook, but a rigid 10" wire that comes out of the back of the flambeau decoy and slopes slightly downward. Can't find the picture that I used to copy the method, but it is somewhere on the forum.
Next. instead of the funnel method (that did NOT work well with a 25' pole), cut the plastic spike off the Flambeau decoy and bore a 1" to 1 1/2" hole in the bottom of the decoy, centered around where the spike came out of the decoy's belly. This hole is where I insert my telescoping pole to raise and lower the decoys to/from the tree branches.
Hope this helps,
Demi
-- Edited by Island Shooter on Wednesday 20th of November 2019 08:57:11 PM
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I use a girl's softball and screw a small I-bolt into it. I use about 30 lb mono. Throw the ball as high as you can. Feed out line until the ball comes down. Cut the ball off. Tie the crow on and pull him up and tie him off. Works for me.
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I solve the difficult problem of putting decoys in trees, by not putting decoys in trees! I always hunt crows in feeding fields, usually harvested corn fields, and some times cow pastures. Therefore I only put plastic decoys on the ground. I have never seen any need for "tree" decoys, when hunting crows in a feeding field. Even though I think it helps to do so.
About 8-9 years ago I engineered a very neat, very easy to use, quick way of hoisting decoys into a tree, but I have never used the gadget. And it was easier to get the decoys down, than to put them up!
When crows see decoys on the ground, they quickly become aware that the ground decoys are eating something, and the greedy incoming crows want to share in the spoils.
If you have good decoys, know how to place your decoys on the ground, and have crows available to shoot, I don't think "tree" decoys are necessary. But it certainly does not hurt. There are other components of crow hunting that are more important, such as a good blind, skilled hunting techniques, pattering your shotgun, knowing which crow sounds to use, etc.
After harvesting several thousand crows myself, I have proven that my system works!
My hunting partner says that I should have been a quarterback because of the way I can place the decoys in the trees; he says that's why I get "the big bucks" for my talent. He also kids me and says since I charge the batteries at night for the Fox Pro unit that I should get a raise for technical know how.
Bob...it appears that the decoys in the trees are actually dead crows. Tell us how you get them in to the trees. This subject is something that we forgot to talk about when I was at your home a couple of years ago.
I cut 6 foot lengths of twine and tie each end around each crows neck. Then I throw them up into the trees and when I'm done for the day all I do is shoot the twine between both crows and they just fall right out of the tree!
Bert Popowski used to use 3 feet between each crow but I improved his method as 6 feet has a much better chance of catching the right limb than 3 feet! Besides, 3 feet tends to have both crows come together and has the appearance of one magnum sized crow which does not look at all life like.
When I start I use my ole hard plastic Rock Crow decoys to get some dead ones that I use after that for decoys. I keep a dozen dead crows with me that I use for decoys in the back of the truck. After a day or so I pitch them and get new ones to use!
OA questioned me about how I place decoys on the ground, what kind of ground pattern I use for them, decoys relation to the wind, and other matters. To go into any detail about these aspects of crow hunting would take quite a while, so I'll just hit the high spots!
I place 10-12 decoys in a random pattern, with them facing most any direction, all on the ground. If the wind is blowing very hard, I place most, but not all decoys, facing into the wind, as crows are not fond of getting their feathers ruffled from a tail wind. I place them from about 10 yards to about 30 yards directly in front of my blind. I also place 2-3 other decoys about 40 yds. from my blind.
The other pattern involved, is your shot gun pattern. I like a 55% pattern at 30 yards. Use 7.5 or 8 shot. Either will kill crows deader than Cleopatra at 30 yds. I seriously doubt if many users of this website have ever patterned their gun.
A good blind is as necessary as your eyesight. Without either, it's tough plowing. A good blind should be made of as much natural foliage as possible. I use a piece of camouflage cloth material, 9 feet wide, and place some natural foliage in front of it to look as if the material hardly exist.
Skilled hunting techniques involve such things as reading the weather report, placing your blind so your back is to the sun, scouting areas for active crows, carrying a little food and drink with you, so your mind is alert and on crow hunting and not on your stomach, getting permission from the land owner, just to mention a few.
Knowing which crow call sound to use is valuable also. In feeding fields, in which I almost always hunt in, I always start with a feeding sound. When I shoot for maybe an hour, and if the activity slows, I shoot another crow, and then immediately use a dying crow, or a comeback sound, if there was more than one crow in the sally. If crows return, I may get more shots. Then within 30 seconds to a minute I return to the feeding call, or until the dying crow sound is no longer effective.
I'll try to attach some pictures, that may help demonstrate what I've written.
With the decoy banter going on in this post I must add that 3 or 4 well placed decoys up above the foliage in plain view are much more effective than dozens placed on the ground...just my opinion.
Ted
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Life's tough... It's even tougher if you're stupid. John Wayne
With the decoy banter going on in this post I must add that 3 or 4 well placed decoys up above the foliage in plain view are much more effective than dozens placed on the ground...just my opinion.
Ted
I'll try it in FEB and let you know.
Craig
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Just look at the frosty crow avatar pic...
