We got a couple hunts in before the first of the year, but have been after 'em more diligently since, especially when the second half of our split season opened on 14 Jan. We've noticed the numbers wintering here are down significantly. Probably less than half of last winter and we thought they were down then. That doesn't mean there are none to hunt, we just have to work a little harder.
I'll post pictures and some hunt reports as time allows and the season progresses.
Here are two pictures I got while scouting in late Dec. Laying them side by would give a good panoramic view of the flock.
And one of crow my partner shot and mounted last Jan.
Randy
-- Edited by Granite Jaw on Thursday 7th of February 2019 10:23:45 PM
Spent 2 Jan. scouting and hunted the 3rd and the morning of the 4th. We'd hunted this area in Dec. and found the morning flight had shifted about a half mile east and the feeding ground was further north. An earlier heavy snow had melted and the ground conditions required us to walk about 700yds to get where we needed to be. The forecast was for a clear sky with sunrise temperatures in the mid 20's warming to the low 40's. Light SW wind less than 10mph. Uncommonly beautiful weather for Jan. The clear sky would present a challenge as the flight was from the SE, directly out of the sun. We chose our blind location accordingly and set up that evening.
Shooting started a bit before seven. We soon found that the flight had shifted even further east, but didn't think it affected us much as we were getting steady shooting. Things slowed a bit around nine, then picked up as we started to get them off the feeding ground. At about ten thirty we started to have lulls and at eleven thirty decided to relocate to a staging area for an afternoon shoot.
Before the afternoon set we drove to the feeding area and found very few crows. The majority had continued north and were feeding out of call range.
We moved about a mile to where we'd seen several hundred staging across the river the day before. It wasn't an ideal location, as the open area we set up in was surrounded by 60-80ft trees. There was a gap in the trees on the river bank and we hoped many would come in through it.
Shooting started at about two thirty but was slow. We had a lot of tough, high shots. A few came through the gap in the trees, which we quickly named "The Slot of Death". We had a couple of good flurry's after three. Then they decided they wanted nothing to do with us. Flew by ignoring our coaxing and decoys.
We decided we'd hunt this spot in the morning as well. It was near the AM flight out, we'd be shaded, it was less than a 200yd walk and since we needed to be on the way home by noon, we needn't be near feeding grounds. I'll post a photo of this spot in the next report.
sounds like y’all have had some decent hunts Randy. Out of your report I am most entertained by the term you guys coined, “slot of death”. That is just good old fashioned using your noggen haha. That’s also a nice pic of that grouping area.
__________________
"If men had wings and bore black feathers, few of them would be wise enough to be crows." Thoreau.
4 Jan. was a carbon copy of the day before. The shooting started before seven. The main flight was about 400yds east of us and we saw more crows than we had the morning before. However, the shooting was slower and tougher as we had a hard time coaxing them down into our clearing. We'd known the tall trees would be a challenge, but it was still frustrating. For about an hour and a half we had crows peeling off the flyway to check us out, only to fly away without presenting a shot. A trick that helped was calling intermittently. Some who had already passed wouldn't hear it until directly down wind, turn and come from the NE through "The Slot of Death".
At about eight thirty, after the flight had diminished we began hearing a ruckus about a mile to the SE. Even though the wind wasn't in our favor we called a handful from there and they decoyed into our opening quite well. We packed up at ten and went to see if we could find the ruckus. Our suspicions were confirmed. A large number had stopped short of us about a mile south. They had shown no indication of this two days earlier. Maybe they had the previous day, but we wouldn't have known it.
Randy, If we could only predict the unpredictable. Where they are today does not necessarily mean they will be there tomorrow. After finding a small roost a month or 2 ago i finally gave up on hunting them because every time i went to scout their routine i found they had no routine other than coming and going at different directions and different times.
I don't know what caller you use but i know i can pull birds at 1/2 a mile away with my CS-24C because i've done it, I think it would possibly get them up to 1 mile away if the wind was right & they cooperated. ( maby ) ? and of course that's with the right sound's on your caller. Paul.
This late in the season it is very difficult to draw them that distance across the river as you are well aware.
If it were me I would wait for a favorable wind direction and hunt them on the other side of the river if you can get permission.
When you can't pattern the crows what I do when I hunt alone is to wait for things to setup first by driving around and looking in the pickup. Many times I have had decent shoots ( 150 to 175 crows ) by waiting and watching instead of setting up and waiting and hoping you are in the right spot. Many times I won't setup if I don't see what I need to see and then have a go at them in the afternoon. Many times I won't setup until 9:00 A.M. but I am setup where there is activity where I get a lot of singles and pairs to respond.
I have hunted in some areas where as soon as you turn on the caller they know exactly where you are and do a 180 in the other direction! That is when I will pull up stakes and move to another area or a different state or county.
Randy, your experience with "educated" crows is very much like my spring shooting here in Canada. April and May brings crows north into Canada that have been called and shot at all winter long in the American Midwest. Shooting is tough and shots can be long. This coupled with open cover due to trees having no leaves yet makes for challenging hunting conditions.
Ted
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Life's tough... It's even tougher if you're stupid. John Wayne
Randy, If we could only predict the unpredictable. Where they are today does not necessarily mean they will be there tomorrow. After finding a small roost a month or 2 ago i finally gave up on hunting them because every time i went to scout their routine i found they had no routine other than coming and going at different directions and different times.
I don't know what caller you use but i know i can pull birds at 1/2 a mile away with my CS-24C because i've done it, I think it would possibly get them up to 1 mile away if the wind was right & they cooperated. ( maby ) ? and of course that's with the right sound's on your caller. Paul.
Paul,
I use a FoxPro Super Snow Crow Pro and in open country it's got some serious range. On high volume, with the speakers off the ground, through two tree lines and a light crosswind, I could hear it more than a mile away. Haven't checked it's range down wind. It's a difference maker.
This late in the season it is very difficult to draw them that distance across the river as you are well aware.
If it were me I would wait for a favorable wind direction and hunt them on the other side of the river if you can get permission.
When you can't pattern the crows what I do when I hunt alone is to wait for things to setup first by driving around and looking in the pickup. Many times I have had decent shoots ( 150 to 175 crows ) by waiting and watching instead of setting up and waiting and hoping you are in the right spot. Many times I won't setup if I don't see what I need to see and then have a go at them in the afternoon. Many times I won't setup until 9:00 A.M. but I am setup where there is activity where I get a lot of singles and pairs to respond.
I have hunted in some areas where as soon as you turn on the caller they know exactly where you are and do a 180 in the other direction! That is when I will pull up stakes and move to another area or a different state or county.
Bob A.
Bob,
The other side of the river is an option with the right wind.
Foregoing some early shooting and waiting to set up where there's the most activity is sound thinking. It can be part of the thought process when reminding myself. "Don't guess, don't guess, don't guess". Thanks.
Randy, your experience with "educated" crows is very much like my spring shooting here in Canada. April and May brings crows north into Canada that have been called and shot at all winter long in the American Midwest. Shooting is tough and shots can be long. This coupled with open cover due to trees having no leaves yet makes for challenging hunting conditions.
Ted
Well Ted, if it was easy, everybody would do it. It ain't and they don't.
For a few seconds I thought about foregoing a shoot or two so as to send you a few "uneducated" crows. Then I changed my mind.
Good reports! And you guys are obviously dedicated to your plan when carrying gear 700 yds.!
Also, it is notable that you are not big on TBC numbers. By their absences I suspect they are quite respectable.
Demi
Hi Demi,
We weren't fond of that hump, but under the circumstances that's where we had to be. The sleds pulled in pretty easy as there was frost on the grass. Out was a different story as it was muddy. Then there was that 100yd uphill pull to get to the truck.
On 16 January, two days into the start of our second season the wind was right for a spot we’d been watching impatiently. The forecast proved correct and things went mostly as planned. This has been the only time this year we’ve been able to drive to our blind site and we happily set up the evening before. The sunrise temperature was about 20 and would reach the low 30’s. Wind was E at 5-10mph with apartly cloudy sky.
The flight out would be ¼ mi. west of us and many would stop to feed about ½ mi. SW of us. WNW of us about ¾ mi. was a crick and field where they water and loaf.
Crows were in the air well before we could see and when we finally could, muzzle flashes marked our shots. Just a couple soft calls brought in three groups of 100+ in succession. Mostly high and cautious, but we managed to bag a handful. There was a short lull, then small groups began to come in nicely and we had fairly steady shooting till shortly before nine. It was intermittent until about nine-thirty when they started coming off the feed grounds. What fun shooting it is when they come in on a line, looking for trouble. We did have a few veer off suddenly at 60-70yds out. They seemed committed all the way, just like the others, and then were gone. We never figured out what caused it, but it must have been some sort of movement. Things slowed shortly before noon, but we had enough shooting to keep us interested until after three.
On 18 Jan. we did some recon for a possible hunt the next day. 5”-8” of snow was forecast for overnight. Wind was to be NE 15-20 with an overcast sky and a steady temperature in the low teens. Snow was to be over by daybreak.
We set up our blind late that afternoon before it started snowing. Our priority was to be out of the wind as the sun would be no problem. The crows would fly in south of us and feed to the SSE about a 1/2 mile. Normally they then worked north up the crick to water and loaf. We’d have liked to been further south but we needed the windbreak the crick bottom provided. The plan was for them to come up the crick on the leeward side, into an ambush. Our concern was that the fresh snow would change their feeding ground, but we left confident we had a good set up.
When I stepped out of the house the first thing I noticed was the stars in the clear sky. We’d be battling the sun. We allowed time for road conditions and during the drive noticed snow blowing from the north, not NE as expected.We had a 300yd hike from truck to blind, but it appeared we’d only got about 4”, so our walk in was fairly easy.
As feared, we had no protection from the wind but decided to stay put. Our first shot was at seven thirty and for the next half hour we had tough shots into the sun at un-cooperating crows. A forty yard move east towards the crick got us out of the wind and gave us shots at the ones who stayed over the crick out of the now NW wind. We were shaded until mid-morning as well.
We had slow but steady shooting and at a little after ten, we noticed a number were raising a ruckus east of us and decided it could be a hopper. My partner went to investigate. A couple minutes later I heard a shot. A few minutes after that he appeared out of the brush, crow in hand, dripping wet. He’d shot the hopper three steps out on the the frozen crick. Step three did him in. Said he never touched bottom. Caught himself by his elbows, pitched the crow on the bank and pulled himself out. We were about twenty minutes from his place so he went home for dry clothes.
The next hour provided good shooting, as they came in as we’d hoped, on the deck and unsuspecting. During this time I noticed one hopping out of the kill zone. I snuck out to dispatch him and he got on our hardened sled trail and began to make a hasty escape. I ran him down, stepped on his tail, but couldn’t immediately get him by the neck. So grabbed him by the wing and carried him back, him raising cane the whole while. Several of his buddies came diving in to investigate so I tossed him down and dispatched two of them before I wrung his neck.
My partner got back, but after noon things slowed considerably. We stuck around hoping we’d get some action on the ones heading back south, but they stayed mostly high with the tailwind and didn’t pay much attention to us.
On the aerial photo A marks the initial blind location, B marks the second.
Randy, Glad to hear i'm not the only one who goes after the hoppers. Most of the time i can get them by hand, sometimes it requires another shell. I know they can be counted as a KIA but i always like to try to retrieve them. I've had a few experiences where throwing the crow out of the blind brought the other's in. I'll say one thing, always best to get the hoppers quick, they can gain a lot of ground pretty fast. Paul
Good report, Randy. I cringed reading about the leg-in-the-water trick! Been there and done that a few times while living in Maine! No fun at all, particularly after your pant leg freezes!
Once we put a squawking hopper into the blind with us and enjoyed his calling...until he quickly figured out how to escape. Thought we had the blind crow-proofed, but every time we looked up to shoot, he would scoot!
Demi
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The man who thinks he can, and the man who thinks he can’t are both right.
Randy, Glad to hear i'm not the only one who goes after the hoppers. Most of the time i can get them by hand, sometimes it requires another shell. I know they can be counted as a KIA but i always like to try to retrieve them. I've had a few experiences where throwing the crow out of the blind brought the other's in. I'll say one thing, always best to get the hoppers quick, they can gain a lot of ground pretty fast. Paul
Paul,
When the action is good it's easy to forget about them. Before you know it they're a hundred yards out and the incomers are hanging up on them. You're right, swat them while they're still in range, especially since I don't run as good as I used to.
Randy, just to the right of blind B looks like an even better spot as you are hidden better from the approaching birds.
Bob,
In that aerial photo it does appear the open area to the right would have been better. However that aerial shot was taken about seven years ago and that spot had a large dirt pile in it and was overgrown with plum brush.
When hunting at a new spot I like to check the aerial photos and am often surprised at how quickly scrub brush and willows take over.
Here’s a couple of tricks I’ve learned training bird dogs and catching coyotes that can help crow hunting I believe. The use of a fishing reel and line with a bread tie. Attached to the leg of a wounded bird. He can then only hop around and be pulled back. When I trapped new areas for coyotes an hour or two from the house I needed to know which direction the Proveiling wind direction was. As grass ages the wind bends it. This gave me the advantage for proper set locatio.
What the wind is doing at ground level is not the same 100 foot above. The pictures of blind location and incoming birds, wind direction is very helpful. How did you add those features to your photos Bud ?
-- Edited by Crowpocalypse on Monday 18th of February 2019 11:59:20 AM
-- Edited by Crowpocalypse on Monday 18th of February 2019 11:59:58 AM
Here’s a couple of tricks I’ve learned training bird dogs and catching coyotes that can help crow hunting I believe. The use of a fishing reel and line with a bread tie. Attached to the leg of a wounded bird. He can then only hop around and be pulled back.
WARNING! The use of live birds for decoys is against the law. If caught, you could get a big fine and loose your hunting privileges. I would not recommend this method. It may be fine for coyotes, but it is definitely taboo for crow hunting.
Demi
__________________
The man who thinks he can, and the man who thinks he can’t are both right.
Here’s a couple of tricks I’ve learned training bird dogs and catching coyotes that can help crow hunting I believe. The use of a fishing reel and line with a bread tie. Attached to the leg of a wounded bird. He can then only hop around and be pulled back. When I trapped new areas for coyotes an hour or two from the house I needed to know which direction the Proveiling wind direction was. As grass ages the wind bends it. This gave me the advantage for proper set locatio.
What the wind is doing at ground level is not the same 100 foot above. The pictures of blind location and incoming birds, wind direction is very helpful. How did you add those features to your photos Bud ?
-- Edited by Crowpocalypse on Monday 18th of February 2019 11:59:20 AM
-- Edited by Crowpocalypse on Monday 18th of February 2019 11:59:58 AM
Crowpoc,
I know in my state using a live decoy is now illegal, not sure if that's true for all fifty. That being said, it would work quite well.
Add in a tree line and a hill and those upper air currents can do some unpredictable things.
Demi and Craig pointed me in the right direction editing those aerial photos. They'd be far more qualified than I to answer your last question. But I'll give it a whirl.
From Google Earth, save a photo of the area desired. Then open the photo from the location it was saved, right click on it and an option will be to open it in "Paint", where it can be edited. That's where I'm not very good. There's so many editing options and terms I don't understand it makes my head swim. So you're on your own from there.
Remember, Google Earth is not the same as Google Maps. It would have saved me a lot of frustration had I known there was a difference.
We went through a stretch of bad weather the last couple weeks of January, much like everyone else. Snow and blowing snow hindered visibility and didn’t provide many days to scout and find hunting locations. I’d noticed a decent AM flight along a river bottom. There were few roads a mile either side of the river and when there was one, it was a dead end or T- intersection. It was eight miles between bridges and after four attempts; I still hadn’t found a concentrated feeding area. On the first day of Feb. we came out of the cold spell and within two days had more than a 70 degree swing in temperature. It went from -30 to the low 40’s and as it’d been two weeks since our last hunt, we could stand it no longer.
Our hunt was to be on 3 Feb. Conditions were to be foggy with steady temperatures around forty and a light SW breeze increasing to 10-15mph. We set up our blind the night before and left knowing this would likely just be an AM shoot.
The next morning we had a little more than 100yds to walk in and discovered there were a couple inches of standing water under the snow. When the warm weather hit the day before, there was about a foot of snow cover. By this morning it was nearly half gone, with nowhere for the water to run. Luckily, our blind site wasn’t in a low spot.
The first group came in at about 7:15, over the trees and out of the fog from the WNW. Things were rather slow for the first hour but then began to pick up. We had steady shooting for the second hour or so.We hadn’t had crows cooperate so well all season. They came out of the fog searching, spotted the decoys and in they came. There was no poof into soft snow, no thud on frozen ground, no splash into water. It was a hybrid sound, kind of like, “splat”.
We had a number come from straight north, on the deck, sometimes silent and surprising us, other times warning us with that drawn out growling shriek. Those are the ones I like best.
Things slowed between 9:30 and 10:00 and we were headed home by 11:00. On this day, the fog was our friend and despite having to slog through ankle deep slush and have everything soaked, it was a good morning, and a satisfying one.
Randy
We had a hopper who didn’t like the wet snow. Climbed up on a pocket gopher mound and sat there the whole time, pecking at the dirt. He’s pictured below.
Randy, as usual a great report and plenty of victims laying in the kill zone. The "splat" must of made it that much better haha and with a real life, cooperating decoy. I'm curious if you noticed if the "Judas" crow showed any remorse for adding to the victim pile?
__________________
"If men had wings and bore black feathers, few of them would be wise enough to be crows." Thoreau.
After reading the regulations, only electronic, or plastic decoys can be used To hunt Crows. So leaving dead Crows lie with decoys is illegal.
Also the new crow season here in Pa is from July 1 - April 14 that extends it 17 days.
Terrell,
Sure glad leaving dead crows lie with decoys isn't illegal here. I've always thought the bigger the dead pile the more agitated the incomers become. Tying them together and tossing them in a tree would probably be frowned on there as well. A lot of times we don't worry about putting decoys on the ground. Get a few in the trees and if things go right there'll be plenty on the ground in short order.
Judas showed no sign of remorse. But he acted like he had a belly ache.
Demi,
On a good day with open ground, the kill zone always looks nice! Looking forward to OA's reports as I'm still deferring to you guys in the aerial photo editing dept.
I'd reread those regulations because I have never heard of dead crows being a problem; only live ones used as decoys.
I've seen where guy's think they must follow the regulation's pertaining to duck's & geese ( migratory birds ) when looking into crow hunting, plug in the gun, steel shot ect. . I think that can be a mistake. I bet you could get several different answers from different people at your wildlife department. Those dead crow's aren't decoy's, they are your Quarry. Don't ask / don't tell may apply here. Paul.
Judas showed no sign of remorse. But he acted like he had a belly ache.
Demi,
On a good day with open ground, the kill zone always looks nice! Looking forward to OA's reports as I'm still deferring to you guys in the aerial photo editing dept.
Randy
OA's had a bum lower back for a while. Getting better with regular exercise. As mentioned in another post, I'm working on a new blind design that will result in much less bend over work.
Thanks,
Craig
__________________
"Arms are the only true badges of liberty. The possession of arms is the distinction of a free man from a slave." -- Andrew Fletcher 1698
Bob I have yet to see a DNR agent while hunting in all my 42 years in the field. I’ve called them to remove tresspassing hunters, and someone illegaly tampering with my traps. They never arrived or when a time or date was scheduled they were off those dates and couldn’t be there until the fallowing week. Now when you hold someone at gun point and call a local law enforcement agent they typically arrive in 10 minutes.
Most of the laws regarding the hunting of crows are state laws and rules. The Federal government has placed very few rules on the hunting of crows and it is codified at 50 CFR 20.133. Federal restrictions are as follows; no hunting from an aircraft, hunting seasons shall not exceed 124 days in a calendar year, crow hunting shall not be permitted in a state's peak nesting period, crows may only be taken by firearm, bow and arrow and falconry. That's it.
All other rules and laws regarding the hunting of crows such as; 3 shot plug, guns bigger than 10 gauge, live decoys, wanton waste, electronic calling, daily limits, non toxic shot, baiting etc. etc. fall to each state.
Perhaps I did not phrase my question to you correctly in my last post. What state or states have you hunted in this season that enforce "no dead crows in you're decoys"
What line of work are you in Crow P ? Are you self employed or do you work for a company?
I’ve only hunted pa this season. the regulations are not very clear as they only stated crows may only be hunted with electric calls,electric decoys and plastic decoys. I’m a Union insulator. I just finished working on a duel fuel power house. I work refineries, chemical plants, Nukes, coal burners, wind mills, Google facilities. Schools, hospitals, university, Government facilities . Ok fellas I’m headed to the field now to see if I can bag 1 or 2 of them Crows. I posted my new location on thread Scouting
One of my crow hunting partners was from the state of Maryland. He hunted in Maryland, New York State and Pennsylvania. I paid him a visit 12 years ago and during the days you could not hunt crows in Maryland we would hunt in New York State. I really loved the Italian food in Up State New York near the Finger Lakes. The sea food was very good as well when we were in Maryland. We hunted crows within 10 miles of Camp David in Maryland.
Randy, your experience with "educated" crows is very much like my spring shooting here in Canada. April and May brings crows north into Canada that have been called and shot at all winter long in the American Midwest. Shooting is tough and shots can be long. This coupled with open cover due to trees having no leaves yet makes for challenging hunting conditions.
Ted
M12 I think you are right. I have noticed crows seem to fly higher and act educated more in the spring than the fall. My winter/spring shooting average is never as good as the fall. I never stopped to think before you mentioned this that many of them could have been gunned in states south of me in the spring whereas in the fall I am pretty much getting first crack at them going south.
-- Edited by nhcrowshooter on Friday 22nd of February 2019 05:24:27 PM
There is always some one some where popping crows. that we don't know about but I never had any problem calling in tropospheric height tiny flea speck crows. But that is my experience; no idea what is happening south of you folks.
That’s why they fly high being shot at !!! This mornings hunt they flew low, after they feed up to hang out at their home sentry’s staging area they flew high. As they circled my blind they thought it was safe and proceeded to land with the decoys.
Apperently not calling made them forget I just put their buddies Sunny side up!!
My Question is why did they only approach from the West during my hunt? All morning? Each new wave. Circling and still approaching from the West? Only 2 tried to approach from the East. Possibly the wind? Not one landed in the big oak. When they posted sentries on the wood line and at both farm houses, and called, I mimic their calls. The blind was in a triangular shape. I was calm and quiet . Fridays hunt was certainly different, but then I hunted different. I’ll continue to hunt in this manner. Good luck today Saturday February 23rd.