Do to work I’ve recently relocated to the mountains of Northern Pennsylvania. Just went scouting to learn the crows habits here. The crows are far and few in between. Lots of farms, no chicken farms. A few dairy farms. The crows are scattered here and appeared to be singles and call with a low tone caw, a sequence of 3 caws. I responded with 2 CAAWs -3caws. Which put the single with in 50 yards of me. Being new to the sport I’m guessing I’m going to have to run and gun here. There is no cover yet as the trees have not bloomed. To my advantage there are ever greens scattered within the hardwoods. My thinking is good camo,a few decoys and my hand caller will be enough. I could use some input from the more advanced sportsman here. Now my scouting has only been in the bottoms. Here is a photo of my surroundings.
Scouted this morning, only two crows called. One returned my call and sounded very old and raspy. It never left it’s post. I’m guessing the birds here couldn’t make the migration. That’s why they are still here. Seen a pair of robins. No sign of any other type of song birds.
Well I was out a daybreak this morning, I seen two pairs of Crows , guess they are paired up now here in North Pennsylvania. They were just floating in the air like buzzards.
On the way home from work yesterday I seen 20 crows feeding in a wheat field, picking tender sprouts. I’ll locate the owner today. I found the state hunting lands by the plant. Talked to a proctor at the training center who lives in town. I asked what farms are near, chicken, cattle, hog. You have to have a food sorce for any type of game you hunt. He said there is a huge hog farmer who also grows pumpkins near by. So I’ll scout these new locations out today. I sto and asked a rancher to hunt but he directed me to an older woman. She was quick to say no! Stated all it will do is bring more people to there land and they won’t ask for permission. I thanked them for their time. She thanked me for stopping to ask, as most people just do what they want. Typically 1 out of 100 people say No.
I took a ride to the top of the mountain this evening from the neighbor on his Polaris. I asked him if he could give me a ride Saturday morning. He said sure what time? 5:30 am I responded. His reply was for crows? He looked bewildered But agreed. He asked me how I would get down the mountain. I stated Id hunt my way down. I figured when you turkey hunt you start on top to locate them so why not hunt Crows that way. Now I just have to wait for Saturday.
I took a ride to the top of the mountain this evening from the neighbor on his Polaris. I asked him if he could give me a ride Saturday morning. He said sure what time? 5:30 am I responded. His reply was for crows? He looked bewildered But agreed. He asked me how I would get down the mountain. I stated Id hunt my way down. I figured when you turkey hunt you start on top to locate them so why not hunt Crows that way. Now I just have to wait for Saturday.
Shot many crows along the top of a local gravel pit through the years. I would put my caller below in some scrub bush and get shooting at crows that wee actually below my line of sight. Interesting experience shooting downhill and killing crows.
Ted
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Life's tough... It's even tougher if you're stupid. John Wayne
Went and knocked on doors to get permission from the locals. Got a no then learned the land I want to hunt is owned by the campground. 670 acres. Crows are now in the camp, and I’ve seen a dozen on the rye grass at the edge of the property. The outage starts for me on Saturday, 7-12s for a few weeks. Then we roll back to 40 hours. I’ll get one more hunt in before the season ends. You can see the power line as it runs on top of the ridge line. It crosses a valley then continues to the next ridge.
Went and knocked on doors to get permission from the locals. Got a no then learned the land I want to hunt is owned by the campground. 670 acres. Crows are now in the camp, and I’ve seen a dozen on the rye grass at the edge of the property. The outage starts for me on Saturday, 7-12s for a few weeks. Then we roll back to 40 hours. I’ll get one more hunt in before the season ends. You can see the power line as it runs on top of the ridge line. It crosses a valley then continues to the next ridge.
Remember if you don't have access to a piece of land due to landowner, topography or what ever...and crows are using this one can set up as to ambush birds coming in or by calling them over to adjoining parcel of land.
Ted
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Life's tough... It's even tougher if you're stupid. John Wayne
I landed a maintenance job at the plant for the outage. I’m on night shift, so now I can hunt after work. I think this will work in my favor. I figure I can hunt both sides of the mountain and I have two mountains I can hunt. The weather has been raining for the last two days. Not much crow activity
I hunted Saturday morning. 34 degrees and 15 mph winds it made it feel like 21. I called but no response. I moved every 15 minutes and still nothing. After working a nuke it was nice to just walk down the summit.
The outage was finished for me on Good Friday, Crows are far and few here to say the least. Each morning I’d hear two cawing and frolicing . I’d make several calls but no response. Funny thing is I’m seeing Kracels here in Pa now. Most people think they are crows. A hawk took one and that kept them away for a few days.
As our season is long over, it's been awhile since I've checked this forum. Can't speak for Pennsylvania, but around here the crows have broken up into family groups and are not congregated in any large numbers.
Relative to your descriptions of the calls: "call with a low tone caw, a sequence of 3 caws" "call sounded very old and raspy" it sounds like you are dealing with Fish Crows. Fish Crows are a different breed in every way. Your Foxpro will have limited success with them compared to the Common Crows. They are also more wary and usually stay out of shotgun range. They still hit the ground with a thud, but the learning curve is much longer than normal.
I’ve found a picture of the Grackels . It somewhat looks like a Crow but half the size. It’s a song bird that congregate in large numbers. Commonly mistaken for a Crow by the common person across the country.