They say the 3rd time is a charm, and this week it was so true. Three hunts this week. Monday was a 27 crow day and Thursday was a 36 crow day. This morning was charming!
Setting up in a nearby pecan orchard, I knew the crows were active, but nothing had been done to the orchard this year. Knee to waist high grass, many limbs and some trees were blown blown down during Hurricane Dorian, no fertilizer or irrigation, etc. Before erecting my blind & putting out decoys, I had to haul my mower from my own house in order to mow the tall grass. Weeds and shrubbery had to be cut back. It was a big chore to get things right for this hunt.
Fortunately, the extra work payed off in spades! We shot until things slowed down around 10:00 with a total of 86 birds. Before pulling the blind down, I wanted to take a stab at the Century Club, so I left it and returned mid-afternoon to hunt some more.
When we gave it up, we had taken down 97 crows!! Most were common crows with about 10% being fish crows. Would like to have reached the Century mark, but it just wasn’t in the cards. That’s OK...we were quite happy.
Photo 1: Decoy spread. Photo 2: AM take. Photo 3: PM “Sun Sticks” . Photo 4: So Close! Photo 5: A Very Good Hunt!
And the Island Shooter Machine grabs another gear! When you do the chores, you're usually rewarded. Eighty-six in about three hours doesn't leave much time for a sandwich, but keeps the barrels warm. Keep after 'em Demi, we're looking forward to your next report.
Glad to see you got to shoot some commons, which should be a breeze compared to your normal fish crow foe. 97 is close enough to the century mark anyways.
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"If men had wings and bore black feathers, few of them would be wise enough to be crows." Thoreau.
