We'd noticed an increasing number of crows feeding in an area not far from home and when there got to be enough for at least some morning shooting, we had at 'em. Temperature ranged from upper teens rising to near 30. Wind was WNW @ 10-15. Stronger and more west than forecast, so the call got put to the test.
Things started slow, the incomers staying high and wary. The action picked up a bit after the first hour, but the shooting was still tough. Not many came in straight and true. By early afternoon we were trying to call the same crows back for the second or third time, so called it a day with 42 down. Had plenty of time to get some pictures.
Weather conditions were nearly identical for this hunt. The shooting started early with only hand calls used for the first hour or so. The flight out stayed fairly high and the shots were challenging but steady. By mid morning, the shots were softer and they trickled in at a good rate, continuing to do so until the flight back started around three thirty.
Now the incoming groups were bigger, but they stayed down and strung out, providing much fun til about sundown.
The shooting was never furious, but there were few lulls. The day ended with 129 down.
The third hunt was Friday the 31st and we decided to ambush a flight out that morning. Temperature was mid 20's at dawn and was just above freezing by mid morning. Wind was forecast to be SE @ 10 mph. Actually was calm for the first hour or so and we had light snow all morning.
It didn't take long to figure out these were hunted crows. With no wind to keep them down, they were high and wary. After the first hour we'd had hundreds fly by, shot at three and killed one. Shortly into the second hour our total was doubled on one shot. We had a sarcastic laugh about that. By this time the wind picked up and we slowly started adding to the total, but the flight was ending.
We had two flurries of action over the next hour or so that saved our morning and we ended up with 34.
The wet melting snow had everything soaked. One call speaker had filled up and quit working. And we were four hundred yards from the truck. Even so, what started out as a good beating we both decided, ended up being quite fun. On the way home we were already plotting our next ambush.
I forgot to mention that on this morning my partner had three cigars. On the previous hunt he had one and a half all day. We decided this will be our measure of how fast the action is.
Randy
-- Edited by Granite Jaw on Monday 3rd of February 2020 01:23:05 AM
Sounds like the birds in your area are carrying around a double PHD like the birds in my area. But you guys still pulled off a hundred plus bird shoot. Nice pictures also.
__________________
"If men had wings and bore black feathers, few of them would be wise enough to be crows." Thoreau.
