On 2 March we did an AM set north of some crows that had been working up a crick bottom for several days. The plan was to move for a PM shoot after things dried up.
Temperature was in the upper 20's with partly cloudy skies and a 10 mph NW breeze. The crows cooperated and we had good shooting for most of the first hour. Things tapered off after that, but the ones that trickled through presented good shots. We called it quits with 29 down.
With plenty of time to kill before our evening hunt, we ate dinner and did some scouting.
This would be the second attempt on a flyway we'd missed a little more than two weeks prior. I'd reported on that hunt in a previous post. The evening before I'd watched them fly in from the staging area NE to SW. The wind had lightened and was now more westerly. We picked our ambush point with the idea of being nearly under the flight and if we if we missed it a bit, we'd still be upwind. The main flight typically lasted about 45 minutes. With that in mind and a 500 yd. hump in front of us, we headed in plenty early and got set up. We managed to pick up a handful of very call shy birds as we anticipated the main flight.
As 5:30 approached we'd seen no sign of the flight and were beginning to get antsy when my partner spotted them through his binoculars. A full half mile west of us. Tricked again. I quickly turned the speakers into the wind and cranked up the volume. We got some to turn and about a minute later we had some in range. Even with the tail wind they weren't overly high. Over the next half hour I ran the volume up and down as needed and my partner would warn of incomers through his binoculars. We didn't get a high percentage called in, but did have a spell of pretty fast action. The shooting ranged from good shots to high and difficult. The kind that are satisfying when made. Very few escaped our wrath. The shooting concluded abruptly at a few minutes after six with 30 on the ground. The day will come when we give those crows a proper whacking. Mark my words.
Two days later we had at a feeding area. The temperature reached forty with clear skies and a NW wind at 10 mph. We couldn't get started before 9:30 and as usual lately, were dealing with educated, call shy crows. My partner remarked at the large number that ignored us. We shot most of the day, and the ones that responded to our calling presented very good shots. Once a group of about fifteen came in, other than that, slow steady shooting at singles and doubles. Few escapes in that scenario.
We packed up with 66 down. And that nostalgic feeling of knowing it was likely our last shoot of the season.
Randy
-- Edited by Granite Jaw on Sunday 15th of March 2020 05:39:49 PM
Agreed, blind looks awesome. Flight line crow hunting can be very frustrating. Often these change a bit day to day depending on wind as such. Many times I have put a good bit of effort into being "in the right spot" when the only action to be had was watching hundreds of crows move past a mile over.
Ted
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Life's tough... It's even tougher if you're stupid. John Wayne
Randy.. like others I LOVE your blind!!! I particularly love the VIEW you have of incoming birds!!! You can "enjoy" them as they approach killing range!! I get to do that over peanuts and corn crops but otherwise I am in the woods running and gunning! Nothing like being able to savor our favorite target incoming!!
