Dale and myself haven't posted much lately since our hunts were lackluster to say the least. So we decided to dig deeper in an area we hunt and knock on some new doors. We did that on our last outing & learned of other crow hunters in the area and we left with unfinished business because we needed to follow up a few leads of people & places who weren't available at that time. With Dale not able to return with me for the follow up I took an older friend of mine with who is a life long wing shooter & quite a trap & skeet shooter back in the day. I figured we would hunt a few day's while I followed up on those leads.
Now the story get's interesting. At one stop I made at a place I would just die to have the opportunity to hunt the owner say's no hunting allowed !! Darn ! but he tells me of a fellow from Kansas who knocked on his door also wanting to hunt. Hum, could I be on the tracks of Bob A. ?? If so that tells me I must be at a good spot. Not far away I meet a landowner & tell him the nature of my visit. He tells me he hates those pecan thieving crows and yes I can shoot them but there is another crow hunter from Alaska who is hunting there. Alaskan crow hunter ? Could this be our Crovorkian from the forum ? When the land owner told me of the hunters van painted up with crows I knew that was him. I said I know of this guy, He's posted on our crow hunters forum and with that the land owner said I'll hook you up with him and you guys coordinate your hunting here on my place. So we meet up with John the Alaskan crow hunter and tell him the situation. At first he was hesitant but after talking to the land owner he said come with me and I'll show you some area's on the property you can do an afternoon hunt in. We stayed and found a spot we liked and set up for the evening. It was already after noon. We missed the flyway by some distance but still had a lot of action till dark. Problem was too many stayed sky high but we dropped about 50 and John and his partner did better about a half mile away. John was quite cordial & we exchanged info and I thanked him , he knew of my white crow from the forum. We parted ways after dark since me and Marvin had plans for a morning hunt at another area to rest up for.
The next morning while hunting I get a text from John asking where I got my white crow mounted. I told him who did it and asked if he had shot a trophy ? He replied yes, a white one ! Could this be the white crow Bob A. posted about recently that Dick Kilbane saw but didn't get a shot at ?? We met up later and he showed me his trophy. Not an all white but we'll call him mixed. A nice crow ! I brought it back home with me to take to my taxidermist for John. The kicker to the story is that he shot it no more than a 1/4 to half mile from where Marvin and I had hunted the previous morning. He said he was hunting in some pecan tree's with decoys in the tree's and this guy came in all by itself. At first he thought it was just missing feathers from it's wings but after retrieving it he knew what he had.
So what an outing. Marvin and I socked away 266 while we were there, brought back a trophy, and bumped into other crow hunters and their footsteps. Attached are pics of John with his piebald, his crowmobile and a couple setups that Marvin and I had using two tanglefree panel blinds. Paul.
Demi, I'm not familiar with magpies since they aren't around my area but the word magpie was the first word that came out of the taxidermist's mouth when I dropped it off today. I'm like you in that I think it will make a good mount. It will take about a year before it's done so don't expect any pics of the finished product any time soon. When it's done John will have to figure a way to ship it to Alaska, maybe till then I can hang it on my wall. Paul.
So far in December with Dick and I 108, 155, 247, 281, 185, 134, 254, 107, 109 and a whopping 27 on the last hunt but that is too embarrassing to put in the book, those hunts I don't bother recording.
So far in December with Dick and I 108, 155, 247, 281, 185, 134, 254, 107, 109 and a whopping 27 on the last hunt but that is too embarrassing to put in the book, those hunts I don't bother recording.
Bob,
What's your take on your success rate, overall numbers, hunting pressure, etc.?
And by the way, congratulations on 170K. The astronomical amount of time and dedication put in isn't realized by most.
Have a blessed Christmas and good hunting the rest of the season.
Randy, having a place or places where there is little to no hunting pressure on the birds is the reason for a decent success rate. Next is the number of birds you will be dealing with in any given area.
Next is be very very cautious whom you decide to hunt crows with so they don't sing like a canary! Loose lips sink ships!
Randy, that figure is over a lifetime. It's more but I never kept track prior to 1974. Between 1968 to 1973 when I would drive from the east coast I would spend 3 weeks out here in Kansas and Oklahoma. I hunted Ft. Cob but there was another roost north of Shamrock Texas in those days that did not get anywhere near the hunting pressure that Ft. Cob did in those years. In those days all I used was a 20 gauge, you did not need a 12 bore.
In two good areas that I hunt an interloper moved in about 10 years ago, before that it was only Dick and I for the first 20 years in that area. It's my own fault, I took a guy crow hunting 20 years ago who opened his mouth to another guy and now that guy hunts in my hunting grounds. Fortunately, I have other areas that don't get the pressure. In regard to your question about numbers, the numbers are good.
Randy, I would estimate one roost to be roughly 12,000 crows but you can have a lot of good shooting with that amount if you're the only one hunting them.
One of my old crow partners used to say "I'd rather hunt 10,000 dumb ones than 100,000 smart ones"
In two good areas that I hunt an interloper moved in about 10 years ago, before that it was only Dick and I for the first 20 years in that area. It's my own fault, I took a guy crow hunting 20 years ago who opened his mouth to another guy and now that guy hunts in my hunting grounds. Fortunately, I have other areas that don't get the pressure. In regard to your question about numbers, the numbers are good.
Hope this answers your question, Randy.
Bob
Yup, thanks Bob. Just wanted to get a handle on how things were going for guys.
I don't know how you do it with those pump guns on big shoot's. I took the model 12 16 gauge out once this season and after about one box of shell's I put it away. It has no sissy pad on the stock & it just punches the heck out of you. When you have a few layers of clothes on it helps cushion the kick but warm weather shooting put the hurt to me. Paul.
I don't know how you do it with those pump guns on big shoot's. I took the model 12 16 gauge out once this season and after about one box of shell's I put it away. It has no sissy pad on the stock & it just punches the heck out of you. When you have a few layers of clothes on it helps cushion the kick but warm weather shooting put the hurt to me. Paul.
We don't get to shoot crows much in shirtsleeve weather Paul, so it's never been an issue with me. Usually it's pretty chilly and the shoulder gets saved by the heavy coat.
I will say the softest shooting shotgun I've ever fired is an 1100 Magnum fitted with a 2 3/4" barrel. If things go according to the plan, that'll be my go to crow gun in a few years.
Randy, those guns have good honest wear on them I liked the oldest model at the bottom, had the same type forend as the model 31 Remington pump.
Bob,
I like the looks and feel of those corn cob forends as well.
According to the Remington May 1950 price list, the 870 AP Standard Grade with the corn cob forend was $69.95. If a guy could afford to splurge, he might move up to the ADL Deluxe Grade with checkered stock and forend for $79.95.
