anyone try hunting crows?

[mk8tim]

hey guys. i was wondering if any of you had ever gotten into crow hunting. i bought a call today and think i'll attempt it tomorrow while i'm out and about. the snow is melting very rapidly here in northern maine and the rabbit hunting is pretty rough right now and i need something to do. decoys? i have never tried it but it sounds like a fun way to burn up a day

[shootniron]

Yes...it is a blast and community service.

[mk8tim]

any suggestions for hunting without decoys? i was told to paint soda and milk jugs

[alex0535]

Just a note about calling crows. Know your crow vocalizations. Different numbers of caws, spaced at various intervals mean everything from "come here" to "Danger Fly Away!"

Do it wrong and your attempts to call them in can scare them off.

I will shoot one if I can get it in the sights of my .17 HMR, never gone out calling them and tried to take one with a shotgun though. Probably a lot of fun.

[BornToLooze]

I used to because they would always eat our corn. Just used a shotgun, and didn't have to use a call or anything.

[CurlyQ.Howard]

You're lucky if your season is still open; in IL the season ended recently.

[mk8tim]

our season runs until april 15.

[.50cal packer]

True story.... My grandfather and brother went crow hunting, many many years back. They used a recording of crows, for there calls. It worked great. This is where it gets unusual. When they killed at least two crows, they took twine and tied their feet together and tossed it into a tree. that worked even better. By the time they were done, the tree was filled with these dead crows. Someone called the local news station and they came out and took photos. Claiming that there were a group of satanic worshipers killing crows for a sacrificial offering. lol.

[chewie146]

Funny how that works. They're illegal to shoot here. Both ravens and crows. Oh how I've had dreams and daydreams of blasting the little punks.

[bksfirearmsllc]

here in Pennsylvania there is no closed season, but can only shoot them Fridays,saturdays and sundays

[Pahoo]

Late in the season, I love shooting crows. As mentioned, go on the internet and you will find recordings of their different calls. As I recall, there were five and I learned them all but mostly use two. I have also used decoys to bring them in. I hunt them alone but if a group of you can string out along a hill side, call them in and have a ball. ...
http://www.crowbusters.com/begtechn_dc.htm

What I do;
In full camo, I find a good place to hide on a hillside. Make sure to have some overhead cover, if possible. All in an effort to be well hid.
I give the come here call or I found food. repeat two or three times and wait.
Pretty soon, the "scout" should come in and he will not make a sound, just looks around. Make sure you spot him. Be patient and slowly take your first shot. If he flies off before you had a chance to shoot, let him and again, wait. Repeat the first call and try again.
Okay, I've shot the scout and he's down. Wait a little and give the distress call. Stand by cause here "they" come. Just keep shooting and when they fly off, repeat the distress call and start shooting again. Once you get them in this cycle, they just keep coming back and take a long time for them to leave. All the time you are doing this, try to stay hid and don't over-call. ....

By the way, when hunting alone, I only use a .22lr rifle of MK-Ii pistol. With the group, use shotguns. ..

Be Safe !!!

[WillyKern69]

We would hunt crows as a kid. One thing to remember is once a crow is shot at a crow will recongize a man holding a gun. No BS.

WK

[Rmart30]

open season here and we shoot everyone we can. its my Dads favorite critter to hunt. He loves to call em in.

[GeauxTide]

When the fish aren't biting, I go to the FIL place and setup with my FoxPro Fury. They go nuts and I usually blow through a couple boxes of shells.

[BuckRub]

Hunt next to an opening and with an electronic crow caller and shotgun. Hunt with shotgun with 71/2 shot. You don't want to kill them, just knock them out of the sky. Once you get one on the ground hollowing for his friends you can shoot 5-10 before they leave. They don't like leaving wounded friends behind. You just have to go to different places a couple miles apart. Don't over hunt a single area. They are very smart and catch on quickly. Good hunting.

[ChasingWhitetail91]

I never hunted for them, not sure if it was just a rumor but i heard a couple fly tying companies were giving away tackle for crow tails. Might be worth checking out if you enjoy fishing.

[kutz]

Would like to, against the law in New Mexico.

[hogdogs]

Nuttin' brings in more crows like a few wounded birds floppin' and squawking...

Brent

[BIG P]

Agree with hogdog,best bait is floppin birds & lunch scraps.

[BuckRub]

Gee, why didn't I think of that- wounded and flopping and squawking.

[hogdogs]

Many if not most states recognize crows in the "federal migratory birds" group... I think rimfire is off limits in some/many jurisdictions and the shotgun must be plugged to 3 max such as in florida...

Does the plug have to be in my shotgun when I'm hunting?
If you are hunting hogs or resident game birds or mammals such as deer, quail, wild turkeys, rabbits or squirrels, the shotgun can be either plugged or unplugged. If you are hunting migratory game birds such as crows, ducks, geese, moorhens, coots, snipe, rails, woodcocks or doves, the shotgun must be plugged so that it holds no more than three shells in the magazine and chamber combined.

But they don't class these "migratory game birds" as game when it comes to the use of electronic calls...

I thought that electronic game calls or recorded devices are not allowed, but I heard that there is an exemption that allows the use of electronic calls to hunt coyotes and raccoons. Is that correct?

Taking or attempting to take any game with the aid of live decoys, recorded game calls or sounds, set guns, artificial light, net, trap, snare, drug or poison is prohibited. The operative phrase in this statement is "take any game". Game is defined as game birds and game mammals. "Game mammals" are defined as deer, squirrels and rabbits. “Game birds” are defined as wild turkey, quail, non-native species such as pheasant, chuckar partridge, coturnix quail, as well as all migratory game birds, which include ducks, doves, geese, snipe, rails, woodcock, coots and moorhens. You cannot use a recorded game call if attempting to take any of these game birds or game mammals.

Other mammals such as coyotes, raccoons, opossums, beavers, bobcats, skunks, nutrias and otters are furbearers and may be taken using recorded game calls. They may also be used to take crows.

In most places it is against regs to "use live animals to bait"... So don't go tying the wounded crow to a limb...

You just haven't retrieved your quarry yet...

Brent

[Pahoo]

Nuttin' brings in more crows like a few wounded birds floppin' and squawking...

Yeh,
I prefer not to do this and only "hurt" them. I get great results by killing them, letting them lay and give the distress call. I shoot to kill, not to hurt. I know it's only a crow but still !! ....

Be Safe !!!

[hogdogs]

I am hoping to kill on the first shot but if I wing one or 2, right off the bat, I won't shoot them twice right away...

Brent

[PawPaw]

Reminds me of a story. Pull up a stump, boys.

Back in the summer of '78 I was stationed at Ft. Knox, KY. A buddy of mine had been out prospecting for hunting areas and had found a farmer with a field of sweet corn on the banks of the Ohio river. The farmer told my buddy that the crows were in his corn and told him that he'd pay for crow eradication, 4 crows - one bushel of sweet corn at harvest. The farmer thought that my buddy would come in with a shotgun, drive off the crows and collect a bushel of corn. My buddy had a different plan.

My buddy called me, asked if I had any .22 rifles, and brought me along as a partner. That next bright, Saturday morning, he came to my house before daylight and picked me up. He had a bag full of rat traps and an electronic crow call. We set up in the corner of the field. My buddy tied those rat traps to the fence and put the trap on top of the fence posts. He had about a dozen set up. Then we got into the blind and he turned on an owl-fight record.

The first crow sailed in about ten minutes later. I started to sight on him, but my buddy stopped me. "Not yet. I'll tell you when to start firing." We waited and another couple of crows sailed in. One lighted on a fence post and got caught in the rat trap. That poor old crow was dangling in the wire, his leg caught in that trap, and another landed on an adjacent post and got caught. They began raising hell as only crows can, and over the next fifteen minutes we had hundreds of crows milling around, landing in trees, landing on the ground, lots of noise and crow cacophony. Then, my buddy raised his rifle and went to work.

We shot steadily for about twenty minutes and when the crows figured out what was happening and high-tailed it out, we had 84 crows on the ground.

My share of the sweet corn was 10 bushels.

[Pahoo]

He had a bag full of rat traps and an electronic crow call.

Reminds me of the old trick of stringing treble hooks above the ears of an owl decoy. Once the crows come in and take a swipe at the owl, they get hooked and all heck breaks loose. ....

Be Safe !!!