[Jrbhunter]

Anyone been out calling crows yet? I haven't been out hardly at all... I think maybe twice. Nothing memorable about either trip really, killed one or two on each setup. I've been too busy with other things but I have a couple weekends coming up where I've scheduled to do some crow hunting, should get to warm up the barrells then.

I have been calling crows for a few years now and I'm getting pretty good at it. I have a lot of equipment and (as always) too much money invested in the procedure but it sure is fun when they come in really hard. The first thing I learned about crow hunting was that it is a sport of technique and a continual learning process... I have modified my setup almost EVERY TIME I go crow calling from the way I had it on the last setup. The slightest thing seems to make the biggest difference, sometimes silly things really help too.

You guys have any good tips and/or pointers for calling crows? There are a thousand different techniques out there and everyone has a variation that works for them. I personally like a good fighting crow decoy spread in low foliage cover. I'll use an owl decoy and a crow gathering tape to simulate a real fight sequence. That is the basic setup, I'll often modify it around to include mouth calls or motion decoys or something like that but the general setup always stays the same. I've been very productive with it thus far, hope to do better this winter. My goal is to kill 100 in a day, I'll let you know if that works out.

Here are some pictures from last years crow hunting trips,

Here is a nice frosty setup in some low lying foliage... me and my buddy Scott were setting up decoys for the first calling session of the day. We killed about five on this stand.

This was part of my days take when the birds were flying good last December. Sometimes the wind and weather conditions make all the difference, this day was perfect. I took 29 in the morning hunt, ran out of shells twice! Had to go to the truck the first time for more rounds then had to drive to town for the second round!

Okay, so this wasn't a "crow hunt" but I still like to brag about it. One day while lining in some rifles I sniped this crow at 173 yards with my 17HMR. I called and killed a few that day as well, still proud of that shot.

 

[HunterEd]

Jrbhunter,

First, where are you from...I noticed the "Southern Indiana", but have found that that can differ dramatically!!! I am in Floyd/Clark County...thought if you were close, maybe we could get together for a hunt sometime!?!

Wow, HECK of a shot with a .17HMR...IMPRESSIVE! I bought one when they first came out, but have since sold it...I am looking to get a .17M2 pretty soon.

Only thing that I have figured out, you HAVE to get that scout bird...otherwise it will warn the others and your screwed! Once you have the scout down, the calling becomes much more effective as the others will come looking for the scout!

BTW- Nice pic's...thanks for sharing!

 

[Jrbhunter]

Neighbor

Yeah Ed, calling any animal will change drastically when you change terrains... northern Indiana is different from Central-State and none of them compare to our hills and hollows down here. I am over in Harrison county, not far from you.

I ordered my 17HMR with FFL's via the internet before the rounds were even available in stores. I got mine in August of 2001 I believe, nobody had even heard of them really. VarmintAl turned me on to the cartridge because he field tested the bullberry barrels a long time ago. I read the numbers he was pushing through a cronograph and made a phone call.... best chance I ever took!

It's funny you say that about the scouts, I have played with crows at all times of the year for a few years now and my take on it was, if your setup is good and believable the scouts will take the bait and bring back their friends. There is a fine line that you can pop a scout out of the air without ruining the whole flock, if they are already in the air it is a bad idea to pull the trigger on the scouts but if they are still roosted as you said the flock may still come in looking for their scouts. This is just my experience, that's the great thing about this type of hunting... so many things work that people can hunt differently and still be productive. I have taken dozens of birds from setups after letting the scouts fly off, seems I am usually limited to 3-4 if I kill the scouts.

 

[HunterEd]

LOL, you got that right about the hills & hollows! I have family in/around Rush County and a couple of cousins came down to hunt with me a couple of years ago. They like to DIED when I took them to a couple of GREAT spots that also happened to be off of Knobstone trail! When they saw that first hill, I thought that they were going to pass out before they even started walking…!



Hmmm, you know…makes sense! Maybe I was just getting BUSTED by the scouts! Also, I think it has a lot to do with how you are calling. I think that if you are using fighting calls and the scout doesn't return, it further convinces them that a fight is going on! However if you are using feeding/gathering calls, and the scout doesn't return then they will probably be harder to convince. Guess you just have to take all those factors into consideration, and heck if one doesn't work…try something ELSE!