Crow decoying questions
- Thread starter Huckster
- Start date
Team Turpin
New member
I HAVE 6 FULL BODY DECOYS I PUT OUT. BUT I USUALLY HAVE BETTER LUCK WITH NO ARTIFICIAL DECOYS. I START THE CALLING AND USE THE DEAD CROWS FOR MY DECOYS. I HAVE SAVED DEAD CROWS IN THE PAST TO USE AGAIN. IT IS HARD TO DO IN THE SUMMER WHEN IT IS HOT.
Hey Hulkster,
My opinions to answer your questions may vary from others but here goes. I think alot has to do with the style of crow hunting you do. For example, if you are hunting early mornings in a feeding area (such as a pecan orchard or cattle feed lot) I would say the more the better. I first started out decoying with a dozen dekes and after running into a real bargain I bought another dozen. I turned one of the dekes into a motorized "motion" deke and now I use my entire spread with greater success than before. Keep in mind that I do alot of scouting and already know the crows are going to be there when I hunt these type places. The crows in a place like this is usually numerous and in-coming birds think others are there ahead of them and they come in more readily to land when seeing the spread on the ground, assuming they're already over the food. If I were running and gunning I would not waste time moving around decoys because the action is usually quick and furious. A lot of fast and hard calling usually brings the crows over top of low cover looking for the ruckus being sounded and the shooting usually only lasts a few minutes before time to pull up and move to another location and dekes would only slow you down. A third option would be setting up along a grown up fence row for an afternoon hunt. There, I would use fight tapes in a caller and the dozen dekes you have would be plenty. I would place all of the dekes up in a couple of short trees, bushes, whatever is available.
In a morning hunt, crows have food on their minds where as in an afternoon hunt the crows have frolicing around or getting into trouble on the brain. I guess it all depends on the kinds of areas you have to hunt and the times of the day you choose to hunt. Hope this helps
GB
My opinions to answer your questions may vary from others but here goes. I think alot has to do with the style of crow hunting you do. For example, if you are hunting early mornings in a feeding area (such as a pecan orchard or cattle feed lot) I would say the more the better. I first started out decoying with a dozen dekes and after running into a real bargain I bought another dozen. I turned one of the dekes into a motorized "motion" deke and now I use my entire spread with greater success than before. Keep in mind that I do alot of scouting and already know the crows are going to be there when I hunt these type places. The crows in a place like this is usually numerous and in-coming birds think others are there ahead of them and they come in more readily to land when seeing the spread on the ground, assuming they're already over the food. If I were running and gunning I would not waste time moving around decoys because the action is usually quick and furious. A lot of fast and hard calling usually brings the crows over top of low cover looking for the ruckus being sounded and the shooting usually only lasts a few minutes before time to pull up and move to another location and dekes would only slow you down. A third option would be setting up along a grown up fence row for an afternoon hunt. There, I would use fight tapes in a caller and the dozen dekes you have would be plenty. I would place all of the dekes up in a couple of short trees, bushes, whatever is available.
In a morning hunt, crows have food on their minds where as in an afternoon hunt the crows have frolicing around or getting into trouble on the brain. I guess it all depends on the kinds of areas you have to hunt and the times of the day you choose to hunt. Hope this helps
GB
Crow Spanker
New member
Huckster,
I like to use 8 to 12. Hang the bulk of them up in the trees, and mabey 1 to 3 on the ground. Generally one decoy should be positioned up high to serve as a sentry.
I have had some great run and run hunts using only two or three for the bandits to hone in on.
I like to use 8 to 12. Hang the bulk of them up in the trees, and mabey 1 to 3 on the ground. Generally one decoy should be positioned up high to serve as a sentry.
I have had some great run and run hunts using only two or three for the bandits to hone in on.
varminter185
New member
new to crow hunting.. whats the owl for
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
Crow Spanker
New member
V185,
The owl is a natural predator of the crow. Apparently when used in a fight set up they work very well.
I have never had any luck with the owl myself.
If you've never hunted the crow you are missing out on some great wing shooting.
The owl is a natural predator of the crow. Apparently when used in a fight set up they work very well.
I have never had any luck with the owl myself.
If you've never hunted the crow you are missing out on some great wing shooting.
varminter185
New member
you know i have never been crow hunting and when i decide it would be fun the season closed
You might want to check with your local game wardens to see if crows can be taken out of season under 'depradation laws'. This law refers to hunting crows traveling to or from a place they are doing damage to. Here in Georgia it is legal to hunt crows 12 months a year, although we do have a defined season.
GB
varminter185
New member
i don't see them doing damage other wise thats a good idea.....anyone know the site for tennessee DNR,(or whatever its called down there)
Krustyklimber
New member
The good ol' depredation law...
"honest officer he was eatin' a worm..."
Works for us we have year round season for just that reason.
Jeff
"honest officer he was eatin' a worm..."
Works for us we have year round season for just that reason.
Jeff
Varminter, it might not work in all states but here in Georgia I hae talked with the field wardens (the guys that actually write the tickets) and the 5 I have talked with in the 3 counties I hunt has told me that the way they figure it is if a crow is alive, eyes open and breathing then they feel the crow is either going to do damage or has just came back from it. LOL
Itwouldnt cost you anything to find it out if you give it a try. Who knows, you may find your "crow season" as liberal as I have it here. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
GB
varminter185
New member
did a little research on the subject and found out that zones 2 and 3 (i live in 2) has an extra season feb1-march31 i told my dad and he said "are you gonna eat it" can you eat crow what would you do with it if you dont'
Confidence decoys have worked really well for myself and my partner. We use a plastic owl for a confidence decoy. 4 to 6 decoy crows works the best. Our decoys are pieces of black felt stiched around a shirt hanger. For sound we use the crow sound on the fox pro. one time we called in an estimated 200 crows over a shelterbelt. I was laughing so hard at all the crows I didnt even hit one!
Snowbound,
Can you post a picture of your hanger decoys? Lookin for ideas.
I thought about cutting out a silouette out of thin plywood of wings and body attached an a 90 degree angle under the wings so when you hang it the wind would catch the body and make it "fly".
Yours sound alot easier to make and transport.
Thanks,
Huckster
Can you post a picture of your hanger decoys? Lookin for ideas.
I thought about cutting out a silouette out of thin plywood of wings and body attached an a 90 degree angle under the wings so when you hang it the wind would catch the body and make it "fly".
Yours sound alot easier to make and transport.
Thanks,
Huckster
I'll see what I can do about a picture. I have a digital camera and everything but I have never posted any pictures. If i can figure it out than i will post them. otherwise ill try and explain to you what they look like. ND coyote killer would know a great deal about how to make them also.
Krustyklimber
New member
Three things...
One, crow is good eatin'!
There is nothing wrong with a crow, they are not dirty, and are fairly immune to disease.
Their eating habits are no worse than a ckicken, a duck or a pig.
Pigs eat garbage! Chickens too!
Two, as far as silhouette decoys goes here's what I did...
I went to crowbusters.com and downloaded the crow target, printed it out, and traced it's image (slightly larger) onto some cardboard. I then cut all 30 of them out and spray painted them flat black. I got a package of bamboo skewers (for shish-ka-bobs) from Wal-Mart (100 for 99 cents) and stuffed one into the layers of cardboard of each decoy (these are gonna need some glue).
I made about a third of them tipped forward like they are feeding.
I set half up facing north/south and the other east/west
I havent hunted over them yet but have tested then extensively on my neighborhood "city crows", and my brothers bird dog.
Both were fooled well.
Funny story goes with this.
I was retrieving the deeks, when a crow in a tree a couple houses away, (who had set himself up as sentry) became very agitated. The closer I got to the deeks the more he made the "danger call", and totally freaked as I began to pick them up.
So just to mess with him I picked up a decoy and began to peck myself on the head with it...
Man did he go ballistic, he lept from the tree heading straight at me... he was about 10' away from me when he realized the deeks weren't 3 dimensional and flared off... but he was still really mad!
So I taunted him with every one I picked up after that. lol
Third, Snowbound,
E-mail me your pic or just e-mail me a request for instructions on posting pics, it's not hard.
I can put it in this thread for you no problem.
Jeff
One, crow is good eatin'!
There is nothing wrong with a crow, they are not dirty, and are fairly immune to disease.
Their eating habits are no worse than a ckicken, a duck or a pig.
Pigs eat garbage! Chickens too!
Two, as far as silhouette decoys goes here's what I did...
I went to crowbusters.com and downloaded the crow target, printed it out, and traced it's image (slightly larger) onto some cardboard. I then cut all 30 of them out and spray painted them flat black. I got a package of bamboo skewers (for shish-ka-bobs) from Wal-Mart (100 for 99 cents) and stuffed one into the layers of cardboard of each decoy (these are gonna need some glue).
I made about a third of them tipped forward like they are feeding.
I set half up facing north/south and the other east/west
I havent hunted over them yet but have tested then extensively on my neighborhood "city crows", and my brothers bird dog.
Both were fooled well.
Funny story goes with this.
I was retrieving the deeks, when a crow in a tree a couple houses away, (who had set himself up as sentry) became very agitated. The closer I got to the deeks the more he made the "danger call", and totally freaked as I began to pick them up.
So just to mess with him I picked up a decoy and began to peck myself on the head with it...
Man did he go ballistic, he lept from the tree heading straight at me... he was about 10' away from me when he realized the deeks weren't 3 dimensional and flared off... but he was still really mad!
So I taunted him with every one I picked up after that. lol
Third, Snowbound,
E-mail me your pic or just e-mail me a request for instructions on posting pics, it's not hard.
I can put it in this thread for you no problem.
Jeff
varminter185
New member
krusty,
are you feeling alright after pecking yourself in the head /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif good story. its obvious you made a realistic crow.
how do you go about cooking crow (i'm new)
are you feeling alright after pecking yourself in the head /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif good story. its obvious you made a realistic crow.
how do you go about cooking crow (i'm new)
Krustyklimber
New member
To "clean" a crow for eating is easy... and will still leave some bait for coyotes (this should make NYnovice happy lol).
All that is worth eating is the breast meat. What you do is make a cut across the crow where the ribs come together (and some people make a vertical cut up to the neck, like an upside down T) then you use your fingers to pull the "breast medallion" out (kinda like shucking an oyster). They are about the size of a lime or bigger.
There are better instructions on crowbusters.
Then what many guys do is to carry a big ziplock bag, and clean each batch of crows as they go, and put them back out as decoys. Place them tail into the wind the feathers will blow around giving it some motion.
The meat is red and some say kinda beefy, most people cook it in a ton of flavoring (often BBQ sauce) but it's not really necessary. Cook them up in your favorite chicken recipe. Or marinate them in Italian salad dressing.
You guys that are shooting lots of crows are throwing away a lot of good meat... something I was taught never to do, but I'm not makin' any judgement calls here /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif , the idea seemed gross to me at first too... 'til I remembered what sick little dudes chickens were to raise. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
I hope this helps,
Jeff
All that is worth eating is the breast meat. What you do is make a cut across the crow where the ribs come together (and some people make a vertical cut up to the neck, like an upside down T) then you use your fingers to pull the "breast medallion" out (kinda like shucking an oyster). They are about the size of a lime or bigger.
There are better instructions on crowbusters.
Then what many guys do is to carry a big ziplock bag, and clean each batch of crows as they go, and put them back out as decoys. Place them tail into the wind the feathers will blow around giving it some motion.
The meat is red and some say kinda beefy, most people cook it in a ton of flavoring (often BBQ sauce) but it's not really necessary. Cook them up in your favorite chicken recipe. Or marinate them in Italian salad dressing.
You guys that are shooting lots of crows are throwing away a lot of good meat... something I was taught never to do, but I'm not makin' any judgement calls here /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif , the idea seemed gross to me at first too... 'til I remembered what sick little dudes chickens were to raise. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
I hope this helps,
Jeff