Crow set up

Brownie

Brownie

New member
I'm looking at settin up for some crow hunting. Gonna get an owl and some crow decoys. My question is how long or how Manu crows can u take from te same setup?? Will they circle and come back after the gunshot or do u shotgun as many as u can an then move elsewhere??
 
Shot-at crows will fly off and usually land nearby to watch. Lay on the crow distress or wounded crow call , stay still (always) and they'll come back. That call drives 'em nuts.
 
I would venture to guess the terrain you are hunting plays a big part in how many chances you get.

I hunt edges of heavily wooded plots for the most part - nothing like the openness of Walla Walla.

Shot 11 this morning over 5 sets- second-time passerbys accounted for 4 of them.

Great Horned Owl Decoy (Wallyworld $8 special) - and a single crow decoy to portray the owl-victim role.

I call them in with Owl-Crow Fight calls and it does not take long for the games to begin.

Good time of year to hunt them, they are flocking up in good numbers now.
 
No 2 places and hunts will be the same. Here, 30 minutes max and ready to move.
The more flocks you have, the longer you can call and shoot.
I had a place a few years back, that when they quit coming in we would stop calling for 5 minutes. Then start again and they would flog in again and again.
That was the only place we could stay put all morning. My wife had a ball with her 410.

Shayne
 
My best shooting always came when I set up in short timber, i.e. scrub timber that was only 20 - 25 feet tall.

If I set up in taller timber, 60 - 70 ft. tall stuff, they are already 25 yards away, so I keep to the shorter trees at the edge of a clearing, or in a clearcut.

Sometimes, I will take my scoped .22 magnum with me to snipe the tree sitters out there past shotgun range.
 
Savagenut made a good point about the tall timber. .if it is all tall where you hunt, try to find a hole in the tall stuff where they can dip down lower to look for the caller and/or look at the decoys.
Timber that has been thinned is also a great place to call.
Good luck, and have fun shootin those bandits

Shayne
 
I usually run anywhere from a 2 crow set up to 20+, just really depends if i'm up for carrying the equipment. If you dont wanna buy decoys though I shot my first dozen or so crow using just coat hangers wrapped in black trash bags (bend the hangers to look like crow, use a mouth call to start and if you cant get them in close enough switch to electronic..just avoid the danger call ie: (caw,caw,caw).
 
I wear full camo. Lay down looking up thru the tree limbs. with several trees around. I use #4 3" mags. shoot when they circle. I use a FoxPro dying crow sound. Shut it off when you see them coming, about 1,000 yards out. If one comes swooping down, he has to be shot. If you miss, he will tell the others and they will all be gone. If you hit him, the rest will continue to circle. Go about a 1/4 mile away, do same thing, but use a young hurt crow sound. Same crows will come back.
Killed many this way, when eating my sweetcorn.
 
I've taken 5 in one spot with the Mach2. With a good setup they'll come back for more. I like to set up where there are a few bit trees close by that are pretty open to shoot up through.
 
The "run and gun" method doesn't seem to work for me because my spots are not that close together. I focus on bigger flocks of crows and plan on staying in one spot for most of the morning.

Agree about not being too close to tall trees. I pick a spot on the edge of a field and hide in a hedge row. I use camo material to make a small blind and also dress in camo plus use a mask. Set out 1-2 dozen decoys on the ground and a few in trees, but never bother to use an owl decoy. Put the speaker of my electronic caller in a tree about 6 feet off the ground to the right or left of the blind about 25 feet from the blind. Crows will almost always go to the speaker. I use a sentinel call and a fighting crows tape.

I expect to shoot 10-15 and sometimes shoot as many as 30-50. I use a 20ga with #6 shot.
 
i run and gun and use 0-3 decoys most of the time and try and stay in young plantations. i mix up my calling with gathering calls, crow fight and dying crow all at the same location and change depending on how the birds are acting. I have shot anywhere from none to 40+ birds by myself out of quick setups like these and usually move several hundred yards and do it again. i let the first bird go and keep my head down and let them pile in and start circling above me and then give it to them. when they see there buddies start falling a lot of times they get worked into a frenzy and you cant shoot them off of you!!
 
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