Getting crows to land for rifle shots

stiff neck

stiff neck

New member
I've been able to call in many (100-200) crows the two times I've tried just for fun in the off season. This was in an orchard area surrounded by farmland. I just sat under a thick tree and used a mouth call. Didn't have camo, but I was wearing natural colored clothes and held real still.

With a 12g I could have easily nailed a ton of them. But if I'm using a rifle, how do I get them to land? All they wanted to do was circle round and round. The second time I tried using a few home made black decoys on the ground, one had a dot of red spray paint on it. Never got a single one to land.

I want to hit some with my 17HMR this winter. Any suggestions?
 
I've had crows land after shooting one to check on the one I just shot, but that doesn't happen all the time.
One of my all time favorite stories in the TVHM was about a guy who set up a e-caller under a dead tree that had a bush around it & turned it on full blast then hid under another tree & picked them off w/ a 10/22 as they landed to look down at the caller.
If I remember right that was the issue w/ the black fox on the cover. (?)
 
The best way that I have seen so far is to get a decent size road kill or harvested animal and set it up where you cna check on it every once in a while. A coyote that me and my partner recently shot drew in a host of Turkey Vultures and Crows.
 
The only way I have been able to do it, and it's not very effective, but set out a few full body decoys in a plowedfield, cut over CRP field or wheat field and just wait, with no calling. Seems if I call they just stay in the air or land in a tree. Crows like to land on the ground, but do it on their own accord, and only a few will ever land at once. I killed a couple last weekend this way w/ my .223
 
It seems different location make crows react differently. I'm sure we don't see things as crows do. I have found that usually I have better luck getting them to land if there is something higher than ground level for them to land on. They will gladly land on the ground to feed but when called they like to land where they have a good vantage point to see what is going on. Fences are great. Dead trees are a favorite of crows. The problem with this is having a safe background to shoot. Pick your spot with the backstop in mind. If you use an owl decoy set it where the crows can land at a higher elevation than the decoy. It is not their nature to land on the ground below an enemy. They will stay in the air or land at a distance elevated. As everything there are always exceptions but these things will improve the odds.
Good shooting REM

PS as mentioned above if you have a crow you have already shot put it out as a decoy. It really gets their attention when they come in and makes them more prone to take another look.
 
Just a sugestion for my 2 cents. Using a 22 with subsonic ammo.

Use some cracked corn, spread it around put some decoys out near it. Make a small pile of the corn in an area where you know them to land.

Get off to the side maybe 50 to 60 yards. Use camo and don't move to much. If you could muffle the shot do so.

Let them land and eat some, take your time. After some have eaten pop one but don't move. Let things settle and do another one. this could last for awhile if you don't spook'm.

Good luck, let us know if you try this and how it turned out.
 
I have luck having them land in trees when I call from a wooded area, when the leaves fall this is great, they land in the treetops.
 
If you want them to land for a shot with a rifle try this.

Play an e-caller for a few minutes and let the scouts come in and fly over... they'll go back and find the flock (murder) and come back with the whole gang. The majority of the birds will loom around the outskirts of the setup (Decoy Spread) while others divebomb across. Turn off the caller... sit there in silence. This makes the flock think the situation (Be it a crow fight or wounded crow.. depending on the tape you use) is moving on them. They will fly in and take the tops of the trees while looking for the movement of the fight. you can do this a few times to a single flock before they catch on.

It's still best to use a shotgun to kill a bunch at once but this stratagy does work with rifles. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Place an electronic call under a large tree. Use a hawk/crow fight. The crows will circle. Change to a crow distress call. The crows HAVE to find out where the injured crow is. The only draw-back is they'll dive right into the leaves (under the conopy). Place yourself so you can see into the tree. I have even set up at the base of the tree. Camo is helpful. Decoys will help give confidence (crow and hawk/owl). Wounded and dead crows you shoot, should be placed so incomming crows will see. After they all leave wait 5-10 minutes and call again. After the crows leave you can shoot buzzards. Ooops....did I say that out loud?
 
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