What Crow Mistakes am I making?

S

SnowBass23

New member
Hi All. New member here.

I'm pretty new to predator hunting and had purchased a crow call and some decoys (crows and an owl). I had yet to try crow hunting until I was out this past Saturday. We pulled into our usual area (expecting to squirrel hunt) and when we got out of the car I could see and hear some crows a few hundred yards away over a tree line. I pulled out a crow call and busted out my best Caw-Caw-Caw. I expected them to immediately shut up and leave. To my surprise they began cawing back and headed right in our direction, probably half dozen or so.

We weren't prepared for them so they flew over head and disappeared a couple minutes later. We decided to go set up in a different area and actually target crows.

At the new area we parked in the woods and walked up to a clearing. We could see 2 big crows in the top of an old dead tree probably a 1/4 mile out. We set up an owl and two cros on the ground in the field. As soon as I started cawing the crows left the tree and came right for us. We had them swarming all over. We managed a couple. After the action died down we went to another area and did ok as well.

Now we were hooked. So we decided to go to some different areas on Sunday. It was a bluebird sky with little to no wind. We set out a half dozen crows and an owl. When we began cawing we had a couple fly over, but it looked like we scared them off. First we would see one or two flying way out, slowly circling us. Then they would start to fly over (leisurely) and we could see them suddenly start flying fast and hard so i assume they saw us. We weren't wearing total camo (Hats/shirts/pants but no gloves or face nets).

At best, a couple of times we would start hearing them caw back, and a lot of cackling, but they were always out of sight over a tree line.

Other than a ton of buzzards and hawks, we had no luck whatsoever on Sunday. Somebody told me we should get camo netting and use that as a blind, but I'm not even sure the best way to go about that.

So, any ideas of obvious things we may have done wrong? Thanks in advance for any info!

SnowBass
 
Yep, gotta cover your face and hands. They both shine better than you think from a crow's perspective. Also, I try not to move a muscle until they are within range. They can pick up movement from a pretty good distance, also.

Here's a tip that I picked up over the years. Wear a full head net but leave your cap or hat off. The brim or bill of your cap turning gives them more to see than just your head turning with the net on.
 
First of all, welcome to the forums.

As everyone has already said, crows can see very well. The slightest movement will spook them. I have had many to be flying over when I am in full camo (except for my face), and if I look up toward them, they will immediately veer off. Their eye sight is amazing. Also, if they can see your car, then the jig is up.

Even the best set-ups at times don't produce for one reason or another. I've also seen days that I couldn't hear a single crow, nor could I call any at all. It was as if there were no crows anywhere. There are days like that sometimes.

One thing for sure, though - your are hooked now. Crow shooting is addicting.

Good luck, and keep us posted - with some good pictures too.
 
Crow calling is fun...and is one of the first varmints I successfully called. I found the calling part easy...once I learned some basic vocabulary.

Here are some tips:

* Always call from the shadows...trees, bushes, ridgeline, whatever. This helps conceal some inevitable movement on your part.

* Total camo...YES, their eyesight is equal to any bird of prey.

* Decoy using only one decoy at a time. I've never had any luck with the Owl at all. I set up the Crow decoy on open ground to simulate feeding, while I conceal myself within easy shooting range in the shadows.

* Do not use the 3 Caws in succession...it is an alert/warning cry. Listen to the variety of vocals that you hear while in the field; and mimic them. In addition, purchase some instructional tapes or DVD's and learn from there.

* When calling, I do it enthusiastically...as if to say to other crows....."HEY, COME OVER AND SEE THIS...THERE'S A FEAST HERE FOR US ALL"!!!!!

* Extremely windy days are less productive as a rule.

To summarize then........total camo, call from shadow and then minimize movement until ready to shoot.


Good luck

*
 
Yeah they see very well. I had a ton of crows swarming over me while predator calling. I was using rabbit distress and had a Mojo Critter set up. They were there for about twenty minutes but when I tried to get my camera up to get some video they saw me and took off. I was in full camo laying on the ground and only moved the camera up about 12" to point it straight up...they saw that little movement.

 
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We went back at it today using full camo and minimal movement. In fact, at times we had too much overhead camo (trees and brush) limiting our shots. Anyway, we'd blast crow and owl fight or distress call through the speaker and have anywhere from two to 5 crows come flying in. We'd blast away. Sometimes we'd drop all of them, and sometimes the majority escaped. They'd either fly over head and come back in or stay long enough for a follow-up shot. We'd get quiet again and in a few minutes the next group would fly in.

We need to experiment with chokes and shot size more. I was using 7 1/2 with a modified choke and my buddy was using 6 shot. A lot of times we'd hit crows and they would fall 10-15 feet before catching themselves and continuing to fly. Of course this only happened when nobody was ready for a follow-up shot. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
I had the same thing happen with them dropping then flying off. I had one make it about 300 yards and drop dead into a neighbors front yard, was kinda funny. My setup right now is a mod. choke with #4 or #5 shot. I've had much better luck with those two. I buy whatever is on sale. I'm lucky enough to live 10 minutes away from Cabela's and knocked off a case of Winchester Super X #4's for $59.00. I'm going out tomorrow morning for the first time this year, can't wait.
 
Snowbass, my main crow shooting load for many, many years has been a modified choke and 7 1/2 shot. I've killed a lot of crows with that combination, and used a 20 guage for most of it. It was a great combination, but I was calling them in close when the foilage was still on the trees. In winter when the leaves are gone, I would use a tighter choke and larger shot, not to mention a 12 guage. That's the way I do it, at least.
 
Crow hunting is my favorite type of hunting using a call. The biggest thing I have found is try to not over hunt your spots.They wise up quick. When you do hunt the same spots again try to changing things up, maybe use less decoys,different decoys,hand calls, different sounds.As for shot size I think that everybody has their own style of shooting and that makes the most difference, I load my own and shoot 7 shot.I could probably use 7.5 and not know the difference,My style is to try to shoot at 30 to 40 yards at this range this shot works well using a xfull choke of standard length not the extended turkey choke.I try to set up so when shooting the crow will be flying into the wind this makes it more easy for me to hit them. Like everyone says stay still till ready to shoot then move slow. Using larger shot may reduce your range by having a less dense pattern because of less pellets with the larger size shot,but at the same time it may take less pellets to kill because the larger pellets have more energy,who knows. Try to reduce any glare and stay in the shadows when you can. If legal in your state consider motion decoys as they work great I used these to hunt with in Wisconsin but here in PA their not legal. To get your crows to come in lower try not to hunt in taller trees, shorter trees let the birds get down lower. When you get a few wise crows that hang up out of range and continue circleing out of range quit calling and let these birds leave as any others that come in while they are there will likely stay with them out of range. When they are in range shoot as soon as you get a good shot, as the longer they are there the better chance they have of spotting you.Unless you have lots of crows try not calling continuesly as you can usually kill more by calling in smaller numbers more often. If you only have one or two you may get them both and not have any leave after shooting,If you call in 10 at one time and shoot 3 then you have 7 wised up crows. To help avoid this stop calling or turn down the volume when you see birds coming in. Every place is different and nothing works all the time. Always be looking for new spots and other people to hunt with as you can always learn something new,no one will ever know it all. Good luck
 


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