whats with crow hunting

Crows & Ravens (and magpies), are open game out here in Alberta year round. Ravens used to be protected but are now legal on private land by residents. Great way to pass the time in the winter if the yotes are slow and the prairie poodles are sleeping. Seeing that puff of feathers through the scope on my 204's just gives me the giggles.
 
I live in a small town and am kind of like the local pest control. Crows are fair game and the song birds have come back nicely. The corvid family also can carry West Nile virus so the fewer of them around the better.
 
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I like to pick them off with the .257mag /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif



Here is one I took today out at 186yds....257weatherby mag
S7300621.jpg
 
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Building a brush blind a 1/2 hour before daylight & then calling them in with a handcall from however far away they may be is pure bliss!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

But when they come in all hell bent for glory & cawing their proverbial lips off just before the BANG!! is about as much fun as you can have with your clothes on. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
It's one thing to see them, but try getting a shot. Crows have very good eyes and they're real smart. If they've never been bothered you could maybe get a few drive-by's. But they learn fast to be wary. After that happens, just stopping the truck can make them scatter. Show a rifle and even a couple 100yds away they'll be gone. Whether it's seeing the rifle or just that you're looking at them, who knows.....but they can tell danger. Crows are beautiful when they explode. Each crow kill is satisfying because it helps make up for all the times they outsmarted you.
 
I shotgun them on the wing over decoys,hand calls, & an ecaller. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 
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It's one thing to see them, but try getting a shot. Crows have very good eyes and they're real smart. If they've never been bothered you could maybe get a few drive-by's. But they learn fast to be wary. After that happens, just stopping the truck can make them scatter. Show a rifle and even a couple 100yds away they'll be gone. Whether it's seeing the rifle or just that you're looking at them, who knows.....but they can tell danger. Crows are beautiful when they explode. Each crow kill is satisfying because it helps make up for all the times they outsmarted you.


They are way too smart for sure. Ditto the thought on them seeing a rifle/shotgun.

One thing that could help with this is if you are near a "fly way" you will see transients that wont have a clue who you are.
 
Crow hunting is not hard at all. It's like everything else.Do your homework & learn to shoot a shotgun & build blinds.
 
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i dont understand what the all the hype is about huntin crows. I understand its one more thing to hunt. i dont know about anywhere ekse but around here there are thousands of them. you wouldnt even have to call them you could just drive around and stop and shoot em. is there somethin Im missin /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif



It's fun. It's challenging. (There aren't big bunches of them around here.) It's great wingshooting, stalking, and calling practice, if you like to hunt other things. I'm sure I could think of other reasons if I had the time.

My teenage sons love it cuz there's alot of action and not a lot of sitting around. I love it cuz I get to spend quality time with my sons.

It's just an all-around great sport.
 
crow hunting is to me on a good day as fun as shooting a fat doe at 10 yards with a bow. If you get in light tember you can get them to come through the branches its about as fun as flooded timber and ducks trust me its a blast if you can get some within the first few times out if not your hunting smarter crows and not as fun because experience shows they have a higher iq than i.
 
www.crowbusters.com has recipes for them. As far as them being any good,,, well,, we left 31 crows in a pile one AM when we left & the next weekend they were all gone so I would say they are purdy good. To the coons & possums. LOL
 
Here's something from my state California I think is unusual to say the least. It's in the hunting regulations. Look down in section ( 3 ) ( c ). What you are required to do with your crows.

§485. American Crow.

( a ) Shotgun, Falconry, and Archery Seasons, and Bag and Possession Limits.

( 1 ) Season: The first Saturday in December and extending for 124 consecutive days.

( 2 ) Daily Bag and Possession Limits

Bag Limit: 24 crows per day

Possession Limit: double the daily bag limit

( 3 ) Area: Statewide: see closure area ( d ) below

( b ) Crows may only be taken by shotguns 10 gauge or smaller using shot shells only and incapable of holding more than three shells in the magazine and chamber combined, bow and arrow, and falconry. Crows may not be hunted from aircraft.

( c ) No person shall kill or cripple a crow pursuant to this section without making a reasonable effort to retrieve the bird, and retain it in their actual custody at the place where taken or between that place and either: (1) their automobile or principal means of land transportation; or (2) their personal abode or temporary or transient place of lodging; or (3) a migratory bird preservation facility; or (4) a post office; or (5) a common carrier facility.

I have yet to do this but I really want to and see the look on the post office staffs faces when I dump my crows on the counter and say take care of these. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
We are in our two months of crow season right now. Havent seen any sitting in the "dead crow tree" for a couple weeks now. I may have to get calls and deeks dusted off.

We'll get some of the guys together soon enough and then there will be carnage.
 
Oh my gosh. I used to be a fanatical, mouth-foaming crow hunter back east. I knew the smarter ones by name, and believe me, they not only knew me by name right through all the head-to-toe-to-gun camo, they knew my vehicle, my license plate number, my calling sound/style, and just how far I could hit them.

They would perform wild evasive action whenever they flew over one of our favorite but unoccupied ambush sites.

They also knew to fly over just when I put down the gun to eat a sandwich or take a leak. They were so good at knowing this we used to do those things with one eye scanning up just to get them to fly over knowing that they would. And they did and we nailed a few that way.

When seeing one perched in town while strolling about and stopping to look at it, imagining drawing a careful bead with crosshairs and gently pressing the trigger, they would more often than not suddenly fly off the instant before my mental 'shot' would fire. I firmly believe they can read minds.

Crow hunting is like a cross between coyote hunting and prairie dog shooting. The challenge of calling in a clever sneaky crafty fast-learning critter combined with fast action and a target-rich environment. When I moved out here and couldn't find any to shoot, I went through some serious withdrawal symptoms.

twitch-twitch
 


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