Crow Hunting- anybody do this regularly? What works?

[ivarhusa]

I am interested in getting after crows this winter, along with the coyotes. I was inspired by the latest (June 21, 2009) Predator Hunting Talkcast  http://predatortalkcast.com/Home.html. Bob Aronsohn told stories for well over an hour. Boy, that guy has stories.

I found one thread on crows http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,4180.15.html and it mentioned a few techniques.

Aronsohn spoke of the value of finding roosts, and hunting along the routes birds take to and from it.  Anybody here successfully finding and using roosts for crow hunting?

My Mid-Columbia terrain puts me at a distinct disadvantage.  No freakin' trees!  Crows have a good opportunity to see me well before getting within shotgun range, or so I surmise.  Got the camo, so that should help.

Anybody have some useful crow sound MP3's?  I've ordered a CD that might help me out (from Crowbusters.com  http://www.crowbusters.com/).

Ivar

[WDFW-SUX]

Just use a crow call when they are around.... the skys will turn black its really amazing.

[Kain]

Woodpecker distress and a Mojo Critter gets them in also.  I call in lots of crows and ravens (dont shoot the ravens) while coyote hunting.  Crow decoys are pretty cheap.  Here is a huge flock that circled over my caller for a while.  They must have really good eyesight because they took off when I raised the camera to film them.  The video makes them look a lot farther away than they were.  With that many crows it gets really loud.  Very exciting.

[Kain]

You can get crow MP3's here.

http://www.mscustomcalls.com/MP3.html

[bearmanric]

i mix crow and Ravin sound's later around a 1/2 to stir up my cougar and bear calling also coyote. that's a dinner bell for predator's. dont have time to hunt crow's. pretty much a crow in distress will bring them in. i use the crow party on my Foxpro Fury. Rick

[ivarhusa]

I am taking in all these good responses.  Kain: good link!

My e-caller let's me substitute thumb drives to swap whole collections of MP3s.  I may build one up tailored for crows, if I start getting them.

[boneaddict]

I just use a good locator call (Turkey).  Works good.

In the old days, I used to dump red food coloring int he white snow, then hunt over it.   Haven't done it for years and don't even know if thats legal.  You could attract alot of curious magpies and crows.

[Curly]

Another technique that works well is to drive through town where the crows congregate (Mcdonalds, Arby's, etc.) with your e-call on full volume using crow and hawk fight or crow in distress.  You'll get a whole flock of crows to follow you..........just drive with the crows following you until you get to an area that it is okay to shoot.  Then step out and start blasting.  They will dive bomb you for a while.    I haven't done that for a long time, but in my younger days I tried it and it was hilarious.

[alanger]

use an Ar-15 and you will have no problem with getting crows.                

[tlbradford]

They have excellent eyesight and are extremely wary so be camoflauged.  I use the mojo critter, an owl decoy and a few crow dekes.  A real raspy distress call seems to work the best for me.  If you are hunting a roost area, hunt in the evening hours.  If you are between the roost and primary feeding area, early morning and evening is good.  Have a good choke because after your first few shots, most will be past 30 yards.  I use #4 shot.  They can take a load like a late season pheasant.  Leave the dead ones in the open, since it helps attract others.

If you don't locate a roost the action is very slow.  To locate a roost, take an evening drive and follow the crows back home.  The bigger the roosting area the better the shooting.  If you find a feed lot or cattle ranch with some large treed land nearby, it should hold a good number of crows.

[mossback91]

I shoot them with ym bow when they show up in the field

[alanger]

no moss you always get the real thing and the target mixed up. just like the mechanical decoys from the game department. 

[ivarhusa]

 I use #4 shot.  They can take a load like a late season pheasant.

I listened to ol' Bob Aronsohn on the Predator TalkCast, and he recommended 7 1/2 and 8's. He felt the greater pellet density is important for the small body the crow has, relatively speaking. He is an amazing character to listen to. He has shot over 100,000 crows, by actual count.  He's had a number of stands where he has taken over 200 birds.  I find that incredible.

[MuleySniper]

I love crow hunting. I have a HUGE area where they roost behind my house in an old tree farm. I dial in my .22 chipmunk and snipe em with shorts. The best thing is, you kill one, tons more show up for the funeral.
MS

[rasbo]

benjamin .177 outmy backdoor..

[tlbradford]

 I use #4 shot.  They can take a load like a late season pheasant.

I listened to ol' Bob Aronsohn on the Predator TalkCast, and he recommended 7 1/2 and 8's. He felt the greater pellet density is important for the small body the crow has, relatively speaking. He is an amazing character to listen to. He has shot over 100,000 crows, by actual count.  He's had a number of stands where he has taken over 200 birds.  I find that incredible.

That is way more than I have shot, so I would listen to the expert.  I wonder what type of choke he is using?  Maybe a skeet choke?  Remember those aviaries that he gets to hunt back east may hold thousands of birds.  The one I hunt regularly probably has a couple of hundred.

[ivarhusa]

He said he used modified cylinder, or improved cylinder at times.

I highly recommend listening to the talk cast, when you get about 80 minutes to spare.

He told of warning one companion about the consequences of shooting with 1.5 oz of 6-shot. They tookd down 400 crows that day, and the guy's shoulder was very sore.  Bob recommended 7/8 oz loads.  He also uses a recoil pad in his shirt.  No wonder!

[lewy]

I made a bunch of decoys out of 7/16 ply and painted them black. They worked great! To add realism you can tip over a gabage can and scatter some trash around-no kidding this works awsome!

[Heavy G]

There is actually a season for crows.  I want to say October to December of something like that. 

A season for flying rats?

[ivarhusa]

From what I read, crow harvesting is governed by international treaty.  Seasons can only be about 120 days (or fewer), and not during the breeding season.  That said, there is a predation exemption (as perhaps someone else mentioned.  Indeed, the Washington season typically runs OCT-JAN.

Too bad, as that is prime coyote season for me.

I probably will make some profile decoys as lewy suggested.

Ivar