crows decoying

[rob reynolds uk 3]

just found a pic i took last year thought it may be of some use to them who are having a go at crow decoying

this patten worked realy well that day ,i try to keep my crows about 6ft to 10ft apart makes your patten look bigger as well as more real ,for pigeon i put the decks about 4 to 5 ft apart sort of faceing in to the wind but not all say 30% ,crows dont do a patten really the just walk about as soon as they land ,if you see a crow give it a few calls it helps them come in to were you will try too shoot it,see how i say try ,i also find its far better to have the sun in your back ,so the crow has the sun in its face and not yours ,they cant see that well on a good sunny morning with the sun in its face but crow do have very very good eyes and ears and they do come in better if you do this ,as for shooting crows i find most people shooting at crows over lead them by a foot or more ,crows look like they are flying fast but there not, there really are slow ,so i would say aim at there head or give them a foot and no more if they are only 20yrds out ,once you have fired at them , they will pick up some speed but i would still give them about a foot or just over lead when they have turned and are running for home ,if i have a crow coming straight at me or going away i aim then blank it out just as i pull the trigger you should get a few this way,but before you go rushing out and set up on the first field you see,look for crows out on some field in the day , then get your self there before the crows do which means getting up very early in the morning [first light] ,before any crow has even got in to the field you will get far more this way ,set up your decoys were you seen the most crow the day before,and if you miss the first crow coming in it will fly back and tell the others you are there ,they arnt daft and talk to each other all the time ,so make sure you drop the first few coming in to the field ,if you can not get the shot dont take it and dont break cover to pick one up if more are coming in ,wait till there no more coming in , as soon as the crows stop coming in say about 11.00 i would pack up as they know you are there ,and dont bother going to the same place the next day or that week as they will be looking for you ,but if you really feel the need to go back which you will if you have had a good day dont set up in the same place and you will find they wont be as easy the second time round , thats if they show there faces there again ..hope the pic gives you some idea one more tip dont move in your hide till the very last moment ,ie the crows well in range ,crows arnt as tuff as pigeon and if hit will come down not like some pigeon i know :whistle:

 

[Guest sushie]

Good post Rob! very informative!

[Guest EWOK]

Rob, ever try shooting crows with a rifle. We sometime set the decoys up at 200 yards or so and call them in, with a little bait out. When they land we try to take them with our rifles, but you must be quick and not have many decoys because they catch on to the trick fast and will be gone. Your right about the getting the first one, with this setup we move a couple of miles away often. The best crow shooting I ever saw was a hunt in Texas on the TV one morning, they had a blind set up like they were duck hunting and ran an electronic calling box the whole time, bet they killed a 100 or more in the short thirty minutes it was on. We also road hunt, drive around and catch a crow standing, then shoot them out the truck window, but again you better be fast and him atleast 200 yards or he will not stay there when the truck stops. Know of a fellow that would drive around the country side slowly while playing the crow calling tape in his truck and as soon as a few started following the truck he'd jump out with the shotgun and shoot a couple. Guess there are lots of ways to skin a cat.

Now back to your post,upper, lower, upper,lowwwwwwwww

[Guest vim]

Enjoy that little bit of land while you still can Blob

[moley 115]

good tips rob , but i have to say i usually don,t bother setting up til 9am and can go on right thru the afternoon, and i don,t think crows can or do talk to each other , i have missed the first few and still had sport all day long, i prefer the pattern to be about 30 yds by 30 yds and the outside edge about 45 yards away from my hide, on windy days i have a floater at the outside edge, also found if two people are calling together it can draw crows in from quite a way off , i don,t bother picking up til i,m done or will only pickup if a crow lands way out from the pattern.

[Guest Ditch_Shitter]

While I don't shoot crows myself, I have to agree with ye, Rob; Once those sneaky b*stards get your number, the game is up for that spot!

 

Now, I happen to be in posession of a scan of a photograph I was once passed. I'm afraid I can't show it here as the man who lent me it said it was property of a friend of his and we didn't have copyright. I'll honour that sentiment.

 

But, if I could show it, I'm sure you'd all be impressed and interested. It shows a double barrelled 12 Bore, leaning against - would you believe - one of those bloody great 'Eagle Owl' decoys. And, beneath that, the biggest bloody pile of crows I've ever seen in my life!

 

No further clues on how the guy did it, I'm afraid. But it's certainly stopped me from scoffing at those 'useless' great owl deeks!

 

Food for thought, maybe?

[woodga 170]

those owl decoys have been used for years to attract corvids to the guns a cat ot or dead or stuffed fox also work well if you can get them under a flight line you can get big kills no problem :whistle: if you are a decent shot

GOOD HUNTING ALL WOODGA :ph34r:

[rob reynolds uk 3]

Enjoy that little bit of land while you still can Blob

 

 

:11: :11: funny that :11:

[Ricky-N.p.p 0]

you can also peg a nice albino ferret out on a leash and the crows will mobb them all day long !

[Guest oldskool]

poor ferret :11:

[Ricky-N.p.p 0]

good sport though ! :11:

[Guest Ditch_Shitter]

you can also peg a nice albino ferret out on a leash

 

 

Isn't that Illegal, these days?

 

No matter, if it is; I'm sure a ferret in an old mink trap would work just as well, wouldn't it?

[rob reynolds uk 3]

70 crow and 3 pigeon the last time i went out :whistle:

[IanB 0]

Good going rob, seems to be a lot of blackstuff around lately....should be fun

[ferreterno1 0]

im hopefully going to start a bit of vermin shooting keep the tips coming