#2410299 - 06/06/11 07:50 AM
Crows?
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Crow Terminator
TnDeer Old Timer
14 Point
Registered: 10/23/99
Posts: 7913
Loc: McMinn County
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Anybody have the itch to go kill something this weekend? I did 
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#2410301 - 06/06/11 07:52 AM
Re: Crows?
[Re: Crow Terminator]
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Football Hunter
18 Point
Registered: 10/22/07
Posts: 24550
Loc: Wilson Co/Perry Co
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looks fun
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The best day to plant a tree,IS TODAY!
You wont know,if you dont go!
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#2410320 - 06/06/11 08:13 AM
Re: Crows?
[Re: Crow Terminator]
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BIGORANGE
8 Point
Registered: 11/29/08
Posts: 1781
Loc: Memphis, TN
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Cool
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"Our houses are protected
By the good Lord and a gun
And you might meet 'em both
If you show up here not welcome, son."
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#2410466 - 06/06/11 12:00 PM
Re: Crows?
[Re: Snake]
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Poser
14 Point
Registered: 07/28/10
Posts: 8113
Loc: Tennessee
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You eat em?
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It doesn't have to be fun to be fun. Wild & crazy, can't be stopped. Only the strong will survive. Keep your knife sharp and your skillet greasy. http://www.GoCarnivore.com
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#2410516 - 06/06/11 12:57 PM
Re: Crows?
[Re: Poser]
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VolDoug
TnDeer Old Timer
10 Point
Registered: 11/05/99
Posts: 3458
Loc: Plateau
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 LOL!
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#2410521 - 06/06/11 01:03 PM
Re: Crows?
[Re: VolDoug]
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MidTN
6 Point
Registered: 01/07/08
Posts: 675
Loc: Franklin, TN
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How did you trick um to get within shooting range?
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"Light travels faster than sound. That's why some people appear to be bright until they say something.”
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#2410753 - 06/06/11 06:22 PM
Re: Crows?
[Re: MidTN]
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Rob R.
10 Point
Registered: 04/25/11
Posts: 3646
Loc: Collierville TN.
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How did you trick um to get within shooting range?
Yeah! How do you get em close. Anytime I pick up a call. I dont see another crow for 3 days?
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The four most wonderful words in the English language.....Take me hunting daddy!
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#2411045 - 06/07/11 12:19 AM
Re: Crows?
[Re: Rob R.]
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Paul Burns
TnDeer Old Timer
8 Point
Registered: 03/28/99
Posts: 1788
Loc: Westport--- Carroll County Tn
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Good work. I hate them because of the garden damage and that they eat so many song bird young.
I did a double take when I saw the dog by the tailgate, from what I could see it looks just like my Mt. Cur.
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Paul Westport-Yuma Tn
On the banks of the Big Sandy River and Maple Creek
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#2411049 - 06/07/11 12:56 AM
Re: Crows?
[Re: stik]
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Crow Terminator
TnDeer Old Timer
14 Point
Registered: 10/23/99
Posts: 7913
Loc: McMinn County
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Yeah you could have checked the regs before posting I was out of season :-) now you will have to eat crow. Opens first Friday in June, can only hunt them Fri, Sat, Sun though. I could write a book on crow killin but I aint got the time right now
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#2411091 - 06/07/11 06:28 AM
Re: Crows?
[Re: mike243]
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Tony USMC
6 Point
Registered: 02/16/10
Posts: 828
Loc: Rockwood,TN USA
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Would love to go one day! Congrats buddy.
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Aim small Miss small !!!
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#2411610 - 06/07/11 04:32 PM
Re: Crows?
[Re: Tony USMC]
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plinker22
14 Point
Registered: 02/07/05
Posts: 8913
Loc: Mountians of East Tennessee
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Looks like a fun day. Congrats!!!
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We do all we do to...
Gut, Gag, Tag & Drag!
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#2412090 - 06/08/11 09:36 AM
Re: Crows?
[Re: plinker22]
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Crow Terminator
TnDeer Old Timer
14 Point
Registered: 10/23/99
Posts: 7913
Loc: McMinn County
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Crow's Crow Hunting Primer
Alright guys, here goes.
1. Get some good mouth calls! I've used the electronic calls with minimum success. I think the reason is, the sound just ain't right. The crows come to them if the volume and sound is OKAY but once you shoot a time or two, they get wise and don't come back to it. More on that later. I personally like mouth calls the best. You can control volume, you can do the "head shake" to make it sound real. Now the thing is, crow calls ain't exactly cheap. The crow calls you find in stores at turkey hunting season aren't what you want...they sound NOTHING like a real crow. They are too high pitched and loud. They make them that way to get distance...because you want that to make a turkey shock gobble. It's right the opposite for crows. Crows have a more "growling" kind of caw, so you need to replicate that.
The ONLY store bought one I've found that sounds close to what you're looking for, is an old one by Primos that they recently started making again. It's called the "Old Crow". The original one was brown wood; the new ones are green laminated wood. They sound the same and sound good for a cheap call. The others, you are gonna have to order or find at a show. Me personally, I have two of the Gibson Crow calls. I have the Short Magnum and the Long Range one. The Short Mag is my bread and butter. It's the best sounding crow call I've ever heard. I like to switch them up; each call I've got sounds different. All crows sound different too. The kind of call I use 99% of the time, is the "Death Cry". You can find audio on it, Johnny Stewart has the best one to listen to to learn it. I use the Short Mag for that sound, and use the other calls to do the excited "CAW CAW CAW..." like other crows are coming in and have found something wrong. This is EXTREMELY effective in calling crows back to your location after you've shot a few times.
Get a good sounding owl call or hawk call too. The barred owl call in the morning works good on crows. They can't stand one in their territory. So if you give a few "who cooks for me, who cooks for youuuuuu" calls like you were locating a turkey...and then start the death cry, look out brother, cause here they come.
2. Location. Crows out east are the same bird as the ones out west, but crows are extremely smart birds. I mean EXTREMELY smart! They can adapt very well. So I think the western crows have adapted to things out there, and the eastern ones have adapted to things out here. Example: I see the videos of the guys hunting out west. They are on the edge of a field and shooting crows like at a dove shoot all day long. While out here...I've not had ANY luck at all calling crows like that. I've called them in, but they came in very high up, or only a couple came in gun range and once you shot one, it was over.
So what I've found that works good here, is to realize that crows tend to fly at just above tree top height. If you are hunting in tall hard woods, the crows will come in high up. You want them in your face. So I like finding a good cedar or pine thicket to call in. It gets the crows in decently low, and gives you good cover too. A lot of times if you are camo'ed in well, and don't shoot right off, they will come in and actually start to land in trees around you. If you do it right, you can get a couple before they even fly, and then pop another one or two as they fly. Look around while driving out and about though. They have fly patterns and routes like anything thing else. Find where they are, when they are there, and get permission. I've NEVER been turned down permission for crow hunting. A good ole rhyme for that "I've never been told no for hunting a crow". But pines are where I like to call from.
3. Camo! If you think a turkey has good eye sight, you should try crow hunting. Those dudes are slick. Pay attention to them when they are eating...you will ALWAYS have one bird up high on a perch watching out for the ones on the ground. They take turns doing that. They are SMART. Always looking for danger. I seen a show on them here a while back that said that crows were being studied by the US Military because they have recently discovered that crows have facial recognition ability. Go figure. Well they can live to be nearly 30 years old human years so imagine what they can learn in 20+ yrs of living and dodging things trying to kill ya! Anyway, camo head to toe.
4. Now here is where I also differ from my western crow hunting brethren. They say it is a myth that crows send out a "scout bird" to come to a source of calling and check things out. I say it's 100% true. I've seen it happen WAY too many times. If you let that first crow to come in get away (as in if you shoot and miss) your gig is OVER. Period. Stick a fork in it and move. You will get them to come CLOSE to you, as in ear shot, but you wont get them in like they would have been if you would have killed that first bird. Here is what tends to happen:
You start calling and the crows come in. If you can't get a good shot at the scout bird, don't shoot. Just be still and let him circle around. Crows always circle the calling source. It is best to actually have several shooters and one caller, and the caller be in the center of a circle. If you can't get that good shot and don't get seen, that scout crow will start up some kind of different pitch CAW CAW CAW and others will come. Or better yet, if you kill him, it's like the other crows are flying around going "Hey ole Ted ain't back yet, we ain't heard from him, that ole owl or hawk has him down too, let's go beat the crap out of him!!" and here the whole family of them comes at you ready to fight. That's when they need the ole 12 or 20 gauge attitude adjustment. Decoys work good here too. I've not bought the owl decoy yet but it will be my next addition to the crow calling thing.
5. What loads to shoot? Well I've played around and I personally like the rabbit/squirrel type loads. I started out using the cheap ole skeet shooting bulk loads. They don't do a good job on killing the crows if you ask me. I shoot a 20 gauge semi auto and I can get a little more umph and killing power at longer range with the rabbit/squirrel loads. The pheasant loads work good too.
6. I like to run and gun sites when I'm hunting them. Even the best of setups out here in the east wont last but a few crows and they get wise. I normally always have to hunt them alone since most people don't wanna crow hunt, so I'm operating the mouth calls and trying to shoot at the same time. If I could kill every crow that comes in to my setups that present shots, I could get 20-30 per set. One of these days I will dig out an old VHS video we have of me calling them in one day, and convert it over so ya'll can see it. I GUARANTEE there are at least 100 birds circling me. I still miss them too but an average set for me, with just me doing the calling and shooting, is around 5-6 birds. Sometimes I can get up to 10 per set. Still not bad for one person doing all the work.
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