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Crows for rifle practice

Westhunder

Please excuse typos, sent from my iPhone.
Background: I have a rather large dove field, and we shoot every other weekend for the first season. There are a lot of fields in my area, so we hurt the population pretty good.

While we are between seasons and hoping doves still migrate; showing up for 2/3/4th seasons, we have crows. Not a few. Hundreds and hundreds.

What I know about crows is, that they will eat just about anything. Obviously sunflowers, but bugs, road kill, corn, wheat, oats, but my question is how to keep them around so I can turn a rather annoying thing into a real afternoon of fun.

All the crow hunting I have ever done is with a fox pro and a shotgun, in deep cover shooting straight up. I know people shoot them from time to time with a rifle. However, crows are funny about humans. When you walk around the house or in the field, they scatter, much less fire off a rifle round. Which is fine and to be expected.

So question is. Can I decoy them? Post up in a area with a buddy, hidden, with a rifle and scope, do some calling with some decoys and get enough of them coming through to make it an enjoyable afternoon?

( I don’t think there are baiting laws on crows, I need to look into that, but they aren’t a federal migratory bird, so I’m thinking you can probably bait in addition to the sunflower field) maybe a corn pile too?


Or maybe you have a better idea.

Wes
 
Wes, you might want to look under this. There are weird laws and regulations on crows. I would share my opinion but that would get me into trouble. They are fun with shotgun or rifle. Love to see the red mist and feathers. I hate crows,put them in the same category as coyotes, but they and the coyotes sure are fun to hunt. My dad used to tell me they (crows) could tell you where you bought your shells. They are very smart animals. Do your check on regulations before you hunt them.
https://www.fws.gov/birds/management/managed-species/migratory-bird-treaty-act-protected-species.php
 
Lone Hunter said:
Wes, you might want to look under this. There are weird laws and regulations on crows. I would share my opinion but that would get me into trouble. They are fun with shotgun or rifle. Love to see the red mist and feathers. I hate crows,put them in the same category as coyotes, but they and the coyotes sure are fun to hunt. My dad used to tell me they (crows) could tell you where you bought your shells. They are very smart animals. Do your check on regulations before you hunt them.
https://www.fws.gov/birds/management/managed-species/migratory-bird-treaty-act-protected-species.php
Click to expand...
I know we have a crow season here. Most of the year, and no limit. Surprising they are considered protected species too. Must be in border states or something?
 
Lone Hunter said:
Wes, you might want to look under this. There are weird laws and regulations on crows. I would share my opinion but that would get me into trouble. They are fun with shotgun or rifle. Love to see the red mist and feathers. I hate crows,put them in the same category as coyotes, but they and the coyotes sure are fun to hunt. My dad used to tell me they (crows) could tell you where you bought your shells. They are very smart animals. Do your check on regulations before you hunt them.
https://www.fws.gov/birds/management/managed-species/migratory-bird-treaty-act-protected-species.php
Click to expand...
And not to mention.... after further research, that crow damaging crops, maybe taken at any time, without license or limit.
 
Here’s the deal with goofy crow seasons.

The United States did a great job of restoring and managing duck populations. The problem was that Mexico didn’t care about ducks nearly as much as the US, so ducks were being knocked out during their southern migration. The US Game & Fish “requested” Mexico to create stringent duck hunting laws. Mexico said they’d do it but didn’t want to appear like they’d caved-in without getting something in return. So their trade was requesting a season on crows in the US that only lasted X number of days. Technically, crows are a migratory species. So the UFGF agrees but finds a loophole. By not allowing shooting during a couple of days per week, the open season can be longer and still fit within total number of allowable days as per the agreement.

Both sides were playing games but it worked out OK.
 
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What I have learned from crow hunting is; crows that are lured in with decoys and one of their flock is killed, they will learn from it and not be fooled again, even if the decoys are moved to a different area that the same flock uses.
If to many crows are killed from a flock and the hunter is spotted or along with the hunters car/truck, the crows can recognize the hunter or his vehicle, and alert the other crows of impending death.

Crows my be a pest, but most people underestimate their intelligence.
 
Crows have ESP and are mind readers. They know if you're wanting to kill them or not. They know if you have a rifle or a shotgun when you're wanting to kill them and how much ammo you have.

They know where hunting is allowed and where it is not. They stroke me when I'm washing my truck because they know I can't shoot at them here. They will sit in the tree and give me a bunch of B.S. because they know they can. If I'm at camp where hunting is allowed and there is a crow in the tree 75 yds. away they will take off as soon as I crack the door, because they can read my mind.
Those that have tried to run them over with a car or truck when they're on some roadkill know it is damn near impossible to get them. One day I'm following a car down a country road and there's a crow on some roadkill and it looks like they are going to run him over and I'm starting to grin. Next thing I know the person driving the car slams on the brakes and stops short of the crow, and the crow sits there for a few seconds before it takes off. It read the drivers mind and knew they were going to stop, further proof of ESP. By the way, that is a true story, I wouldn't of believed it if I didn't see it myself.

So, in summation it's a wonder we can kill any at all.

Chris
 
"So question is. Can I decoy them? Post up in a area with a buddy, hidden, with a rifle and scope, do some calling with some decoys and get enough of them coming through to make it an enjoyable afternoon?"

Regulations aside, hunting crows can be a challenge. Crows are pretty smart. After they are shot at they become pretty wary and more difficult to call in. However, if you have different areas to shoot you could try one area then move to another.
 
"Flocked" crow decoys work, especially in pecan orchards. Then use dead crows as decoys, stage them.

Use of steel shot is required prior to Nov 1 in SC.
 
liljoe said:
Crows are federally regulated. Check out the laws before you get in trouble.
Just sayin'.

Joe
Click to expand...
Pretty much all birds in North America are protected under the I think 1918 migratory bird act... There's only a few that can be shot... The fines are very high....
 
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