Kill Crows

[Brians356]

Varmits don't fly.

Most of the ones I shoot do, for a second or so, anyway, but not necessarily intact.

Seriously, Merriam-Webster's primary definition of "varmint" (Note: Birds are animals.):

An animal considered a pest

Crows, Ravens and Starlings can seriously foul livestock feed.
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[MrMajestic]

When the local crow population decided to make Lititz, PA a rookery the Mayor called us together and said "Gettum' boys but talk to nobody". I saw a busboy with a double barrel fire into a tree in front of the police station! My haunt was the high school and we landed them in the tennis courts on the school roof and everywhere. Next morning the janitors cleaned them up and were happy! The park was white with crow crap and stunk that bad nobody would go near it! We shot so much for several years they finally moved south to Lancaster and started eating the caulk from the parking garages! The city is too liberal so they kept the crows..I must say I enjoyed that time and got pretty good wing shooting under the glow of lights at night..

 

[Flouncer]

Mr Majestic, you have to reflect calmly on what attracted the Black Brothers to Litiz PA in the first place. Hopefully not watermelon.

 

[rardoin]

Flouncer, ever watch a murder of crows tear apart a squirrel nest and pull out the kits and eat them while they are screaming? I have on multiple occasions. Kinda made my stomach turn. With that in mind watching the purple mist upon impact of a 25gr HP fired, from my .17 Rem, impacting an alpha crow in a tree top did not have the same gastric effect. Go figure......

 

[Snuggie]

Me and a long deceased friend of mine used to load up some “anti-aircraft” 12 ga ammo. Go out to the pine woods and turn on the caller. It was on a fly way. They would come in like kamakaze’s, hundreds of them. We laughed our asses off as we took em down! Great times with a long gone buddy. I also used to shoot em in the fields with a #1in 220 Swift. All I would see in the scope was a red mist and feathers. The 55 gr SX pills were deadly. Ah, the good old days....

 

[Flouncer]

Never seen a crow attack anything. If a squirrel leaves his kits unattended, ants, anything could eat them. Nature is absolutely brutal, we all agree. I have seen one take on a Red Tail Hawk twice his size and drive him away from their habitat. Around here the crows seem to prefer human waste, like french fries and burger scraps in the fast food lots. I have killed animals also for no reason, or for "sport". I can't justify it either. Maybe one day I will arrive at the pearly gates and there will be a gut shot, eye blown out fence lizard with ants eating him alive waiting for me. But crows just have a special place with me. Caw !!

 

[Bojo]

Those crow also steal other baby birds and eggs our of nests as well .
Watch them pull corn chutes out if the ground when the plant was only about 2 inches tall. They go down the row one plant after another until the sound of a 22-250 refertilized the field with crow pieces.

 

[Brians356]

All Corvids eat eggs and baby birds in the nest, as many as they can find. Jays specialize in that. In Nevada, the state has eradicated Ravens from areas where they were heavily predating on Sage Grouse nests.

But in my book, the bird that gets no mercy is the nasty, ubiquitous Starling. Introduced in NYC in 1890, it now blankets N. America, and has negatively impacted native bird populations by aggressively competing for cavity nest sites. On the same Audubon list of introduced and "unwanted" species is the Eurasian Sparrow (aka House or English Sparrow), another cavity nester. I eradicate as many them and Starlings as I can, with air rifles.
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[jpnicho]

Believe it or not, crows are protected under the migratory bird treaties. You have to use non toxic shot.

 

[Bojo]

Quit the oxy moron name. "non toxic".

 

[Brians356]

Believe it or not, crows are protected under the migratory bird treaties. You have to use non toxic shot.

Crows covered by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act - true. But non-toxic shot required? False. Only migratory waterfowl hunting is generally subject to non-toxic (lead-free) shot restrictions, the premise being that shot falling into wetlands may be ingested by species such as dabbling ducks. (Lead shot may be further restricted by individual states.)

In Nevada, and probably in most states, crows are regulated like other migratory upland birds such as Mourning Doves. Both these species may be hunted with lead shot in Nevada:

http://www.eregulations.com/nevada/small-game/upland-game-bird-rabbit-dove-crow/

That being true, it stands to reason that Federal regulations must not preclude lead shot for crows, otherwise Nevada state law would be preempted.
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[Chocdawg]

Take plenty of ammo regardless!

 

[savagedasher]

If they are migratory would you not have to have a migratory permit to shoot them ?

 

[Brians356]

If they are migratory would you not have to have a migratory permit to shoot them ?

I can only speak to Nevada regs. You buy a hunting license which allows you to hunt migratory game birds. An "upland game bird" stamp is required, but migratory birds are not upland game. Here, crow hunters have two seasons (fall and spring) when crows may be taken by shotgun only. So they are treated as a game bird, not pests, but I do not know what "migratory permit" you refer to.

Depredation permits are available to landowners who can cite problems from birds, e.g. Ravens or Crows fouling livestock feed, or Ravens who build nests on farm buildings, leaving copious piles of droppings below. I'm not certain, but probably any method of take (not just shotguns) may be used to eradicate such problem birds.
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[steve123]

Any imbalance should be normalized one way or another, if possible, because of the negative consequences that it brings.

Crozy, he's actually a Raven, comes by everyday for scraps, he hangs out sometimes and he's fun to watch. His kids leave the immediate area when they grow up and stake out their own territories. So I leave them alone because they don't cause me problems. The number of Ravens in my city seem normal.

The lady two hundred yards away has a flock of crows hanging out at her house much of the time because she feeds them too. They've gone from a small flock to 30-40 crows in a few years, sorry lady but it's getting to be a problem! I'm hearing the noisy Marauders right now as I type.

 

[Brians356]

It's generally illegal to feed wildlife, including birds. Obviously common backyard bird feeders get a pass, but feeding and attracting large numbers of crows would be looked upon askance by officialdom, and if neighbors complained (for non-trivial reasons) they would likely take action.

A friend's neighbor feeds "her" visiting coyotes dog food! That seems outrageous, yes? But there's really no difference between feeding coyotes, bears, or crows, even if the former two are potentially more dangerous - they all fall under the "don't feed wildlife" edict. Out city parks' ponds are posted "Illegal To Feed The Ducks and Geese".
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[killahog]

They are Black they deserve to be punished.

 

[Brians356]

They are Black they deserve to be punished.

So are most Labrador Retrievers black.
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[243Lapua]

I have the most fun shooting them fat feral pigeons with my air rifles at my parents place. They started having problems with them nesting on the roofs. So we installed and covered all cavities with chicken mesh. Pigeons would still stick around the roof top. I had an underpowered Benjamin 392. So decided to reseal it and installed a red dot sight. I also bought a Gamo Stealth .22 caliber air rifle and did all the mods to the trigger via YouTube vids and replacing a 2.5x10mm screw and what a difference it does. Also bought a Benjamin NP in .177 for my dad and installed a Charlie da Tuna trigger and what a difference it does also.. Little by little we got rid of them. A couple stick around at times, but they don't stand a chance with me around when I visit my parents. I scoped both the Gamo and Benjamin with Nikon 3-9 EFR Air rifle/Rimfie scope with adjustable objective. Best fun ever.

 

[AckleymanII]

Yes, crows are covered under the migratory act. Here in SC, Steel shot has to be used before Nov. 1, then lead shot is ok...