Here’s what you need to know when you’re ready to hunt crows.
There is crow hunting and eating the obligatory crow after a less than successful deer season. Jokingly, you might be surprised how a crow or two can get you back to your home. beginnings as a hunter; beginnings that you may remember as not so successful! It’s easy to think that chasing ravens is easy given the number you’re likely to see over the course of a hunting season.
However, ravens are sharp-eyed, intelligent, and cunning creatures that are not easily fooled. They know when they are under attack, whether by humans or natural predators like coyotes. Getting some of these cunning creatures onto the shooting range may not be as easy as you think, but we’ve got you covered with some vital crow hunting tips.
Let’s take a look at the equipment, methods, and end result of a successful crow hunting. If you’ve ever had a murder of ravens screaming in the woods around your tree like I did, scaring away every animal in a five mile radius, then you’ll understand why we hunt them.
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Raven Hunting Gear
Amazon
Perhaps the best thing about this type of bird hunting is that you won’t have to break the bank to get started as a raven hunter. In fact, you may already have most of the items you’ll need, with the exception of raven-specific gear. Raven hunting is a great way to control populations of these marauding birds and, even better, to give the hunter a target during the cold winter months. Often when other seasons are over, so it’s a good way to get your hunting fix.
If that’s not enough to motivate you, consider that ravens can be rough with other birds. Mainly because they have been known to plunder duck nests of their eggs, extract newly planted seeds from the soil in crop fields, and even kill young cottontail rabbits in the spring.
Here’s what you’ll need to put an end to all that:
- 12 gauge, 20 gauge or a good .410
- Crow Call (mouth or electronic)
- Motion Crow Decoys
- owl decoy
- full camouflage
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have a complete owl body decoy may be one of the secrets to bringing wary crows to the shooting range, as they absolutely despise owls. For charges, a 2-3/4-inch shell loaded with 7-1/2 buckshot is enough, but if you can find them, charges number six will take them down at the same time.
Location
Getty Images: Damian Kuzdak
While farmland with nearby wooded areas is ideal, ravens can be found near suburban parks and homes foraging in trash cans and other debris for food. We’re not talking about hunting in a park or the next door neighbor’s yard, just these are good areas to notice where they’re coming from in the morning and where they’re going at night. Cornfields are usually ideal areas to locate them. Just about anywhere you find white-tailed deer or turkeys feeding, these black birds are likely to be nearby, too.
If you have an area where you can set up a hiding place, it’s best to hunt hidden near a feeding area for several hours. These will be the best uses for your lures and calls, as traveling birds can see and hear you without too much difficulty, but you must remain hidden until a shot comes along.
There are really no run and gun tactics for crows as they can and will spot you from a distance. However, traveling through the flyway corridors that these birds frequent can give you time to find a hiding place. Hopefully you’ll spot them before they spot you, and if you spot a few squirrels along the way, all the better.
Vocation
Electronic calls are best as they can be used to mimic most of the many sounds that crows make and they make many specific sounds. There are “come here” sounds, feeding calls, distress calls, and gathering sounds. The best idea is to learn them all and then learn them in one call. A good electronic call or a manual call, combined with movement lures in a place with good food, often results in a deadly combination.
Mouth calling is a great way to get even more in on the action, as you’ll need to learn the proper techniques to have any success. Electronic devices are great, but they come with extra transportation and setup, which isn’t a big deal until you realize you need to move around a few times. A good lanyard will keep your call close at hand and stay close after each shot once you’ve dropped it.
putting it all together
Wait until you are almost ready to hunt before setting your decoys, as sharp-eyed crows may catch you in the process. Wear full camouflage with a face mask because these birds had sharp eyes to spot danger. If you can, set it up before sunrise to stay hidden until crunch time, if not, just stay quiet on the shutter for a while until things settle down, as crows travel back and forth between these areas At different times.
Lures can be placed in trees or on the ground to mimic feeding behavior. An old trick to get some lures up into the treetops is to use a spare fishing line attached to it along with some kind of weight to launch it into the air, but the problem is getting it back down.
The other great thing about raven season is that the seasons are usually of a decent length and have generous bag limits. The only problem you’ll really have with shooting crows is that you’re going to use a lot of shotgun shells, as it’s so much fun, so start shopping for sale shells now!
Please take a look at my book”the path of the hunter” from HarperCollins. Be sure to follow my Web pageor in Facebook Y Youtube. To go rack center And use coupon code Craiger for a new way to display those antler sheds!
NEXT: SQUIRREL HUNT TACTICS FOR WHEN ALL THE TILE ARE DOWN
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