anyone try hunting crows?

Many if not most states recognize crows in the "federal migratory birds" group... I think rimfire is off limits in some/many jurisdictions and the shotgun must be plugged to 3 max such as in florida...
Does the plug have to be in my shotgun when I'm hunting?
If you are hunting hogs or resident game birds or mammals such as deer, quail, wild turkeys, rabbits or squirrels, the shotgun can be either plugged or unplugged. If you are hunting migratory game birds such as crows, ducks, geese, moorhens, coots, snipe, rails, woodcocks or doves, the shotgun must be plugged so that it holds no more than three shells in the magazine and chamber combined.
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But they don't class these "migratory game birds" as game when it comes to the use of electronic calls...:rolleyes:
I thought that electronic game calls or recorded devices are not allowed, but I heard that there is an exemption that allows the use of electronic calls to hunt coyotes and raccoons. Is that correct?

Taking or attempting to take any game with the aid of live decoys, recorded game calls or sounds, set guns, artificial light, net, trap, snare, drug or poison is prohibited. The operative phrase in this statement is "take any game". Game is defined as game birds and game mammals. "Game mammals" are defined as deer, squirrels and rabbits. “Game birds” are defined as wild turkey, quail, non-native species such as pheasant, chuckar partridge, coturnix quail, as well as all migratory game birds, which include ducks, doves, geese, snipe, rails, woodcock, coots and moorhens. You cannot use a recorded game call if attempting to take any of these game birds or game mammals.

Other mammals such as coyotes, raccoons, opossums, beavers, bobcats, skunks, nutrias and otters are furbearers and may be taken using recorded game calls. They may also be used to take crows.
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In most places it is against regs to "use live animals to bait"... So don't go tying the wounded crow to a limb...

You just haven't retrieved your quarry yet...;)

Brent
 
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To each, his own !!

Nuttin' brings in more crows like a few wounded birds floppin' and squawking...
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Yeh,
I prefer not to do this and only "hurt" them. I get great results by killing them, letting them lay and give the distress call. I shoot to kill, not to hurt. I know it's only a crow but still !! .... :rolleyes:

Be Safe !!!
 
I am hoping to kill on the first shot but if I wing one or 2, right off the bat, I won't shoot them twice right away...

Brent
 
Reminds me of a story. Pull up a stump, boys.

Back in the summer of '78 I was stationed at Ft. Knox, KY. A buddy of mine had been out prospecting for hunting areas and had found a farmer with a field of sweet corn on the banks of the Ohio river. The farmer told my buddy that the crows were in his corn and told him that he'd pay for crow eradication, 4 crows - one bushel of sweet corn at harvest. The farmer thought that my buddy would come in with a shotgun, drive off the crows and collect a bushel of corn. My buddy had a different plan.

My buddy called me, asked if I had any .22 rifles, and brought me along as a partner. That next bright, Saturday morning, he came to my house before daylight and picked me up. He had a bag full of rat traps and an electronic crow call. We set up in the corner of the field. My buddy tied those rat traps to the fence and put the trap on top of the fence posts. He had about a dozen set up. Then we got into the blind and he turned on an owl-fight record.

The first crow sailed in about ten minutes later. I started to sight on him, but my buddy stopped me. "Not yet. I'll tell you when to start firing." We waited and another couple of crows sailed in. One lighted on a fence post and got caught in the rat trap. That poor old crow was dangling in the wire, his leg caught in that trap, and another landed on an adjacent post and got caught. They began raising hell as only crows can, and over the next fifteen minutes we had hundreds of crows milling around, landing in trees, landing on the ground, lots of noise and crow cacophony. Then, my buddy raised his rifle and went to work.

We shot steadily for about twenty minutes and when the crows figured out what was happening and high-tailed it out, we had 84 crows on the ground.

My share of the sweet corn was 10 bushels.
 
Too much fun ... Nah !!!

He had a bag full of rat traps and an electronic crow call.
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Reminds me of the old trick of stringing treble hooks above the ears of an owl decoy. Once the crows come in and take a swipe at the owl, they get hooked and all heck breaks loose. .... :eek:

Be Safe !!!
 
Tim ,where do you hail from?
I used to live in Pembroke.
Up the airline on the other side of
Moosehorn preserve.
ron
 
As a kid in the early fifties, I got to see a woods in the low plains where roosting crows had been dynamited. Literally, there were tens of thousands of dead crows there - many hanging (dead now) upside down from the branches they had been roosting on (could not begin to count them all) . Also, a great many others were dead on the ground in the woods.
 
Eating Crow

When you go to the crow buster web site, check out the recipes. Crow breast is good eating. Seriously.
Live well, be safe
Prof Young
 
Crow hunting is regulated federally but they allow the states to set seasons following the federal guidelines-

Federal hunting regulations for crows are defined in § 50CFR20.133:
§ 20.133 Hunting regulations for crows.
(a) Crows may be taken, possessed, transported, exported, or imported, only in accordance with such laws or regulations as may be prescribed by a State pursuant to this section.
(b) Except in the State of Hawaii, where no crows shall be taken, States may by statute or regulation prescribe a hunting season for crows. Such State statutes or regulations may set forth the method of taking, the bag and possession limits, the dates and duration of the hunting season, and such other regulations as may be deemed appropriate, subject to the following limitations for each State:
(1) Crows shall not be hunted from aircraft;
(2) The hunting season or seasons on crows shall not exceed a total of 124 days during a calendar year;
(3) Hunting shall not be permitted during the peak crow nesting period within a State; and
(4) Crows may only be taken by firearms, bow and arrow, and falconry.
Federal depredation order for crows as defined in § 50CFR21.43:
§ 21.43 Depredation order for blackbirds, cowbirds, grackles, crows and magpies.
A Federal permit shall not be required to control yellow-headed redwinged, rusty, and Brewer’s blackbirds, cowbirds, all grackles, crows, and magpies, when found committing or about to commit depredations upon ornamental or shade trees, agricultural crops, livestock, or wildlife, or when concentrated in such numbers and manner as to constitute a health hazard or other nuisance: Provided:
(a) That none of the birds killed pursuant to this section, nor their plumage, shall be sold or offered for sale, but may be possessed, transported, and otherwise disposed of or utilized.
(b) That any person exercising any of the privileges granted by this section shall permit at all reasonable times including during actual operations, any Federal or State game or deputy game agent, warden, protector, or other game law enforcement officer free and unrestricted access over the premises on which such operations have been or are being conducted; and shall furnish promptly to such officer whatever information he may require, concerning said operations.
 
well i went out three times now and on my third time i struck gold. the first two i think i was not hidden well enough. i bought a mouth call and an electronic one. the mouth call seems to actually be louder but the electronic is far easier for an extended period. i used (don't laugh) trash bags with bottles inside of them as decoys formed in a circle until i nailed 3 birds. at that point they were gone and i bagged up my birds and moved to another spot. i used my dead birds as decoys along with calling and shot another 6. i moved on and hung 4 from a tree and left two on the ground. i ended up shooting another 12 crows from one spot! i have to admit that i used live wounded birds as decoys. they were hit and still alive so i went with it. thanks for the advice everyone. pretty sure i'm hooked
 
i have to admit that i used live wounded birds as decoys. they were hit and still alive so i went with it.
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I learned this at about 10-12 yo with the ol' Crossman 760 with real wood and brass bolt handle...

While too young to have seen any big bird eradication bounties etc...

Me and my shootin' buddy were sought out by all the local farmers to keep bird populations in check at their places...

I didn't need my own money or that of my folks to buy ammo for several years... Me and my buddy each got a brand new rifle (same Crossman 760's we preferred) from one farmer when we explained how the sentry crows in that one ol' tree he liked in the middle of that "forty" made it hard for us with our "shot-out" rifle to get close enough to get our selves set up... Next day he swapped us out for our rifles (grand kids probably still use them today) and a couple "Treasure Chest" of Daisey BB's he even gave us the rare boxes of pellets stating they would reach out further in them new rifles...

He was right but they were too slow for us with our high ";) work ethic ;)" as single shooters...:D

Brent
 
i live in northern maine and have been hunting in presque isle maine. there are a lot of crows. i would love to hunt them with a rifle but where i was hunting is a little close to town to dare to shoot into the air and i would only selectively shoot one in a tree. pretty hard to get them to actually land. i mostly get frantic groups of them swooping down and circling over me. i'm knocking them down with skeet loads mostly and my mossberg 835 ulti mag.
 
In California, carrion-eating crows along highways were sometimes killed by vehicles. It was wondered why some 98% were killed by trucks and only 2% by cars. They finally figured out that the watch-crow could call out, "Cah," but could not say, "Truck."
 
Did that once many years ago while visiting family in the midwest. Lots of fun. Used an owl decoy and we kept hunkered down out of sight, the crows are smart birds and learn quickly. Four of us got 313 of them in 4 hours.
 
Crows are very Smart....But we all know that...

Crows are very Smart....But we all know that...In my youth my uncles encouraged me to kill the crows eating their corn and pecans. I was very successful for a short period of time. I used my uncle's pickups to drive to the fields and take out the crows. The first time was easy. Those crows quickly learned that if a vehicle of any type is coming inclose they would fly away..... Crows are smart...

Lemmon from Rural SC
 
Lol

In California, carrion-eating crows along highways were sometimes killed by vehicles. It was wondered why some 98% were killed by trucks and only 2% by cars. They finally figured out that the watch-crow could call out, "Cah," but could not say, "Truck."
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Too funny.

I am considering crow hunting here soon as I just bought my combo licence in VT for fishing this weekend. Looked to see what else is in season and crow comes to mind. I do have a mouth call ad I have seen a few around.

My hunting shotgun is a Mossberg 535 that is currently at the mother ship getting worked on.

I do have a rosi trifecta that is actually Mrs. Vermonters only hunting gun. It is a single shot and I do have a 20 Ga modified. Any chance of that working?

Regards, Vermonter
 
I've used crow calls but only to tee off turkeys in the morning. They hate them with a passion. I wouldn't say I've actually hunted them persay but we would more or less shoot them off power lines with .22's. I guess that would be crow killing. We would also shoot starlings for community service work.
 
it works !!

I've used crow calls but only to tee off turkeys in the morning.
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Amen to that and there have been times when I could not get a turkey to respond to me, all morning. I break out the crow call and sure enough, a turkey will respond. May not be close but at least I know they are in my woods. .... :)

Be Safe !!!
 
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