Shotshell Reloads Paid Off

[HodakaGA]

Georgia has a season but it effectively lasts all year. There is a exemption for crop damage that allows them to be shot anytime.

Why shoot them? Have you seen how high priced pecans are now? A crow can eat $5 worth of pecans a day. I hate the nasty thieves, especially since they like to raid songbird nests, steal the young and eggs and eat them at my birdbath.

[runfiverun]

i shoot em to see the foooof of black rain...
the ravens, magpies,starlings and such beat them to all the living edibles.

[LUBEDUDE]

Why bother to shoot crows?

I'll relay a personal story:

While at gunshop that sells wagon loads of crow hunting supplies, I asked a salesman there what the laws were here in East Tx on crow hunting.
He said that it is legal to shoot them IF they are destroying your property.

I asked, "how do you prove that to the game warden ? "

He said that the local game warden told him, " when a crow wakes up in the morning, the only thing on his mind, IS destroying YOUR property! "

That was good enough for me.

[kenyerian]

I shoot crows because they really eat my planted sweet corn if I don't. Besides that calling crows is fun.

[Slowpoke]

I have seen the crows- ravens grab a pecan and fly way up and drop them on the HWY to crack em.

The best crow decoy's I have seen in action are wounded crows, almost like fish in a barrel.

If you like to garden crows are a pain in the rear, that's the main reason I shoot --trap them, I have also seen first hand ravens pick the eyes and navel's of new born lambs when the mother is having twins.

Good hunting

[9.3X62AL]

Hunting shotshells are a different sort of reload than the target shotshells (and their low-end duplicators) sold as "dove and quail" loads every August. Cheap shells are exactly that--cheap, and inefficient in the bargain.

I use 3-3/4 dram-equivalent/1-1/4 oz loads for doves, quail, and pheasant. Doves and quail get #9 shot--pheasants get #5. I use high-grade shot, and high-end wad columns to load with. The payoff is MUCH better patterns and much higher hit rates. Range gets extended a bit, too.

Don't be afraid to change choke tubes, either. On a dove stand, 2 shotguns get employed--my good old Win 1200 with 30" full choke for reach after opening morning--and the Rem 870 with improved cylinder for early morning work. If I walk up doves--quail--or pheasants--the Rem gets chosen, with Improved Modified funnel in place.

[Love Life]

Shooting crows sure is fun. Nothing like setting up in a Georgia pecan orchard to lay waste to the black air rats. We also shot them with center fire rifles as well. We would set up decoys in a field and shoot from an old barn with a board removed. Rule for us was you had to kill the scout!!

Crows are wiley little devils. The are very wary and you have to be careful or they spot you and the game is off. Of course when you out calling coyotes they will land on your head (exaggeration, but not much) and when sweeping the porch they will hang out.

Try to sneak outside with a shotgun though and POOF! they disappear into the sky.

Man I like shooting crows. Good thread and I hope you get many more of them in the future.

[mx5tc]

Snip..
Crows are wiley little devils. The are very wary and you have to be careful or they spot you and the game is off. Of course when you out calling coyotes they will land on your head (exaggeration, but not much) and when sweeping the porch they will hang out.

Try to sneak outside with a shotgun though and POOF! they disappear into the sky.

Man I like shooting crows. Good thread and I hope you get many more of them in the future.

Well said! Every time I've been in the field with a 12 gauge, the crows never get within a 100 yards. I need to get some decoys and set up a blind so I can bag a few of those pests.

[missionary5155]

Good morning
Been popping those pesky black fruit destroyers since I was first hunting. They are filthy pests that spread diseases in abundance. East Central ILLinois is where I bushwack-em.
Reload my own with #4 & #6 shot mix of 1 1/4 ounce. Push it at 1250-1300 fps. Use my old Philie Fox or the Fox B. Great early morning fun. I get to my bush blinds before light. Get the decoys set... At least one in a tree overlooking the ground decoys. When you get your first bird(s) down run out there and use the fallen as decoys also. Prop them up so they look natural feeding on the ground. If you pop one the mate will come back ready to fight when it views the downed crow in with the bunch on the ground. If you leave dead crows just laying about no new ones are going to come close.
Full cammo and no movement when crows are less than 100 yards. If hunting with another have them face 180 degrees away. Crows will circle about checking all sides. Have had them land in a tree closeby trying to figure out where the "talker" is. I use a mouth call and have shot hundreds. Just imitate what the crows are calling out. Learn the simple "where are you" and "come here" calls. They are curious bully birds and love to gang up on squatters. Learn the fight call for when they are close in. Generally one hour after sunrise I head home. Might get something else to come by. Late afternoon also is good as they are headed back to the roosting zone. A foggy or low overcast day is fantastic. Clear no wind days expect them to fly high. Wait till you see a 100 bird + frenzy swirl above your decoys !
Mike in Peru

[1kshooter]

I have hunted crows for over 25 years and mostly with a shot gun...I for one like the steel shot and after you learn how to shoot with it's tighter pattern and shorter shot string and of cource it's faster speed ...well it is a very good killilg load!.....I shoot lots of geese with it to about 250-300 each year!!