# Crow hunting



## quackersmacker13

I am a big waterfowl hunter and looking to whack some crows in the off season. I have an old ps olt mouth call, no decoys as of now. Does anybody on here target crows? And if you do, how do you hunt them?


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## jarome477

good camo have to be out of sight, good call . if you know any one with a butcher shop that throws them out back excellent place to start .also if you hit one and he can"t fly leave him out there usally will call in others .hope this helps


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## Critter

Headed out friday to hunt them. We just aquired a spot right outside of a landfill to hunt, should be good. We have two electronic callers, couple mouth calls, 9 or 10 decoys, an owl decoy, and lots and lots of camo. I find the hunting similar to field hunting geese, lots of camo, the right calling and a blind to hide yourself. We find the distress and fighting calls to work the best. No need for magnum shells, I use 2 3/4 heavy game loads.


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## Mitchell Ulrich

I look for a large tree in an open field and set up under that with a wounded crow/ riot call. They like to land in the tree tops and circle the tree looking for the calling bird.


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## Rugergundog

I use a handfull of decoys and some calling of different types; owl decoy will work if they are all excited. Just make sure you don't shoot the scout, keep the call on while your shooting and use lots of cammo. Place at least 1 decoy way up high so it can be seen from far away and your owl must always be higher than your crow decoys.

I am going to try my predator hunting mojo critter with a square of black cloth attached; i figure it will look like a wounded crow.


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## ziffle

Everything you could possibly want to know about crow hunting is on crowbusters.com. them boys is serious about it


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## uptracker

I love it when I actually get out. I use an electronic caller and six decoys.

I wish they'd change the season a bit though. I barely ever have a decent amount of crows around during the Feb/Mar season and most decent flights coming south are at the tail end of the Summer/Fall season. Local birds figure it out pretty quick.


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## casscityalum

had some pretty sweet hunts while up at LSSU. Thought the birds were easy and dumb. but that was my one or two experinces and might have just got lucky.

Get cover. One of my favorite spots to hunt crows is in huge pine stands. birds have to fly low and into the pines to find ya. Then its game on. Thanks for the reminder. Headed up to the I-500 on friday and maybe Ill have to chase some crows this weekend


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## Big Honkers

uptracker said:


> I wish they'd change the season a bit though. I barely ever have a decent amount of crows around during the Feb/Mar season and most decent flights coming south are at the tail end of the Summer/Fall season. Local birds figure it out pretty quick.



I could not agree more with uptracker. The crow season dates are messed up. I would love to see the dates adjusted so all parts of MI can see the best crow movements in both the fall & spring.

In the fall, the southern part of MI does not see a flight since the seasons are in Aug & Sept. There may be a few new birds the last two weeks of Sept but not even 10% of what is around here in Oct and early Nov.

In the spring, the northern part of MI does not see a flight with the dates in Feb & Mar. I live in the southern part and I see good crow movements usually the 2nd or 3rd week of March depending on when the first warm fronts of the year hit. 

I would love it if the crow dates were something like Sept 1 thru Oct 31 for the fall and Feb 15 thru April 15. I would love to see the fall dates even later but I fear that may hurt my northern crow hunting brothers. Also, not sure if there are any issues with running a season past the March 31 license expiration day. I would not think so but...

I read the NRC minutes when they opened up the seasons in the UP and they said that the reason crow season is open in Aug & Sept is because it is a time when few other seasons are open and gives hunters more opportunity. Gee thanks. It sure is fun to go out in 90 degree heat, swat bugs, and see 2 crows. 


I think an organization like MCHA (Michigan Crow Hunters Association) should be started to give the crow hunters a voice. Right now crow hunting seems to be kind of a joke but I personally take it pretty serious and know others that do too.

Would you join MCHA if a chapter was started?

BH


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## wehuntwefish

Lots of great info on crow hunting. I personally love to find a large tree in the middle of a field where I can set up a few decoys high enough in the tree where they can be seen for a few hundred yards, if possible. I use an electronic caller, works great as a hands free system. Also, as several people mentioned before, make sure you're well camouflaged. A crow's eye sight is phenomenal.


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## football12

Electronic call works the best by far. good camo/blind. If you wound one let him hop around in your spread best decoy ever. Shooting is usually first light for a half hour then the birds figure it out. you only need 4-6 decoys.


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## Critter

Getting the seasons changed to later in the fall would be great. The movement gets hot here right after it closes for the winter. Maybe even split seasons for the different zones would be in order.


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## Big Honkers

Any other hunters that either:

A: Like the current crow season dates

or 

B: Do not like the current crow season dates


What say you?


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## Critter

We didn't do very good. Learned a lot this trip though so I guess thats the important part. We took three is all, lots of rushed shots and not waiting til they were close enough.










Doesn't he look comfortable running the camera?


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## casscityalum

Big Honkers said:


> Any other hunters that either:
> 
> A: Like the current crow season dates
> 
> or
> 
> B: Do not like the current crow season dates
> 
> 
> What say you?


I dont know much about crow migration or how it impacts numbers of offspring, but I can not complain about the dates. We have had a ton of good hunts for crows in the thumb. We have a ton of state land and do a lot of running and gunning. Not uncommon to pull 20+ bird days. But we run electronic calls and have some really great roosting areas around me. 

Also, far as the UP goes, when I was at LSSU, i also had an easy time killing 3+ crows my self, and most within 50 yards of the road, also just run and gun style.

If I knew more on numbers and such maybe id have a better opinion. Also, have not minded hunting august/sept again cause most of my hunting is done within 50 yards of road.


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## ezcaller

Yes, Cass roosting areas are essential when looking to kill big numbers. The die hard crow hunters scout roosting areas and travel routes to and from those roosting areas and make their set up. My best days and big numbers of birds reacting are when we set up close to roost areas. As far as waiting for them to get close- if you are setting up in hardwoods- tree top level is the best it gets sometimes. They can be pretty wary birds and I dont think most people get to appreciate it until they hunt them.


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## deathfromabove76

i am a beginner crow hunter. man them things are hard to shoot out the sky. went out last weekend the scouts were staying high in the sky. they all seem to be coming down wind only called in one flock in and couldnt knock any out the air. crows are hard to hunt. or i just suck.


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## casscityalum

ezcaller said:


> Yes, Cass roosting areas are essential when looking to kill big numbers. The die hard crow hunters scout roosting areas and travel routes to and from those roosting areas and make their set up. My best days and big numbers of birds reacting are when we set up close to roost areas. As far as waiting for them to get close- if you are setting up in hardwoods- tree top level is the best it gets sometimes. They can be pretty wary birds and I dont think most people get to appreciate it until they hunt them.


Ez- def have to agree with you there. I live right by the travel area and roost. I was a kid around 15 and went out by my mouth and no call. Had prbly 100 crows flying around me. I guess I just get lucky being so close and and able to watch them travel daily past my house.

Haven't been out there yet this year. Schools keeping me busy lol

And to the above. Crows are very hard to hunt. I say easy but I had a good father that taught me well young. 

_OutdoorHub Mobile, the information engine of the outdoors_


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## IceEyes

Doesn't Cass City hold a tounament ? I was near there about 3 years ago hunting bunnies when 2 guys pull up on the state game area I was parked at. They said they were in a tournament held in Cass City, and asked me to move off quick so they could start calling . Said their electronic call cost them $ 400 ! I watched from about 100 yards away and those crows came in like crazy once they started the call routine. Looked like a ton of fun.


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## casscityalum

Yup i remember hearing about it. I have not been in that competition yet, but would like to someyear. With school i havent been able to crow hunt in a while back home. but sure is a ton of fun


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