There’s a good chance you’ve never considered crow hunting. In reality, crows are one of the most intelligent animals you can hunt. The crow is a bird that is often thought of as a pest but can be a great way to sharpen your shooting skills when most other hunting seasons are closed. The crow, a pesky little bird that will outwit in the field and then destroy your garden to rub it in your face. Hunting these birds not only benefits you for the coming hunting seasons in the fall, but also could benefit the game you pursue in seasons to come. So how do you go about hunting these pesky birds? It’s no easy game but it can be a fun one once you figure it out.
WHY HUNT CROWS?
Crows will test your marksmanship. Hunting a small animal that is extremely smart is no easy task. You’ll not only get the benefit of honing your shooting skills, but you’ll also benefit other animals crows bother. Crows destroy other birds’ nests such as turkeys, ducks, and pheasants. By hunting crows, you have the potential to save some of your local game birds.
WHEN CAN YOU HUNT CROWS?
Each state is going to have different regulations regarding a season on crows. For the most part, however, crow seasons are long, with a few breaks, and sometimes no license is required to take them. Crows are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act but they can be taken out of season but only if they are committing or about to commit damage to livestock, wildlife, or property.
Before taking crows make sure to check your local laws and regulations.
CHOOSING YOUR FIREARM
In many states you can take crows with just about any firearm. Having the flexibility to choose any firearm allows you to hone your skills outside of just shooting at targets like clay pigeons, steel, or paper. From rifles like a .223 topped with a 5 Tactix 1-10 to a shotgun, you can practice a wide range of skills. Having a bird that will show real tendencies that game animals have will prepare you for the coming seasons ahead.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
Crows are smart and will be wary if they see any movement, so you’ll need to try and outsmart them. There’s many different ways to hunt them depending on your firearm, but most importantly you’re going to want to have a good hiding spot. A homemade blind made from cut branches will work, or even a deer stand you already have set up. Like other hunting blinds you’ll just need to plan your shooting lane. If you want to shoot them in the air you probably don’t want to have a roof on the blind. If you want to take them on the ground with a rifle you’ll have to take care of any branches that could get in the way.
Decoys and a call are essential items when pursuing crows. You can find crow decoys relatively cheap. A few will do the job. There’s no need to have more than 5 to get crows to come take a look. You may also want to consider an owl decoy since crows love to mess with them.
There are many ways to call a crow in. Electronic predator calls usually have a crow or owl call to attract them. You can also use a mouth call. The National Wild Turkey Federation has a good read on mouth calls here. Another calling method is to simply take a Bluetooth speaker and play some calls on that, an app we recommend for this is iHunt Hunting Calls 750.
Before taking crows with calls and decoys make sure to check your local laws and regulations.
YOU’RE GONNA SHOOT A MURDER OF EM’
By now you’re probably thinking about setting out on your own crow hunt. Know that they can be tricky birds to hunt but once you figure them out you’ll be able to shoot a whole murder (a group of crows) of them.
