kboock

Went crow hunting this weekend. Was a good time. Fun to get the dog out and work on blind retrieves and shoot the new Benelli Vinci (FYI, worked like a dream or in Chad's case, a wet dream).

Didn't hunt for too long, but in our short couple of hours we shot 10 but there was a TON of pressure...talked to another group that was out and there were 19 groups of 3, hunting the same areas we were hunting.

Shout out to Hardees for sponsorship.

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4-Geese
6-Mallards
10-Woodies
10-Teal
4-Pheasants
2-Deer
1-Pigeon

kboock

O! Side note...first crow Macy (pup) ever retrieved...she ran up to the crow, sniffed it, turned around and started coming back to me (obviously disgusted). I made her turn around and go get it...she ended up picking it up by a single feather on it's wing, barely touching it and drug it back to me running sideways, so the crow wouldn't touch her body! ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS!!!

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4-Geese
6-Mallards
10-Woodies
10-Teal
4-Pheasants
2-Deer
1-Pigeon

QUACK SMACK

This was my first crow hunt..ever... I will defiantly be going again. A lot of fun shooting in the off season. The SBE put the smack on them.

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Stop staring and get back to work!

Quacker

I would becareful of your dog retrieving crows even if you think they are dead. I have seen them 'play dead' only to have them spring to life. Trying to retrieve a wounded crow is a good way to lose an eye.

Nice job, BTW. 19 other groups!? I will make sure to steer clear of that area.

Dukkilr

X2 we're at 107 on the year so far and we never take the dogs those birds are full of disease and are a bad deal when they are wounded!

Condn

Funny, I picked up the few crows I shot just like your dog. They just seem like nasty f*****s. The white s**t caked on their feet and watching em come off the landfill confirmed my assumptions. I carried em just far enough to chuck into the brush for the coyotes.

I had the motherload but never managed to kill many. Did have a few mini tornadoes though. I'd say it was enough fun to justify the $30 I spent on decoys.

Quacker

I shot a few a couple weeks ago that had droppings on them like they were roosting underneath other birds. They definitely arent a bird with much self-respect thats for sure!

mudder

A hundred years ago we killed crows in the summer. My Johnny Stewart caller that took 12 D cell batteries was back then $200 bucks well spent. We were never approached by the DNR about killing 50 crows a day out of season. The only stipulation was dont leave them on the road. Imature birds out of the nest were the best. My old JS caller still works and we still use it every winter. Anyone that wants to kill crows on the weekend during a weekend in NW Iowa just give me a PM. Save a pheasant egg/kill a crow.

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Educate our youth. They are our FUTURE!!!

kboock

As far as bringing a dog on a crow hunt...The birds we shoot are stone dead 90+% of the time...the wonded ones are shot again before sending the pup. I keep Macy from retrieving them until I want her to pick them up...she still breaks sometimes but that is what the ecollar is for...Here are some other ppls opinions as well...
http://crowbusters.activeboard.com/t...with-your-dog/

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I personally feel it is good practice for the dog...working on blind retrieves, getting her excersise, working on her being steady...Plus, she is my #1 partner (no offense Chad/Aug/Rob) and that is why I got her, to take her hunting with me.

As far as loosing an eye...well, accidents can happen, yes and it's good to take precautions...but having a dog that is under control and isn't there and needs work...well best case scenario, real field work...if a dog is jumping out of the boat when duck hunting in front of a muzzle blast and getting killed...I'd rather have a dog without an eye, then one without the back of her head (Macy currently does this )...Not to mention, she is probably more likely getting a bad eye injury or infection and loosing an eye when pheasant hunting, when the dog is going thru briars ect and getting all sorts of seeds in her eye.

As far as for diseases go...if the bird is flying, it's probably pretty healthy. Pheasants, ducks and geese all have disease as well...just like some cows, pigs, chickens...except I'm not using my lab to retrieve farm animals

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4-Geese
6-Mallards
10-Woodies
10-Teal
4-Pheasants
2-Deer
1-Pigeon

kboock

I actually heard that this poor dog was a victim of a crow. The hunter thought the crow was dead, but ended up only being a cripple. The crow got the last laugh. The irony...

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4-Geese
6-Mallards
10-Woodies
10-Teal
4-Pheasants
2-Deer
1-Pigeon

browning10ga

We used our dogs. This is good off season training. We have shot more crows then ducks this season. My dog got fat during duck season, so this is a good way to take off winter excess weight (wish I could). We have never had any problems with the dogs getting sick. This is a good way to teach a dog to honor another dog in case you ever duck hunt with multiple dogs. We are up to 175 crows for the season, hopefully this weekend we will hit the big 200.

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Huntthenorth Field reporter (IOWA)
Hunters ed instructor
Take a kid hunting you'll both enjoy it.
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kboock

Agreed about saving other eggs...not to mention the millions of dollars of crop damage crows cause farmers.

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4-Geese
6-Mallards
10-Woodies
10-Teal
4-Pheasants
2-Deer
1-Pigeon

BeakBuster

How are you guys calling them in?? Elec callers, hand held crow calls?? Whats the best method??