Crow hunting

StevieP

StevieP

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So, I let my gun club membership expire, so I've got noplace to pattern my shotgun for turkey season.

Crow season is open until April 9th. I was thinking a little 'crow target practice' might help me prepare for turkey season.

but in reviewing the laws, I see crow hunting is only allowed on Mondays, Fridays, and Saturdays.

Can anyone tell me why they'd have such an obscure regulation??? I mean, I've got this morning off, and would love to go out, but it's Tuesday so I can't.

WTH???
 
a) Don't question, just obey, subject.


b) English sparrow and starling. They're open year round, and relatively easy to find year round too.
 
StevieP said:
Interesting... How the heck do you know if some passing bird is a sparrow or starling?? I mean, a crow is fairly obvious....

Audubon book here I come!
Click to expand...

Crow hunting is where it's at i decided to sleep in last Saturday and the crew i go with shot 37.

Sparrow, real tough to pick out in a crowd. Starlings have a triangle shape to the body when in air, usually travel in large packs.
 
Madball13 said:
Crow hunting is where it's at i decided to sleep in last Saturday and the crew i go with shot 37.

Sparrow, real tough to pick out in a crowd. Starlings have a triangle shape to the body when in air, usually travel in large packs.
Click to expand...

37? wow that a flock and a half...where do you guys go? the only crows I can find are in areas where it ain't cool to shoot.
 
Coming over the 91 bridge over the Ct River N. of Springfield, I saw thousands of crows roosting in the trees on the banks of the river. Doubt you can hunt there, but looking at them all, I thought I was seeing something out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie. They do roost amongst the hundreds I hear.
 
Bluefin said:
37? wow that a flock and a half...where do you guys go? the only crows I can find are in areas where it ain't cool to shoot.
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We have a bunch of farms on the north shore we shoot. 37 is nothing, once they got into migratory birds in a field and shot 300 in 3 days.

@davemata, we picked them up and use them for bait or stash them, they all seem to disappear by the next time we show up. The old guys i shoot with used to cook them up and eat them but not anymore.
 
What are the potential repercussions of popping off a few turkey shells for patterning purposes while out crow hunting? I was thinking of scoping out future turkey hunting areas while crow hunting this coming weekend but don't want to put myself in any huge risks if I bring along a few turkey shells and targets. I'm in a similar position to the OP with no current home range...
 
Tiktock said:
What are the potential repercussions of popping off a few turkey shells for patterning purposes while out crow hunting? I was thinking of scoping out future turkey hunting areas while crow hunting this coming weekend but don't want to put myself in any huge risks if I bring along a few turkey shells and targets. I'm in a similar position to the OP with no current home range...
Click to expand...

There should be no repercussions. Crow hunting is perfectly legal. Note in MA, that crow hunting ends 4/9, and also that crow hunting is only legal on Monday, Friday, and Saturday (weird...).

What's really perplexing though, is that "wasting" (hunting) crows is perfectly legal to do, but shooting at paper targets while you're out in the woods, apparently is not.
 
Mike-Mike said:
Thats nasty. I'll eat squirrel all day. But I would have to be awful hungry to eat a crow or a seagull. We just put a stick in their mouth and use them as a decoy for the rest. They come over and yell at the one on the ground.
Click to expand...

Ha. Yeh its like they are calling their dead buddy a dumbass for getting killed.
One of my favorite methods for attracting crows, which I think I mentioned here before.
Get a trash bag and some trash such as styro meat trays, cereal boxes, egg cartons etc.
Stake the bag to the ground so it wont blow away and make the "trash" look like it spilled out of the bag. Put a couple decoys on the ground near the trash and a sentry decoy in a tree a little ways off.
Get ready and start calling. Those mini-buzzards cant refuse what looks like a free meal.
 
Tiktock said:
What are the potential repercussions of popping off a few turkey shells for patterning purposes while out crow hunting? I was thinking of scoping out future turkey hunting areas while crow hunting this coming weekend but don't want to put myself in any huge risks if I bring along a few turkey shells and targets. I'm in a similar position to the OP with no current home range...
Click to expand...

I don't know what the repercussions are but they are probably more expensive than a club membership.

Bob
 
Tiktock said:
What are the potential repercussions of popping off a few turkey shells for patterning purposes while out crow hunting? I was thinking of scoping out future turkey hunting areas while crow hunting this coming weekend but don't want to put myself in any huge risks if I bring along a few turkey shells and targets. I'm in a similar position to the OP with no current home range...
Click to expand...

There is nothing wrong with firing a few turkey rounds off weather at a crow or at a piece of cardboard. Just don't do it on Sunday.
 
The crow laws come out of the migratory bird act. The US needed to get Mexico on board to help track tagged ducks and such. Mexicans look at the crow as an almost sacred bird (think bald eagle). They wanted the crows "protected" in some way and this is how we have the modern game laws.
 
Here are the regulations for crow:

May be hunted on Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays only
during the open season. Electronic calls, rifles, and bait are
permissible. Hunting hours close ½ hour after sunset except
as noted in WMA Reg. #10 (see page 20)
Click to expand...

Season ends April 9, as stated above. There is no ammo prohibition listed for crows, and pheasant season isn't until the fall, so there's no dovetailed ammo restrictions. You should be good shooting any load you want.

Edit:

Here is WMA Reg #10:

No person shall hunt before sunrise or after sunset on
any WMA where pheasant or quail are stocked during
the open season on pheasant or quail, Oct. 15 to Nov. 26,
except for the hunting of raccoons and opossums between
9pm and 3am.
Click to expand...
 
davemata said:
I'd like to give crow hunting a shot sometime... do you hunker down in a blind, or go for a walk?
Click to expand...

Crows will not come near you if you are out walking around. I always get out of site in full camo, a few decoys or a couple dozen depending on what we are doing and a decent call either mouth or speaker call. I have a foxpro and it works the nuts.
 

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