A few days ago in the Migratory Forum, I posted that I had an open seat for a "just for fun" Oklahoma Crow hunt before the season ends there. Though Crow fall into the migratory bird act, they really are looked at as a Varmint, so posting the hunt report here.

I wanted to get one last bird hunt in this season and Crow is all that is left. Forum member "fireant" accepted my invitation and was his first Crow hunt. He brought his foxpro caller which was a big improvement over my homemade CD caller and I have a good mix of decoys, so we were set.

Hunted Public land in the Red River Bottoms. First set up we had two Hawks diving and screaming with the Crows. That was neat! Never really got into the numbers at the first set up, but we got some shooting on singles and pairs that would come in at intervals.



I try to have some decoys above the Owl when possible. It is not natural for the Owl to be above the Crows in a real fight.

Second Setup, we had a little more numbers come in a couple times, but after that it was pretty much over. Very smart public land birds that I am sure are shot at by locals on a regular basis so I feel we did ok for what we were up against.

Here is a good picture that shows one set up of decoys. Dead Crows were also saved and propped up in the trees. The more decoys the better for these smart birds.



LJ coming back with a crippled crow. I try not to let my dog Blaze get the wounded ones. They fight back to much.



Here is Blaze standing in our pile of decoys and dead crows. With Blaze sitting next to me watching those Crows come in, I don't think I have ever seen that dog's tail wag faster than it did today.



Enough birds to keep it fun for sure. Our shot to kill ratio for both of us this morning was not too good, but we got some. Them suckers fly a whole lot faster than they look. I sure had fun.

A big Thank You to "fireant" for coming along on this mornings hunt. Enjoyed it sir!

looks like fun, got a lot of crows flying around one of my places!

Nice pics and story.

I need to go do some crow hunting.

Never figured out why crow hunting isn't more popular than it is. Its great fun and when everything falls in place it can be some fast action. Also can be some good long range sniping opportunities too.

As for long range. I have thought it would be fun to set a decoy spread and caller in an area there that has a good backstop for which I could shoot from a distance. Might even be that with the sound of the shot being far from the actual crows at the decoys, that they would stay as a flock at the set longer allowing for more shooting opportunity. Unfortunately there is only so much time in a morning and I am only doing this at the end of other seasons when the OK season is drawing to a close.

saw the pics. they are great. the one of both of us turned out good. thanks for taking me i really enjoyed it and maybe we can duck hunt together some time

Sounds like fun. Wish it was legal in Texas! Before everyone starts pouncing, I know exactly how the law reads.

I'm gonna have to go to town more often, everyday somebody puts something on here I didn't know was illegal.

Ya, i learned the hard way, bought crow decoys, caller, and an owl decoy, to find out you can't hunt crow in texas unless you can justify it with predation. page 72 of the hand book reads as follows.
(Unprotected Birds:
The only birds not protected by any state or federal law are European starlings, English sparrows, feral rock doves (common pigeon - Columba livia) and Eurasian collared-doves; these species may be killed at any time, their nests or eggs destroyed, and their feathers may be possessed.
Yellow-headed, red-winged, rusty, or Brewer's blackbirds and all grackles, cowbirds (does not include cattle egret), crows, or magpies may be controlled without a federal or state depredation permit when found committing or about to commit depredations on ornamental or shade trees, agricultural crops, livestock, or wildlife, or when concentrated in numbers and in a manner that constitutes a health hazard or other nuisance.)

Texas has an option of creating a season, but chooses not to. Most other states have a Crow season. There is a good list of States and seasons with this article.
http://www.realtree.com/community/feature.php?ID=77

Something I remember reading in regard to another State with a similar Crow depradation order like Texas. Had published that using decoys and electronic calls did not fly as it would constitute attracting crows when the purpose of the depradation order was for protecting crops, etc. against crows. And that the Crows had to be in the act when killed. I did some googling looking for it again, but unfortunately was unable to find where I read about that.

It seems in Texas though, that Game Wardens either consider any Crow taken on private land was on the way to depradate something or be a nuisance to someone or perhaps it is so hard to prove or disprove depredation or nuisance that it is not enforced.

Unfortunately it is definately illegal for a hunter on public land in Texas any way one looks at it. Thus why I go to Oklahoma.

Yep they were out there scratching up my wheat when I shot them. A couple of years ago I had a real problem when Red-tail hawks killing our chickens. I had already shot a couple, thought you know maybe the game Warden's interpretation of livestock and mine aren't the same. I called him and asked him what he thought and he said it didn't matter whether you were growing the Chickens for Profit or just for the eggs they are livestock and can be protected against hawks and Owls. Most game Wardens I've dealt with have good horse sense when dealing with nuisance animals.