Decoys

Just wanted to get a feel for how many decoys you guys use and how long do you stay in a spot. Need to get some discussions going on this awesome sport. Going to try and make it out this weekend sometime!

Jeweler,

We usually use only 2 or 3 crow decoys and an owl decoy. The owl decoy is made to fit over the top of a round wood fence post. Then we put 2 or 3 crow decoys around the area and turn on the call. With the electronic call is seldom takes more than a minute or two and the sky is full of crows. Once you start getting off a few shots the crows get smart and will not come back into range for quite a while. We normally just move on another mile or so down the road and set up again. It is really fast action but you have to move quite a bit. Sometimes we do not use the decoys and do just as well. It does help to talk to a few farmers before you start your hunt. Once you tell them you are crow hunting most will tell you to shoot all of them that you can. We have several stretches of rural gravels here in Dubuque County that we hunt. Anywhere there is cover and not too close to any farm buildings. Round bales stacked next to a fence line is my favorite place to set up. Crows have as good an eyesight as any game you will ever hunt so camo to meet the conditions is a must. You really have to stay motionless until you start shooting. If you get more than one or two crows at any one stop you are having a really good day. It takes an hour or so of quiet after you shoot to get crows to come back to the same location. Sometimes after you shoot they will still circle the area but always well out of range. It helps to move from spot to spot. We usually have 2 or 3 guys hunting. One guy takes his turn driving the truck. He lets the shooter(s) out to set up and drives up the road a quarter mile or so and waits until he hears the shooting end. He picks up the shooter(s) and they head to the next spot. Cover areas around or near fields with freshly spread manure are always good places to set up.

Eyehunter

Jeweler,

We usually use only 2 or 3 crow decoys and an owl decoy. The owl decoy is made to fit over the top of a round wood fence post. Then we put 2 or 3 crow decoys around the area and turn on the call. With the electronic call is seldom takes more than a minute or two and the sky is full of crows. Once you start getting off a few shots the crows get smart and will not come back into range for quite a while. We normally just move on another mile or so down the road and set up again. It is really fast action but you have to move quite a bit. Sometimes we do not use the decoys and do just as well. It does help to talk to a few farmers before you start your hunt. Once you tell them you are crow hunting most will tell you to shoot all of them that you can. We have several stretches of rural gravels here in Dubuque County that we hunt. Anywhere there is cover and not too close to any farm buildings. Round bales stacked next to a fence line is my favorite place to set up. Crows have as good an eyesight as any game you will ever hunt so camo to meet the conditions is a must. You really have to stay motionless until you start shooting. If you get more than one or two crows at any one stop you are having a really good day. It takes an hour or so of quiet after you shoot to get crows to come back to the same location. Sometimes after you shoot they will still circle the area but always well out of range. It helps to move from spot to spot. We usually have 2 or 3 guys hunting. One guy takes his turn driving the truck. He lets the shooter(s) out to set up and drives up the road a quarter mile or so and waits until he hears the shooting end. He picks up the shooter(s) and they head to the next spot. Cover areas around or near fields with freshly spread manure are always good places to set up.

Eyehunter

Decoys:

For me I own 6 crow decoys and 1 owl. I will usually just put 4-5 on the ground in a visible location and then put the others in a smaller tree as high as possible. I tend to do better without the owl in the area I am hunting right now, but I think mixing decoy set-ups up all the time gives the birds different looks and makes them more interested (hunt same area, but in different places with different set-ups). I will also use no decoys at all, just the call in thick areas. Pretty much turns into pass shooting, but you have to have a quick trigger..

Decoys:

For me I own 6 crow decoys and 1 owl. I will usually just put 4-5 on the ground in a visible location and then put the others in a smaller tree as high as possible. I tend to do better without the owl in the area I am hunting right now, but I think mixing decoy set-ups up all the time gives the birds different looks and makes them more interested (hunt same area, but in different places with different set-ups). I will also use no decoys at all, just the call in thick areas. Pretty much turns into pass shooting, but you have to have a quick trigger..