decoying crows

bailebr3

bailebr3

New member
ok guys...today i went out crow calling. i had only 3 decoys but after about 3 feeding calls and 2 come here calls, i had 15 crows come in at once and a buzzard. there was no scout to come in first or anything. they stayed up about 40 yards up and just circled. i only managed to knock one down!! now im wondering, what do you guys use as far as shells and chokes? i was using a modified choke out of a 26" barreled 870 with cheap winchester super target 7# shot 2 3/4" shells. i went and got some high brass 5# 2 3/4" shells. im also thinking of using an xtra full pro factor choke. what do you guys think?
 
Modified, #7, 2 3/4" out of a Winchester 1200 works for me.
I would NOT do that extra full choke set up.
If they were circling your'e doing well.
Let them come in and..pow.
I love crow hunting

PC
 
7 1/2's are good at closer range (inside 40yds) and 6's .5's,4's work a little better at the longer ranges, just fine, the cheap shells are ok but I prefer a heavier game load. The modified choke is great all around choke for crows, a tighter choke will make those 20yd shots tough but will work great for those last shots where they are flying straight away from you.

I bought an over/under this summer and decided to use it on some crow hunts before dove season. I would put a 7 1/2 in the top barrel with a modified choke, and a #5 in the bottom barrel with a Terror choke (.680). Crows are fun to hunt, my favorite sound is the "dying crow" and my "buster" motion decoy.

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My usual crow setup is an 870 express with a PatternMaster choke which actually patterns about the same as modified with the cheap 7 1/2"

Here is a picture of my best rally at one stand, in less than 5 minutes I took these crows, 2 on the first volley, 3 on the second wave, and one on the third. I had one get away on the third wave and it was the end of my fun for that stand. Most time I only get one or two before I have move to the next stand.

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I use a Baikal with a modified choke. I let the trees determine my shot size. If I get into some 10' to 15' trees I use 7 1/2's. If I get into 30' trees I will switch to 6's. I have found that the 6's have a little bit more carry. I have been know to get mad and pull out the full choke and run 2's, but that is when I am on educated crows and they don't want to drop in.

JBD, how do you like you Pattern Master Choke? Is it the Long Range or Extend Range ? Does the ports help keep you on target for a follow up shot ? The make one for the Baikal and I am thinking about getting one.
 
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Originally Posted By: puppypopperJBD, how do you like you Pattern Master Choke? Is it the Long Range or Extend Range ? Does the ports help keep you on target for a follow up shot ? The make one for the Baikal and I am thinking about getting one.

When I bought my patternmaster there was only one style available. I bought for it shooting buckshot and it will pattern the federal premium stuff very tight. A few years ago, I got an invite to do some waterfowling and spent lots of time patterning every type of steel shot I could get my hands on. It turned out to be a great choke for steel shot as well. The only shot size my choke does like is steel #2's for some reason, it will not pattern them consitantly. It works very well with the hevi-shot, as this is my turkey set-up. The bigger the shot the tighter it patterns. This choke never leaves my gun, as I have alot of confidence in it. The ports basically do nothing for me. It is an awesome all around choke for me.

When you buy a choke, spend plenty of time patterning different brands/sizes of you intend to hunt with. I would have never guessed that shooting a big piece of cardboard at 40yds would help my wingshooting so much, I highly recommend it.
 
thanks for all the info guys. the mod choke patterns ok on cardboard at 40 yards with the cheap 7's but not good with the federal high brass 5's i bought yesterday. one the other had the turkey choke patterns great with the 5's even at 25 yards! so i think im gonna try it this morning but also take the mod. choke too.
 
alright guys, just got in from hunting! we had good luck and i did end up using a modified choke with high brass heavy game loads #5 shot. i think my problem was trying to line up the sights. i have williams firesights on the rib and it does great for turkey and yotes but it takes a little extra time on wingshooting....anyways we called in one group(10) of crows 3 times and took a bird evertime. then we moved and had 8 come in, then 4, and finally 2. man what fun!! sorry didnt take the camera but i will tomorrow.
 
i love it! of course it doesn't look like a typical bird gun, but the gun is mainly a coyote/fox/bobcat and turkey gun. the stock also seems to take away some of the recoil of the heavy 3" #4 buckshot i use. i thinks its the new super cell recoil pad mainly. either way i really like it and the williams sights are handy for the guns main job but like i said earlier, take some getting use to on aerial targets.
 
I shoot #8 or #7 1/2 out of a Mod choke good to 50 yards

if you shoot a lot the price of ammo will kill ya I shoot 500 to 600 rounds a year so I shoot the cheap stuff


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when we first started we used high base #5 and #6s

when we switched over to 7 1/2s our over all totals double and tripled

we also got a lot of runners with the bigger shot...the smaller shot seems to get through the feathers and make cleaner kills
 
Originally Posted By: verminater71when we first started we used high base #5 and #6s

when we switched over to 7 1/2s our over all totals double and tripled

we also got a lot of runners with the bigger shot...the smaller shot seems to get through the feathers and make cleaner kills

That is about my story too. I read about Bob Aronsohn who has killed about a quarter million crows with 7 ½ shot and more open chokes caused me to try it. My experience is limited, certainly not the numbers some guys kill, but as soon as I went with some trap/sporting clays loads of 7 ½’s at 1300 fps with a light modified choke crows started dropping with a thump! Sporting clays shooters bust clay targets over 50 yards with those loads and open chokes like improved cylinder and light modified and they work well on crows too.
 
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