What load is best for shotgunning crows??

N

NCVARMINT

New member
Hello fellas,
I have just got a mossberg 835 ult-mag and want to hunt some crows. What is the best shot size and what choke should i use?

thanks
 
A good trap load of 1 1/8 ounce of hard 7 1/2's from a Modified choke is a winner for most crow shooting.
 
Well... that's kind of a tricky question. Choke selection certainly makes a difference in range. A full choke extends the range, but makes hitting more difficult at closer decoy ranges. Thus my choice of Modified for an all around choke. If you center them with the pattern 40 yards isn't out of the question for my recommendation above. You can add powder and shot, change to a full choke, and extend the range another 10 yards or so.
 
I use heavy field load of #4 0r #6 with a over/under with mod and light mod choke the bigger shot seems to retain a lot more energy for the longer shots. We have shot over a hundred in the past couple weeks . Good Shooting
 
I like 1 1/8 oz of 7 or 7 1/2 2 3/4 shells, I reload my own and use several diff. powders but red dot under a rem fig 8 wad, seems to pattern well in my Benelli. I also like tighter chokes IM and Full, but pattern your gun with diff. chokes and diff. yardages (a good place to start is 30-40 yds) to see what to exptect from your gun with the load you choose.
 
I used to be a member of CrowBusters and in one of their quarterly newsletters a guy had done quite a bit of testing with different shotshell loads on crow sized targets at 40 yards. His conclusion (for his gun/choke) were the same as what I use in my 870/modified choke setup. Remington Nitro 27 or STS shells in 7 1/2 shot perform the best for me.

Crows don't carry shot very well, so the smaller shot sizes (7 1/2, 8) will work well and let you get more lead into the air. However, they still will not make up for poor shooting.
 
You guys are lucky to have the kind of shooting that you are having at such close range.

I use a Johnny Stewart 512, I have out Crow decoys, with an owl decoy or a red fox pelt stuck on sticks to mimic realism.

The crows around here have have been called from year to year and close shots are rare. Most of my shots are 40-60 yards, so I shoot a std full choke with a custom load of 1 5/8 oz of buffered copper plated #5's to give me some range.
 
i use winchester AA 7 1/2 shot 1350 fps and improved cylinder choke for decoying crows out to 35 yds. the extra pellets and wider pattern certainly improve the closing ratio. on high flying birds or windy days i use Kent Fast Lead #4's at 1460 fps. with improved modified choke to reach out past 45 yds and cut through the wind. i've had too many birds get up and fly/walk off using 7 1/2's past 35 yds. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
1oz of 7 1/2's at 1350 fps with a mod choke if they are coming into the call. If they dont want to play then 1 1/4oz of #6's and a IM or Full choke.


Tim
 
I use my left over pheasant loads from the fall. usually 1 3/8 or 1 1/2 ounce of 5's or 4's 6's work good too 1,400+ fps too ic to im are the chokes I use.
 
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