Darn Crows! How do I keep them away ?

[davitk]

I don't know about crows, but purple grackles are a problem here in the spring when literally hundreds show up at once. I usually spend about a week with a shotgun, by then they have decided to do their nesting elsewhere (they must fly off and re-group every time they hear the gun. I swear they do roll call - after the 20th or so casualty they call it quits) . Maybe next spring I will try hanging a dead grackle from a branch -

 

[Bird]

I may not have the numbers you have, but we always have too many grackles all over the whole area and just about year round. Summer before last, I think we had 15 nests in the trees in the yard and I hadn't really noticed the nests until the dog started bringing us baby birds, some dead; some alive that had fallen out of the nests. So that Winter, I tried to clean all those nests out of the trees, and I'd love to use a shotgun on them, but I'm in town where that isn't allowed. So between banging pots and pans together frequently or hitting limbs on the trees, I think last summer I only had 3 or 4 nests. I'm still not sure how many nests are up in those leaves this year.

 

[Redbug]

Crow shooting is great sport in many areas. I have some crow decoys in my shed that I set up and are used along with my mouth caller to attract them. There are different vocalizations to get them to come in and investigate. You may get off a few shots, then you have to move to another location. Crows are one of the smartest birds so they catch on quick to our ploys. When I was a kid, (before store bought decoys), we would take an old black boot, hang it on a limb and attach fishing line to it. Then, pull the line making the boot decoy shake and use the mouth caller to bring them in. Although I don't know and just guessing...I would think a few dead crows hanging around may work...crows aren't dumb.

I would also think that you could shoot them anytime if they are depredating your crops. I will look it up to be sure...but I think I read it in the DNR SC regs that you can if they are affecting your property. You have a good resource there...and don't know it!

 

[SCRich]

I did read about that in the DNR regs last night but I need to wait and call Monday morning about it. I do not know if they would consider my "deer plot" crops but I guess by the letter of the law I do have several crops. Depredatation is by permit, I do not think it takes much to get it (probably just a phone call like a burn permit) but the regs did list regional numbers to call for the permit and stated that it was good for 30 days and can be renewed if necessary at the end of the initial 30 day period.

With the rain we got and the wife having been called in to work late today I did not get a chance to walk out there. With this clay we have I avoid walking out on the property while it is still moist and wait for several days of dry weather to take the tractor or ATV out. Nothing like compacting clay even more!

I hired a local farmer to do 3 out of the 5 acres with a tiller and I did another 3 with a box blade and a disker. The last thing I want to do is screw up these tests and I am sure the crows are doing it. I want to see how much better the tilled land is over the rough work I did with the growth. Walking much or driving over it will also throw my little test off.

I am learning a lot by trial and error and Rome was not built in a day. I get 2 opportunities a year to try different growing techniques and I want to try to come to a good decision this fall so I can get moving on it next spring.

 

[Redbug]

Rich...I knew I saw something about it...Get out your 2008/2009 DNR Rules and Regs booklet. On page 30, under "Crows"..."Crows damaging crops may be taken at any time without a federal permit (50 CFR 21.43)".

Bang!, Bang!, Bang!

 

[SCRich]

Thanks Dave...I guess I know what I will be doing in a few hours. I should have brought the 10/22 upstairs from the safe.

I had to go down there and load up. I was out on the deck having a smoke and counted 11 gunshots REALLY REALLY close by. It's pitch dark out here in the forrest and I got no NV but I swear it was well inside of the property line, possibly closer than I am guessing now that I think about it. I loaded up the .45 and an M4 replica I have with a laser and flashlight just in case.

I have a box of CCI Mini-Mags I'll load that up and get a few to hang, then I'll let the kid have at it and try something other than paper for the first time if they are stupid enough to return.

 

[Highbeam]

Do tell us how it went! We in WA also have a season for crows except we also have the "in the act of depradation" clause so I would shoot at will. Honestly though, I would be using a shotgun until my arm got sore and then shoot the ground dwellers with the 10/22. Be ready for a lot of shooting since once you kill one, the others will come out of the woodwork to eat it or mourn or whatever. The dead crows will act as decoys for additional crows to fly in.

You may actually shoot hundreds before you're done.

 

[Redbug]

Not being too funny...but you CAN eat crow. There's some pretty good recipies out there for crow breasts. We have tried them and I have to say they are good. Meat is meat, pretty much, you know. You should see what people eat in other countries. If you get a chance, post a pic or two also, Rich.

A few recipies...
Crow Busters - Recipes

It also has some good techniques to hunt them...
Crow Busters - The Complete Resource For Crow Hunting and the Crow Hunter

Only one last comment, then I'll be quiet...Eat more iguana, the other green meat...

 

[SCRich]

No pics to post. I don't have a worthwhile shotgun the only one I got is a 870with a short barrel for home defense use so I took the 10/22 out. They sure are big crows but I could not get close enough since the plots are surrounded by dense pine trees for clear shots.

We had a NorEaster blow through the past couple of days, it's sunny now and the ground is drying up a bit. When I got back this AM my sneakers were just balls of muddy clay. At 5 or 6 I'll take my blind out and set it up, I would like the ground to harden up a bit underneath with as much sunlight as possible now. I may need to take some plywood I have and drop it underneath to add some stability for my chair. I was meaning to do it last weekend anyway.

I did observe them for a bit using the pines as cover and they are quite smart/sneaky. It appears that they will designate several of them as lookouts and they will perch on the very top of several of the largest trees around the perimiter of the plots. The others eat away, most of them were found at my feeder/food plot eating the corn and the remaining ungerminated seed. Once I was spotted the lookouts sent out a triple CAW and they all took off in all directions then regrouped mid-air and went to another location behind more trees. Observing from far away it seems that a LITTLE bit later a few crows returned to my main food plot and then the others returned in a cycle.

 

[SCRich]

The blind is set up and I spent a little time on the largest of the plots since it was a bit firmer. When all you got is clay the last thing you want to do is walk, drive, or even look at it while it is moist since it will turn into concrete better known as "Hard Pan". It was still wet in many locations but I found a good spot and dropped a bit of plywood and put the pop up blind over it.

I am not sure if I had poor germination, or the crows cleaned up the seed but there are several spots that are bare now. They are along the edge of the plot and I gave a few extra passes with the spreader there since I wanted thick growth/root system to control errosion. Unless our rain covered a lot of the seed with dirt the birds ate a lot of it.

I'll be trying to drop a few crows this week and I'll hang them from sticks or just keep them on the ground. I do not have many trees nearby with low branches, most of them are 80ft pines.