[Rocky 2020]

Looking for places to hunt crows in Central NJ .
I've tried hunting some WMA areas and I'm looking for crow roosting sites .
Any farms having problems with crows where hunting is allowed ?

 

[Pintail]

You never want to hunt the roost. Find the "staging areas" on the way back to the roost and hunt those in the afternoons. Find the feeding areas for morning hunts, some WMA's get mowed this time of year. The birds will return for a few mornings looking for chopped up goodies. If you have any farms in your area ask about hunting them, crows are notorious for hammering tomatoes full of holes.

 

[Rocky 2020]

Ok ," Pintail " , I want to hunt "Crows on Staging areas " .Thanks for the info . Crows can do some damage to crops .They can also wake me up early in the morning with all that Caw Caw Cawing racket .
Hopefully I succeed an can share some pics .

 

[slayer1962]

I had a spot in Landing NJ years ago , they would fly up the front of the mountain I lived on. I never called there they just always flew up in the afternoon. I had a few stumps for cover. A lot of shooting and not too many crows lol. I also had a place in PA when I lived there. it was a flyway for them. I used a FoxPro caller and hammered them. A lot of times you could keep shooting and they would stay if they did not see you . The caller was a lot more fun and the crows got closer and did not seem afraid of the gun noise when you kept the caller going. good luck I had fun doing it when I was younger .

 

[Hagopian56!]

The best crowhunting is in Feb in the morning look for a warm day in Feb with snow on the ground it is right before the main breeding season March and the end of the crow season. Crows leave the roost as soon as the sun is up and they can fly with visibility.

For a feeding area you have 2 types of Crows........local crows for that area .......and migratory Crows that come into that area to feed in the morning. The best crow shoot is in the morning while the crows are on the feed and you need to set up before sunup.............those are the easy shots as they come in.... I use approximately 15 decoys and 2 owls set up on copper pipes driven into the ground owls are 3 feet off the ground about 5 feet apart.....some of the decoys are set up together...2 crows side by side and singles set about 25 yards from where you are sitting. 3 or 4 are facing the Owls in a circle

The best way to shoot is in a Adirondack chair it is set at an angle so you can shoot upward

I use 20 ga and 16 ga mod or full..........6 shot................7.5 and 8's are too light Crows are half the
size of a pheasant...and they are tough.

The easiest shot is straight up as the circle if you can see the individual feathers at the edge of their wings
they are in range and will drop with a thump right next to you.

Thumpers......a kill shot full load or a head shot drops down head folds under when hit

Helicopters ...a wing shot spirals down from height

Gliders....takes a hit mortally wounded heads for the trees wings locked lands in tree close by
the closest tree by the way.........then falls off branch to the ground.

Hoppers......they are hit fall to the ground and get up and start hopping away

Waiters...mortally hit but cannot move they will call when a crow flies overhead never tie a crow down it is against the law

When you get a break in the action pick up your kills and spread them out around the owls

Best thing about crow hunting you can leave them lay for the foxs and coyotes

This is a requirement for crow hunting and open field as big as you can get
crows will fly to the height of the surrounding trees you need them to go low, bigger the field lower they go

 

[Pintail]

Everyone to their own experiences, early to mid march starts the return flight depending on southern warm wind flow. For the Northwest area of NJ the best time to gun crows is between Oct 15th and November 15th. This is the peak of the the flight, moon phase and cold fronts will dictate the size of the flocks.( one day you can do 80 or so birds the next well over 150) If you study the area, the normal roasts will start to grow numbers at this time and many staging areas will grow during afternoons on any day. This is when you want to use feeding sets during the mornings and fighting sets during afternoons. -side note, if you need shot bigger then 7 1/2 or 8 you are not getting the birds in tight. Improve your blind with brush, wear a ghilly suit ( you may need to shoot some clays wearing the head net, some folks have a issue with stuff on their face when shooting)

 

[NJ219bands]

Got 8 today for a total of 20 this season in the woods in the late afternoon while pass shooting the flight to the roost.

 

[NJ219bands]

Got 8 today for a total of 20 this season in the woods in the late afternoon while pass shooting the flight to the roost.

 

[NJ219bands]

Downed 33 this season.

 

[Rocky 2020]

The best crowhunting is in Feb in the morning look for a warm day in Feb with snow on the ground it is right before the main breeding season March and the end of the crow season. Crows leave the roost as soon as the sun is up and they can fly with visibility.

For a feeding area you have 2 types of Crows........local crows for that area .......and migratory Crows that come into that area to feed in the morning. The best crow shoot is in the morning while the crows are on the feed and you need to set up before sunup.............those are the easy shots as they come in.... I use approximately 15 decoys and 2 owls set up on copper pipes driven into the ground owls are 3 feet off the ground about 5 feet apart.....some of the decoys are set up together...2 crows side by side and singles set about 25 yards from where you are sitting. 3 or 4 are facing the Owls in a circle

The best way to shoot is in a Adirondack chair it is set at an angle so you can shoot upward

I use 20 ga and 16 ga mod or full..........6 shot................7.5 and 8's are too light Crows are half the
size of a pheasant...and they are tough.

The easiest shot is straight up as the circle if you can see the individual feathers at the edge of their wings
they are in range and will drop with a thump right next to you.

Thumpers......a kill shot full load or a head shot drops down head folds under when hit

Helicopters ...a wing shot spirals down from height

Gliders....takes a hit mortally wounded heads for the trees wings locked lands in tree close by
the closest tree by the way.........then falls off branch to the ground.

Hoppers......they are hit fall to the ground and get up and start hopping away

Waiters...mortally hit but cannot move they will call when a crow flies overhead never tie a crow down it is against the law

When you get a break in the action pick up your kills and spread them out around the owls

Best thing about crow hunting you can leave them lay for the foxs and coyotes

This is a requirement for crow hunting and open field as big as you can get
crows will fly to the height of the surrounding trees you need them to go low, bigger the field lower they go

Thanks for sharing info . Any birds I have taken I used for bait . I like to go fishing when I'm not hunting so I make use of any birds I shoot . I found that using the breast meat cut into bite sized chunks makes an excellent bait for catfish . Give it a try sometime catfish love it .

 

[Rocky 2020]

Downed 33 this season.

Nice shooting !