Crow season in Arkansas

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Tinybob

Tinybob

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Crow season opened yesterday in Arkansas. I didn't realize how rusty my shotgun skills were until this time. The way I hunt crow is locate, make a set, call, shoot till they stop coming, travel to another spot, and repeat. If I can make my next set on the other side of where the crows retreated to from the first set, they usually come on in readily. I'm not a duck hunter so crow and dove is pretty much the extent of my wing-shooting. The use of electronic calls also makes it easier. The hardest part for me is finding a good set where trees aren't too tall. My little girl is also taking an interest in going with me, I think that's awesome! This is an easy hunt to include the little ones on because, you don't have to be quite or very still. Lots of shooting fun and helpful to some farmers too! If you've never tried this before, do it, chances are you'll love it.
 
Kill 'em all.
It's awfully hard to be successful the second time on the same spot. Crows are too danged smart.
My friend & I set up to shoot crows on a ranch as guests. The fellows who worked there told us we wouldn't get any because they had shot that place before. We put out crow decoys along with an owl decoy and used a recorded hawk-crow fight. We had two hawks, 7 buzzards, and an eagle come in .... but no crows. :(

PS: There didn't used to be a season on crows. They could be killed year-round. The USF&WS tried to get Mexico to put a season and limits on ducks. For some reason the Mexicans said they would do it if we made a season for crows. Maybe they eat them?
 
Patocazador said:
PS: There didn't used to be a season on crows. They could be killed year-round. The USF&WS tried to get Mexico to put a season and limits on ducks. For some reason the Mexicans said they would do it if we made a season for crows. Maybe they eat them?
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We did a crow hunt right after they put the season on them. We spent a whole day cruising back roads, stopping every few miles and setting up with an electronic call. The three of us killed a truck bed of crows. I shot over 3 boxes of shells. This was back in the good ole days when I could shoot, plus there was 2 other guys with me. Found out later that the season wasn't open that day. Oops!

The statutes of limitations have run out.
 
Captcurt said:
We did a crow hunt right after they put the season on them. We spent a whole day cruising back roads, stopping every few miles and setting up with an electronic call. The three of us killed a truck bed of crows. I shot over 3 boxes of shells. This was back in the good ole days when I could shoot, plus there was 2 other guys with me. Found out later that the season wasn't open that day. Oops!

The statutes of limitations have run out.
Click to expand...
Been hunting on the wrong day before. The whole Thursday through Monday thing is a little odd, just about as odd as my work schedule. Sometimes I mix my days up. It's kinda like countries that only have a wet season and a dry season, for me that's a sleeping time and a waking time.(days are just a guideline)
 
"...USF&WS tried to get Mexico to put a season and limits on ducks..." Done by treaty long ago. Mexico has the same 3 rounds in the gun rule, Canada and the U.S has. The Migratory Bird Treaty dates from 1918. Mexico signed in 1936.
Can't imagine there being a crow season. Flying varmints up here.
 
Sunray said:
"...USF&WS tried to get Mexico to put a season and limits on ducks..." Done by treaty long ago. Mexico has the same 3 rounds in the gun rule, Canada and the U.S has. The Migratory Bird Treaty dates from 1918. Mexico signed in 1936.
Can't imagine there being a crow season. Flying varmints up here.
Click to expand...

I duck hunted in Mexico in 2004 and 2005 with an outfitter. The limit was 15/day. None of the guns had plugs. The Mossberg pumps we used held 6 shells. Lead shot was legal.
One game hog with us shot 100 ducks in 3 days. No one there said a thing about it not even the Federales who checked us. They only cared that the guns were registered.

The "season" deal was explained to me by our outfitter. We were hunting in the middle of February. He said that they used to hunt until the end of March before the crow deal.
 
I don't recall any crow season from when I was growing up, but that was more than 15 years ago. Interesting.
 
There's a little secret to crow hunting in Arkansas. If you're using a rifle, you're limited to nothing "larger than .22 rimfire." But there's a loophole -- you can use a centerfire when there is a modern gun or muzzle loader season for deer, bear and coyote. Which means throughout crow season.
 
Vern Humphrey said:
There's a little secret to crow hunting in Arkansas. If you're using a rifle, you're limited to nothing "larger than .22 rimfire." But there's a loophole -- you can use a centerfire when there is a modern gun or muzzle loader season for deer, bear and coyote. Which means throughout crow season.
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True! I'm just glad we don't have to use a plug in the shotgun.
 
I call crows, have learned a few things over the years, and have had some success. Like you guys I set up, call, shoot, move, repeat. About 50 years ago, when I first started shooting crows, we killed dozens of them and they would seem to keep coming. Now you get a handful of shots if you are lucky. Have crows gotten smarter??
 
Sniper66 said:
I call crows, have learned a few things over the years, and have had some success. Like you guys I set up, call, shoot, move, repeat. About 50 years ago, when I first started shooting crows, we killed dozens of them and they would seem to keep coming. Now you get a handful of shots if you are lucky. Have crows gotten smarter??
Click to expand...
I'm not sure how long they live, but surely they do learn.
 
Adding a crow "season" is a fairly recent thing. They used to be fair game year round. But if i understand right the Feds forced all states to have a set season a few years back. The exception is that they can be shot out of season IF they are guilty of crop depredation. Any crow that is breathing is guilty of crop depredation.
 
Sniper66 said:
I call crows, have learned a few things over the years, and have had some success. Like you guys I set up, call, shoot, move, repeat. About 50 years ago, when I first started shooting crows, we killed dozens of them and they would seem to keep coming. Now you get a handful of shots if you are lucky. Have crows gotten smarter??
Click to expand...
Tinybob said:
I'm not sure how long they live, but surely they do learn.
Click to expand...
They have actually proven with studies that knowledge is passed down genetically. Thus your crows ARE indeed smarter than they were generations ago.
 
The Washington Biological Survey used to band birds. The bands identified the agency and had a serial number. Since bird legs are tiny, they had to abbreviate "Washington Biological Survey."

One day they got a letter from a farmer, "Dear Sir. I shot one of your pet crows the other day. I followed the instructions that was writ on his leg. I washed him, I bioled him and I surved him. And it was terrible!" :)
 
I didn't realize that NY had a season for Crows. I thought it was see the crow, shoot the crow. My bad, I take the 5th. Actually my dad won't let me shoot any crows. He likes the way they help keep the place cleaned up of dead things.
 
My memory might be faulty, but I remember "knowing" that crow was year round. In the last year or two, I checked, and there's a season here. Maybe it happened in the last 3 years, or I'm wrong.

As far as eating it, I've never tried it but... I've always been told that jackrabbit is "bad." Tried some awhile back, not too bad. So I'm skeptical on crow's non-edibility.
 
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