This question goes out to crow hunters. They are protected in some areas, but here in Kansas we have crow season. I recall about 40 or so years ago some older acquaintances would go out to call crows and take a case of shotgun shells. The number of dead crows would practically fill the bed of a pick-up truck. In my crow shooting life, my brother and I have been known to kill a dozen or two crows in one spot. Now when I call, I will get 2-3 shots, they get wise very quickly, and disappear. I also notice there seem to be more crows than ever. Have you veteran shooters noticed a change??
Are crows getting smarter?
- Thread starter Sniper66
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Taurus 617 CCW
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I have a magnum pellet rifle I use to blast crows any chance I get. They don't seem to land on my property anymore but are all over the neighborhood.
Zendude
Member
They know the difference between a shotgun and a fishing rod. When fishing, they will land right next to me but if I have a shotgun they won't fly anywhere near me.
edwardware
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I don't know if they're getting smarter, but they're already quite smart.
Apparently, they recognize human faces. . . : http://nytimes.com/2008/08/26/science/26crow.html
Apparently, they recognize human faces. . . : http://nytimes.com/2008/08/26/science/26crow.html
MtnCreek
Member
The old timers must have killed off all the dumb crows before I came along. If they come in one or two at a time, I've managed to kill several, usually right at daylight and a little after and with limited calling with a mouth call. When a bunch come in to a fighting crow or similar, one or two is about all I'll get unless there's someone else with me, then maybe one or two more. They'll stay interested, but get higher and further off after a buddy or two hits the dirt.
Corn planting time here in two or three weeks. When it starts sprouting I'll nail some crows. When sitting at corn sprouts I camo up good and wait for a few to come in. There's always a lookout and if he's in range he's the one I'll shoot. Just seems right since he's supposed to be watching out for the others.
Corn planting time here in two or three weeks. When it starts sprouting I'll nail some crows. When sitting at corn sprouts I camo up good and wait for a few to come in. There's always a lookout and if he's in range he's the one I'll shoot. Just seems right since he's supposed to be watching out for the others.
CraigC
Sixgun Nut
Crows are incredibly intelligent and wary. It got to be impossible to shoot them within 200yds of the house. Crack a window or poke a rifle barrel out and off they go. If deer were that sharp, man would've died out long ago.
Patocazador
Member
Crows learn fast. They don't get smarter, they just accumulate more knowledge. If you pick a spot where they haven't been molested, you'll get one decent shoot out of it. After that, they avoid that area and (believe it or not) seem to communicate that info to other crows.
PBS had a show last year and showed how a mother crow warned her fledglings about a man they had never seen. Later the young crows avoided that man.
They detour around my house and have done so for 4 years.
PBS had a show last year and showed how a mother crow warned her fledglings about a man they had never seen. Later the young crows avoided that man.
They detour around my house and have done so for 4 years.
crows are very smart, can use tools and can communicate with each other to describe people who are a threat.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/a-murder-of-crows-full-episode/5977/
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/a-murder-of-crows-full-episode/5977/
jmorris
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I remember in jr high reading a story about a crow that was thirsty and couldn't drink from a jar as the level was too low so he went and picked up stones and dropped them into the jar to raise the level until he could drink. Many moons ago so I don't remember the author. However, I have seen them take pecans out of the grass and put them on the street and waited for cars to run them over and fly down and pick out the nut.
That counts as pretty smart in my book.
That counts as pretty smart in my book.
I have never had much luck hunting them, they would pester and caw at you all day if you were not hunting them, but bring a gun and they know it.
Some pretty interesting youtube videos of crows.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crow_and_the_Pitcher
Some pretty interesting youtube videos of crows.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crow_and_the_Pitcher
bikerdoc
Moderator In Memoriam
Grand daughter is 11 and can get 4 or five with a pellet gun before they catch on.
GBExpat
Member
That ... was an excellent show.
Crows are very smart creatures.
In the past few years I have a 6-member murder of crows (started as 1) that has adopted me, somewhat. I have been keeping fresh water available & putting out food for critters for decades.
Quite often when I am using my pistol range in my drainfield (so long as I am not shooting "magnums") I will hear a couple of my crows in the trees behind me, talking about me behind my back ... yes, while I am shooting. Their conversation probably revolves around variations of, "When do you think GBExpat is going to stop that noisy silliness and put out some more food for us?"
It is not unusual for 30-40 crows to be out back sharing in "breakfast" at my house.
matrem
Member
I shoot a few now & then but only when some get a bit too interested in the baby cardinals and such in nests in the yard.
Used to call em and shoot a few with shotgun, and learned quickly that they learn quickly as well.
Dad used to call em fifty years ago, well before I hunted, and always commented how intelligent they were.
He ended up rescuing a young crow and had it as a 'pet'.
He never went on offense against them after that, but would still kill a few when they became a nuisance.
I'd assume they've been very intelligent far longer than any of us have been here.
Used to call em and shoot a few with shotgun, and learned quickly that they learn quickly as well.
Dad used to call em fifty years ago, well before I hunted, and always commented how intelligent they were.
He ended up rescuing a young crow and had it as a 'pet'.
He never went on offense against them after that, but would still kill a few when they became a nuisance.
I'd assume they've been very intelligent far longer than any of us have been here.
Flintknapper
Member
Yeah, but that was before 'common core', I don't think they are as smart now.
Or at least... not as smart as crows in other countries.
matrem
Member
Yeah, good point.
Patocazador
Member
I believe the author was Aesop.
jmorris
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If it were part of Aesop's fables I was wrong about the timing too that would have been read to me when I was a child.
GB's story sounded like the rabbits running around my place while shooting targets. They aren't so smart though. Just because "the man" doesn't bother them doesn't meen they are safe but I guess hawks and owls have to eat too.
GB's story sounded like the rabbits running around my place while shooting targets. They aren't so smart though. Just because "the man" doesn't bother them doesn't meen they are safe but I guess hawks and owls have to eat too.
mdemetz
Member
GBExpat
Member
While there have always been rabbits around here (I have had to rescue one from the window well on a couple of occasions), I think that the the hawks and foxes (and more recently, 'yotes) keep their numbers well down.
My crows are_not_happy when one of the hawks stops by to check out the menu (LOTS of smaller birds feeding on the sunflower seed the I put out).
They will often start crowding and scolding the hawk.
The hawk will sometimes get POed and start chasing one of the crows thru the woods trying to rake them.
I have noticed that the crows have a special, distinctive "OH, CRAP!" sound that they make when one of the hawks is chasing them.
bainter1212
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A bit of a tangent but still "hunting" in a way.....
For several years a friend and I lived on a rural property. We had a pond that we kept gold fish in.
There was one particular egret who figured out that we had fish in that pond and was always scheming on how to get at them.
This egret was very smart and cautious. My dog was kept in the yard by an "invisible fence" setup and that egret somehow figured out that boundary, and would sit just on the other side of that line calmly while my dog went crazy barking a couple of feet away.
I nailed that bird with a paintball gun only twice out of many attempts. You had to be truly stealthy to get him because his eyesight was good and he could see you blink from a ways away.
The first time I got him was through an open window. Had to stand perfectly still, maintain my stance in one position until he entered my sight picture. Took about 15 physically agonizing minutes, I knew if I moved he would see me and the game was up. He FINALLY entered my sight picture and I nailed him.
Another time I had to pretend to walk out to my car to put a tree between me and him. Then went prone and low crawled the 30 yds or so to the tree. Even though he couldn't see me, he knew something was up and kept changing position to try to get a glimpse of me. I had to crawl somewhat laterally towards the tree to keep it between us. Eventually, I reached the tree and his curiousity got the better of him. He kept circling to get a glimpse of me, right into my sight picture and I got him. Probably a 30 yd shot which was decent for that paintball gun.
The paintballs just startled him, and left an orange splotch on his feathers. He still came back every time.
Not a lot of crows here in northern CA.
For several years a friend and I lived on a rural property. We had a pond that we kept gold fish in.
There was one particular egret who figured out that we had fish in that pond and was always scheming on how to get at them.
This egret was very smart and cautious. My dog was kept in the yard by an "invisible fence" setup and that egret somehow figured out that boundary, and would sit just on the other side of that line calmly while my dog went crazy barking a couple of feet away.
I nailed that bird with a paintball gun only twice out of many attempts. You had to be truly stealthy to get him because his eyesight was good and he could see you blink from a ways away.
The first time I got him was through an open window. Had to stand perfectly still, maintain my stance in one position until he entered my sight picture. Took about 15 physically agonizing minutes, I knew if I moved he would see me and the game was up. He FINALLY entered my sight picture and I nailed him.
Another time I had to pretend to walk out to my car to put a tree between me and him. Then went prone and low crawled the 30 yds or so to the tree. Even though he couldn't see me, he knew something was up and kept changing position to try to get a glimpse of me. I had to crawl somewhat laterally towards the tree to keep it between us. Eventually, I reached the tree and his curiousity got the better of him. He kept circling to get a glimpse of me, right into my sight picture and I got him. Probably a 30 yd shot which was decent for that paintball gun.
The paintballs just startled him, and left an orange splotch on his feathers. He still came back every time.
Not a lot of crows here in northern CA.
OilyPablo
Member
When I was a young kid I would tell my mom the crows could talk. This is after I long gave up on the idea cats could communicate with humans.
But I knew those suckers were very smart and extremely quick at adapting. Now I don't shoot them or anything, but sometimes they still greet me in the AM!
But I knew those suckers were very smart and extremely quick at adapting. Now I don't shoot them or anything, but sometimes they still greet me in the AM!
I've noticed that the crows in my area will congregate a few hundred yards away from my decoys, out of shotgun range. When I call they will usually send in 1 crow first (a scout). If I can manage to take that one down, they will usually keep coming in a few at a time. If I take a shot and miss, or even if I don't take a shot and let the scout check things out, it will fly back to the rest and warn them. After that the day is pretty much over.
Here's a question for you all. Do you know the difference between a crow and a raven? We have both in my area in very large numbers and it's sometimes hard to tell the difference on the wing. I've gotten very wary hunting crows because of this, considering that ravens are federally protected. They're also a bit smarter than crows.
I was approached by a game warden last season and chastised for not being able to articulate the differences to him. Then he took a look at the 1 bird I had taken that day, and was not able to tell the difference himself... Nothing came of it but I really don't want to get hit with a $5000 fine for violating the migratory bird act.
Here's a question for you all. Do you know the difference between a crow and a raven? We have both in my area in very large numbers and it's sometimes hard to tell the difference on the wing. I've gotten very wary hunting crows because of this, considering that ravens are federally protected. They're also a bit smarter than crows.
I was approached by a game warden last season and chastised for not being able to articulate the differences to him. Then he took a look at the 1 bird I had taken that day, and was not able to tell the difference himself... Nothing came of it but I really don't want to get hit with a $5000 fine for violating the migratory bird act.
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