"The Art of Crow Hunting - Part 1"
by Sr. Field Advisor Bob Aronsohn

There are several art forms that come into play while hunting crows.

Hand Calling:

Learning how to effectively blow a crow call is one of the most important art forms in this sport. Controlling the air flow through your hand call and holding your hands around the barrel of your call will help you mimic the various calls that crows make in different situations. Your hands play a key role in either muffling the sound of the call or changing the tone in the call. Most people who don't have a seasoned veteran to coach them along have a tendency to want to blow through the call instead of gargling into it. Another key element in successful crow calling is focusing on injecting the air "from your diaphragm", not your stomach, through your hand call. In the beginning your throat will be pretty sore until your body gets used to this method. If your throat hurts a little, you re on the right track because you are now gargling into the call. In time, as you do this more and more, your throat won't hurt as much as you get used to this method.

Wing Shooting:

Wing shooting is another art form that one has to master in order to become a competent crow killer! Calculating a crow s speed and range, and calculating the proper lead in the blink of an eye, takes years to perfect. You have to have a level attitude in realizing that this doesn t come overnight. The more you shoot the better you are going to get as time goes on. The thing that a novice has to realize from the start is that you point a shotgun; you don't aim it like a rifle. A good wing shot points fast with precision in order to down his target. The swing through or follow through method is a very deadly art form, I'm here to tell you! The reason why I employ this method is because you don't have to cloud your mind thinking about lead on every shot 30 yards and under. All you do is stay focused on the target; mount your shotgun while you re putting your muzzle into motion at the same time. As the target is flying, overtake it from behind and swing your muzzle through the target a bit faster than the target is flying, and the very instant you see daylight in front of the crows beak touch the shot off; and keep that muzzle moving! On close shots that are point blank up to 20 yards I have no conscious lead in my mind s eye on the side shots. I come up from behind the bird with that muzzle swinging and at the moment I'm on the crow s body (dead center) I get the shot off! In my mind it looks like I'm shooting directly at the crow but in reality, in the time lag it takes for my brain to tell my trigger finger to pull the trigger, I have the perfect lead ahead of the crow. All it boils down to is gearing your swing to the birds flight speed and once you perfect your timing in this regard you will become one deadly mother! If you re a good hitter on the baseball diamond you will be a good wing shot! So you don't get yourself out of position, always face the shot and always be conscious of how you have your feet placed! Same as in baseball!

Judging Distance:

I have to tell you that after shooting crows for over 42 years, I can't say for sure if a crow is 45 to 50 yards in an instant. What I can say on this subject about distance is that I know by the size of the bird if he is a killing shot or not! I can also say that a true 50 yard shot is a very good shot on any bird. The whole point in crow hunting is to get them in close, "in yo face", and knock the dog out of them! It is my opinion that if you want to kill lots of crows, you have to get them in close! By close I mean 30 yards and under for the best "fire for effect" if you want to rain em out!

Part 2 - Types of Shots