"Sound Dispersal - 101"
by Drew Moore

This article is geared toward the new "run & gun" crow shooters in our ranks that have just gotten started with their electronic callers, or handcalls, in the grand sport of crow shooting. Understanding sound wave dispersal is a critical element in your crow shooting success. Anyone can just point an electronic calling machine, or handcall, in a given direction and kill some crows, but to maximize your TBC keep these points in mind:

(1) Use the terrain. Hilly regions can be tough unless you capitalize on the situation by making the hills, and valleys, work for you in getting the sound projected to the crows sensitive ears. Imagine that your hunting area is immersed in one huge bath tub, now pull the drain plug, and slowly picture how the water would drain from the geographical contours of the area. That is exactly the same path that the sound waves will take. "The Path of Least Resistance". Calling from a hilltop or high bluff edge has several advantages in that it gets you up above the crows, and allows you to channel the sound very effectively down through surrounding draws/valleys.

Being at a commanding height also allows you to see the approaching crows before they see you, and helps keep the birds winging low to the ground, for some very choice close-in shots!

(2) Be aware of surrounding foliage. Different types of foliage will "soak up" sounds more than others, and mute the best callers efforts. Sound will travel pretty far in a stand of mature hardwoods with little undergrowth to impede its travel, however a thick growth of young pines will soak up sound waves "like a sponge" if you try and get your calls to carry great distances through them. Honeysuckle vines, thick blackberry bushes, etc. all have the same muting effect. The thick stuff makes great cover to make a stand and hide in, but it's best to project your calling out to more open areas from within this cover in order to effectively cover more ground & be heard by more crows. Many times crows hang out and rest/nest in the thicker foliage, and they will respond to the call very quickly, simply because they are close by and able to hear the calling with their super sensitive ears. So don't neglect calling into the thicker stands of foliage by any means, were just talking about maximizing sound dispersal in general.

(3) Pump up the Volume!. Unlike predator hunting, the "more volume the better" in crow shooting. I have never reduced the volume as the crows arrived as some suggest, and remember to get that sound dispersed 360 degrees at your stand. I simply hold an electronic caller above my head while slowly rotating, and sweeping in a 360 degree arc. Same rotation with the handcall. You might know the general direction that the crows will come from, but before finishing the stand altogether try this technique to bag a few extra birds from a different earshot angle.