Shooting crows?

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One of the issues that commonly occurs is the fact that crows and ravens are mistaken for each other. Ravens in my neck of the woods are protected, while crows have a season.
Ravens a very large birds that have basically a diamond shaped tail, while crows are a bit larger than a pigeon and have either a square or rounded tail.
Other than being noisy, they aren't much bother to me. However, they do decimate song birds by raiding nests, eating eggs and young. They also decimate lizards around my home that help keep bugs in check. Trash, no issues.
So, if yer gonna shoot "CROWS", please make certain that they are crows and not ravens.
mike
 
The only to make them quite"

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One of the issues that commonly occurs is the fact that crows and ravens are mistaken for each other. Ravens in my neck of the woods are protected, while crows have a season.
Ravens a very large birds that have basically a diamond shaped tail, while crows are a bit larger than a pigeon and have either a square or rounded tail.
Other than being noisy, they aren't much bother to me. However, they do decimate song birds by raiding nests, eating eggs and young. They also decimate lizards around my home that help keep bugs in check. Trash, no issues.
So, if yer gonna shoot "CROWS", please make certain that they are crows and not ravens.
mike
a seasoned crow hunter can quickly tell the difference.
even with only one eye, i can spot a crow
vs a Raven even in low light conditions.
 
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Crows are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, and a hunting season cannot exceed 124 days each year. In NC, crows were considered unprotected for a long time, and I'm not sure when the state adopted the FWS regulatory required maximum hunting days, seems like it might have been in the 80's. I grew up shooting them year round, and it was a great shotgun sport, calling them in and getting a lot of challenging shots as they dove through the trees. Most folks here consider their protected status as kind of silly, but, there it is. From some of the comments above, it sounds like a state can declare an exemption from their protection, which sounds kind of surprising, but I sure wish NC would do that. Silly or not, they have the same federally protected status as ducks and geese.
 
I feel it's just silly at this point that so many birds are protected. Like wood peckers, they destroy so much stuff yet you cant shoot them unless you get a nuisance permit. Good luck with that!

Or blue jays... most annoying call ever!
I really wish I could shoot blue jay’s! Also I have a black truck and car every spring Robins see there reflection in them and attack peck and crap all over them. Protected or not next spring i am not going to put up with it anymore. You can only buff the clear coat so many times! lol
 
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I really wish I could shoot blue jay’s! Also I have a black truck and car every spring Robins see there reflection in them and attack peck and crap all over them. Protected or not next spring i am not going to put up with it anymore. You can only buff the clear coat so many times! lol
Robins used to be highly regarded as table fare in the South. Lol.
 
I am going to tell you a story on how smart crows are


When on the farm if a cow died we used it as bait to shoot crows


We had a small little hut with a shooting hole in it some 50 yards back


Believe it not if you when into shooting hut no crows would come UNLESS you when with 2 hunters and the one would leave and then the crows would come


Seems smart or not they could not count LOL​

 
I really wish I could shoot blue jay’s! Also I have a black truck and car every spring Robins see there reflection in them and attack peck and crap all over them. Protected or not next spring i am not going to put up with it anymore. You can only buff the clear coat so many times! lol
Just remember the 3 S rule.

Shoot
Shovel
Shut up
 
Some fun facts, crows communicate, they pass on information to each other they have group memories. Crows also don't like lasers, it messes with their eyes, yeah surprise, but they tell their mates to stay away. I've used a green laser on some crows in my oak tree, this was 2 years ago, nary a crow has landed in that tree since, they were also tearing my roof apart, so they got the laser treatment, roof is fine now.
 
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Dont shoot crows for same reason as dizzums, have never had a problem with them damaging anything and I enjoy them very smart birds..have shot 2 crows in my life and regretted both..now squirrels, rabbits, coyotes are a different story.

Yeah I agree. If you want to scare them away shoot some dirt next to them. Maybe they'll get the message and stop hanging around.
 
I have two memories of crows that I will never forget.

The first one was an article I was reading in the Minneapolis newspaper back in the 90's. The writer described a group of crows, on the ground. One of the crows, evidently the "leader", was at the front of the group with a stick in its mouth. The crow was standing over a dead crow and gesticulating this stick back and forth. Then all the crows bowed their heads for a few moments, and then they all flew off in unison.

Second episode was something I witnessed my self. I was walking through the East Bank area of the University of Minnesota at day break.
There was a murder of crows perched in several of the trees on campus. There must have been 500 or more. In unison they all took a dump! The sidewalks had turned white and the students were running for cover! Lucky for me, I was across the street! One of the funniest thing I ever seen.