Calling Crows

EDITOR'S NOTE: Tad Brown, the product-development manager of M.A.D. Calls, a division of Outland Sports in Neosho, Missouri, enjoys hunting crows during the off-season.

QUESTION: Tad, in years past, the hunter had to know how to call crows to get them in for a shot. But now you don't have to know anything to call crows, do you?

ANSWER: No, with the electronic callers and the tapes Outland Sports' Lohman's calls has, like the baby-crow distress, crow and owl fight, you only have to put in a tape to call crows. You should hide yourself well and wear camouflage just like you do when you hunt anything else. Be ready, because crows are sharp. With our electronic caller, anybody can call in crows.

QUESTION: Do you use decoys when you hunt crows?

ANSWER: Yes, decoys work well. I like to use an owl, a hawk decoy or even a predator-rabbit decoy. When a crow comes in and sees nothing, it gets bored and leaves. But a crow will stay if it can direct its attention to something else, such as another crow or a hawk, which crows love to bother. Crows also will come if they think there's a rabbit that's been killed by a coyote or a fox because they can eat the guts and the other remains.

QUESTION: You can use Lohman's electronic rabbit-in-distress call to call in coyotes and other predators and actually call in crows, can't you?

ANSWER: Yes, crows respond well, too, to this call. They have learned that when a predator has made a kill, there are usually some little scraps left. Filling up a crow's belly doesn't take much, so he's always looking for something to eat. Another way to double your fun is to call for 15, 20 or 30 minutes with your predator call. If nothing responds, slip your crow tape in, kill some crows and go on to your next spot.

For a copy of "10 More Secrets for Calling Crows," write to Tad Brown, % Outland Sports, 4500 Doniphan Drive, Neosho, MO 64850, attention Kim Thurman.

TOMORROW: WHERE AND WHEN TO CALL CROWS

Check back each day this week for more about How To Call Crows ...

Day 1 -Calling Crows
Day 2 -Where and When To Call Crows
Day 3 -Timing Crow Calls
Day 4 -Crow-Hunting Equipment
Day 5 -Crow-Hunting Secrets

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