68 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE
insucha shortspaceoftime,butmy
joygraduallydwindledasthebirds
keptsafelyoutofrangeforthenext 30
minutesorso.Oneoftheshotcrows
hadlandedbelly-up,whichwasn’t
helpingtobolstertheconfidenceof
anyincomers,soI decidedtobreak
coverandsetthembothupasdecoys.
I’ma bigfanofcrowcallersasthey
area greatwaytosteerpassingbirds’
attentiontowardsyourdecoys.My
lastcoupleofcallerswerea bittoo
shrill,soI contactedMichaelBellat
CallsoftheWildtoseeif hecould
makemesomethingwithmoreof
a croaktoit.Herustledupa great
callerthathasa verythroaty sound
andit worksa treat.
Tidyingup
AftertidyinguptheshotbirdsI gave
thenewcallera fewblastsandsoon
hada pairofcrowscirclingoverhead.
It wasa bitfrustratingnothavingthe
shotgun,butoneofthemeventually
perchedina bushclosetooneof
mypost-mounteddecoys.Theirate
corvidwastoodistractedbythe
imitationbirdtonoticemeslipping
thebarrelthroughthenetting and
thetallyswiftlyrosethree.
Theactivitywassufficientto
keep things interesting over the
nextcoupleofhoursandI managed
toaccountfora totalofeightcrows
beforeI hadtoheadhome.
That’snothinglikeasmanyasI was
gettingwiththeshotgunbutthere
weresignificantlyfeweraround,and
I waspleasedtobeabletokeepontop
oftheproblem.It wascertainlymore
challengingtargetingtheseartful
birdswithanairriflebutit wasalso
verygratifying.I’llbeheading back
as soon as I get a chance.Airgunning
“Theiratecorvidwastoodistractedbythedecoytonoticemeslippingthebarrelthroughthenettingandthetally rose to three”Mat quickly sets up a camouflage net hide for his session, using a hedge as a natural backdropMatlinesuponan
unsuspectingcrowafter
it makesthemistakeof
pitching within range