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Geartester Festival
23.-25. August 2024
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Crow shooting on cover crops with a ShotKam
Von
Max Mayrhuber
am
25. Januar 2018
Upon arrival, it was clear that I had made a good decision because there were plenty of corvids in the area. However, they were mainly concentrating on the freshly cut grass fields. They had been feeding on the crop, so I had a good chance of pulling the birds in. I decided that the only option to set up was in the middle of the broken-up hedge with a few trees. I picked a spot with the breeze at my back and with the best vantage point for approaching birds. There were a lot of birds moving in the area, so I quickly erected a net hide and got the decoys in place. It wasn’t long after getting tucked in that the first bird made its approach. I had just enough time to load up my Winchester Ranger with Victory Whites and set the cameras rolling before the corvid was over the decoys with others in tow. A single shot was all that was needed to get on the scoreboard.
It wasn’t long after the first shot that I had another chance to add to that tally. A carrion committed perfectly, allowing me to let it right in before taking aim. Bang, bang, bang and he left untouched. I couldn’t believe that I had missed such an easy bird. What I didn’t realise was that this was the start of a new missing streak. The next half-a-dozen or more birds that ventured towards the decoy pattern either flared too soon or simply flew away after an appalling performance by myself, I hadn’t even touched a feather. I had to think fast and change something, otherwise all I would achieve was teach the birds to stay clear of the decoys. It was apparent that the birds weren’t keen on something, be it the decoy layout or hide, so rather than sitting about, I tried my best to alter things to aid my shooting. I started by moving the decoy spread slightly to get the birds to funnel into a better “kill zone”. While out in the decoys, I noticed that my rushed hide stuck out a bit because the colours didn’t blend in with the hedge. To fix it I took the time out to add some grass to the hide.
These changes were all well and good to bring the birds in, but this was pointless unless I could get my act together with my gun. The Ranger and Victory Whites were my go-to combination for years, so I knew that the problem was more likely the nut behind the butt. Luckily for me, I had a secret weapon that would help me discover exactly what I was doing wrong. I viewed the previous shot films from the ShotKam via my mobile and realised that I was making a rookie mistake with my shooting. I was rushing my shots and giving the crows far too much lead and missing in front. With decoy pattern and hide altered and shooting tuition coming from “Coach ShotKam”, I hunkered down and screwed my head back on for the second half.
The next few crows that sailed into the crop soon met their match as I was back on a winning streak. It was perfect timing because the farmer had now begun to mow the adjacent field. This started off the quick-fire round, as crows began to swarm into the decoys. I was struggling to reload before the next birds were in range. The sound of the mower must have been muffling the sound of the shots because the birds didn’t alter their paths despite me firing seconds before. It’s not very often corvids behave like that because they are a very intelligent quarry species. I’ve only had it a few times in my life and it’s fair to say that it gets the blood pumping and the adrenalin up, giving you less time to think and thus relying more on instincts from years of shooting. I hope that this is the late start to a productive summer of corvid control and to keep up the winning streak.
Upon arrival, it was clear that I had made a good decision because there were plenty of corvids in the area. However, they were mainly concentrating on the freshly cut grass fields. They had been feeding on the crop, so I had a good chance of pulling the birds in. I decided that the only option to set up was in the middle of the broken-up hedge with a few trees. I picked a spot with the breeze at my back and with the best vantage point for approaching birds. There were a lot of birds moving in the area, so I quickly erected a net hide and got the decoys in place. It wasn’t long after getting tucked in that the first bird made its approach. I had just enough time to load up my Winchester Ranger with Victory Whites and set the cameras rolling before the corvid was over the decoys with others in tow. A single shot was all that was needed to get on the scoreboard.
It wasn’t long after the first shot that I had another chance to add to that tally. A carrion committed perfectly, allowing me to let it right in before taking aim. Bang, bang, bang and he left untouched. I couldn’t believe that I had missed such an easy bird. What I didn’t realise was that this was the start of a new missing streak. The next half-a-dozen or more birds that ventured towards the decoy pattern either flared too soon or simply flew away after an appalling performance by myself, I hadn’t even touched a feather. I had to think fast and change something, otherwise all I would achieve was teach the birds to stay clear of the decoys. It was apparent that the birds weren’t keen on something, be it the decoy layout or hide, so rather than sitting about, I tried my best to alter things to aid my shooting. I started by moving the decoy spread slightly to get the birds to funnel into a better “kill zone”. While out in the decoys, I noticed that my rushed hide stuck out a bit because the colours didn’t blend in with the hedge. To fix it I took the time out to add some grass to the hide.
These changes were all well and good to bring the birds in, but this was pointless unless I could get my act together with my gun. The Ranger and Victory Whites were my go-to combination for years, so I knew that the problem was more likely the nut behind the butt. Luckily for me, I had a secret weapon that would help me discover exactly what I was doing wrong. I viewed the previous shot films from the ShotKam via my mobile and realised that I was making a rookie mistake with my shooting. I was rushing my shots and giving the crows far too much lead and missing in front. With decoy pattern and hide altered and shooting tuition coming from “Coach ShotKam”, I hunkered down and screwed my head back on for the second half.
The next few crows that sailed into the crop soon met their match as I was back on a winning streak. It was perfect timing because the farmer had now begun to mow the adjacent field. This started off the quick-fire round, as crows began to swarm into the decoys. I was struggling to reload before the next birds were in range. The sound of the mower must have been muffling the sound of the shots because the birds didn’t alter their paths despite me firing seconds before. It’s not very often corvids behave like that because they are a very intelligent quarry species. I’ve only had it a few times in my life and it’s fair to say that it gets the blood pumping and the adrenalin up, giving you less time to think and thus relying more on instincts from years of shooting. I hope that this is the late start to a productive summer of corvid control and to keep up the winning streak.
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Max Mayrhuber
Spezialist
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