John's Journal...

Duck Hunting in the Summer

How to Train Your Dogs on Crows for Waterfowl Hunting Later

Click to enlargeEditor’s Note: Summertime duck hunting sounds illegal, and it is. However, simply changing which bird is hunted will leave all the other elements of duck hunting in place. The hunters I told you about shot crows over water, not ducks. Before deciding there's not much involved in hunting crows, consider that crows have a complex communicaClick to enlargetion system. Ornithologists have identified 50-different expressions crows make. For instance, the sounds "caw-aw, caw-aw, caw-aw" assure the flocks of safety. The "Kawk, kawk, kawk" sound warns crows of danger. Scientists have found that crows, like parrots, can learn to repeat words and long phrases. Crows with their high intelligence and keen eyesight are hard to fool when you hunt them.

Why don't more states allow the hunter to pick the 60 days they want to crow hunt, regardless of the time of year? In most states, landowners consider crows nothing but nuisances. There's very little chance of crows becoming extinct anywhere because of over-hunting. Hunting crows to practice for waterfowl hunting provides some tremendous opportunities for the waterfowl hunter and his retriever for simulating duck hunting in a way that helps the farmer and doesn't harm the resource.Click to enlarge Consider summertime crow hunting over water in any states where it’s allowed. Few landowners will deny you permission to hunt crows over water. Most conservation officers know enough landowners who will welcome hunters who can use decoys, set up blinds and use their retrieving dogs to go out into the water, pick up the crows and bring them back. Click to enlarge

Too, hunting crows in the summer and early fall can give a retriever plenty of waterfowl-retrieving experience and retriever training without shooting ducks or having to wait until duck season arrives. Hunters also can have a great time calling and shooting at a time of year when most hunters, especially waterfowlers, don't get to hunt and shoot. Often owners of retrievers don't hunt enough to keep those dogs in shape or well-tuned enough for the dogs to be extremely sharp and crisp to perform the job of a retriever once duck season arrives. However, hunting crows in the summertime, and making sure not to hunt more than 60 days, will provide approximately three months to get a dog in shape, keep him that way and actually let him make water retrieves on birds preparing for waterfowl season.

Check back each day this week for more about "Duck Hunting in the Summer"

Day 1: What about Hunting Crows
Day 2: Crow-Hunting Tactics with Will Primos
Day 3: Jerry Tomlin’s Crow-Hunting Techniques
Day 4: More Crow-Hunting Ways with Jerry Tomlin
Day 5: How to Train Your Dogs on Crows for Waterfowl Hunting Later



Entry 407, Day 5