missing lots of crows

[duck shooter 1]

hi

ive just started shooting crows with a shotgun and im getting really frustrated cos i keep missing easy shots that i wouldnt even think about if they were clays and im using a 12 bore with 6 shot 30 gram cartridges and cylinder/modified chokes in the barrels top/bottom.these shots by the way are walked up and are about 20-30 yards away.please could someone help me out to why im missing.

thankyou

[TJ91]

i always found crows to be going faster than they look, i was always missing behing when i started

 

stick to the cartridge you use all the time

if you do clay shooting all the time and are using clay cartridges but have swapped to game cartridges for crows, there will no doubt be a considerable difference in the speed of shot

 

clay carts are usually abit faster than game carts

stick to the cartridges you are used too, if its not smaller than 7.5 28grams, you should be fine at that range

[duck shooter 1]

Thanks TJ91 that could be helpfull i will stick to my 6 shot cartridges for game

Edited December 15, 2010 by duck shooter 1

[wymberley]

hi

ive just started shooting crows with a shotgun and im getting really frustrated cos i keep missing easy shots that i wouldnt even think about if they were clays and im using a 12 bore with 6 shot 30 gram cartridges and cylinder/modified chokes in the barrels top/bottom.these shots by the way are walked up and are about 20-30 yards away.please could someone help me out to why im missing.

thankyou

Hi, as you've realised this is an odd one.

To quote, you say,"cylinder/modified chokes" and "barrels top/bottom". Do you mean that your barrels are choked in that manner?

Are you walking up in the sense that you are putting the birds to flight? If so you may be missing behind (under). Often when experiencing this problem the shooter keeps taking the same POA while trying to work out what's going on. Try consciously aiming above, and to cover all bets, below and see if things improve making sure that your first trigger pull is the open choke (assuming walked up does mean going away) out to 25 yards. Beyond that, go for the modified. Unless you KNOW (pattern test) different, odds are that the TC will not throw what you think and may well not be up to the job at 30 yards.

At the ranges you specify, there's little to argue with regarding your choice of cartridge and/or choke selection providing the nominal boring of the latter has been checked for comparison with the specified performance.

Mind you, I'd like to know your technique for walking up crows to within those ranges!

Cheers and good luck,

Phil

[shoughton]

I suspect that they are out of range - it seems highly improbably to me that anybody could walk up crows to within that range. I suspect that they are further away than you think - and your pattern is too open by the time it reaches them?

 

Try decoying them and pace it out to 25 yards or so. Crows and rooks decoy well - treat yourself to 6 plastic flocked decoys and you'll be away.

 

Steve

[P~MX]

I'd say you're given them too much respect ! give them very little lead as they normally fly slow unless they're under threat, try shootin the beak off them and if that's not enough double your lead until you find them, the difference in the speed of game and clay cartridge is so very little I would guess you wouldn't see/feel the difference when you're shootin, shoot the crows instinctively and never worry about the load of the shell you have in.

 

f3

[UKPoacher]

Carion Crows as opposed to Rooks which some people refer to as Crows can carry considerable shot. You can sometimes see them flicnh or fold momentarily before flying off out of sight. I wouldn't use less then #6 lead or #4 steel and as already said, you have to be good or lucky to get within 25 - 30 yds of them. If it is Rooks then I wouldn't have a problem with #7 lead shot as you can usually get a bit closer.

[kent]

Out of range are my thoughts, clays break at ranges well beyond that which crows will drop to the shot they are tough birds and can take some big hits. Keep to 30yds maximum and pace it out and see how close that actually is. I have wounded them with alsorts of different shells the real key is range and good shooting. If the crow looks big over your barrels its in range, practically impossible to walk or stalk within 30 yds you need to intercept them or decoy them

[Alycidon]

i always found crows to be going faster than they look, i was always missing behing when i started

 

stick to the cartridge you use all the time

if you do clay shooting all the time and are using clay cartridges but have swapped to game cartridges for crows, there will no doubt be a considerable difference in the speed of shot

 

clay carts are usually abit faster than game carts

stick to the cartridges you are used too, if its not smaller than 7.5 28grams, you should be fine at that range

 

 

Agree with everything there except the bit's about clay and game cartridges and speed; most 'standard' game AND clay cartridges are doing about 1400/1425 fps at the muzzle, the pokier ones maybe 1450/1500fps. You have got to shoot many thousands a year to notice the difference between 1400 and 1500 fps.

 

Crows have very good eyesight and are also quite large, bigger than a pigeon, most are further away than the shot thinks.

 

A

[Scully]

We shoot a lot of corvids,mostly to decoys,and we discovered a long time ago that the easy ones are the ones you miss,often the ones which just seem to be hanging in the air!They are moving,and faster than you think.Could you possibly be stopping your swing?It's dead easy with these types,to mount your gun 'on the bird',which can kill your swing.You could try speeding up your swing a little,and as soon as you blot them out take the shot.Your clay loads will do it,close in,but we prefer 32grm 6's through 1/4 or 1/2 choke.

Can't say I've had much look with 'walked up' crows,can't get close enough.

[kent]

We shoot a lot of corvids,mostly to decoys,and we discovered a long time ago that the easy ones are the ones you miss,often the ones which just seem to be hanging in the air!They are moving,and faster than you think.Could you possibly be stopping your swing?It's dead easy with these types,to mount your gun 'on the bird',which can kill your swing.You could try speeding up your swing a little,and as soon as you blot them out take the shot.Your clay loads will do it,close in,but we prefer 32grm 6's through 1/4 or 1/2 choke.

Can't say I've had much look with 'walked up' crows,can't get close enough.

 

Know what you mean about those ones that hang there though personally i feel its easy to miss infront as they rely do hang there at times the temptation is to swing though on an overhead bird and miss infront - the bird seems to stop before changing direction firing at the lower half of the bird seems to work for me as long as it dont dive off to the side before you release the shot that is

[Easy Bully]

Try decoying and just black them out, you;ll do just fine

[utectok]

Good luck good comments like others I've never managed walked up crows ( well branchers maybe ). This time of year if I wasn't deeking I'd try 5s at 34 gms through 1/2 choke you'd dab them at 50 yds easy I'd have thought? Maybe walked up crows would work at that range?