Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Air Guns Just An Observation - Crows Bleed

An interesting observation and not a PSA or anything Earth shattering but...

My GF likes songbirds so we have plenty of feeders including two suet feeders. I like shooting all the squirrels and chipmunks that also seem to like the feeders so it's a win-win situation.

Lately, the crows have taken a liking to the suet feeders so it has given me new and exciting target opportunities. Yesterday a large group of crows descended on the suet feeders and the shooting began. After there were six on the ground they decided something wasn't right with the suet and flocked off.

Since the GF doesn't like little bodies littering the backyard I dutifully broke out the bucket and pooperscooper. Wholly Crap it looked like a crime scene in the backyard. Must have been three quarts of blood on the ground. Didn't know crows bled out like that.

I've shot plenty of crows with a shotgun but drilling them with a .22 is a whole nuther kettle of fish.

Fun times...

I shoot a lot of pigeons at work. 177 cal air rifle, they're a nuisance and its a lot of equipment that isn't conducive to a 22lr or .17 . Occasionally crows land as well making targets of opportunity. Shot one a while back a little low ,watched him fly off about 30 yards and go down. Left a blood Trail better than some deer ive shot.

I've had a lot of crows coming to my suet feeder in the several weeks but they've disappeared now. They were feeding their babies. I have 5 routinely come, and it appears it's a momma, daddy, and three nearly-full sized, loudmouth babies. The babies would sit on the fence and squawk with their mouths wide open and the momma and daddy would feed them. I started throwing bread and peanuts to them and got to the point the momma and daddy would nearly come to me to get the food. They've moved off now so I assume the babies didn't need that kind of attention. Never shot any of them, I actually liked them.

Birds that need to be shot are starlings and brown headed cowbirds. The brown headed cowbirds lay their eggs in the nests of other birds and they hatch first and kick the remaining eggs out, and the birds whose nest it is is tricked into raising the cowbird. If the songbird senses the cowbird egg is foreign and kicks it out of the nest, the female cowbird that laid it will tear the nest up completely and destroy any eggs in it. Nasty ass little birds. They flock in by the dozens in early spring. Sometimes with starlings. Killing a brown headed cowbird does every other bird in the area a favor.

Any bird carcass gets tossed behind the fence. The opossums clean them up at night. Never had a carcass laying around the next morning.

Here in north Georgia crows are a pest. They routinely eat songbird eggs and kill nestlings so they are a nuisance in addition to the noise they make. So I thin the herd every chance I get along with the squirrels, chipmunks, and rabbits that destroy our flowerbeds. They will not be allowed to win.

Actually have a crow season here in Oregon
Crow Statewide Oct. 1 - Jan. 31, 2023

We're at about 4,500 elevation, so have mostly ravens. Some crows though in the summer months.

Yet to meet a hunter anywhere that's eagerly awaiting the season.

Shooting a crow with a 222 REM hollow point, feathers everywhere.......

Crows here took a real beating from West Nile virus. Ravens seem more common. I let them slide in the yard just like the rabbits and squirrels. In the field, different story for all of them. Crows, like Yotes, need to be kept “honest” with regular pressure, lest they get too pushy.