Flintlock Crows

[roundball]

One Shot, One Crow

Cool breezy early morning, set up in the edge of the woods overlooking a soybean field.
Put an Owl decoy on a 12’ pole at 25yds and scattered a half dozen crow decoys on the ground around it.

Started calling and had 4-5 crows overhead in a minutes, nailed one, and the others left.
.54cal Flintlock SB, 70grns Goex 3F, 2 Oxyoke wads, 1+1/8oz 7.5s, and an O/S card.

Reloaded and started calling again for the next hour but only had a couple more even come in sight and they never came close enough for a shot…smart birds.
(Red tailed hawks show up every 15 minutes or so thinking there might be an easy meal)

So I packed it in and will try a different location next time...but a good outing, accomplished what I set out to do with the Flintlock this morning.

[skeet]

I congratualte you on your selection of targets. A good crow is a dead crow in my opinion. Don't know if I could handle the flintlock thing but I'll have to give it a try some day. We don't have too many crows here about but we do have ravens. Luck to ya on the next expedition.!!

[roundball]

I'm just gradually working my way through all the same types of hunting I've done for decades with modern high power rifles and shotguns which I never use any more....the challenge is to do it all with Flintlocks...deer, squirrel, rabbits, doves, ducks, crows, groundhogs, coyotes, etc.

IMO, there's really no challenge to using the modern high performanmce stuff wearing scopes, etc...no different than using my Remington 700/.30-06...that environment is simply a case of "if I see I can kill it".

IMO, real muzzleloaders put the hunt back in hunting, and particularly hunting with Flintlocks.....great sense of satisfaction & accomplishment to take game the way our forefathers did when they settled this country...and the irony is since I've had to really re-learn how to hunt, I've taken all my best bucks with Flintlocks...including a couple of magnificent 10-pointers I never would have seen / taken otherwise.
:)

[Adam Helmer]

roundball,

Thanks for the fine post. I NEVER would have gone crow hunting like you said, but the wife just inheirited 15 more guns that needed vault space, so ALL my muzzleloaders and spare barrels are now in the gunroom upstairs. Yesterday, I put the single 12 gauge barrel on the .54 T/C Renegade stock and went afield with the young dog.

At the end of the tractor road we got into a few crows yakking overhead. I shot, dropped two crows and then the fun began. I reloaded, called on the crow call and the yellar dawg trotted here and there. The crows dived at the dawg and, being young, she darted to and fro whilst I frantically reloaded the single barrel with 80 grains of pyro and similar loads of #7.5 shot. When all was done, it was us 6 and crows ZIP!

One proviso: My gun was a caplock, BUT I wish it had been a flinter. I will work on that minor point.

Be well.

Adam

[roundball]

That's excellent shooting...and cap or flint doesn't matter...congratulations!

I'm going again this coming Saturday at first light on a different farm and hope there are more crows in that area for more than one shot.