When all else fails go to the crows

[King Cobra]

On days when gobbling activity is slowed or non-existent I have often had good luck moving towards an area where the crows are raising cane. Especially when you know the birds are in the area somewhere.

[Old Swamper]

This is a solid tactic in my experience.

[joey46]

Noticed this Saturday morning.  Not a gobble to an owl or my expert owl hooter.  When the natural crows started they lite up.  A fun guessing game.

[Twowithone]

Crows get em fired up for sure. Which brings me to this experiance I bought a crow call early in my spring gobbler hunts decades ago then said to myself why did you buy that crow call when you got real crows screaming all day long in Pa. 

[ScottTaulbee]

On days when gobbling activity is slowed or non-existent I have often had good luck moving towards an area where the crows are raising cane. Especially when you know the birds are in the area somewhere.

Killed a turkey in the evening 2 years ago doing this. Heavily pressured public land, I was walking in down the main road way when I noticed a smaller road way going down the hill to my right that you'd miss if you weren't looking for it. I had hunted this piece for 3 years and never noticed it and figured it was likely others hadn't either. I walk about 75 yards down this trail and stopped to take a pee when a crow to my right over in a holler just absolutely went crazy hollering. I went over to the side of the road way, there is an old fence line from back when this place was a farm, right on the edge of the woods. On the wood side there was a probably 7 or 8 yard deep patch or briars and then pretty open hardwoods. I sat behind the briars and done a couple soft clucks and purrs and scratched the leaves. I noticed the crow was pretty intent on that holler. About 5 minutes later I hear heavy foot steps and not being able to see, I was afraid it was another hunter that came in from a different way, next thing I know, there's a red head and a long beard standing 6 steps away right at the edge of those briars, in the only small opening it had. I was sitting on my knees, didn't have my face mask on and my gun was laying beside me. I was able to get my hand on my gun and in one slow motion get the gun to my shoulder and kill him. At the shot 3 more gobblers flew up in the air and ran back in that holler. If it wasn't for that crow, I'd have walked right past them turkeys and never knew it.


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[bbcoach]

I have ALWAYS wondered about this!!!  I have noticed that crows like to aggravate turkeys and we all know crows calling can generate Gobblers gobbling.  My question would be is there any scientific or practical knowledge, to go to where crows are if gobbling is nonexistent??  Or is this just a coincidence??

[King Cobra]

On days when gobbling activity is slowed or non-existent I have often had good luck moving towards an area where the crows are raising cane. Especially when you know the birds are in the area somewhere.

Killed a turkey in the evening 2 years ago doing this. Heavily pressured public land, I was walking in down the main road way when I noticed a smaller road way going down the hill to my right that you'd miss if you weren't looking for it. I had hunted this piece for 3 years and never noticed it and figured it was likely others hadn't either. I walk about 75 yards down this trail and stopped to take a pee when a crow to my right over in a holler just absolutely went crazy hollering. I went over to the side of the road way, there is an old fence line from back when this place was a farm, right on the edge of the woods. On the wood side there was a probably 7 or 8 yard deep patch or briars and then pretty open hardwoods. I sat behind the briars and done a couple soft clucks and purrs and scratched the leaves. I noticed the crow was pretty intent on that holler. About 5 minutes later I hear heavy foot steps and not being able to see, I was afraid it was another hunter that came in from a different way, next thing I know, there's a red head and a long beard standing 6 steps away right at the edge of those briars, in the only small opening it had. I was sitting on my knees, didn't have my face mask on and my gun was laying beside me. I was able to get my hand on my gun and in one slow motion get the gun to my shoulder and kill him. At the shot 3 more gobblers flew up in the air and ran back in that holler. If it wasn't for that crow, I'd have walked right past them turkeys and never knew it.

This is a perfect example of a situation where birds have been pressured and they realize gobbling only draws the wrong kind of attention and go silent. I have had similar situations... but yours is truly one you will never forget. Congrats


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[BB30]

I have ALWAYS wondered about this!!!  I have noticed that crows like to aggravate turkeys and we all know crows calling can generate Gobblers gobbling.  My question would be is there any scientific or practical knowledge, to go to where crows are if gobbling is nonexistent??  Or is this just a coincidence??

Yes, crows will predate on turkey nests. There is some data that shows crows will follow individual hens as well to try and find nests. Crows are one of the most intelligent animals we have in North America and don't do much of anything without reason. I can't tell you how many times I have killed gobblers that never said a word and were being followed by crows. If it is a bad gobbling day that is one of the things I will try and key on.

[28roper]

A few years back a buddy and I made a mid-morning spot change to a piece of private land that has been very successful for us in past years. Upon arrival, the sound of crows was deafening, fortunately allowing us to slip in quietly and set up.  There must have been 50-100 crows centered on one piece of the hardwoods bottom 150 yards below us, sounded like a fight but honestly couldn't hear myself think with all the noise.  Within a minute of the murder dispersing and shutting up, two gobblers erupted from that exact area. We walked out of there 30 minutes later with my buddy's first longbeard.

In thinking back, there have been several similar scenarios of crows seemingly centered directly over turkeys on that specific property .

[sasquatch1]

Stop spreading these secrets lol


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[Kylongspur88]

Stop spreading these secrets lol


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Haha! Right. Crows for turkeys and blue jays for deer and coyotes. Been many times jays are raising a ruckus and a deer or coyote comes in.

[deathfoot]

Praise the Lord for crows and crow calls. Cause I suck at owl hooters and any mouth call in general. So I agree with you here. I rely on crow calls and real crows to get me through a turkey season.

Oh. And donkeys. I love hunting near donkeys.

[RustyBarrels]

This time of year I think it's neat to see how much theyll harass a breeding pair of hawks. Set up within 150 yd of where hawks are building a nest, and you'll be ready to pack it out within 45min.
Makes it hard to wanna head towards them when theyre commotion is a deterrent to me. Lol

[Paulmyr]

You gotta pay attention to what the crows are doing. If it's a general overall ruckus that sounds like a fight than they probably chasing an owl around or hawks as stated earlier. If  they're changing their pitch and cadence they're trying to pull a gobble.

[RiverBuck]

Just like squirrels barking at deer during deer season, crows can give away turkey for sure. Even a gang of those little chickadees have proven to be a sign.