Interesting! I may have pop a crow or two. I see them a lot in the neighbors pasture behind my house.
By the way, that’s insane how you make those longshots with a shotgun!
I went through a LOT of different guns, barrels and chokes until I found "1" that would work, and then fired well in excess of a thousand test rounds until I found a load that would pattern well enough to kill a crow at the distances I wanted to shoot...
That is some serious range with a shotgun. What kind of rig are you using?
Remington 870 with a 2 pound competition trigger.
Hastings 34" Wadlock barrel with a cut and polished 2" forcing cone.
Custom .675 6" choke tube.
Tru Glo sight with a 2 1/2" red dot.
What shell? I have to admit, you have me tempted to take up a new hobby.
These are a high performance load that I load specifically for shooting crows @ long range.
This is not a factory published load, but a load that I have developed and had velocity and pressure tested by an independent source.
12 ga. 2 3/4" Federal Gold Medal
Winchester 209 or Federal 209A - depending on outside temperature
Longshot / XX.X gr.
Federal 12S4 wad
1 - 16 ga. Nitro Card in base of shotcup
1 1/8 oz. #2 magnum lead shot / 100 pellets
Precision Reloading Spherical Buffer filled to top row of shot
12 ga. Overshot card
Fold crimp
Velocity / 1,510 fps.
Pressure / 10,800 psi
You can go directly to Hodgdon's Shotgun Reloading page on-line and find many different 1 1/8 oz. loads for specific hulls that run at or exceed 1,500 fps..
You will just have to shoot different loads, guns, barrels and chokes until you find the right combination that will give you the long range performance you are looking for.
When I was a kid, the otjer kdis I hunted with said that crows are smart. When they hear a shot they dodge and it's a miss. You proved the neighborhood kids wrong! Personally, I've never shot a crow, many other birds but never a crow.
Crows are VERY SMART!
When I was a kid and mowed yards all over town, I mowed for a Doctor who had a crow that could talk. This crow could literally talk more plainly and clearly than any other bird I have heard.
Doc said the key to making a crow able to talk, was to start with a young crow and have the tongue split. I thought he was pulling my leg, but he let me hold the bird and sure enough, it's tongue was split right down the middle.
The other kids are right though, because a crow will in fact duck at the sound of a shot.
When I was a kid and mowed yards all over town, I mowed for a Doctor who had a crow that could talk. This crow could literally talk more plainly and clearly than any other bird I have heard.
Doc said the key to making a crow able to talk, was to start with a young crow and have the tongue split. I thought he was pulling my leg, but he let me hold the bird and sure enough, it's tongue was split right down the middle.
The other kids are right though, because a crow will in fact duck at the sound of a shot.
@Master Carper I got a story for you.
I have a personal vendetta with the crows around my place, they are worse than a pack of roosters. Every morning at sunup they are in my pasture looking feed crumbs and making racket. However over the years they've gotten wise to my tricks and avoid me pretty well if I am outside. So I don't often get a chance to pop one.
Well yesterday morning as I was sipping coffee and looking over my dominion; I see a young crow just cawwing his little head off not 40 yards off my back porch with its back to me. My primal instincts kick in as I grab my shotgun and slow stalk around the house in shorts and boots to get a good shot off. He never saw me coming and BANG, it was done right there. My wife says she saw me skipping back to the house afterwards, but I don't believe her lol.
Either way shooting those little devils sure is fun!
I have a personal vendetta with the crows around my place, they are worse than a pack of roosters. Every morning at sunup they are in my pasture looking feed crumbs and making racket. However over the years they've gotten wise to my tricks and avoid me pretty well if I am outside. So I don't often get a chance to pop one.
Well yesterday morning as I was sipping coffee and looking over my dominion; I see a young crow just cawwing his little head off not 40 yards off my back porch with its back to me. My primal instincts kick in as I grab my shotgun and slow stalk around the house in shorts and boots to get a good shot off. He never saw me coming and BANG, it was done right there. My wife says she saw me skipping back to the house afterwards, but I don't believe her lol.
Either way shooting those little devils sure is fun!
