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Obscure Adventures Magazine
company.
When we arrived at the club-house there were successful teams with birds in the bag. With no limit on crows in the state of NY it is possible, al-though highly unlikely, that a large number of crows could be killed during an organized hunt.
That has not been the case though at the Rip Van Winkle shoot. Over the years they have had numbers as low as 7 birds registered in total. This year there were 57 birds registered by all participants, a new high despite snow and windy conditions on day 1, plus a little more wind for day 2.
The top team, Edward Riven-burg and Darryl Wase, dropped 20 birds and will have their names added to the plaque in the clubhouse.
They also qualified to receive free sweet corn from Story Farms, as did all successful participants. In fact the owner, Matt Story, took all the dead crows as well. I asked him why and he got right to the heart of why crow hunting can be beneficial.
In the spring, after he plants his corn crop and they start to sprout, the crows will descend on his fields and pick the corn shoots, feasting on the starter
seeds planted in the ground.
Matt was uncertain just how
much his corn is affected by these marauders, but he indi-cated that the loss has been lessened since he started toss-ing a few dead crows in the fields as a deterrent. He was planning to make good use of these birds, even though they would not be directly eaten.
I spoke in length to another father and son team, Jon and Jonathan Case, about their success during the hunt. They registered 10 birds, but only hunted in a couple of locations.
Their strategy consisted of changing up the position of their decoys on a regular basis. They included an owl decoy in their setup as well. This large, preda-tory bird is an enemy to the crow and groups of crows will often swoop in with reckless abandon to chase an owl away.
Ultimately, this event is less about crow hunting and more about family and friends taking filling a gap in the sporting year.
All whitetail, duck, and geese seasons are over, and turkey season is on the horizon, so this small group of dedicated hunt-ers chase after these wily birds to the benefit of the immediate community and this same theme is repeated across the country.
Two weeks prior to attending the event in NY, I dropped in on an organized crow hunt closer to home in Two Rivers, WI hosted by the Westshore Sportsmen’s Club.
Driving up to the clubhouse I noticed Steve Kozlowski first. I introduced myself and the re-ception couldn’t have been warmer. Steve started to give me the rundown on the event, as we were joined by his brother Chris.
The Westshore shoot was in its 15th year and was set up as a memorial to their late father, Dale Kozlowski. Dale was an active member of the club and and avid crow hunter. Dale suggested the club host a crow shoot 6 years before his passing and he worked to get it started.
The event was an immediate
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Nestled in the Catskill mountains of eastern New York, the Rip Van Winkle Rod & Gun Club hosts multiple events each year. Their Squirrel Skramble is a well-attended squirrel hunting event in February. In May, they host a Striped Bass tournament on the nearby Hudson River.