success and has continued to grow over the years.
This year 30, 3-man teams scoured eastern Wisconsin hoping to limit out with up to 45 crows (in WI a one-man limit is 15 birds) and beat their competitors back to the clubhouse. All crows needed to be registered by noon with all team members present.
It was funny to hear the sound of trucks engines scream-ing toward the road to the club-house trying to get in by the deadline.
Every effort to win the event was pretty futile though, the reigning champions Team Death Cry were already in the club-house by 11am with a full limit.
Led by Captain Doug Kakes, team members Joe LeClair and Jim Jacklin employ a strategy where they hunt together in a
triangle and use an electronic caller and decoys to bring the birds in. They focused on areas where the trees were shorter allowing for easier shots. You could tell that these guys knew what they were doing.
Other teams decided to split up and hunt individually. This worked with mixed results, but all teams were smiling in club-house after the deadline.
All money earned from regis-tration fees was paid back out. The top team earned around $180 and the payouts extended down to 8th place. There are also payouts for teams that finish in certain spots whether they shot birds or not. The last place team even had their entry fee ($30) refunded. A nice gesture, but something that other teams took note of with some light-hearted razzing.
The total bird count was 268.
Considering how much fun these hunters are having chas-ing the “black bandits” I’ll spend a little more time going after them myself next season.
If you haven’t considered how fun and challenging a crow hunt may be I’d highly recommend you try it as well. Crow hunting is a great way to reconnect with friends, introduce youngsters to hunting with the expectation of decent action, or just to shake off the winter blues and keep your hunting skills polished.
Next year’s Rip Van Winkle Club shoot will switch from March to September and the Westshore Sportsman’s Club always holds their shoot in March the weekend prior to the season closing.
8
April, 2015
Father and son team, Jon and Jonathan Case brought down 10 birds in the Rip Van Winkle tournament, coming in 2nd to Edward Rivenburg and Darryl Wase (not pictured) who downed 20.
In memory of their father Dale (far left), brothers Steve and Chris Kozlowski (center) continue the tradition he started 15 years ago. Winners get their names added to the commemorative trophy (right).
Left to Right:
Jim Jacklin, Joe LeClair and Doug Kakes with a late-season limit of crows.
Continued from Page 7