Volume

[OTIS 34]

What kind of volume should you use for crows ?

[Possumal]

Loud as can be with your setup. If you listen to Bob Aronsohn's set up, it is seriously loud.

[Ramrod]

Always on max volume. Don't be afraid to use dying rabbit also.

[OTIS 34]

Thanks for the info, going to give it a try today.

[Ramrod]

Only turn caller on when you hear or see crows.

[Possumal]

I can't agree with that. I have had some good shoots where the crows came from so far away I couldn't possibly have seen or heard them.

[venatic]

I agree with Al on that. I often have not seen or heard any crows and once I hit the caller here they come.

[jacobhwrd]

The volume will depend entirely on your setup and area your hunting in. Bob A is calling out in Kansas and can easily call VERY loud since he is calling in birds from a MUCH broader area and he is doing hard calling. Where i hunt its much hillier and i do almost all soft calling. Soft calling like crow gathering, crow party etc will be done at a lower volume. I have tried it cranked all the way up and it would draw them in but most wouldnt commit with it that loud. I will run it at about 60-70% volume max and have my Foxbang set at around 90-95% volume. As the morning carries on i will usually crank it up louder and get more aggressive with my calls to try and squeeze as many birds in at the end as i can. This will usually get me about 3 hours of good shooting with groups of 1-5 birds every 10-15 min. We dont have the population density like they have further west so hard calling will be VERY action packed for about 30-45 min and then the hunt is over.

Edit: I have also had good shoots where a lot of birds never made a sound until they where in range. Leave the caller on. I will sometimes turn it off after a good run to let those birds i missed leave and give me time to clean up the dead ones. Then i will have a smoke and relax for a sec and start calling again. Often i will get birds that just roll into my setup without the call going.