Well I knew once I got that crow yesterday that it was good for at least 1 more crow on my sights later on.
I woke up sick today with a sore throat so I called in sick. Slept late and got up around Noon, not feeling much better but felt more rested. I decided to use my "secret weapon" to try and get one more crow. So I take out yesterday's large crow, which by the way was the biggest I 've bagged, and set it out in the middle of the back yard out in the open. I also placed the sensor a few feet away in case that cat decides to return and try to mess with my plan, and I was in no mood for another cat chase like yesterday's.
Not 3 minutes go by (!) when I hear crows cawing outside! I take a peak and there are 3 of them on the nearest tree of the fallen crow, at different heights. I reached for the Predators, but then I remembered that the 28.4gr EunJin's brought me luck yesterday bringing down the 1st crow of the season, so I load the larger pellet instead into the Condor's barrel.
I approached the blind material I had cut up & hung on the inside of the window, and after a few secs I had picked out my target. It was the nearest crow which was also on the lowest branch about 30-35ft up. I set the A/O looking through an opening in the blind and it cleared up at just over 25yds on 8X. I slowly push the blind aside with the Condor's barrel trying to get the bipod on the sill. As soon both legs of the bipod were on the sill, the 2 other crows take off but mine stayed! I acquired her through the lense quickly but she then flew to another branch up higher and a little further back (~2yds). It looked like she 's going to take off the other way. But no, she makes a 180 and faces me at at a slight angle. That was all the time I needed. I don't think she had noticed me and instead was trying to locate me since she knew something was up when the others took off. I was dressed in full (Fall not winter) camo and had a neck gaiter on, hat, etc. so I think that helped. Some small & large branches were covering most of her body except for a very tiny part of her upper chest, neck & head. I realized this is going to have to be a head/neck shot. I aimed quickly just above the branch in front of her at the base of her head figuring if I don't get the head I should get some part of the neck. This is all in about 1 second after she turned around because I knew it was a matter of seconds or miliseconds before she spotted me and took off. I squeezed the trigger and heard a "crackling" impact. She falls dead while she was in the middle of cawing which was cut short by the pellet's impact @ ~900fps.
I am glad the others had taken off so they didn't witness the demise of their comrade, but I 'm sure they knew my intensions. I noticed later when I placed the crow on the fense to attract more of them, that the Eun Jin had entered the neck area somewhere above the chest and had exited higher at the base of the skull where there was a steady stream of blood drops still coming out when I hung her head down after taking some pics. I am glad I did not spend time looking at the new B-Square level to center the gun because I could have missed the window of opportunity. You only have a couple of secs at the most to react with these intelligent birds.
Anyway this crow was about 20% smaller than the one yesterday which I know is the largest crow I have taken so far. Its wing span covered 2/3 the length of my 45" long Condor, and that's (30" wingspan) about as big as the North American crow gets. Today's crow was a decent size too, but.. the pic may not depict it well - yesterday's crow has a beak 1/2" longer and is wider than today's harvest.
I doubt this trick will work again, or that they 'll be back any time soon, but we 'll wait and see what develops in the next couple of days. I have to devise a new plan of coming at them instead of that same spot. You have to keep them guessing because they learn your ways fast.
