NH crow hunting season details and recipes

Complete NH Crow Hunting Season Details - Photo by Jack Wolf, Creative Commons 2.0

NH has two annual crow hunting seasons, which run from August 15 through November 30th of 2009 and in the spring of 2010 from March 16 through March 30th. During these crow hunting seasons in NH, hunters may take as many crows as they wish. There is no bag limit. Crows are considered small game in NH which means that non-residents can purchase a small game only hunting license.  For other NH residents however, there is no special small game license and a regular hunting license is required. The NH Fish and Game Dept. is even offering a free crow hunting clinic to help those unfamiliar with crow hunting learn the ropes.

• Free NH crow hunting season clinic details
• Locations that can be used for crow hunting in NH
• Purchase your NH hunting license online

While birdwatchers and others who prefer to hunt with a camera and a good pair of binoculars may take offense at crow hunting, the current state of affairs is a dramatic improvement over the way things used to be. Before the crow hunting seasons were approved for the state, crows were considered vermin and could be killed by anyone at any time without a hunting license and without limit. By instituting a regular hunting season for crows in NH, the state has actually given the crow more protection than it had previously. Farmers who want to lower the crow populations around their farms now must go through the trouble of buying a hunting license and waiting until the season opens.

While farmers view crow hunting season as the opportunity to defend their crops from marauding crows, others view NH’s crow hunting season as pure sport. Crow’s are used to being harassed by farmers and gardeners and tend to stay alert for human intrusion. That makes crows a more difficult hunting target than one might imagine. One way to attract crows is to use the natural tendency of crows to defend one another. Crows will raise up a tremendous hue and cry when a larger predatory bird is in the area. When other crows hear the warning cries, they respond to the alarm and join in the attack attempting to drive the predator out of the crow’s territory. Savvy NH crow hunter’s can use this behavior against them by using recordings of crow alarm calls to attract them.

Crows, on the other hand, are not exactly a bird friendly species either. They do prey on undefended eggs from the nests of other birds. Often one of the mated pair of crows will draw the parents away from the nest while the other partner sneaks in to raid the eggs.

A few of those who will take advantage of the NH crow hunting season will use the opportunity to, quite literally, eat crow. While crow is not a commonly found menu item, the novelty does draw some to try a crow recipe at home. Directions for field dressing a crow can be found at this link.
 

Crow Recipes:

• Herb’s Crow Hash
• Crow Casserole
• Grilled Crow
• Crock Pot Crow
• Crow Stroganaff
• Grilled Crow Breast
• Crow in a blanket
• BBQ Crow
• Summer Crow Kabobs
• Crow Bean Roast