Interested in buying an e-caller for your next crow hunt? Here are a few things to look for that will help you choose the right one and bag more crows.
Crow hunting is a passion of mine and hunting crows with electronic callers is a great method in order to have a successful crow hunt. With the right e-caller and MP3 sounds, crows will come from miles around to check out what’s going on. FoxPro makes some of the best crow e-callers available, but budget options do exist.
In this review, we’ll take a look at the best e-callers for crow hunting and discuss what makes them so effective.
These are the Top 3 E-Callers for Crow Hunting:
Crow hunting is a sport that can be done year round in most areas, but to be good at it you really need an electronic caller that can get their attention and sound realistic. E-callers for crow hunting are lightweight and portable, and they are easy to hide as well. Below are our top picks for the best e-callers for crow hunting.
Crow Ecaller Comparison Table
# Preview Product Price 1 
FOXPRO Snow Crow Pro Electronic... $989.95 Buy on Amazon 2 
FOXPRO Shockwave Call, Tan $549.95 $521.57 
Buy on Amazon 3 
Icotec Model 300 Predator Caller... $119.99 Buy on Amazon 4 
Western Rivers Mantis 50 Compact... $39.99 Buy on Amazon
These are the three e-callers for crow hunting you should consider:
Why I Picked the FOXPRO Shockwave
When you sit down and compare the FOXPRO Shockwave to the FOXPRO Snow Crow PRO and ICOtec GEN2 GC300, the differences are noticeable.
- The FOXPRO Shockwave has 4 speakers for improved sound quality (2 Horns, 2 Tweeters).
- The Shockwave features FOXBANG technology which can be set to switch the audio when it senses a shot has been fired.
- The battery life with the Shockwave is considerably longer than that of the ICOtec Gen2 GC300. The Shockwave has a 7 hour long battery life which is 3 hours longer than the ICOtec Gen2 GC300 (4 hours).
- The FOXPRO Shockwave (3.9lbs) is considerably lighter than the Snow Crow Pro at 26 pounds.
- The Shockwave is preloaded with 100 tracks and can hold up to 1000. The ICOtec Gen2 GC300 only has 12 preloaded tracks.
- The FOXPRO Shockwave allows you to mimic motion by fading sound to different speakers.
- The Shockwave comes preloaded with FOXCAST crow sounds that have been fined tuned to work well for crows. You won’t have to fiddle with volume levels or worry about playing the wrong sounds when it matters.
- The Shockwave is still affordable for a mid-range e-caller. It’s less than half the price of the FOXPRO Snow Crow Pro 2.
Here is a great clip of what you can expect with a good e-caller for crows like the FoxPro.
This video shows why the FOXPRO Snow Crow Pro 2 is the top of the line when it comes to electronic callers. Its versatility and features are second to none. The volume alone will attract crows from miles around.
Features to look for in a quality e-caller for crow hunting:
- High quality speakers that are at least 50 watts that can project sound up to a mile away. FOXPRO’s 300-watt speakers are incredibly loud and great for crow hunting.
- Audio file storage of at least 100 tracks and MP3 files. The Shockwave can hold 1000 audio files.
- Long Battery Life of up to 7 hours
- Lightweight and portable. Small e-callers like the ICOtec Gen2 GC300 are easy to carry around for short hunts, but lack longer battery life and features larger e-callers provide.
- High quality audio files, preferably with crow sounds already loaded.
- External ports for charging and to hook up decoys for added realism.
- Mobile transmitters that allow you to control the e-caller from 100 feet away or more. This makes it easier to hide since crows aren’t looking directly at you.
- Mixing and matching two sounds at once. This is really effective for crow and predator calling to add more realism.
- Fading sound from one side of the speakers to the other to mimic motion and avoid stationary sounds that sound less realistic.
- The ability to customize track lists and audio files. FOXPRO is compatible with a wide range of audio files (MP3, WAV, OGG, FLAC, 24B, and FXP).
About Using E-Callers for Crow Hunting
Hunting crows with an e-caller is an experience like no other. Crows are extremely smart, so you have to be on top of your game if you’re going to fool them. If you do your homework, it’s not uncommon to harvest 40 or more crows on a single hunt. Here a few tips I’ve learned over the years after hunting crows with e-callers.
Tips for hunting crows with e-callers
- Hiding well is extremely important. Crows have great eyesight and can spot hunters from a mile away.
- Camo your e-caller really well. I like to place a ghillie blanket and natural vegetation over the electronic caller so crows can’t detect it.
- Use crow decoys to attract crows from afar. 10 or so decoys seem to work best for me, but experiment based on how crows respond. I’ve had good luck with GHG Elite Crow Decoys. They look the most realistic of any I’ve tried. Click to check them out at Amazon.
- Construct a blind 20-30 yards away from the e-caller and your decoys. Crows will have a harder time pinpointing your location.
- Have multiple crow tracks downloaded to try out. I’ve been satisfied using FOXPRO crow sounds, but for those days that nothing seems to work, having more audio tracks to experiment with can make all the difference.
- If you use maximum volume to get a crows attention from afar, dial it back as they approach. Sometimes blaring it too loud when they get close will cause them to skirt outside of range.
- Scout the area you plan to hunt to find flight paths, roosts, and feeding areas that crows use regularly.
- Crow mouth calls like the Primos Old Crow call can help add realism. I like to supplement the e-caller sounds by using a mouth call to add a different tone. It works really well. Click here to see the Primos Old Crow call at Amazon.
Hunting crows with e-callers can be challenging, but with a good e-caller and following these tips, everything will be in your favor. One of the most important aspects of crow hunting is to scout your locations really well to determine if crows are in the area sufficient enough to hunt.
Food sources and roost locations all play a large role in determining if a large flock of crows are in an area. Setting up an e-caller and decoys on a known flight path while playing crow distress or fight sounds is usually all you need to have a great crow hunt.
Bottom Line
If you’ve ever thought about crow hunting, now is the time to get started. The sound quality of the e-callers and MP3 sound files are incredibly realistic and the crows can’t resist them.
I’ve had my best crow hunts with the FOXPRO Shockwave e-caller. It’s a midrange caller with plenty of power to reach crows a mile away, yet its 4-speakers still provide realism for up close. The Shockwave has a ton of features that help fool weary crows and it’s all user friendly.
If you’re on a budget, the ICOtec Gen2 GC300 is a cheap e-caller that’s portable, lightweight, and easy to hide. If you’re thinking about getting into crow hunting, this caller will help you get started with very little investment.
Whichever e-caller you decide to use for crows, remember to incorporate the tips I’ve outlined above to make your next crow hunt the best possible. Hide well, use decoys, and mix up your sound files to develop a system that works. Crows are extremely smart birds, but with the right e-caller, MP3 sounds, and blind setup, your chances for a great hunt increase drastically.
Interested in making a homemade electronic caller instead? Check out my guide here.
Last update on 2024-02-03 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API