Murder of crows canceled after social media squawk

Dan D'Ambrosio | Burlington Free Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Crows Use Their Big Brains to Learn About Death Scientists for years have known that crows have great memories, that they can recognize a human face, and pass that information onto their offspring. University of Washington researchers are now studying what happens when crows observe death. (March

WILLIAMSTOWN, Vt. — The crow shoot scheduled for April 7 in central Vermont by a local hunting club has been canceled after word got out about the hunt and social media erupted in protest.

Mark McCarthy, president of The Boonie Club in Williamstown, said Friday that the club ran a public post on its Facebook page all day Wednesday announcing it will not be sponsoring the crow shoot.

"Then the decision was made to take the entire site down as the ignorant, obscene comments were getting completely out of control," McCarthy said in an email.

Many opponents to the crow hunt took issue with the killing of crows in general, others to what they saw as "wanton waste of a species" rather than subsistence hunting.

In a crow shoot, which is legal in the state of Vermont, teams of hunters compete to shoot the most birds, typically paying entry fees and winning cash prizes.

Scott Darling, wildlife program manager for the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife, confirmed the shoots are legal as long as they're within bounds of the hunting season for crows. There are no bag limits on crows.

Crows are increasing in population in Vermont, according to Darling, who said the crow hunting season has "no biological impact" on the population.

Darling acknowledged there's a history of crow hunting in Vermont to fend off damage to agricultural crops, and that it's still going on. While he believes there's still a role for crow hunting in Vermont, Darling said he does not support crow shoots like the one The Boonie Club had planned.

McCarthy is co-owner of Lenny's Shoe and Apparel, and used his Lenny's email address on flyers advertising the crow shoot, which caused some to believe the retail store was sponsoring the event, which it was not, McCarthy said.

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