Graywolf - I admire crows & ravens. I consider them as chess players who beat me 99.9% of the time.
I hunt crows (in Pa - Fri,Sat,& Sun are legal hunting days). I hunt the forests- not farmers fields where huge murders of crows gather.
I carry a 12ga shotgun, a plastic Great Horned owl that I bought at Walmart for $14, and I use ecalls & mouth calls. Gotta dress in full camo including camo gloves and facemask. They can see my ***** skin from 1/2 mile away.
I start out with a crow call - and oftentimes a crow will respond from a distance. They always do a fly bye because they are such a curious critter. If setup is right, I will use owl call with the plastic owl placed on the ground within shooting distance. Along with the owl - I have a full feathered crow decoy that I bought as a Halloween decor item years ago. I lay the crow on the ground next to the owl while blaring owl-vs-crow fight calls.
The target crow will often focus on the ensuing battle and his fallen comrade and roar into the area like a hot F15 fighter jet.
bang bang - I usually get two shots out of the pump12ga. More times than not - I miss.
Don't matter to me - I just love the long walks and the nature show.
Ravens have started to re-populate this area. On several occaisions, I have had a raven follow me along as I fished a mountain trout stream. The noises they make almost sound like they are speaking words.
One day I caught a small shiner and noticed the raven staring at me from a near by tree branch. I bonked the fish and laid it in a rock. I backed off a bit and within minutes that Raven swooped in for a free meal.. He gave a thank you caw as he flew off.
I have to look into the book you are reading... I think I will enjoy it greatly.
p.s.
a lesson on water displacement: