AUBURN - Crows and snow fell from the sky Saturday morning and into the afternoon as men dressed in camouflage and armed with shotguns headed to fields all over Central New York to take part in the Cayuga County Crows Unlimited 3rd Annual Crow Shoot.

Event organizer Tommy Lennox said the body count at 7:30 p.m. was 785 crows killed by 31 teams. Participation was down from last year, when 52 teams of four hunted crows in farm areas all over the state. But the kill number this year jumped. More than 400 crows were killed on the first day last year; the final count was 1,067.

"We're on pace to break that record," Lennox said.

Absent from the scene was a planned protest from a group of animal rights advocates from a Rochester-based organization.

Hunting teams started to trickle in from the fields shortly after 4 p.m. The first group to arrive at the J&B Bar and Grill - the headquarters for the event - was led by Jim Ostrander of Locke. His team managed to get three crows.

"The weather wasn't very cooperative," he said. "But we'll have a good time nonetheless."

Ostrander, who said he doesn't care too much for crows because they rob his son's garden of seeds each year, believed he was doing people a service by killing crows.

Ted Barber, of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., stood outside the bar with a Budweiser in his hand and watched as teams pulled bags filled with dead crows up the long driveway alongside the bar. He drove more than two hours to Auburn to see what the fuss was about.

"I don't have anything against the hunt," he said after sipping his beer. "But I would never shoot them."

Blood mixed with snow and dirt in front of the truck cab where the hunters brought and counted their totals. University of Binghamton behavioral ecologist Anne Clark was hand-selecting bodies with graduate student Doug Robinson.

The two will study about 100 crows to see if West Nile virus antibodies are present, among a number of other scientific observations. Clark doesn't condone the crow shoot.

"I have two sides," she said. "One that loves the birds and wants to see them alive. And then the hardcore biologist side who wants to collect data. I would prefer not to have the opportunity to take these birds for studies. But I will make the most of it if it's going to happen."

Outside the bar, smoky smells from barbecuing ribs and chicken filled the air. Men and women, some with one beer in their hands and some with two, mingled about, telling jokes, shoving each other jovially and reveling in the party-like atmosphere.

Inside, patrons played pool, bought CCC T-shirts and hats, and drank beer while a group of women danced to ZZ Top's "Legs" and other classic rock tunes. Men dressed in long, black trench coats and wearing black Stetson hats stood around the bar and bought each other rounds of beer.

At 6 p.m., the bags filled with dead crows began to grow. The Crow Dogs of Stanley, Ontario County, who have won the event for two years straight, came in with 76 crows.

They were up by 4 a.m. and in the farm fields of Seneca County by 5:30 a.m. They spread out separately over a 12-mile radius and used bird shot to nab their prey.

Their secret?

"Shoot high," Von Strahan said. At that time, they were in the lead with the most. But at 6:23 p.m., Team Warczok came strolling up the driveway. Dan Warczok, Walt Warczok, John Hillman and Jeff Kilbury are from Hornell and Rochester, and they bagged 115.

"We got most of them by the dump near Waterloo," Hillman said.

The Crow Dogs (Strahan, Scott Oberdorf, Mike Ayers and Dave Polmanteer) looked a bit shell-shocked.

They weren't expecting this.

"We're going to bring it tomorrow," Ayers said. "We're not going to get whupped-up on."

Staff writer Benning W. De La Mater can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or ben.delamater@lee.net