AUBURN - For the four hunters from Ontario County who won Spinouts' crow shoot, this was not a controversial weekend. They hunt and fish almost every Saturday and Sunday, and they offer no apologies for what they do.

"Hunting is something our ancestors did. It's all in our blood," Von Strahan said. "All of my kids have hunted, and I hope I'll be able to see my grandchildren hunt someday. We didn't do anything wrong."

"We're conservationists," said hunting partner Scott Oberdorf. "Some people are extremists. I saw a T-shirt that read, 'Don't shoot crows, they're human, too.' Well, they're not human."

Strahan, who has a degree in wildlife management from the state College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, said he and his friends are all animal lovers. Each has dogs or other pets, all have helped rescue animals that have been abandoned.

The winning team, all in their 40s and from the Geneva area, included Dave Polmanteer and Mike Ayres. They bagged 82 crows over the two days to win the $500 first prize. Thirty-seven teams entered the event, paying $60 per team to participate.

Saturday and Sunday was not a particularly productive weekend for the four. Last weekend, hunting in southern Ontario County, they said they bagged nearly 300 crows. Each has been hunting since they were kids, and all quickly agreed that crows are extremely difficult to bring down.

"They're the toughest thing we hunt," Oberdorf said. "And if those crows could smell, we wouldn't ever get any. They're the smartest, and most sporting game bird in the Northeast."

Polmanteer said the crows where he hunts recognize his pickup truck and the sound of his crow calls. Oberdorf said he can be completely covered under a grassy tarp, with only his eyes visible, and the crows will still find him.

To help them win, the Geneva team placed about 30 crow decoys in the snow, on cornstalks, and in small trees. And they have to be facing the wind, or otherwise the smart crows will see through the ruse - crows always land going into the wind.

The four think the sympathies of the animal rights activists would be better placed elsewhere. The hunters said the crows are voracious predators - nest robbers - who eat the eggs and young of countless varieties of native songbirds.

"I've seen them eat a whole nest of hatchlings," Polmanteer said. "Or, they'll go and just eat every egg that's been laid."

Late Sunday afternoon, the patrons at Spinouts were in high spirits after a few drinks, and after all the hoopla of the weekend.

Earlier in the day, event organizer Tom Lennox helped count the dead crows while sitting at a table in an otherwise empty trailer behind the Orchard Street bar. One by one, hunters brought their take - a total of 380 birds. Many hunters, wearing camouflage, carried the dead crows in plastic garbage bags.

On Sunday, Brian Camp and his three buddies bagged three birds and carried them on a gameholder, a hunting apparatus.

"Look at the size of those bastards," said Lennox, pointing at the dead crows.

Once counted, the birds were put in garbage bags at the back of the trailer.

"How many activists did you get?" asked Lennox.

Camp, who had animal rights activists arrested for trespassing on his Scipio farm Sunday, gave a one-word response, "Four."

Lennox said despite the furor the animals rights groups raised through phone calls and letters to newspapers, a turnout of 60 protesters at City Hall paled in comparison to the hundreds of complimentary messages and comments he received.

"I've got a lot more supporters than (Auburn mayor) Melina Carnicelli," Lennox said.

The next step for Lennox, and fellow organizer Lance Gummerson, is to find charities willing to accept the $500 they raised. Hospice, SAVAR, and some food pantries have all declined to take money from the event.

"Somebody who needs it will get it," said Gummerson, who understands why the food pantries turned down his offer - like himself, they've received numerous phone calls from animal rights groups.

But Gummerson vows he won't bow to any outside pressure when deciding whether to organize a crow hunting contest in 2004.

"I won't be threatened or intimidated. All you're doing is driving me to have more crow shoots," he said.

*Staff Writer Craig Fox contributed to this story. To reach Staff Writer Erik Sorensen, call 253-5311, ext. #240.