Home Forums Birds & Dogs Waterfowl Sandhill cranes

Anyone ever hunted them?

I'm new to waterfowl hunting in general. Got into it last year and when i was hunting south of Albuqerque in the Rio i seen THOUSANDS of sandhills. Well, i applied for one of the 200 or so tags for the 2 day mini seasons and I found out yesterday that I got one.

Anyone have any input? All that I have heard is that they are the best tasting bird you will ever eat.

What ammo are you using? What choke? All i have is a 870 i bought last year for the sole purpose of duck hunting. I wasnt going to shoot steel shot threw my by Browning GTI trap gun!

Any input is appreciated!

Thanks
Jon

Although this year was poor crane hunting because of storms, I usually take several every fall.

Our fall waterfowl are only OK table fare as they haven't been into the grain fields yet and need a few more weeks to fill out nicely. The cranes are at least as good as our ducks and geese. You may want to use a slow-cooker for the old ones as they can be tough.

I shoot steel shot [#2-T} through a Patternmaster choke tube depending on if pass shooting or over decoys. Your 870 will work just fine.

Don't put your dog on cripples as they will try to peck the eyes out of the dog! They are ornery buggers! I've watched coyotes try to get cripples after season and the bird kept em away.

I'll be sky blasting them. Had them fly over the duck spread hundreds of times, but they've never landed in our spread.

Thanks for the input Vern

When I hunted them a few times down in Colorado I just used what you would use for geese.

They probably are not the best tasting bird you will ever eat, Pheasants, quail, and turkey have that honor pretty well covered, but they are okay. We split the breast meat and stuff it with chilis and then grill it. Not a bad meal.

If you get birds taxidermied a standing pair of the them make a pretty impressive mounting.

we gave them to the Mexicans and told them it was goat. We cleaned the Javelina's also and gave them to them, also.

I've killed them in Texas. The guys I hunted with said "they eat like a ribeye"....so I gave em' to them and I went home and ate a real ribeye. They were fun to shoot. I've seen some cool Sandhill Crane mounts too!

Would y'all eat that a nasty diver duck too, or not. Say like a canvasback?

I've never been starving to death, so I don't know!

Rost,

Ya have to be kidding about canvasbacks......if you have a good canvasback you can throw the mallards out!

Shot a couple once in Saskatchewan where they are open.They came in to our goose decoys.My partner who lives there said that his aunt made meat pies out of them,I kept my Labs away from the cripples and they would not pick up the dead ones.I didn't ask to try the pies either! Monashee

If this is the case (expecting to take long shots), I would suggest you get a box or two of HeavyShot ammo.

I picked up 2 boxs of Heavy Metal (mix of heavy shot and steel) 3 1/2'' BB the other day and a Carlson's mid range choke. I feel like this should be enough.

I just hope we get some water in the Rio Grande so i know they will be down there.

V/r
Jon

++1

Coming down I-25 south today, I saw some in a plowed field on the east side between the 161 and 162 mile marker. If this can help you.

Sandhills are "Ribeyes of the Skies" .
My wife doesn't care too much for ducks and geese as table fare, but she will fight you for a sandhill breast.
We hunt them in the Tx panhandle north of Lubbock over decoys.
Believe it or not here in Tx we can shoot them with lead shot.

The hunt was on the 17th and 18th. Hunted all day on Saturday and i killed 1. Shot 2 entire box's of the Heavy Metal (around $55) in ammo and I killed one.

Saturday night I went to the store and picked up 2 boxs of 3.5'' nitro steel BB from remington and had 3 dead (the limit) by 830 in the morning firing 8 shots.

I didnt learn to shoot over night.... I just dont think my gun liked the Heavy Metal that i was shooting.

Thanks for the input guys. I'll be sure to report when i cook some. Those breasts are HUGE!

What recipes are you guys using to cook your cranes??

Jon

i make kabobs, use peppers,onions, cream cheese and bacon and cook on the grill. like doves.

We shoot them (when we can draw a license) out of grain and onion fields down on the border. Our southwest NM hunt is two days, usually the second weekend in January. I hang them for 3-4 days in a shady spot, then remove the breasts and discard the rest of the carcass. My first wife would slice them into thin steaks and soak them in milk for a day or so, then roll them in flour and fry them. We still do that today.

When I was in graduate school, a classmate (whose name you might recognize but which I will not reveal) collected lots of them down on the King Ranch in Texas. Down there, they were feeding almost exclusively on "nutgrass", a sedge. Haven't eaten one of those in years, but I remember them fondly--and they still taste just as good.