MT Sandhill Crane 2017

406LIFE · Aug 16, 2017

Anyone else draw for sandhill this year? I got my tags in Dillon again. Gonna try out some new decoys instead of pass shooting this year. My 2015 bird should be back from the taxidermist next month. That bird was so big they had to build a form.

phutch30 · Aug 16, 2017

Decoying them is fun. More fun IMO anyway than pass shooting them. Didn't put in this yr.

Addicting · Aug 16, 2017

I wish MI would do a season on them. The picked wheat fields near me have more on them than you could put a dent in. I took my GSP past them last night and some landing geese pushed a pair up. They flew about 10' over our heads and he went bonkers wanting to chase them. Damn near broke his heart having to watch all those birds and not being able to chase them...

Good luck on you hunt and share some pics.

icebreaker12 · Aug 16, 2017

406LIFE said:
Anyone else draw for sandhill this year? I got my tags in Dillon again. Gonna try out some new decoys instead of pass shooting this year. My 2015 bird should be back from the taxidermist next month. That bird was so big they had to build a form.

My guess would be that due to the fact that most of the Mid-Continent population is lessers, and very few greaters get shot in comparison, that they just don't make a form for the greaters.

I got my Wyoming tag. Already got permission on a field.

406LIFE · Aug 16, 2017

icebreaker12 said:
My guess would be that due to the fact that most of the Mid-Continent population is lessers, and very few greaters get shot in comparison, that they just don't make a form for the greaters.

This is exactly right.

Coyotes-R-Us · Aug 16, 2017

YUP I got one too, Broad Water County.
By Townsend.
This is#2 for me.
Not only are they fun to hunt there a kick to shoot .
There "Rib eye in the sky" Best tasting bird I have hunted .!

Art Vandeley · Aug 16, 2017

I got drew a tag as well. Never hunted them before.

406LIFE · Aug 16, 2017

Where did you draw mtmuley?

1_pointer · Aug 17, 2017

We get tens of thousands moving through this state but no hunting season. Had a tag in UT in a past life, but wasn't able to fill it. I'd love to get one mounted. Very cool bird IMO.

Good luck to those with tags.

Art Vandeley · Aug 17, 2017

406LIFE said:
Where did you draw mtmuley?

Ovando-Helmville

hansontyrel · Aug 23, 2017

I pray that WI will have a season soon. They are thick as thieves around here but no season... a huge bummer, they are delicious!

406LIFE · Aug 24, 2017

I think that the issue on that side of the country and getting a season is the whooping crane. Never seems to fail that there are one or two shot every year...

flyingvmt · Aug 24, 2017

I always look forward to going home to Lubbock, TX to hunt sandhills!

2ski · Aug 24, 2017

I've always wondered, how do you go about hunting them? How does decoying them in work? I always see them in fields. Never flying unless flushed by something.

icebreaker12 · Aug 24, 2017

hansontyrel said:
I pray that WI will have a season soon. They are thick as thieves around here but no season... a huge bummer, they are delicious!

406LIFE said:
I think that the issue on that side of the country and getting a season is the whooping crane. Never seems to fail that there are one or two shot every year...

The issue is often framed with that. However, the Whooping cranes outside of the Central Flyway are "experimental/non-essential". The only reason WI doesn't have a season is due to them being protected by state statute. Should that ever be changed they will be offered a season.

Another FYI a whooping crane has never been killed by a hunter that was otherwise legally pursuing cranes. And the vast majority of whooping cranes shot is vandalism (shot with a rifle).

icebreaker12 · Aug 24, 2017

2ski said:
I've always wondered, how do you go about hunting them? How does decoying them in work? I always see them in fields. Never flying unless flushed by something.

Many pass shoot them leaving the roost. Others decoy them into fields. They will spend the majority of the day in the fields, but roost on water or shorelines at night. Need to catch them in the morning leaving the roost.

406LIFE · Aug 24, 2017

icebreaker12 said:
The issue is often framed with that. However, the Whooping cranes outside of the Central Flyway are "experimental/non-essential". The only reason WI doesn't have a season is due to them being protected by state statute. Should that ever be changed they will be offered a season.

Another FYI a whooping crane has never been killed by a hunter that was otherwise legally pursuing cranes. And the vast majority of whooping cranes shot is vandalism (shot with a rifle).

With just 600 or so birds in existence, I don't know how any would be considered experimental/non-essential. What is the citation for that quote?

I also can't find anywhere where a crane was shot while legally pursuing other game. Although, I wouldn't call it vandalism. It is poaching to shoot an animal illegally. That case in TX the guy got $25K fine, 5 years probation and community service.

406LIFE · Aug 24, 2017

2ski said:
I've always wondered, how do you go about hunting them? How does decoying them in work? I always see them in fields. Never flying unless flushed by something.

I can tell you definitively that stalking them does not work. It's fun, but to get 45 yards from one I have not been able to do.

Coyotes-R-Us · Aug 24, 2017

On a side note
Is steel/non tox shot required?
Or is lead legal ?
I forgot from last time.

MThuntr · Aug 24, 2017

Steel/non-toxic is required

MT Sandhill Crane 2017

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