Sandhill Cranes!

[Emperor_Po]

Put my 3 tags to use this morning with some of the boys for my first Sandhill Crane hunt. Very neat experience. Recipes welcomed.

[KahrMan]

Very cool. Always thought it would cool to hunt them. 

[monkeylizard]

Nice.

Reminds me of the King of The Hill episode where Bobby gets a "snipe" that turns out to be a Whooping Crane. Hilarity ensues.

[peejman]

Where did you hunt them?

[Emperor_Po]

These were taken in Rhea County, little north of Chattanooga.

[peejman]

Cool. We've been to see them at the Hiawassee WMA when they pass through on their migration. 

[FJCrusing]

Congrats!  Ribeye of the sky apparently. 

[shotgunshooter]

I wish I had gotten to shoot those. That is awesome. You would happen to have any video of the hunt?

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[Emperor_Po]

10 hours ago, shotgunshooter said:

I wish I had gotten to shoot those. That is awesome. You would happen to have any video of the hunt?

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
 

Man, unfortunately not.  Wish I had.  Never heard anything like that hitting the ground.  Great experience though.  Maybe next time. 

[shotgunshooter]

Man, unfortunately not.  Wish I had.  Never heard anything like that hitting the ground.  Great experience though.  Maybe next time. 

I've always wanted to shoot them. I always hated those things flying over when I was hunting. Always thought it would be about like shooting at a B52.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[Emperor_Po]

Just now, shotgunshooter said:

I've always wanted to shoot them. I always hated those things flying over when I was hunting. Always thought it would be about like shooting at a B52.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
 

Haha yes! They are massive birds. My buddy had a 10ga out there and he definitely made farther shots than I did.  Of course he is also a better shotgun shooter than I am...  I had my best luck with some 3in winchesters out of an A400.

[shotgunshooter]

What is the exact process to shoot those goofy birds? How different is it than hunting ducks or geese? I saw that there's a big population in TN and if there's not too many hoops to jump through I may save up and shoot some of these.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[Emperor_Po]

What is the exact process to shoot those goofy birds? How different is it than hunting ducks or geese? I saw that there's a big population in TN and if there's not too many hoops to jump through I may save up and shoot some of these.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

There's a drawing for permits in Birchwood, TN. You have to be physically present to obtain one. Check TWRA.

Didn't hunt from a blind like ducks or try to call them in. Never hunted geese but we hunted a farmers field next to the hiwassee river and you could hear hundreds of them squawking on the other side of the trees. So we hid in the tree lines and picked out ones that were flying low enough.

In my county you can see hundreds in fields driving down the road. The guys I hunted with said the numbers were low compared to years past and they weren't even all here yet. We probably saw over 100 birds fly over us the hour we were out there.

My love for competitive shooting trumps hunting these days and I had to miss a match to go to the drawing. But it was worth it.

[Randall53]

Congrats on the hunt!  I just read some info on them and they seem to be the best eating bird there is! I had no idea. These things are apparently running all over the lease I'm hunting on. I've heard them the past 3 days I've hunted with todays adventure scaring the crap outta me they were so close and sudden and LOUD!! The first day I heard them, I had no idea what I was hearing. I suspected a bird of some sort and had heard the cranes on the lake while fishing and found them on the internet. I've heard them, but have yet to see the critters! 

[Fourtyfive]

 

[TomUT07]

Looks like it was a great hunt!  Congrats!  Would love to try them one of these days, actually just watched the episode of Meateater where they were hunting them, enjoy the good eats!