Crane hunting?

[Kurtr]

If we are on a dedicated crane hunt the dog will be wearing Rex specs. They are some mean son of bitches. Waterfowl is my favorite game meat and the crane is at the top with fat mallards and specks.

 

[Traxion]

Never had the opportunity to have a set feed and hunt. Always here one day gone the next. I have had days of non stop migrators low but doubt you’d get many to decoy. Might be one hunt I’d pay to try for a day or two. And that is hard to admit!

 

[Kurtr]

Never had the opportunity to have a set feed and hunt. Always here one day gone the next. I have had days of non stop migrators low but doubt you’d get many to decoy. Might be one hunt I’d pay to try for a day or two. And that is hard to admit!

I have got it to work a couple times and watching those big ass birds float in is a sight to be seen. We have had more sticking around year after year kind of like the specks.

 

[Obi-Wan]

Years back we hunted them just west of wing nd. We sat on a fence line on school land between to large sloughs and would path shoot them along with geese. It was miss more than hit to be in the right spot along that qtr mile fence.

 

[1lessdog]

We have shot them in the decoys and pass shooting. I will take pass shooting them 9 out of 10 times. Lots more action pass shooting them.

As for eating them, we made pepper sticks out of them. As for ribeyes in the sky no there not.

I don't know why anyone would turn there dog on a Crane. It's not just the beak that you worry about its the long legs and wings. Unless the dog is a aggressive dog the Rex spec may not be enough. We have shot 100's of them and we had dogs and never turned them loose. If they were still alive when we walked up to them, we just shot them again.

 

[Trip McNeely]

We used to chase cranes a bit back in the day. What the others are saying is spot on. They’ll pick your spread apart and “float” 100 yards out cranking their long ass necks back and forth scanning. High wind days are the best. Hiding downwind is usually the best bet but we’ve have a few hunt’s where a few thousand cranes are mixed in with canadas and specks and laid in the decoys with a few small pockets of crane decoys 20 yards in the hole. Pass shooting is fun but watching them drop those goofy ass legs the last 10 yards is something else. The best scenario is an area holding 10-20k and using multiple fields in a couple sections. They’ll trade back and forth like snows do.

 

[snow2]

Good info here,hunting waterfowl the last year with lead shot (legally) in north America did a Saskatchewan hunt, two guyz and my pup,bumped into a local farmer one day he invited us on a crane hunt,5 bird limit.as stated ^^^ no dog so I passed on that hunt but we had a great snow goose shoot and feed but that's another thread.


I asked the farmer if cranes are good table fare,he said he doesn't eat em just fun pass shootin em,neighbors love em,they told the farmer they taste like a cross of bald eagle and loon.

 

[1lessdog]

Good info here,hunting waterfowl the last year with lead shot (legally) in north America did a Saskatchewan hunt, two guyz and my pup,bumped into a local farmer one day he invited us on a crane hunt,5 bird limit.as stated ^^^ no dog so I passed on that hunt but we had a great snow goose shoot and feed but that's another thread.


I asked the farmer if cranes are good table fare,he said he doesn't eat em just fun pass shootin em,neighbors love em,they told the farmer they taste like a cross of bald eagle and loon.

When I guide up in Saskatchewan yrs ago. We got into Cranes alot up there. The Specks were the 1st ones in the decoys every morning. They would even beat the ducks. We would limit out on Speck then switch to the Duck. Then came the Snows for a hr or two. Then the Honkers. We could shoot 8 black geese, put only 3 Specks. Lots of great Dog work. I sent my female Lab on a blind retrieve out across a valley up a hill and over the other side. I lost sight of her for close to 5 mins. When she came back, I figured she went from 3/8 to 1/2 mile and only popped once as she got to the top of the hill. She looked back for advice and I just said back again and over the hill she went.

To me it's the best retrieve I have ever seen by any dog.

 

[wslayer]

Buddy we hunted with said you could tell the old from the young. Give them the beak test. Grab them by the beak and lift them up, if the beak bends, there old and not worth a shit

 

[Rowdie]

I hear the white ones are pretty good eating.

 

[wslayer]

If I ever shoot another I would like to try butterfly and then use a Jaccard all over, season inside, can of peach or apple pie filling, tie it back up and season outside and smoke (or just oven) (maybe)

 

[Fester]

There is plenty of truth stretching on here, but ribeye in the sky is by far and away one of the best ones. Have tried them different ways, and about 5 cans of mushroom soup slow cooked for hours was the best. Make some taters, use the mushroom soup as gravy and pitch the bird. And wear knee pads backwards as when you hang on to the legs and toss over your shoulder the beak hits you about there.

I remember them tasting like roast beef.

 

[SDMF]

One day it was 30 mph winds with tumbleweeds blowing everywhere, so we gathered up a few and held them in front of us as we walked right up to a flock in a field.

Genius. That's even smarter than the "cow suit" approach.

 

[riverview]

no cranes this morning,