I was tempted to put this in the "other big game section"

[Jc2020]

Are you guys hunting them over decoys or just doing pass shooting ? I’ve seen a guided hunt online they taking clients out hunting cranes and were using taxidermied cranes as decoys with seems like it would be super expensive decoys

 

[D4570]

Cranes don't eat much fish. They eat frogs and grain.

 

[D4570]

I made my own ,silhouettes

 

[seeth07]

all you need is 2-4 decoys because its very common for only a few cranes to be a field. they decoy right in over 50% of the time I'd say, they are super easy.

 

[MT_Chad]

I have shot a few cranes in my life some year I should head a bit further south in sask with deciys target them. Be fun to shoot a swan too

Cranes are awesome, we've shot quite a few up there in sask. If you want a swan I'd be happy to take you out, they are pretty easy to hunt, just have to get away from the sky busters at freezeout. We got my buddy this trumpeter a few years ago, for reference he is 6'3".

 

[jrabq]

I made my own ,silhouettes

those look awesome, can you tell us how you made them?

 

[jrabq]

We have a drawing here in central NM for crane also. I've shoot a few over the years, but last year I had a permit and ate tag soup. These are greater sandhills that go around 12 lbs. As others mentioned they can be dangerous when wounded. I had one cripple I walked up to and it stood up with its wings spread out and started hissing at me; it was so tall it was almost eye to eye level. I moved away from it and had my son shoot it. I always thought of them as more of a flying dinosaur or pterodactyl.

In eastern NM and Texas there are lesser sandhills, which are much more abundant, no drawing required, daily bag limit was 3 the one time I hunted them. I think they were in the 5-6 lb range, much smaller birds. That hunt (outfitted) was around Abilene TX and very similar to field hunting geese, we set up in a peanut field after putting out hundreds of decoys.

 

[D4570]

" Those look awesome, can you tell us how you made them? "

I printed them form pictures Of the net.
Took out the background the used a poster program to print them up life-sized.
"Fliped" it and did it again.
I cut then out and used spray glue to stick it all to corrugated plastic.
Put a hunk of yard sine wire in the center and glued the two pieces together.
three coats of mat spray Polly.
Hobby lobby has feathers that look just right, I hot glued them on the head and wingtips.

Thanks for the offer "fowl punishment"
We have gotten several swan tags in the past few years, and it looks like we hunt the same lake...

 

[Mjay]

We have a drawing here in central NM for crane also. I've shoot a few over the years, but last year I had a permit and ate tag soup. These are greater sandhills that go around 12 lbs. As others mentioned they can be dangerous when wounded. I had one cripple I walked up to and it stood up with its wings spread out and started hissing at me; it was so tall it was almost eye to eye level. I moved away from it and had my son shoot it. I always thought of them as more of a flying dinosaur or pterodactyl.

In eastern NM and Texas there are lesser sandhills, which are much more abundant, no drawing required, daily bag limit was 3 the one time I hunted them. I think they were in the 5-6 lb range, much smaller birds. That hunt (outfitted) was around Abilene TX and very similar to field hunting geese, we set up in a peanut field after putting out hundreds of decoys.

. What area and timeframe was the tag soup? I drew a tag for nov 7-8 for the Mrgv.

 

[jrabq]

. What area and timeframe was the tag soup? I drew a tag for nov 7-8 for the Mrgv.

Last year my hunt was in December. I didn't take it too seriously, 9 out of 10 times I'll have some fly over me when I'm duck hunting so that was the plan. It worked previous years, but last year it didn't, just bad luck. You might get a letter saying to call a game warden has some landowners wanting hunters to come shoot cranes. I called but never made contact. First time we drew 30+ years ago we just knocked on some doors around Lemitar and got permission to hunt an alfalfa field, which was more fun than pass shooting, but more work.

Didn't draw this year, good luck!

 

[D4570]

When I was out last week looking for crane I ran across some other crane hunters. The had Decoys a Lot of decoys.
AND they where BIG on tall poles.
SOOO.
I had decoy envy. I still have my first two that are mostly full-sized and near the ground like a feeding crane, but.
I made a magnum to join the flock.

I still have to put some feathers and a mat clear coat.
I know my wife is not tall but she is 5'4".
If the decoy was any bigger I could not carry it out without a game cart. Three will have to work.

 

[SaskHunter]

I've made my own decoys, they're ugly as sin but work.