Silt rides the cold prairie wind - so fine it
penetrates the FastGrass zip-tied to the wall of the A-frame blind,
its 2x4s and wing nuts shuddering against the gusts. The decoys add
"life" to an otherwise desolate field, and spent corn husks and
dried stalks agitate the soft Texas Sold they skid across. The
hunting party refrains from speech, preferring instead to listen
quietly as the guide calls and the warbling vocalizations of
approaching birds grow loader.
Sounds like a typical morning of waterfowling in
the Texas Panhandle. And it was, but with a twist: Mark
Meissenburg's decoys were stuffed sandhill cranes, not geese, and
his call had been modified to make the long-throated cooing sounds
of the red crested migrators.
I
was still wiping dirt from my eyes as the first crane broke from a
small flock and lit among the decoys when Mark invited me to have
the first shot. His blind provides total concealment and limited
vision (important in crane hunting), so I knew only that there was a
bird in the stuffers and it was to my left. I agreed to be the first
to miss, throwing forward the top of the blind and taking careful
lead on the departing bird.
Over the years, I've learned that flushing
Canadas often present difficult shots beyond 30 yards. You must lead
them perfectly if you are to bring them back to earth. Zeroing in on
their white cheeks - like picking a spot on a buck's shoulder - and
then shooting them there, is the best option. I applied this logic
to the crane, focusing my attention on its red scalp and dumping it
back among Meissenburg's prized decoys.
There
was only enough time to retrieve the lone bird before the next
opportunity started looking real. Meissenburg, who grew up in
California but now lives in Texas where he operates Panhandle's Best
Inc., a waterfowl guide service out of Amarillo, began coaxing a
flock of perhaps 10 cranes as they banked wide and into the wind,
heading directly to the decoys in front of the blind. When the first
pair of long crane legs touched down in the dust and stubble, he
called us out. Smug as I felt after shooting the first bird, it took
me three slaps of the trigger to bring down my second, reaffirming
the fact that you can't hit the big birds poorly (or, in my case,
miss them cleanly) if you want to take them home.
Minutes later, from a third flock of cranes, some
falling to the ground and some climbing for altitude, I picked on
red head and finished my limit of three. At that point I unloaded my
Browning gold Hunter and watched as Meissenburg lured in another
half-dozen or so small groups, and the rest of the hunting party
worked on their allowed allotment. For what seemed like an hour, I
played witness to some of the finest decoying action a wildfowler
could hope to see.
Game
Bird Profile
Wildlife researchers have decided that there are
six subspecies of sandhill cranes, which are divided into nine
management populations. Several southern species are non-migratory,
are not hunted and, in some cases, are protected as endangered
species, such as the Cuban and Florida subspecies. Non-threatened
northern populations include three migratory subspecies that are
hunted: Rocky Mount, Pacific Coast and Mid-continent populations.
The Pacific Coast population is hunted mainly in
Alaska, where it also breeds. The Rocky Mountain population (which
nests in the mountain states from Utah on up through Idaho and
Montana) Mid-continent population (nesting mainly in northern Canada
through Alaska and on up into Siberia, and making up the majority of
annual hunter harvest) are hunted in many states along the Central
Flyway. Hunting cranes as a management tool was first instated along
the Central Flyway in the early 1960s.
Some scientists suggests that sandhill cranes
have been around for 2.5 million years. The are huge birds that may
weight up to 12 pounds with a wingspan greater than 80 inches. They
are garish-blue overall, with long black beaks. Adult birds are
elegant in appearance and sport a naked patch of brilliant red skin
of their foreheads. Captive cranes have been known to reach the age
of 20, though a dozen years seems more common among wild birds.
Like gee, sandhills begin their migration -
usually sometime in September - in family units. As they progress
down the flyway, family units tend to bunch with other small units
until southbound flocks reach great proportions, particularly in
staging areas. Researchers have counted well over 500,000 birds
staged along Nebraska's Platte River and Northern Platte River, for
example. Also like geese, sandhill cranes tend to migrate in
formation, either in a large wedge or diagonal line, Unlike geese,
sandhill cranes will often glide long distances and even soar or
hover on thermals.
Sandhill crane vocalizations are throaty and
vibratory, and can be quite drawn out. Diet consists mainly of
vegetation, including farm crops such as corn, though cranes also
eat an assortment of small insects and animals - including
everything from earthworms to mice. Their breast mat is deep red
with a texture and flavor not unlike geese.
Hunting Tactics
If you are to be successful at hunting sandhill
cranes, you'll have to use a little waterfowling ingenuity and be
willing to go the extreme with regard to concealment and dedication.
Meissenburg, who has hunted them for 10 years and almost always
uses stuffers unless weather warrants the use of shell decoys.
"We've landed a lot of birds in shells, but it's
nothing like what we can do with the stuffers; there's a realism
factor involved. Landing the birds in front of my shooters - that's
just how I like to do it," he says.
Meissenburg's stuffers are of real birds,
obviously, and his shells - employed only during extremely wet
weather - are modified goose decoys painted gray and used with a
two-foot-long stake to keep them higher off the ground for added
realism. When setting out crane decoys, he approaches it much the
same as in goose hunting.
"I don't find it necessary to use any particular
spread shape, but I definitely set them in family groups with a
large landing pocket in front of the blind," he says. "And I like
all the decoys to be facing the blind so when birds land [which is
typically into the wind] they are also facing the blind with wings
spread to the shooters.
"If you're hunting over a waterhole - a good
waterhole - you can get by with 15 to 18 decoys," he explains. "But
if you're in a field, you'll want a minimum of 60 decoys. And
sometimes I'll use as many as 100 stuffers."
Hiding from incoming cranes is difficult.
"Cranes, are as smart as they come," says Meissenburg. "They don't
like to see anything disturbed or out of the ordinary." Even a
change in the coloration of the dirt where a pit has been dug will
flare birds.
While he can get away with using his large
A-frame blind even in a bare field when using stuffed decoys, he
suggests that a freelance crane hunter use surrounding natural
vegetation as blind mater. "Even to the point of using tumbleweeds,
if that's all that's around," he says. This often requires that
hunters set up at the edge of a field instead of out in the its
center.
Lying in a spread of crane decoys is also an
option, but Meissenburg feels that getting the birds to commit and
land is difficult in such a situation. And regardless of where and
how you hide, complete camouflage is mandatory, and it must match
the surrounding environment. Any detail left to chance will prove
detrimental.
As with any decoy hunting, good calling can make
or break an outing, and this is where crane hunting gets really
tricky. There are no commercially made sandhill crane calls
available, and ardent crane hunters have had to make their own.
Meissenburg uses a modified turkey tube call, the reeds of which he
has customized to make the drawn-out, vibrating calls of the
sandhill.
"It's not really any harder than calling geese,
unless you haven't listened to them in the field," he says. "The
sounds I make are the sounds that I've heard the birds make. Because
there are no commercially made calls, instructional videos or
cassette tape, I learned by trail and error."
Shotgun
Gear
A 12-gauge shotgun is the best option when it
comes to shooting sandhill cranes. They're big birds, and a stout
load of relatively heavy shot is requisite.
In Texas, crane hunters can shot lead shot if
they are indeed hunting only cranes; Meissenburg's preferred load is
No. 4 shot. In situations where lead alternatives are required, such
as when hunting both geese and cranes at the same time or in states
where a lead alternative is required all the time, he suggests using
steel No. 2s or BBs, and perhaps even stepping up to a three-inch
magnum. Select a choke as you would for goose hunting: Improved or
modified cylinders are fine over decoys; pass-shooting warrants the
use of tighter choke constrictions.
However, when the birds are decoying well and
your shots are inside 30 years, a crack shot can get away with
shooting smaller bores such as 16 gauge or 20 gauge. Buffered magnum
loads (or well-constructed handloads) that hold tight patterns are
definitely warranted, as is a modified or tighter choke
constriction. No. 4 lead (where legal) or bismuth shot would be a
good choice in these smaller gauges.
Because cranes are large, you can easily be
fooled as to how far away they are. It may take a flock or two to
get your bearings and figure out proper lead. And when you do, it is
best to concentrate on leading the head and not the entire bird. The
goal is to center the head/neck area in the pattern; avoid body
shots.
Sandhill crane hunting isn't much different than
goose or duck hunting. It requires dedication and, above all,
attention to detail. They will fool you most of the time.
But when you catch on, you'll find that you are
enjoying a unique fowling experience, whether you're hunting them on
the Dakota prairies, the foothills of the Rocky Mountains or along
the Gulf Coast of Texas. That wind-blown silt building up in the
corner of your eye will seem trivial when that first red-crowned
crane drops its long legs over your decoys.
