Sandhill Cranes?

the spank said:
I have never eaten a Sandhill Crane though I have shot a couple on a farmer's nuisance permit I was named on. The permit did not allow the harvesting of them so never had the opportunity to try them and since moving here to SK I have not harvested any yet. A friend of mine made it a point each year with his group to take two on their annual hunt in SK. He claimed that if you shot only juveniles, easily identified by their lack of plumage by the way, that they were pretty good table fare but that the adults were horrible? I have heard many guys call them "sirloin of the sky". I am curious to try it.
Click to expand...

They've been legal to hunt here in MB as long as I can remember. They have phenomenal eyesight and pretty much all the ones I've shot was via pass shooting. The season always opens Sept.1 and they're gone by the end of September. Some people hunt them because they're the first bird season that opens, and that's the reason I shot them when I was younger, but in all honesty they're not that good. Some people put them into soup or make jerky, as previous posters said, and that's because they're generally tough as nails. The young ones are a bit more tender and are easily identified by their light brown mixed with gray plumage, not so much less plumage. Adult birds are solid gray.

Wringing the neck on a winged crane is an interesting proposition to say the least. Their beak is about 6-8" long and they don't cower like ducks or geese when you approach them, in fact they stand erect at about 4-5 ft. When you're a 12 year old kid, the option I generally chose was to blast them in the head. Add to that the fact they can run like an Olympic sprinter!

Those who call them "ribeye/sirloin of the sky" have eaten some really terrible beef. :D
 
bearkilr said:
Wringing the neck on a winged crane is an interesting proposition to say the least. Their beak is about 6-8" long and they don't cower like ducks or geese when you approach them, in fact they stand erect at about 4-5 ft. When you're a 12 year old kid, the option I generally chose was to blast them in the head. Add to that the fact they can run like an Olympic sprinter!

Those who call them "ribeye/sirloin of the sky" have eaten some really terrible beef. :D
Click to expand...

The few I shot look like they had an interesting drumstick on them? You could sit back 4 feet from the fire holding the base of the foot to cook it.

The way they fell from the sky was a sight as well, they don't have the lawn dart like grace that a folded clean duck has!!!

And I kind of figured given the choice between eating a Crane and eating my shoe the shoe would end up on the grill first!!

Laugh2
 
Cranes are a hoot to hunt. Like shooting at airplanes. My SP10 is my idea of a perfect crane shooting gun.

I leave my tollers at home when hunting cranes - those beaks are wicked.
 
just read on an Alberta Conservation page that serious consideration is being given to a 2015 Sandhill Crane season in Alberta. Feds have no objection. It's up to the province as to evaluate the risk of whether some endangered Whooping Cranes might get shot by accident
 
Years ago our farm in Saskatchewan was on one of the major flyways and we saw lots of migrating Sandhill Cranes, Whoopers, and countless Geese.
When I was a kid one of our neighbors shot a Sandhill and said it was the toughest thing he had ever tried to eat.... something like shoe leather he said.
Judging by their appearance they don't seem to have a great deal of edible meat on their carcasses.... maybe I'm wrong, who knows ?
 
Damned things shake the ground when you drop them out of the sky.

I do enjoy the call of them though. Reminds me of spending falls on the prairies hunting with the Old Man.
 
Awesome birds in flight and otherwise, mate for life so almost always will be seen as a couple, very social if they lose their mate they often temporarily keep company with another couple. As someone mentioned they look like a prehistoric remnant of the Pterodactyl especially in low flight over a river. I think they are incredible and as such they have "do no harm" status on my farm.
 
apu said:
Awesome birds in flight and otherwise, mate for life so almost always will be seen as a couple, very social if they lose their mate they often temporarily keep company with another couple. As someone mentioned they look like a prehistoric remnant of the Pterodactyl especially in low flight over a river. I think they are incredible and as such they have "do no harm" status on my farm.
Click to expand...

So permission to hunt cranes is out?
 
I've seen literally thousands down the west side of southern SK ... they can do a number on a freshly cut grain field the same way geese can.
The way they pile into some of those alkali sloughs at sunset is an amazing sight (and sound !)

Good table fare ... pretty much straight grain fed all their time on the prairies. Like most migratory birds, they have strongly developed flight muscles and very little fat.
Best to cook them medium rare at most ... over-cooking really toughens them up. Basting them or adding some kind of fat(like bacon) during cooking is required to help keep them moist.
Marinading in a steak marinade also helps.

Last I was out there, the Sandhill season could be shut down on very short notice if Whooping Cranes were observed migrating through.
 
beretta boy said:
I've seen literally thousands down the west side of southern SK ... they can do a number on a freshly cut grain field the same way geese can.
The way they pile into some of those alkali sloughs at sunset is an amazing sight (and sound !)

Good table fare ... pretty much straight grain fed all their time on the prairies. Like most migratory birds, they have strongly developed flight muscles and very little fat.
Best to cook them medium rare at most ... over-cooking really toughens them up. Basting them or adding some kind of fat(like bacon) during cooking is required to help keep them moist.
Marinading in a steak marinade also helps.

Last I was out there, the Sandhill season could be shut down on very short notice if Whooping Cranes were observed migrating through.
Click to expand...


Thank you! Someone who actually knows how to cook wild game!
 
Their mating dance is something to behold. One, the male I assume, emits a big squack and flaps wings going straight up a couple of feet. They circle around each other, very entertaining. I have heard the same comments on eating, from excellent to unfit. You are right about the farmers on Manitoulin attitude toward them. One reason we don't have stocked turkeys and a wild turkey season is the farmers don't want an additional pest eating their spring crops. Some people have released wild turkeys so some are around.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom