Sandhill Crane Hunting

[silasbowhunter]

Ya those are flamingos I bet that would change if they were hunted in that area. The ones we see are shot from canada to texas

Except for when they are in Nebraska wish we could hunt em here. Thousands of em every fall. Kinda neat to go watch em honestly


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[KurtR]

They're protected in FL, but I've gotten close to a lot of animals in areas that they're hunted that people make out the same way. It's all whether you're perceived as a threat or not. Somehow these ultra warry birds are not bothered at all by us to get within 10' of us with a shepherd, a pit bull, and two hounds, one of which barks at everything including the birds. I'm confident that even if they were hunted here we could still walk right up to them.

I will take that bet come up here and walk a half mile through a cut wheat field and I’m betting they gone while you are a couple hundred yards out. If I wanted to walk up to a bird and shoot it I would go pheasant hunting. Seeing them maple leaf in and fooling them and then watching the dog work is something non waterfowlers don’t understand.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

I will take that bet come up here and walk a half mile through a cut wheat field and I’m betting they gone while you are a couple hundred yards out. If I wanted to walk up to a bird and shoot it I would go pheasant hunting. Seeing them maple leaf in and fooling them and then watching the dog work is something non waterfowlers don’t understand.

Sure, pay for my plane ticket and hotel accommodations and I'll be there.

 

[william schmaltz]

We used to just pass shoot them from roost to food. Typically, would just stumble across them while scouting other waterfowl and then change plans for the next day. We always just hid in the fence line or rockpiles and hoped they flew over low enough.

As mentioned, plenty of cranes here in AK. So many that they literally live in the field where my son plays t-ball. Yes, the kids can pretty much walk right up to them. The taxidermist I use has them in his front yard from May to Sept and has 2 dogs. They're like his pets. But growing up in the Midwest (less than an hour from where Kurt is), I can about 99% promise you that you're not walking within shotgun distance of the same bird in the middle of a stubble field. Waterfowl land in the middle of fields, away from rockpiles and fence lines for a reason. Not a chance, we've tried numerous times as kids trying to be sneaky and couldn't do it..........

 

[redneckbmxer24]

We used to just pass shoot them from roost to food. Typically, would just stumble across them while scouting other waterfowl and then change plans for the next day. We always just hid in the fence line or rockpiles and hoped they flew over low enough.

As mentioned, plenty of cranes here in AK. So many that they literally live in the field where my son plays t-ball. Yes, the kids can pretty much walk right up to them. The taxidermist I use has them in his front yard from May to Sept and has 2 dogs. They're like his pets. But growing up in the Midwest (less than an hour from where Kurt is), I can about 99% promise you that you're not walking within shotgun distance of the same bird in the middle of a stubble field. Waterfowl land in the middle of fields, away from rockpiles and fence lines for a reason. Not a chance, we've tried numerous times as kids trying to be sneaky and couldn't do it..........

There lies your issue. If someone walks up to you on a sidewalk seemingly friendly you're not going to perceive them as a threat. If you catch them following you, creeping around, trying to hide, you're going to think something is up. It's basic survival instinct and it's no different to a bird. You couldn't get close to them because they perceived you as a threat.

There's a lot of waterfowl here that get folded up and fall to the ground and you're not going to convince me that birds are smart enough to know that it's only that species thats falling to the ground and they're safe. It doesn't work like that, but they do perceive threats. So despite all that migratory game bird hunting in FL you can still walk right up to the sandhills in the same area. I can get close to the ducks too, in WMA's where they're hunted...

 

[william schmaltz]

Alright, I will have some friends dress up like a Janitors and little old ladies and see if they can walk up to birds in the middle of a 600-acre field of 3-inch stubble 300 yards from the closest tree or building with their new friendly non-hunter disguise. Maybe they can wear those glasses with the nose and mustache attached. Should he announce that he is friendly too? We never thought to try that. The people that sell ground binds are especially going to be disappointed with this new tactic exposing their whole industry. Maybe it will work on grizzly bears too. They seem to have no problem with human smell in town going through dumpsters but run for miles when they smell you 600 yards away in the wild without even seeing you. I'll just dress as someone walking the dog and make sure they can see me. I'm learning a lot today. Might even hop in the elk forum and introduce a new elk hunting technique called the Yellowstone technique where you just dress as a tourist and bring a cardboard cutout of a Prius. Just fake drive right up to 350-inch bulls and shoot them. OR, we could accept that there are regional differences.

I wasn't aware there are stubble fields in Florida. I'm not arguing that you can walk right up to them in Florida. I'm sure you can. It would be foolish of me to claim to know more about animal behavior in a particular region a thousand miles away than the people that live there and have experienced it. Maybe it's time you give the same line of thought some credence.

 

[KurtR]

There lies your issue. If someone walks up to you on a sidewalk seemingly friendly you're not going to perceive them as a threat. If you catch them following you, creeping around, trying to hide, you're going to think something is up. It's basic survival instinct and it's no different to a bird. You couldn't get close to them because they perceived you as a threat.

There's a lot of waterfowl here that get folded up and fall to the ground and you're not going to convince me that birds are smart enough to know that it's only that species thats falling to the ground and they're safe. It doesn't work like that, but they do perceive threats. So despite all that migratory game bird hunting in FL you can still walk right up to the sandhills in the same area. I can get close to the ducks too, in WMA's where they're hunted...

Compared to the Dakota’s there is minimal waterfowl there and hunted. Your not walking up to any waterfowl here in the fall. It’s just a fact of life. Been hunting them over 40 years and if all you had to do was just walk up to them there would not be huge businesses dedicated to it. You can walk up to town deer but get a mile out of town and they run at the sight of you.