sand hill cranes.
 

a sand hill crane season opened up here in central mn. dont have the first idea about them. ive shot them before picking at the cows. but i want to get into hunting them. i see them in the fields in pairs or in 3s but dont know how many decoys to use. dont know id they even make calls for em'. help me please.. :confused0024:

I saw dekes listed for them in one of the catalogs a while back but don't recall which one now. And they have calls for them as well. Just google them and you will find what you are after hopefully. We don't have them here in Il much. Just passing through once in awhile. We see them when we goose hunt in Wisc..

here in wisconsin i've had them come into our geese dekes, they also call back to goose calls sometimes it seems

today they landed about 20 yards from my goose decoys. found out the other day that the season is only up north. but they were making some cakeling noise when they were eating.

I do recall a show about some fella's up nort hunting them and they refuse to take as dog along for they are notorious for pecking at/out the eyes of dogs from what they were saying. I guess a load of 3-1/2" Hevi-Shot BB's would take care of that if I were guessing!!!!!

Sandhill cranes make for fantastic table fare. They're called "ribeye in the sky" by a lot of hunters. The may pass over a goose spread. Just make sure you don't bust a Whooping crane by accident.

Sandhills can be deceptive on the wing. They flap their wings slowly, which can make you think they're flying slower than they really are. They have a rather small body for the size, and their necks & heads are small enough to find holes in your pattern.

On a crossing shot, use the body to determine your lead not the head or bill. If they stand up after landing/crashing.....DO NOT!!! send a dog out...or get within 6ft yourself.

I know a wildlife biologist who got a Blue heron bill through his face, through a nostril, his tongue and out behind his chin. It was bloody, but he jokes about it now.

Agreed! They can be a pretty tough bird! I've shot quite a few of them in Canada. We typically use 3.5" BB @1550 fps, and even that at times doesn't pack as much punch as I'd like. I'm going to have some BBB along next time. I've cleaned them and found steel BB's and Hevi-Shot #4 in their feathers and breast meat that didn't penetrate to the vitals. Obviously that was from shots that were out there a bit, and if they're in close they die just fine. However, we don't tend to go through that many shells on cranes, and Hevi #2 has turned out to be the perfect crane medicine- for shots at any reasonable range- in our experience.

if you used like a copper plated phesant load.. would that be better?