PEAX Equipment

archery sandhill crane?

Not sure about cranes, but knew a guy that hunted swans with a bow. He would decoy them over water and shoot just as it landed.
 
I've shot goose with a bow. Its typically a spot and stalk situation when they are eating in a field. But this year I'm planning on devoting ducks and geese in and then popping a few with the bow.
 
Back in the day, Tred Barta had a show where he spent about three days in a (Texas??) pivot flinging homemade arrows at Canada geese with his homemade longbow before he connected with a crossing goose, knocking it down, and then the dog was shown running it down (broken wing with the arrow).
 
To elaborate on my idea shooting at a crane with archery equipment would involve a bird standing on the ground (hopefully unaware) similar to how a turkey hunter would be shooting with a bow. I have no intentions of flinging arrows at a moving bird in fact I'm not sure I want to do any pass shooting with a shotgun either.

I looked at the MT regs today and did see archery equipment is listed as a legal form of take as is shotgun with lead shot. I was actually a little surprised about the lead shot thing however considering most are likely shot in fields away from water I understand their logic. The first hurdle will be actually obtaining the crane permit for the area I'm considering.
 
I've hunted cranes quite a bit. I have snuck in on some with a shotgun, and gotten in range. They do tend to hangout in the middle of open feilds, which makes stalking hard. They are very tough birds and big. Unless it were a headshot, I would be almost certain you would loose it. I wouldn't do it for the same reason I gave up chasing turkeys with my bow, I think you're cripple rate would be very high.
 
It's possible, but from my experience they do like open fields, and tend to go to the same place over and over until something pushes them off that spot. Because of this they tend to know the in's and out's of the area and would know something was off if a new blind was placed there.

In my experience the best way to combat this problem is to either hide the blind in the existing vegetation. The problem with this is that they frequent pretty sparce areas so most of the time you are simply hiding a layout blind in some stubble. And as we know, layout blinds and bowhunting don't really go together.

Keep in mind though I have only hunted them in West Texas so it may be different hunting them wherever you are hunting them. I would try and find a spot that they are frequenting near a patch of brush or whatever and hide in there as best as you can and be ready to fling an arrow from there. If you wound one, be ready to put up a fight with it. A wounded crane will go for your/your dog's eyes if they can.
 
Mthuntr said:
The more I look into trying to do this the more I realize that it is a foolish venture. If I draw the tag for my area, I'll just stick with some heavy duty goose or turkey loads.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't be afraid to shoot BBB or T.
 
Crane hunting is on my to do list. Not necessarily with a bow. Problem is, I live in Illinois where we definitely have Cranes but no hunting is allowed. So it would be a road trip to another state. Hopefully in the next 5 years. Good luck if you get a chance to go after one.
 
I'm hoping to have an opportunity at a crane and swan in ND this year. I will have to check the regulations but would guess lead shot isn't legal in most states.
 
lr123 said:
I'm hoping to have an opportunity at a crane and swan in ND this year. I will have to check the regulations but would guess lead shot isn't legal in most states.
Click to expand...

Its a pretty even split of which states allow it and which states don't. ND is a state that doesn't.
 
lr123 said:
I did some looking last night and couldn't find anything about them allowing it.
Click to expand...
Lead is not legal for cranes or swan in ND. Good luck on your hunt I didn’t get a swan last year but hope I can make it happen this year.
 
I don’t have any crane hunting experience but I’ve handled a few after the fact, seems it’s a relatively tiny kill zone you’re looking to hit, so if it was me I think I’d just use a guillotine type turkey head made to cut the head/neck off. Seems it’s either most likely a kill or complete miss that way, and if you’re trying this in an open shotgun season just have it in the blind beside you too for a fast plan B or finishing a cripple.

To the question of is it feasible or possible, (mind you I don’t have any crane experience) anything with low odds and people thinking you’re crazy for trying and telling you wasting your time is like saying sic ‘em to a dog for me!! Best of luck to you!
 
A guy on bowsite.com (paul@thefort) hunts Canada geese, decoys them and shoots them on the ground. I'd think a crane would be a similar target. Here's a link:

forums.bowsite.com

Moon Eclipse Goose 63

Bowhunting and Archery Information Article
forums.bowsite.com forums.bowsite.com
 
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