# Harold S Crane



## JuniorPre 360 (Feb 22, 2012)

This is a big WMA so it's not like anyone will reveal spots, and I'm not asking for that. I've had it with the BRBR not having enough water yet and for some reason the Ogden Bay ducks disappeared faster than Hillary's emails after an FBI subpoena. Harold S Crane's main entrance has been around the corner all of my life. Are there any deep channels or ponds I need to worry about? And are any ducks ever killed out there? Also, if I launch my boat out by Willard, can I explore quite a bit of land, or is it pretty limited?


----------



## utahbigbull (May 9, 2012)

PM'd ya with what little I know bud.


----------



## avidhntr3 (Sep 26, 2007)

I've had plenty of fun hunts at the crane by walking the dikes and finding a nice pothole a couple hundred yards from the dike. That's where I remember my very first duck hunting trip is that place. Haven't been there in years, but I've always been able to get into some ducks there.


----------



## MuscleWhitefish (Jan 13, 2015)

The mud in Harold S Crane is a son of a gun in places. 

18" inches of water and 24" of mud. <- This may be an exaggeration, but the mud still sucks in places. 

Ducks seem to like the area as well as the big annoying white birds that are a draw tag.


----------



## Clarq (Jul 21, 2011)

MuscleWhitefish said:


> The mud in Harold S Crane is a son of a gun in places.
> 
> 18" inches of water and 24" of mud. <- This may be an exaggeration, but the mud still sucks in places.


+1

I can personally attest to the fact that there is at least one spot on the WMA with mud >24" deep. I got stuck in it once, and almost needed some help to get out. HC is one place I don't usually go by myself.

The only deep channels I'm aware of are the obvious ones right next to the dikes.

The main south pond gets a lot of boat traffic. Some people drag their boats over the dike and take the channel to the west pond. The east pond can be accessed similarly, but make sure you're aware that it is motorless only.

IMO, the blessing and the curse of HC is the big water. The big water usually keeps some birds around, but it also makes them hard for hunters to reach. During periods of calm weather like the one we're in now, they get smart in a hurry. They'll usually raft up on the big ponds and stay there all day. If a boater disturbs them, they'll all get up, fly 200 yards high and go land on the opposite pond.

I've done well there in previous years (mainly during the early season), but it's been more difficult this year. To be fair, I doubt it's too good anywhere at the moment. Good luck.


----------



## MuscleWhitefish (Jan 13, 2015)

Clarq said:


> +1
> 
> I can personally attest to the fact that there is at least one spot on the WMA with mud >24" deep. I got stuck in it once, and almost needed some help to get out. HC is one place I don't usually go by myself.
> 
> ...


I had a similar experience, but in the act of getting unstuck I briefly lost a boot in the muck and got soaked retrieving it.

At least my hair didn't get wet :grin:


----------



## utahbigbull (May 9, 2012)

+1 on what Clarq said. The birds will raft up thick out in the middle of east and west ponds. A ton like OB gets. My better hunts at HC have been when weather has stirred em up and pushes some to those edges. Then morning flights always consist of flock after flock of birds a couple hundred yards high, heading from the Weber county area making a bee line heading north west into to the Bear.


----------



## JuniorPre 360 (Feb 22, 2012)

I had forgotten that Harold Crane went all the way up to Willard. The area I was referring to in my original post was the entrance off of 12th street by the rainbow unit. I went there yesterday with decoys and a bike. There wasn't a drop of water on the place. There were a couple parking lots that haven't been used in years, some dust fields, and an abandoned train. Based on what I'm hearing about the area up by Willard, I might need to head out to Public and Salt Creek to see if I can find some ducks there. This is the slowest year I think I've ever had.


----------



## MuscleWhitefish (Jan 13, 2015)

JuniorPre 360 said:


> I had forgotten that Harold Crane went all the way up to Willard. The area I was referring to in my original post was the entrance off of 12th street by the rainbow unit. I went there yesterday with decoys and a bike. There wasn't a drop of water on the place. There were a couple parking lots that haven't been used in years, some dust fields, and an abandoned train. Based on what I'm hearing about the area up by Willard, I might need to head out to Public and Salt Creek to see if I can find some ducks there. This is the slowest year I think I've ever had.


If you have coot decoys, then public would be the place to be. Widgeons are really buddy buddy with the coot army at Public.


----------



## LostLouisianian (Oct 11, 2010)

MuscleWhitefish said:


> If you have coot decoys, then public would be the place to be. Widgeons are really buddy buddy with the coot army at Public.


We never had any coot decoys so we used 2 liter pop bottles, painted flat black with a slight over spray of gray and painted the cap white. Tie a string around them and you have coot decoys. They move really easy in the wind too and weigh nothing to carry in and out. They seem to work best when you have some duck decoys out as well.


----------



## avidhntr3 (Sep 26, 2007)

I don't think I've been to the rainbow unit in 15 years or so. Very hit and miss back then, but it took some work to get to some huntable water.


----------



## JuniorPre 360 (Feb 22, 2012)

MuscleWhitefish said:


> If you have coot decoys, then public would be the place to be. Widgeons are really buddy buddy with the coot army at Public.


I have around 3 dozen "coot" decoys. I painted a bunch of Flambeau and GHG decoys that lost their paint after a few hunts. They're all black with white bills. They have worked out for me here and there.



avidhntr3 said:


> I don't think I've been to the rainbow unit in 15 years or so. Very hit and miss back then, but it took some work to get to some huntable water.


 It was a little spooky seeing it like this. I got the same feeling after seeing that they built a dike through the middle of the big pond at BRBR years ago. It used to be just one enormous pond. I don't like change.


----------

