# Idaho Sandhill Crane



## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

I was fortunate enough to be invited on a sandhill crane hunt, and it was a blast! We hunted the flight line from the roost to the feed. About 5 minutes after legal shorting time started, the cranes started making noise on the roost as they woke up for the morning. After about 5 minutes, the first cranes appeared and we weren't presented with a shot since they were just a touch out of range. A few minutes later, a single was spotted heading right towards us. This crane came right over me at about 30 yards, and it sure made a thud when it hit the ground!

After the shot, the remaining cranes on the roost really got quiet. A few moments passed by and a flock of 8 or so came over and I hit another one, which proceeded to lock its wings and glide. I lost exactly where it went down after disappearing behind a small hill and after looking for it, it was not found. Idaho allows each hunter two tags and so I punched both of mine and headed home. 

I plan on doing crane wellington with one breast and then just grilling the other one like a steak - Ribeye of the Sky!


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## MuscleWhitefish (Jan 13, 2015)

Pretty


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## sambo3006 (Feb 25, 2016)

Nice!
What load did you shoot, where did the pellets hit and what kind of penetration?


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## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

sambo3006 said:


> Nice!
> What load did you shoot, where did the pellets hit and what kind of penetration?


Thanks! It's legal to shoot cranes in Idaho with lead, so I shot the Winchester Double X 3" - 1 3/4 oz. #5 out of a IM choke. Both wings were broken, along with various hits in the neck and chest regions. I never found one bb when cleaning it.


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## Dunkem (May 8, 2012)

Nice jeff!!


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## sambo3006 (Feb 25, 2016)

Jeff,
I wish it were legal to shoot Canada geese with lead. About the only luck I've had on geese (mostly pass shots) is hitting CNS, plus a couple of broken wings with T shot. I can't think of any geese I killed with BB or BBB that had any body shots penetrate through the breast meat.


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## MuscleWhitefish (Jan 13, 2015)

sambo3006 said:


> Jeff,
> I wish it were legal to shoot Canada geese with lead. About the only luck I've had on geese (mostly pass shots) is hitting CNS, plus a couple of broken wings with T shot. I can't think of any geese I killed with BB or BBB that had any body shots penetrate through the breast meat.


Try tungsten matrix or tungsten polymer.

The density is similar or greater to lead.

I believe that it does out preform lead, but the cost is major difference between the two.


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## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

Well, I planned on doing a crane wellington, but I really didn't have the time. So I threw these babies on the grill - they were fantastic!


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Good job Jeff!!!


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## SidVicious (Aug 19, 2014)

Nice! I love crane hunting, and you can't beat them for table fare!


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