Anyone ever hunt these? Are they any good to eat? Seem like you'd get a ton of meat off one of those big *******s.

Ribeye of the Sky

We hunted them in Lubbock a few weekends ago; they are a lot of fun to shoot. The meat is a rich red meat and actually resembles a beef steak when grilled.

A lot of people will tell you they are no good to eat, these folks clearly don't eat a lot of duck because they are way better than duck. It's not elk or quail, but it sure beats waterfowl.

I ground most of mine into chili with some brisket and it turned out great...wife ate it with no complaints. Granted, chili can mask just about anything.

If you have a retriever do not take on a Sandhill Crane hunt.

what load did you use to take them?

The Meat Eater sandhill crane episode on Netflix was worth watching.

I eat a lot of duck and IMHO crane are nasty. Now, in fairness, I've only tried it once, by a so called expert in avian cuisine, but it was so bad I never want to try it again.

reveille23 said:

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Anyone ever hunt these? Are they any good to eat? Seem like you'd get a ton of meat off one of those big *******s.

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They are hard birds to hunt - very wary, typically like places with little or no cover and have very good eyesight. Their size doesn't help either.

You'll need to scout prior and find out where they are feeding or bedding at and get setup before they get there, and make sure you are well concealed. Use a 12 gauge, and use at least BB, BBB is better. Their size is deceiving - especially when you are used to shooting at much smaller ducks and geese, so make sure you are actually within range when you shoot.

Breast them out, do a marinade or soak in buttermilk if you want to temper the flavor some, grill hot and fast like you would a steak - no more than med rare. Very good eating. Or do what the poster above did and mix with some beef in a chili grind. They are good eating birds.

schmellba99 said:

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reveille23 said:

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Anyone ever hunt these? Are they any good to eat? Seem like you'd get a ton of meat off one of those big *******s.

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They are hard birds to hunt - very wary, typically like places with little or no cover and have very good eyesight. Their size doesn't help either.

You'll need to scout prior and find out where they are feeding or bedding at and get setup before they get there, and make sure you are well concealed. Use a 12 gauge, and use at least BB, BBB is better. Their size is deceiving - especially when you are used to shooting at much smaller ducks and geese, so make sure you are actually within range when you shoot.

Breast them out, do a marinade or soak in buttermilk if you want to temper the flavor some, grill hot and fast like you would a steak - no more than med rare. Very good eating. Or do what the poster above did and mix with some beef in a chili grind. They are good eating birds.

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Just hunted 3 weeks ago. Here are some thoughts:

• Fun to hunt. prepare for 40 yd shot
• I would use 3 1/2' shells #2 shot (started with BB and then we all moved to #2). we limited out both days.
• We hunted in corn fields with about 3 dozen decoys and called them in
• They roost on water to avoid coyotes and will start to fly at daylight
• If you wound one, they start to run. get ready to hoof it. That's fun for me but not everyone.
• Be careful of handing wounded ones. been know to kill dogs with their beak. best to just aim for head and shoot again.
• I heard marinade in Worcestershire and soy sauce but am definitely going to try buttermilk with some

I shot Kent 3 inch BB and they seemed to work well. They fly pretty slow but some of the shots will be long and you need to hit them in the face, so you'll have to lead them like you would a faster bird.

Tough animals to kill. We usually chicken fry them. Very rich cut of meat.

get lead shot for them

Thanks for all the great info. There is a field near my house that has had hundreds of them everyday for the last few weeks. So I know where they go to feed, just need to figure where they come from. I saw a group fly over the house this week.

Don't forget the Sandhill Crane permit is separate from the hunting license