Updated June 24, 2011

By Art Lander Jr.

OutdoorsKentucky.Com

        Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission

           Approves Sandhill Crane Season

The Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission voted unanimously on June 3 at its quarterly meeting to implement a sandhill crane hunting season beginning this year.

Pending legislative approval, the 30-day season will be held Dec. 17, 2011 through Jan. 15, 2012., with a harvest quota of 400 birds.

The season would be limited to 400 hunters selected through a random drawing. Shooting hours would be sunrise to sunset, instead of a half hour before sunrise to sunset, as with other migratory bird hunting. This is so hunters will have more light to properly identify their target.

“Persons drawn to hunt will have to successfully complete an online identification course,” said Rocky Pritchert, migratory bird program coordinator for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. “There is a two-bird limit per hunter, per season. Harvested birds must be tagged and telechecked.”

Plans call for the entire permit process to be conducted online. Hunters who receive permits must take a post-season survey no later than 10 days after the season closes.

The sandhill crane (Grus canadensis) is a transient visitor to Kentucky. Crane numbers have increased dramatically since the 1970s; the eastern population is now conservatively estimated at 60,000 birds.

Sandhill cranes migrate through Kentucky twice a year along a corridor bounded roughly by Henderson in the west to Lexington in the east. Birds that stop in Kentucky are migrating southward to their wintering grounds in southern Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. In late winter, they migrate back to their breeding grounds in the Great Lakes states and southern Canada.

Because sandhill cranes are migratory, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and a flyway council consisting of representatives from several states reach consensus decisions about proposed seasons and bag limits. The same process is used for other migratory birds hunted in Kentucky, such as doves, geese, mallards, pintails, wood ducks and others.

The sandhill crane proposal establishes a protected refuge area at Barren River Lake. The largest concentration of birds on the ground occurs in late winter at the lake, which is a popular wildlife watching area.

“Kentucky is a return stop on the sandhill crane’s migration back to its breeding grounds,” said Pritchert. “Hunting activity in December and early January will not affect wildlife viewing opportunities in early February, when the largest number of birds stopover in Kentucky.”

Adult sandhill cranes may be more than four feet tall, and are gray, with a tuft of feathers over their rump. They have a red forehead and white cheeks, and a long pointed bill. They feed on grains in fields, but prefer to rest on the shallow mudflats of wetlands.

They are very mobile birds, capable of flying up to 400 miles a day, at heights of up to 10,000 feet. When fully grown they have a wingspan of six to eight feet, which helps them soar for hours in thermal updrafts, with only occasional flapping of their wings. In flight, their necks are held straight out, with their long dark legs trailing behind.

Sandhill cranes migrate through Kentucky twice a year along a corridor bounded roughly by Henderson, Ky., in the west, to Lexington, Ky., in the east. The birds that stopover in Kentucky are migrating southward to their wintering grounds in southern Tennessee, Georgia and Florida, and northward back to their breeding grounds in the Great Lakes states. “Sandhill cranes have a variable wintering range,” said Pritchert. “Some only migrate as far south as Indiana.”

Although most birds in the eastern population of sandhill cranes fly through Kentucky, the largest concentration of birds on the ground occurs in late winter at Barren River Lake, a popular wildlife viewing area.

“Kentucky is a return stop on the sandhill crane’s migration back to its breeding grounds,” said Pritchert. “Hunting activity in December and early January will not affect wildlife viewing opportunities in early February, when the largest number of birds stopover in Kentucky.”

Biologists believe sandhill cranes congregate at Barren River Lake because at winter pool the lake is drawn down 27 feet from 10,000 surface acres to 4,340 surface acres, exposing thousands of acres of mudflats. “They like to roost and loaf on the mudflats, and feed in agricultural fields as far as 30 miles from the lake.”

There are several distinct populations of sandhill cranes in the U.S, three of which are already being hunted. The largest, the mid-continent population of sandhill cranes, which breeds in Canada, and winters in Texas, has been hunted since 1961. Last season, 13 states in the western U.S. and three Canadian provinces, had sandhill crane hunting seasons.

Decoying sandhill cranes into gun range is considered “the holy grail” of migratory bird hunting as sandhill cranes are extremely wary, with keen eyesight, and an ability to spot unnatural looking decoy spreads.

Cranes may be the oldest known bird species surviving on Earth. Fossils of cranes, dated at nearly 10 million years old, have been found in Nebraska. Cranes and herons look a lot alike, but are actually not closely related.

Posted January 1, 2012

By Art Lander Jr.

OutdoorsKentucky.Com

                                   A Learning Experience

    Kentucky's sandhill crane hunting season, which opens Dec. 17, will be the first modern-day opportunity in the state to hunt these migratory birds.
    A total of 332 hunters, 96 percent of whom are Kentucky residents, were selected by lottery drawing to participate in this inaugural season.
    Hunters are busy making last-minute preparations, deciding where to hunt, assembling decoys, building blinds and getting other gear ready.
    Hunters with experience in waterfowl hunting will have their skills tested at calling and decoying birds. Decoying sandhill cranes into gun range is considered the ultimate challenge of migratory bird hunting as sandhill cranes are extremely wary, with keen eyesight and an ability to spot unnatural looking decoy spreads.
    The daily behavior of sandhill cranes is similar to Canada geese. They like to roost and loaf in shallow water and on mudflats, and feed in agricultural fields.
    With any new hunting opportunity there's a learning curve.
    "We've just been hunting elk in Kentucky since 2001 and black bears since 2009," said Jon Gassett, commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. "It takes a while for hunters to figure where to go, and the most effective hunting strategy."
    Kentucky's two-day bear season, held in parts of Pike, Letcher and Harlan counties in early December, is the best example. "Interest has increased since hunters have had success at finding and harvesting bears," said Karen Waldrop, director of wildlife for Kentucky Fish and Wildlife.
    The sandhill crane is a transient visitor to Kentucky whose numbers have increased dramatically since the 1970s. A recent count of the eastern population numbered about 72,000 birds.
    There are several distinct populations of sandhill cranes in the U.S., three of which are already being hunted. The largest, the mid-continent population of sandhill cranes, which breeds in Canada and winters in Texas, has been hunted since 1961. Last season, 13 states in the western U.S. and three Canadian provinces had sandhill crane hunting seasons.
    Kentucky's sandhill crane season will continue through Jan. 15, 2012, or until hunters take 400 cranes, whichever comes first.
    Successful applicants are required to complete and pass an online identification exam before receiving a permit. Each permitted hunter may take up to two sandhill cranes. Hunters must use the department's Telecheck system to register each crane on the day the bird is taken.
    Sandhill cranes migrate through Kentucky twice a year along a corridor bounded roughly by Henderson in the west and Lexington in the east. In fall, the birds that stop over in Kentucky are migrating southward to their wintering grounds in southern Tennessee, Georgia and Florida.
    "Kentucky is a return stop on the sandhill crane's migration back to its breeding grounds," said Rocky Pritchert, migratory bird program coordinator for Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. "Hunting activity in December and early January will not affect wildlife viewing opportunities on Barren River Lake in early February, when the largest number of birds stop over in Kentucky."
    Biologists believe sandhill cranes congregate at Barren River Lake because thousands of acres of mudflats are exposed at winter pool. Major roost areas of Barren River Lake have been closed by regulation to sandhill crane hunting, in an effort to maximize wildlife viewing opportunities.
    Dates and bag limits for all migratory bird hunting seasons are reviewed by the flyway councils and approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.