Several pairs of Whooping Cranes are currently on their annual migration winging south over various parts of Texas and Oklahoma heading to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on the Texas coast. A pair of Whooping Cranes observed yesterday at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge on the Texas Oklahoma border on Lake Texoma departed and was last seen winging south. A pair was also spotted in Falls County near Rosebud and another pair a few days before was recently spotted near Brenham.

The Whooping Crane is the most endangered species of crane in the world. Globally, less than 500 are believed to exist in the wild. The common observer at first glance would likely not be able to tell a Whooping Crane from a Sandhill Crane. Unfortunately in the last couple of years several Whopping Cranes have been killed by dimwits.

As a lifelong hunter and dedicated waterfowler, dimwit is the kindest word that comes to mind for anyone that would pull the trigger without being able to first ID their target. As hunters we’re solely responsible for knowing what’s in our sights. If you can’t identify your target, or have any doubt if the target is legal game, don’t pull the trigger. It’s as simple as that.

Unfortunately just last month a pair of Whooping Cranes was killed in Louisiana shortly after being reintroduced to the area; close to a dozen Whooping Cranes have been killed by hunters in the last few years. When hunters make such a grave mistake, regardless if it was an intentional outlaw act or mistaking a Whooping Crane for a Sandhill or perhaps even a Snow Goose, depending on how green a hunter is, not only does it brand them as a criminal for the rest of their life, more importantly it’s also another nail in the coffin for the rest of us that enjoy hunting.

Before I started hunting and filming waterfowl primarily out of state, for years I had a productive waterfowl lease between Dallas and Houston. One of our lakes was a roost for a large number of Sandhills. They were never in season in our county or any of the surrounding counties for that matter and I later heard it was because the few remaining Whooping Cranes often landed in fields and sought refuge during their annual migration to the Texas coast along this narrow flyway.

At first glance it’s difficult for most people and certainly the common observer or hunter to easily be able to tell the difference between a Sandhill and a Whooping Crane, especially in a hunting environment such as a blind where you don’t have a lot of time to observe the prey before you make a decision to shoot. With this in mind and knowing that the endangered Whooping Cranes follow a fairly routine migration path, I came to understand why I had to drive several hours west to hunt Sandhills when I had them at my lease every day.

Looking back over the years, one of the best hunting decisions I ever made was to purchase a field guide and study the waterfowl and other migratory birds that I hunt. Hunting is like everything else in life; the more we put into it the more we gain. Besides studying field guides, I’ve been fortunate in my life to hunt with some legendary hunters and mentors.

As a child and young hunter, my elders and mentors were mainly relatives including a retired Texas Ranger and our local game warden. Both of these men were great hunters in my eye and later in life I came to understand that they were also great conservationists and naturalists. They could tell me what any animal was, regardless if it had fin, fur, or feathers. They knew what it ate and how it behaved. They planted seeds that made me a not just a better hunter but also a better person.

We are all brothers afield and in spirit, so in that regard I’ll pass along the advice of my elders. Get a field guide and study your prey. Hunting becomes more of a challenge when you plan your harvest and stick to a game plan. My mentors taught me to study the difference between males and females and when possible, only target the drakes. They encouraged me to make a decision to pass on the hens. Drakes nearly always make better trophies. There was always much honor in camp for a limit of drakes but even more in a non-limit of all drakes compared to a limit that included a hen. While killing hens was frowned upon, killing anything that was not in season was not tolerated.

Regarding the Whooping Cranes, they face many threats along their journey including high wires and predators so please pass the word and do your part to give them safe passage to the coast. We live in a world where our hunting rights will continued to receive pressure from various groups but with each Whooping Crane killed by a mindless hunter, our already limited rights to hunt will become endangered.

A rights free image from Wikipedia of a Whooping Crane:

Not haveing hunted Sandhills before I don't understand the desire to shoot them. I'm a duck hunter and try to eat what I shoot, so are sandhills good to eat? Thanks.....slow944

Sandhills are called "ribeye in the sky" for a reason!

If you enjoy eating your ducks, you would really appreciate a sandhill.

Great post! Thanks for taking the time! I've never hunted sandhill, this year will be my first and I can't wait!

Informative post about the Whooping Crane (Grus americana)

Thanks for the heads up

go once and you'll be hooked

Sandhill crane is great eating Chicken fry it mmmm goood!!!

Thanks for the edit.

If I saw one land near me I'd unload my gun, take pictures and then call the game warden and just enjoy watching something not too many people get to see

Good post BM.

I wonder of the whopping cranes that have been killed how many were killed by legit accident and how many were killed because someone wanted to just shoot something?

Sandhills look a lot like that whopping crane in that pic but are more grey. It would be good to post more pictures of both sandhills and whopping cranes. Also sandhills have a very destintive sounds that you can really hear from a long ways away...do whopping cranes sound like that or different?

I haven't hunted them much at all, but you can see them coming a long arse way away, and it's not like duck hunting where they just dive straight to within range and you have .5 seconds to determine what it is before you shoot. They fly majestically thru the sky, and from what I've read, whooping cranes are much lighter, almost white to the eye...sandhills are pretty dark. I guess it would harder to distinguish the 2 easily unless they were both flying in the same group.

We should hire that animal exterminator guy to catch a few and force them birds,cranes to have babies over and over again to rebiuld the population so we can once again kill them by shooting them in the face with TTT shot.But seriously we should act now before its too late.

Trust me, we are spending a ton of money trying to bring them back from the brink. I work closely with the USFWS and my industry dealing with whooping cranes. There is a ton of private and public money being pumped into reaseach and conservation for these birds.

Nice thread Blue Moon. I do take issue with the notion that Whoopers and Sandhills can be easily confused in the air. Whoopers appear as much larger than their grey cousins in the air and if you ever see a Whooper flying with a group of Sandhills the idea that someone could confuse the two will simply not make sense.

I've seen them over goose decoys on an unnamed coastal WMA 3 times in the past 15 years and am always astounded by their size. It is amazing that something that big can fly.

I'm certain that there is no Sandhill Crane season in Lousiana. A nonmigratory population of Sandhill Cranes is being established in Mississippi and another nonmigratory population is found (and not hunted) in Florida.

There is historical indication that nonmigratory populations of Whoopers were found in both LA & FL. My understanding is that the Feds are attempting to establish flocks in these areas so all the Whooper eggs, so to speak, won't be in one basket.

It is going to be a rough winter for the whoopers at Aransas. No freshwater inflow=no blue crabs. This years chicks are going to have a tough time making it back to Canada next spring. Hope for the best....

Thanks guys for the heads up.. So your saying they are finger lickin good?

Very nice post on the whoopers. I'll agree, we need to save these birds...they are a beautiful sight on the Texas Coast near Rockport in the winter. And speaking of sandhill cranes...they are without a doubt the best eating migratory bird we've got. Just cut out the breast...soak for a hour or so in buttermilk, cut breasts into strips...then chicken fry...nothing better.

Dang it, I'm VERY glad that you posted this, Blue Moon!

I've never hunted sandhills, either, but I've seen what I thought were several on my lease last season. I would never have thought about the possibility of a Whooping Crane being around and shudder to think about maybe shooting one through ignorance.

Anyone have a recommendation for a waterfowl guide? I'm no expert on any of them and could use some help before I screw up big time.

The TPWD Wildlife ID pdf is pretty good for waterfowl identification.

But be sure and do a more careful study of the differences between the cranes.

Found it, thanks.