Sandhill Crane Hunting & Sandhill Crane hunting Pictures in Alaska

Sandhill Crane hunting  (Grus Canadensis)

Sandhill Crane hunting is the most challenging of all species we hunt in Alaska.  The largest birds in Alaska are one of the most weary birds as there height and there eye sight make it very hard to sneek up on a sandhill so decoying are the preferred method of hunting.

Our Hunters are allowed to take 1 Trophy bird all though it is common to see them only about 60% of our hunters actually take them as they are very weary. We consider the Sandhill Crane  the true Trophy of the North.

Sandhill Crane Hunting  in Alaska  

There is a fall hunting season for lesser Sandhill cranes in Alaska, which corresponds with the regular Alaska duck hunting and waterfowl season. Our Cranes are harvested conservatively as we allow hunters to take only 1 per year because these long-lived birds have a naturally low reproductive rate. Cranes are highly valued birds and we plan on keeping them that way. 

 With 2 remote locations that we hunt Sandhill cranes from you are assured of quality hunt. The majority of Crane hunting is done over small groups of Sandhill Crane decoys set up in open fields along the coast of BristolBay and the Alagnak River estuary.

We also have tidal locations where the Cranes feed during low tide periods out in the sand/mud flats and we can set up decoys on land near the islands so when the flood tide covers the islands the cranes will fly to shore and land to feed and drink fresh water. 

 Sandhill Crane Identification

 There are two distinct groups of sand hill cranes in Alaska. The more populous northern group breeds on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, in the Interior, and along coastal areas throughout western and northern Alaska. These birds, along with others from Siberia and Canada, form the Mid-continent Population of lesser Sandhill cranes that winters in Texas, the southwestern United States, and Mexico. A smaller group, the Pacific Flyway Population, breeds in the Bristol Bay lowlands, and on the Alaska Peninsula,  This group winters in the Central Valley of California.