Painting up my Crane decoys
 

I painted up a dozen Sandhill crane decoys this evening. I have had these for about 20 years and it was time to refresh. Not the best job but they look much better than they did.
I have a do it yourself Crane hunt starting on November 27 and hope these decoys will lead to success.
Now to figure out what gun and shells I will use. Anyone tried the TSS shells for Waterfowl? What size shot did you use?

Those look good! I am going to go in December for the first time. The guide listed BBs or #2s as shot sizes that work best and recommended tighter chokes. I am going to use RST 10 Gauge 2 7/8" 1 3/8oz of #2s. I will be using a damascus gun so wanted to stick with bismuth.

Good luck on your hunt!

So Phil; what layout pattern do you use for your decoys? Fishook? "Y" with a long or short tail? 'Family' groups?

Glad I'm not trying to carve elephant decoys. Geese are heavy enuff

Kevin I kind of just set them out in front of my blind. Success has been hot and cold.
I need to read up on decoy sets. I guess I need to do some research as it might actually improve my odds.
Bought some geese decoys that I will use for a confidence addition to the field.

I could not find any full body crane decoys after months of looking. Bought some Heron decoys and painted them. I am guessing they will look good enough.

Phil, that hunt is on my bucket list.

Mine too. Rib-Eye of the sky. Yumm!

That's thinking out of the box Phil. Good luck!

Daryl, maybe we should put a trip together??

Here's a crane decoy set-up I'd use. It's a family group.....

That is funny. Crane breast is just as good as they say. Taste and texture similar to beef.
Will take some pictures when I get the decoys set up and hopefully take some birds.
I probably will use my DEO 12 gauge that is factory choked for 3 inch shells, or my LC Smith “ KILLER” choked .041 both sides. 32” barrels.
Which I could use the W C Scott 8 ga. but……

ROAD TRIP!!!!! I'm in.

Too many sentries! Need to add more feeders.:):)

The one time I seriously hunted cranes here it was with a Navy Arms 12ga muzzle loader out of Nome, Alaska, where they feed absolutely exclusively on blueberries as they come across from Siberia. This gives the meat - breasts and thighs - a flavor that can't be beat by much of anything. I would make a small, slow-cooked pot roast kind of thing with onions/potato on my wood stove and to this day have never had better water fowl..... never. It was fork-apart tender and as yummy as it gets. I never tried grilling them, but others have had good luck with that, hence the ribeye moniker.

Back at it against n this morning. The good lord sure knows how to make a beautiful sunrise

Hmmmm :whistle:

No more Cranes. I did jump some tanks and shot some Greenwings.