Once endangered, the sandhill crane has recovered remarkably well, giving hunters one more reason to head north.
ACROSS THE FIELD, Max Coch ran spots a flock of sandhill cranes curving toward the blind and waves us down frantically, as if the whole hunt hinges on this pass. He begins to call—a patient, rolling purr. The flock flickers past overhead, cants, circles once more, then descends all at once. Eight cranes dive straight toward the decoys.
The birds are deceptively agile, given their size, and I quickly realize that dropping one won’t be simple. The cranes are just 15 feet above the ground, but we wait for our signal. At last, when the birds are right over the decoys, a guide screams: “Make a pile!”
We spring up from the blind, and shotgun blasts jolt the flock backward. Two cranes crumple fast in a mess of feathers, and the rest scramble toward open sky, squalling. Instead of rushing a shot, as I tend to, I pause a beat and take stock of what’s unfolding: A bird in front has managed to evade the initial shots, so I shoulder my 12-gauge. The crane is high now and gaining speed; I lift the barrel far above it and fire. The bird hits the ground with a thud. My first sandhill.
Once the last crane slips out of range, Cochran’s Lab, Cam, runs from the blind to collect the downed birds. Sometimes on hunts, high fives and cheers can feel obligatory after a good pass, but our victory whoops come straight from the gut.
It’s mid September in Saskatchewan, and the sandhills have abandoned their northern breeding grounds to migrate south—which is why I traveled north. For the next three days, our group of seven shooters will hunt one of waterfowling’s most prized trophies in this fabled hunting destination.
Denne historien er fra October 2016-utgaven av Field & Stream.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Denne historien er fra October 2016-utgaven av Field & Stream.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
LIVING THE DREAM
After the author arrives in Maine’s fabled North Woods with a moose tag in his pocket, an adventure he’s been wanting to take his entire hunting life, reality sets in, and he learns a valuable lesson: Be careful what you wish for
Get the Drift
How to make an accurate windage call under pressure
First Sit
An icebreaker outing in a pristine spot produces the rut hunt of a lifetime
A Local Haunt
The author finds a sense of place in an overlooked creek, close to home
A Hop and a Pump
Jump-shooting rabbits with classic upland guns is about as good a time as you can have in the outdoors
Welcome TO camp
Is there any place better than a good hunting camp? It has everything: great food, games and pranks, and of course, hunting. Shoot, we don’t even mind going to camp for grueling work days in the summer. Here, our contributors share their favorite stories, traditions, and lessons learned from camps they’ve shared. So come on in and join us. The door’s open.
THE DEERSLAYERS
Before you even claim a bunk, you need to eyeball the hardware your buddies have brought. In the process, you’ll see that the guns at deer camp are changing. What was walnut and blued steel may now be Kevlar and carbon fiber. The 10 rifles featured here aren’t your father’s deer guns. They’re today’s new camp classics
THE JOURNEY TO PIKE'S PEAK
Last summer, the author and three friends ventured off the grid to a remote fish camp in Canada. They hoped for great fishing, but what they experienced was truly something else
Stage Directions
When early-season whitetails vanish from open feeding areas, follow this woods-edge ambush plan
Rookie Season
A pup’s first year, from preseason training to fall’s big show